August, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



493 



is a large bunch of bees — three or four 

 quarts of them — clustered closely around 

 the entrance of the hive during the middle 

 hours of the day, with only a few bees fly- 

 ing to and from the field. When a colony 

 persists in doing this while other colonies 

 are actively going to the fields, an examina- 

 tion will probably show swarming cells more 

 or less toward completion. 



During very hot sultry weather in the 

 height of the flow, perhaps half of the best 

 colonies in the apiary may have a quart of 

 bees clustered out in front at night. This 

 indicates nothing abnormal; for when all 

 the field bees are in the hive there is not 

 room enough to accommodate them and yet 

 allow for proper ventilation. 



The Presence and Kind of Queen. 



There is another indication of the inter- 

 nal condition of the colony, and that is, 

 the way bees carry in pollen. It used to 

 be said that they .will not bring in pollen 

 if a colony is queenless. This is true only 

 in part. When it needs pollen it will bring 

 it in whether there is a queen or not. But 

 a colony that has a good queen, and plenty 

 of room for breeding, will require much 

 more pollen than one that has no queen or 

 a poor one. When it is possible to see many 

 busy flying bees going into the hive, and 

 a great deal of pollen going in, it indicates 

 that that hive probably has a good queen, 

 and that breeding is progressing in a per- 

 fectly normal manner. But when little or 

 no pollen is coming in, and the bees are not 

 flying much, it shows that the colony did 

 not have a fair chance during winter or 

 spring, or that it has a poor queen. On 

 the other hand, the colony may have ever 

 so good a queen; but if there is any large 

 amount of foul brood, either American or 

 European, there will be but little need of 

 pollen. 



Dead Brood at the Entrance. 



If one can tell the difference between a 

 young baby queen and young workers dead 

 at the entrance he will be able to tell 

 whether supersedure is taking place within 

 the hive. If the old mother fails the bees 

 will proceed to raise a number of cells. The 

 first virgin that emerges will be quite liable 

 to puncture the cells of all of her rivals and 

 sting them. These victims will be thrown 

 out at the entrance, clearly indicating that 

 some young miss is boss of the ranch. 



An inspection of the entrances will like- 

 wise show, oftentimes, whether a colony is 

 on the verge of starvation, whether its 

 brood has been chilled or overheated, or 

 whether there are moth worms in the hive. 

 When several full-grown larvae or perfect- 

 ly formed young bees, brown or yellow, are 

 found dead in front of the entrance, it may 

 indicate any one of the possibilities just 

 mentioned. When the bees are on the verge 

 of starvation they will not only stop brood- 

 rearing but they will carry out their young 

 larvae. They apparently go on the princi- 



ple that they should save able-bodied living 

 bees rather than to lose all in the attempt 

 to raise the babies. 



In early spring some of the young brood 

 near the outside edges may become chilled. 

 This brood will be taken out of the cells 

 and deposited in front of the entrance. At 

 other times, if the hive-entrance should be 

 closed for a short time on a very hot day 

 so that the bees are on the verge of suffo- 

 cation, not a little of the brood will be over- 

 heated. That which dies will be carried out 

 in front. 



When the moth worm is present some of 

 the brood will be destroyed along the line 

 of the galleries made by the worms. These 

 will be deposited in front of the entrance 

 the same as larvae dead from any other 

 cause. 



The presence of dead young brood out 

 in front of the hive is always an indica- 

 tion that something is wrong. When it is 

 dead from overheating or chilling there is 

 nothing that the apiarist can do, because 

 the damage is already done; but when it is 

 dead because of near starvation, colonies 

 should have immediate attention. In the 

 case of the wax moth, the galleries should 

 be removed as soon as it is convenient to 

 do so. 



Adult Bee Diseases. 



The presence of bee paralysis or of the 

 disappearing disease can be determined by 

 the behavior of sick bees in the grass near 

 the entrance. Bees affected with paralysis 

 have swollen bodies looking something like 

 those that are affected with dysentery. Oc- 

 casionally they will void a yellowish trans- 

 parent fluid, but not an opaque yellow, or 

 a brown or black substance such as ap- 

 pears in the case of dysentery. Bees affect- 

 ed with the disappearing disease show no 

 swollen abdomens. They will run at a furi- 

 ous pace in the grass, some of them crawl- 

 ing up on spears of grass and weeds, and 

 finally dying. 



Foul Brood by the Odor. 



The presence of American foul brood in 

 an advanced stage can sometimes be de- 

 tected by the odor at the entrance of a hive 

 affected. When one finds, as he goes thru 

 the apiary, an odor resembling that of an 

 old gluepot, having some suggestion of 

 spoiled meat; he would do well to place his 

 nose near the entrance of some of the colo- 

 nies. Such diagnosis for foul brood, how- 

 ever, is by no means reliable; but when the 

 familiar odor is detected near a hive, all 

 colonies near by should be examined. 



Occasionally the old queen may be found 

 in front of the hive dead. If it is during 

 the spraying season it may be surmised that 

 she was killed by one of the poisons used 

 for spraying fruit trees, to kill the codling 

 moth. The hives should be examined at 

 once, and either a laying queen be given or 

 a ripe cell, 



