294 



September, 1909. 



American Hee JonrnajQ 



secure a more comfortable place before 

 it makes any start at housekeeping. So 

 a frame of brood is given to the 

 swarm, that it too may feel there will 

 be too much of a loss to think of es- 

 tablishing new quarters. Of course 

 there is no excuse for neglecting to 

 have the swarm as cool and comfort- 

 able as possible, liut even then it some- 

 times happens that a swarm will desert. 



Some have said that the giving of 

 brood has had the very opposite effect; 

 but this hardly agrees with general ex- 

 perience. 



As to giving young brood to a nu- 

 cleus with a virgin queen, there is not 

 so much imity of sentiment. In fact, 

 there is a distinct divergence of views. 

 Some say that when a frame of brood 

 is given to such a nucleus, the bees at 

 once proceed to start queen-cells, and 

 kill the virgin. Others say that the 

 feeding of the young brood has a stim- 

 ulating effect upon the bees, and in- 

 directly upon the queen, hastening the 

 date of her mating and laying. Also 

 that the presence of brood prevents 

 the whole of the little colony from 

 going bodily with the virgin on her 

 wedding-trip, in some cases never to 

 return. It is true that after a prime 

 swarm has issued, the virgin in the 

 mother-colony is mated and begins 

 laying without the presence of unsealed 

 brood, but it is also true that in nor- 

 mal cases of supersedure both eggs 

 and brood may be found in abundance 

 during the entire virginity of the young 

 queen, since the old queen continues 

 her work until the advent of the young 

 one, and often for some time after. 



Giving young brood also helps to 

 determine as to the presence of the 

 virgin. After she attains a certain age 

 she is very shy and hard to find. Give 

 a frame of young brood, and if the 

 bees do not start queen-cells you may 

 count that there is a queen in the hive. 

 But the converse is not always true, for 

 sometimes the bees will start cells with 

 a virgin present, only to be destroyed 

 a little later on. If in doubt as to 

 whether the practice is good or bad 

 with you, it may be well for you to try 

 giving the brood. 



Starting Bees iu Sectiou.s 



Now and again there is a complaint 

 that bees are slow to begin work in a 

 super of sections. Some make a prac- 

 tise of giving first an extracting super, 

 so as to get the bees in the habit of 

 working above the brood-chamber. E. 

 D. Townsend has extracting frames 

 and sections in the same super. John 

 Silver (Irish Bee Journal) says to put 

 on, fairly early, frames not more than 2 

 or 3 inches deep, and later raise these 

 and put sections under. Others use a 

 bait-section in the middle of the super; 

 that is, a section that had been filled, 

 or partly filled, the previous year, and 

 then cleaned out by the bees. .Ml of 

 these plans, it will be noticed, depend 

 upon the fact that bees are slow to be- 

 gin work in a super containing noth- 

 ing but foundation, but will promptly 

 begin work in drawn-out comb above, 

 as soon as the brood-chamber is filled. 



Which of the different plans it is 

 best to use depends upon circumstances. 

 If one has a good market for a suffi- 

 cient amount of extracted honey, then 



the first 3 plans are advisable, the full 

 extracting-super for the largest quan- 

 tity, and the Silver plan for a very 

 small quantity. But if one has a poor 

 market for extracted, and a good mar- 

 ket for comb honey, then it seems 

 hardly advisable to use any plan that 

 yields even a small quantity of ex- 

 tracted honey. The honey that goes 

 into the extracting-supers may as well 

 go into sections. The bees accept the 

 bait-section as readily as an extracting- 

 comb. To them it is merely an e.x- 

 tracting-comb on a small scale. .\nd 

 having begun on the bait, they will not 

 fail to expand the work into the sur- 

 rounding sections, if the flow war- 

 rants it. 



Get Bait-Seotiou.s Keady for 1«10 



Now is the time to get ready your 

 bait-sections for next year, if indeed 

 you have not already done so. Plan to 

 have at least one bait-section for each 

 of the first supers given, even if you 

 have to use some sections that have 

 been filled. 



There will be probably some supers 

 in which the bees have worked very 

 little ; perhaps a little honey in a good 

 many of the sections, only the central 

 sections being much drawn out. 'When 

 taken off at the close of the harvest, 

 and cleaned out by the bees, such a 

 super will give the bees a fine start at 

 the next harvest. 



But you will no doubt have a good 

 many sections that are about half filled, 

 and which you will have emptied by 

 the bees. One of these in the center 

 of a super of sections will start the 

 bees to storing in the super if they 

 have anything to store. 



The Isle of Wight Bee-l>isease 



The Isle of Wight is a long ways 

 from here, and we may feel no interest 

 in any disease there except the com- 

 mon feeling of interest among all bee- 

 keepers ; yet there is a possibility that 

 the strange disease may by some means 

 reach even to this distance. So it may 

 be well to keep somewhat informed. It 

 really begins to look now as if tlie dis- 

 ease might be more fatal than .'\meri- 

 can and European foul brood com- 

 bined. Only one colony has survived 

 of the strain of bees which were in the 

 island before the outbreak, and John 

 Silver is rearing queens from that in 

 hopes it may be to an extent resistant 

 to the disease. It seems that the many 

 colonies that have been sent to the 

 island have sooner or later succumbed, 

 and Mr. Silver gives the following 

 rather discouraging outlook, in the 

 British Bee Journal : 



Mr. Cooper, who long hesitated between 

 two opinions, has finally come to the C(^nclii- 

 sion that the disease is infectious, and 

 further, that when once a colony is affected, 

 although it may temporarily recover, do 

 what one may, it will eventually succumb. 

 He lias considerable doubts resardine the 

 evt'utual fate of the colonies sent to the 

 island, and states that his experience shows 

 tliat when they have been about la months 

 in the island they go wrong. 



ask for salt, whether it be in sight or 

 not. So with flour, coffee, and a great 

 many other articles in common use. 



With honey the case is dilTerent. In 

 many cases — perhaps in most cases — 

 the customer who buys honey did not 

 enter the store with the intention of 

 buying it, but did so bcc<ii/sf temfttd by 

 till- sight of honey on liisfkiy. And that 

 sort of temptation is good for people. 

 But the trouble is that most grocers, if 

 left to themselves, will not keep honey 

 co>i//iiiioits/y on display. It must be 

 the effort of the bee-keeper to get them 

 to do so. 



Wesley C. Foster, in the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Review, in urging this matter, gives 

 in illustration a case where a difference 

 in display made a difference of nearly 

 4 to 1 in the amount of honey sold : 



One grocer that I had persuaded to handle 

 comb fioney. had a small table in the center 

 of the store that had been used to pile flour 

 on. I told him to put his flour back out of 

 the way and use the table for honey— comb 

 and bottled. He did this, and for several 

 months sold a case of each nearly every 

 week. Then he got some peaches that he 

 sold at 15 cents. The cans held nearly a 

 Quart, and it was a bargain, to be sure. He 

 set the peaches on the table in front of the 

 honey, partly hiding it, and it took him a 

 month to sell a case of comb honey. His 

 honey customers quit honey for peaches. 



Editor Hutchinson then adds the 

 following in a foot-note : 



I wish especially to emphasize the point 

 of so placing honey on sale that the prospec- 

 tive purchaser can pick it up and examine 

 it. Many are reluctant to ask to look at 

 something that they may not buy. The ex- 

 amination of a displayed article carries no 

 obligation to buy, but it often results in a 

 sale. Display the honey and mark the honey 

 in plain figures, and it will often sell itself. 



Give Honey a Fair Show 



When a woman who is out of salt 

 comes into a grocery, it will make no 

 difference with her purchase if salt is 

 displayed. She wants salt, and she will 



The Connecticut Bee-Law 



We received the following letter, 

 under date of Aug. 3, 1009, from the 

 Secretary of the Connecticut Bee- 

 Keepers' Association : 



EorroR York:— The Connecticut legisla- 

 ture, now in session, recently passed a foul 

 brood measure, and I enclose a copy here- 

 with. 



The committee on agriculture reported 

 unfavorably on the bill presented by the 

 bee-keepers, which bill was commended 

 by a number of experts, and called for a 

 $1000 appropriation, a sum none too large in 

 the opinion of those who have a very good 

 idea of the extent of disease in the State. 



The enclosed bill was drawn up by an in- 

 terested member of the legislature, who. 

 with others, felt that something ought to be 

 done. .Although it is quite unlike the origi- 

 nal bill, it is believed an advance has been 

 taken, and that better days are ahead for 

 those unfortunate enough to be in infected 

 localities, which seem to be getting numer- 

 ous. James .\. .Smith. 



Hartford. Conn. 



The Foul Brood Bill referred to by 

 Mr. Smith, reads thus : 



Be it enacted by tlic Semite and House of Repre- 

 sentatives in General Assembly convened: 



Section i.— For the purpose of suppress- 

 ing contagious or infectious diseases of the 

 honev-bee, it shall be the duty of the State 

 lintomologist. when complaint is duly made, 

 to examine and verify, and treat or destroy 

 cases of foul brood among honey-bees. 



Sec. 2. — In pursuance of the provisions of 

 this Act, the State Entomologist, or any per- 

 son whom he may appoint for that purpose, 

 shall have access at reasonable times to 

 such apiaries or places where bees are 

 kept, and where honey-comb and appliances 

 are stored, as may be designated in any such 

 complaint. 



Sec. 3.— The State Entomologist is author- 

 ized and empowered to prescribe suitable 

 forms for and to make regulations regarding 

 such complaints, and shall keep the same 

 on file and open to public inspection; and 

 he is further authorized and empowered to 



