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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Is that a general thing with mixed bees? 

 They are considerably smaller than my 

 black bees. S. M. Robertson. 



Grey Eagle, Minn. 



Answers. — 1. If the brood in the hive 

 is all drone-brood, there is either a 

 drone-laying queen present, or laying 

 workers. In either case the colony is 

 utterly worthless if left to itself, and 

 the workers present are probably so old 

 and so few that it may be best to break 

 up the colony. If, however, you think 

 there are enough bees to be worth sav- 

 ing, put in a frame containing young 

 brood, and after they have started 

 queen-cells you can give them a queen- 

 cell ready to hatch. Possibly they 

 might respect the queen-cell if given to 

 them at once. It might be a good plan 

 to try dropping in a young queen less 

 than a day old, as some have reported 

 success in this way. 



It is not so easy to say why the bees 

 have been carrying out the young brood. 

 Possibly because worms at work in the 

 combs have Injured the brood. 



2. The queenlessness probably does 

 not result from anything in the winter- 

 ing. Very likely the bees were queen- 

 less In the fall. 



3. Your queen being untested, she 

 probably met a black drone, and such 

 first cross is likely to produce bees some 

 of which look like pure blacks and some 

 like pure Italians. 



Bees Swarming Out — Young Drones. 



1. Do queens ever dislike a location ? 

 I hived a swarm and the bees and queen 

 went in all right, but the queen came 

 out and took wing. I caught her and 

 put her back, and the operation was re- 

 peated several times, and the same day 

 the queen and all left, the bees had be- 

 gun to draw out the foundation. Were 

 they led off by the queen ? 



2. What makes bees destroy the 

 young drones that are not hatched out? 

 I had one colony to do this daily. It 

 was not because there was a dearth of 

 pasturage, for bees are swarming and 

 they are lying out at the same time. 



Bankston, Ala. M. W. Gardner. 



Answers. — 1. It isn't easy to say pos- 

 itively as to the likes and dislikes of a 

 queen. More likely it is the workers 

 whose tastes are to be consulted. At 

 any rate it is no unusual thing for bees 

 to swarm out after being hived, if the 

 place is too hot, or objectionable in any 

 other way, sometimes making quite a 

 start at housekeeping before leaving. 



Sometimes they seem to swarm out again 

 out of pure mischief. 



2. If honey was coming in plentifully, 

 and bees were destroying drone-brood, it 

 might be because they had a young 

 queen just commencing to lay, and so 

 had no more need of drones. 



The Most Desirable Hive-Cover. 



Which is the most desirable cover for 

 this climate, the gable, slanting or flat, 

 and why ? 



What are the objections to the gable ? 



Tacoma, Wash. G. D. Littooi'. 



Answer. — "You pays your money, 

 you takes your choice." Some like one, 

 some like the other. A gable cover, as 

 usually made, costs more than a plain 

 fiat one, and the flat cover is quite pop- 

 ular because it can fit right down on the 

 hive with no quilt or sheet under it, 

 having only a bee-space (scant % inch,) 

 between the cover and the top-bars. On 

 the other hand, it is difficult to have a 

 flat cover that will not warp. A gable 

 cover will not admit of piling up as will 

 a flat one. A good cover is made that is 

 a sort of compromise, fitting flat on the 

 hive but made slanting by making the 

 sides of the cover thinner than the mid- 

 dle. Straight cleats make piling up 

 possible in spite of the slanting cover. 



A Case of "Nameless Bee-Disease." 



I have a colony of bees that puzzles 

 me. They crawl out in front and up on 

 the side of the hive. They shake as if 

 they had a chill. Their abdomens are 

 greatly distended. A good many of 

 them are glossy black, and look like 

 skeletons. I never saw anything like it. 

 I have examined them several times, but 

 can see nothing the matter with them ; 

 and for all that so many of them die 

 every day, they are tolerably strong. 

 R. R. Stokesberry. 



Clinton, Ind. 



Answer. — You have on hand a case of 

 what has generally been called the 

 "nameless disease." It is also called 

 " bee-paralysis," the scientific name be- 

 ing bacillus clcpilis. In some cases little 

 harm seems to come from it, while a few 

 cases have been reported as terribly 

 destructive. Changing the queen has 

 been recommended as a cure, also feed- 

 ing salt water, while some who have 

 had much experience with the disease in 

 its milder form say that it soon disap- 

 pears if let entirely alone. 



