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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 'ZO or more apiarists 

 who help to make "Queries and Replies" so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Fiimigating' Foul-Broody Combs. 



In answering ray question on page 

 683, you omitted the important part of 

 the question, or perhaps I made the mis- 

 take myself. After "combs" please 

 insert "from foul-broody hives," and 

 answer accordingly. I. W. B. 



Ft. Lupton, Colo. 



Answer — Now you are making an en- 

 tirely different question, reading, "Can 

 combs from foul-broody hives contain- 

 ing pollen but no honey be fumigated so 

 as to be entirely safe ?" Some may say 

 that such combs can be so treated as to 

 make it safe to use, but a greater num- 

 ber will tell you that the only proper 

 treatment for such combs is the fire 

 treatment, burning up entirely all the 

 combs and frames. There is certainly 

 no safer plan, even if somewhat expen- 

 sive, and in the long run it may be the 

 least expensive. 



Bees Under the Snow, Etc. 



1. Is it a good plan to leave the snow 

 around the hives in the winter, and not 

 open the entrance where the bees go in 

 and out? or should the entrance be 

 opened in a cold winter? 



2. What is the best to put in the top 

 of the boxes ? M. W. 



Sterling, Ills. 



Answers — 1. Snow makes a good 

 blanket to keep warm, so long as it is 

 not warm enough for the snow to melt. 

 So it is generally considered a good 

 thing about a hive. Bat cases of injury 

 from snow have been reportod. If bur- 

 ied under several feet of snow, a hive 

 may be kept so warm as to start breed- 

 ing in winter, to the great detriment of 

 the colony. But that is not likely to 

 happen with an ordinary snow, unless 

 through big drifts. Sometimes the snow 

 melts at the entrance, then freezes up in 

 such a way that the entrance is closed 

 against the passage of air. Look out 

 for that, and don't let the entrance get 

 clogged. 



2. That question is pretty generally 



answered by deciding what is most con- 

 venient. Of course, some things are 

 better than others, but it is not always 

 the case that the best thing is enough 

 better than the most convenient thing 

 to pay for the difference of trouble in 

 getting the best. Yonr question no 

 doubt refers to the material to put in 

 the hive over the bees for wintering. 

 Among such materials are ground cork, 

 wool, woolen rags or pieces of old car- 

 pet ; chaff of different kinds, as timothy 

 and oats, etc. 



What Killed the Bees ? 



A neighbor of mine, in preparing his 

 bees for winter a few days ago, found 

 one of his best colonies out of 25, with 

 bees all dead. Everything seemed to be 

 in perfect condition, with plenty of 

 honey, and brood in all stages. The 

 bees were clustered in a cone shape, 

 with the queen. There is no bee-man 

 here that can give any reason for their 

 being dead. Please call attention to 

 this in the Bee Journal — perhaps some 

 of the numerous readers can explain the 

 mystery. L. B. 



Bridgeport, Conn. 



Answer — We shall be gl3,d to receive 

 satisfactory explanation from any one. 

 It is not easy in such a case to make a 

 decision without actually seeing the case 

 and knowing all the particulars. Noth- 

 ing is said about the strength of the col- 

 ony, nor as to the kind of bees present, 

 whether workers or drones. Some very 

 cold weather occurred before the date of 

 the question (Nov. 28) and it would not 

 be a very strange thing for a weak col- 

 ony to succumb to the cold. It would 

 have to be very weak, however. 



Another possibility is that the queen 

 was a drone-layer, and that a large 

 number of the bees present were drones. 

 These would not resist the cold so well 

 as workers, and as it is understood that 

 they arc dependent upon the workers to 

 prepare their food, it may well be that 

 this work of preparing food would put 

 the workers in poor condition to resist 

 the cold. lIT J 



But some entirely different cause for 

 the calamity may have been present, 

 and a look at the colony itself might 

 readily give a clew to the answer. 



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