44 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



February 



To be quite sure, and to see whether 

 the doctor knew what he was talking 

 about. :SIr. Shaffer brought in one 

 other diseased foul broody frame, this 

 one I did not fumigate, and it was cul- 

 tivated to develop the disease by Dr. 

 Guyer. After thorough testing the 

 doctor declared that this last one flour- 

 ished with living bacillus and spores. 

 The results of the test by Dr. Guyer 

 and the ones I had made on colonies 

 the fall before and upon which at that 

 time, no signs of the disease could be 

 noticed, made me express myself as I 

 did. that fumes of formaldehyde would 

 kill the foul brood bacillus and spores, 

 and it to be a sure cure of the disease. 

 Then later on, when It had become 

 warm, somebody came in and reported 

 the disease had shown up again. I 

 went right along with the party and 

 I convinced myself he had told the 

 truth. The next day I went out to H. 

 Shaffer, and had to learn there that the 

 disease had shown up again. Some 

 other cases, which I had treated result- 

 ed in perfect success, and some not. 

 The result of the experiment stunned 

 me. At that time I had no explanation 

 to offer as to what caused the re-ap- 

 pearance. Trying to learn, and to find 

 an explanation, I commenced to hunt 

 and read a good many discussions in 

 German papers, and what I learned I 

 wrote down in the article. It seems to 

 me that what is in this article clears 

 up a good many points as to why the 

 disease so easily reappears." 



BEE NOTES. 



By H. G. Sammis. 



AP'IXE QUEEN for breeding pur- 

 poses should not be allowed to 

 expend her force by too much 

 egg-laying, but should be kept in a 

 nucleus and only allowed to keep that 

 up moderately strong. 



When hiving swarms on hot days 

 if the bees cluster on front of the 

 hive and hesitate to go in, do not hurry 

 them too much, they are excited and 

 hot and want plenty of air. Raise up 

 the front of the hive an inch or two 

 and shade them with a board, and 

 when they get cooled off they will go 

 in all right. Always make it comfort- 

 able for swarms; it is the only 

 holiday they take in the whole year. 

 In this locality the linden or basswood 



honey flow comes to an end about July 

 12th. Sumac continues to bloom about 

 a week longer, after which we have a 

 honey dearth until about August lOth, 

 when boneset and goldenrod begin to 

 yield nectar. Last year during this ' 

 interval of scarcity I left on the hive 

 some supers which contained sections 

 in all stages of completion. The re- 

 sult was the sections were all badly 

 punctured, the bees carrying the honey 

 down into the brood nest again, using 

 it in rearing brood. I mention this 

 fact for the benefit of those who may 

 be similarly situated, and I advise that 

 all sections be taken off the hives after 

 the summer honey flow has ended, and 

 all partly filled ones be replaced in 

 time to catch the fall flow, providing, 

 of course, you are fortunate enough 

 to have one. After one has produced 

 a case of nice, fancy grade honey it 

 is important to know how to take it 

 from the hive and not have the bees 

 puncture the nice white cappings, 

 which is often done, and the honey is 

 then rated as second-grade. AYhen 

 ready to take off honey, approach the 

 hive and with the smoker well going, 

 send in a few puffs of smoke at the 

 entrance, then raise the back end of 

 the super and puff in a little more 

 smoke very gently. Do not frighten 

 the bees by rough handling or jarring 

 the hive in any way, for then they will 

 run to the boxes and puncture the cap- 

 pings and fill themselves with honey. 

 Aftrr raising the super about siK in lies 

 on the back end with one hand, slip 

 the bee escape under it with the other 

 hand and adjust everything in its 

 place. The bees will all make their 

 exit through the escape in the board 

 one by one, and your super will be 

 ready to come off the next day. It is 

 best to put on escapes towards evening, 

 so the bees in the super will not be too 

 hot. Now if you have been judicious 

 and expeditious in all your manipula- 

 tions you may carry off your super of 

 nice comb honey the next morning 

 without a puncture or a scratch. 



The cheapest and best way to pro- 

 tect the bees in winter is by using good 

 chaff hives. 



A good way to keep the extra combs 

 is to hang them in a rack in a dry- 

 room. 



Centreport, N. Y., Nov. 21, 1903. , 



