June 29, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



405 



And the most wise of all wisely-directed labor, which 

 can be spent on the bees, is to see that the dead bees are 

 removed from the bottom-boards of the hives in the early 

 spring of the year. With movable bottom-boards this is 

 very easily done by putting a clean bottom-board on the 

 stand and setting the hive on it, after which the dead bees 

 are swept off from the one which was under tlie hive all 

 winter, the board being cleansed with water if needed, 

 when it is ready to be put on the stand of the next to set 

 that hive on. And where the bottom-board is not only 

 movable, but reversible, the work is still more simplified, 

 for in turning the deep side down, which was up during the 

 winter, the dead bees mainly fall off, and what adhere can 

 do no harm, as they are under out of the way, and will 

 fall off themselves before you wish to use the deep side 

 again for the next winter. But with hives having the bot- 

 tom-boards nailed fast, the work is greater, but even then 

 it should never be neglected. A clean hive should be placed 

 on the stand, and the frames from the hive in which the bees 

 have wintered be set over into this clean hive, when the 

 now vacated hive should be thoroly cleaned of all dead bees, 

 dirt and tilth, when it is read)- for the next colony, and sn 

 on thruout the apiary. 



In all the work done in the apiary, I doubt whether 

 there is any that pays as well as the removing of the dead 

 bees from the bottoms of the hive, for bees can prosper lit- 

 tle better with a lot of their dead companions underneath 

 their brood-nest than could we with several corpses in the 

 cellar under our dwellings. — Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



CONDCCTED BY 



r>K. C. C. AIir^T^ER. Marengo, III. 



(The Questions may be mailed to tlie Bee Journal otflce, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.] 



How Often to Examine Hives. 



I would like to know how often bee-keepers examine 

 their hives. Mine get fast in spite of me. \'.\. 



Answer. — Some say they don't examine them more 

 than once in a year or two, but probably they are quite ex- 

 ceptional. Others examine them two or three times in a 

 season, and many otice a week. If you mean that the 

 frames aie stuck fast with propolis when you say •■mine 

 get fast in spite of me," you will probably find that you will 

 always liave trouble with propolis. But the trouble will be 

 mucii less if you have such frames and rabbets that the 

 point of contact will be very small. The trouble will also 

 be less with even the worst kind of frames if you carefully 

 scrape out all bee-glue once a year. 



*-•-> 



Swarms Deserting the Hive— Combs Wrapt in Tarred 

 Paper. 



hottest part of the day. Be sure to have the hive well ven- 

 tilated by raising up, and for a day or two it may be well 

 to have the cover slightly open or raised, so the air can cir- 

 culate freely thru. 



2. Unless the smell of tar is very strong I hardly think 

 the bees will mind it. but I may be mistaketi. I have read 

 of Australian bee-keepers wrapping foundation in tarred 

 paper before giving it to swarms, and it was claimed that it 

 prevented foul brood, but I don't know whether it has been 

 tried in this country. 



1. Is there anj-thing to be done to keep a swarm of bees 

 in the hive ? I hived my new swarms last year in 10-frame 

 hives without foundation, but most of them went away, 

 after staying about an hour. This year I hived them in the 

 same kind of hives with foundation, but I had the founda- 

 tion wrapt in tar paper for a couple of weeks before I put it 

 into the hives, in order to keep foul brood otit, but my bees 

 didn't stay ; some of them did not want to go into the hives. 

 ^ - 2. Had the smell of tar any effect on the bees, or d<> 

 they hate it, and will it keep foul brood out of a colony .' 

 My bees are all diseased with foul brood, and almost every- 

 body else's bees have the same trouble. Mrs. S. S. 



Answers. — 1. In probably the great majority of cases 

 a swarm deserts a hive because it is too close and hot. If 

 the hive is clean, and if it is in a cool, shady place, with 

 plenty of ventilation, the swarm is likely to remain. If 

 the hive must remain in a hot place, it may be a good plan 

 for a day or two to keep it sprinkled with water during the 



Likely Afflicted with Paralysis. 



I have a colony of bees in which there are a number of 

 small, black, glistening bees, and other bees seem to be try- 

 ing to kill theiit off. The colony is in a prosperous condi- 

 tion, but I can't understand where the black bees come 

 from. Penn. 



Answer. — Verj- likely they are afflicted with paralysis, 

 and as far north as Pennsylvania you need pay no atten- 

 tion to it, for the disease will probably disappear after a 

 little while of itself. So far there seems to be no reliable 

 remedy for it. 



Keeping Roaches, Ants, Etc., Out of Hives. 



I want to find out how to keep bugs out of hives, such 

 as roaches, ants, mice, bee-lice, etc. N. Mex. 



Answer. — The best way to keep roaches, ants and mice 

 out of hives is to have no retreat in the hive to shelter them. 

 Have your hive so arranged that bees can get to any part of 

 it, and the bees will keep out the intruders. An ant or a 

 roach can get thru a crack that will not allow a bee to pass, 

 and in hives that have a quilt over the frames they have a 

 safe place for a nest into which the bee cannot come, that 

 is, between the quilt and the hive-cover. But if you use a 

 plain board cover, there is no such retreat. The bee-louse 

 (braula cceca) is troublesome in other lands, but I never 

 heard of it being troublesome in this countrj'. 



A Quartet of Questions. 



1. I want some colonies to build all the comb they can 

 from frames with foundation, and I don't care for surplus 

 from those colonies. Which way would you advise for best 

 results ? 



2. Will bees cross a bay (1'; miles across) as readily as 

 if it was land ? 



3. At what age is a queen most prolific ? 



4. How many Hoftinan frames should a g;ood queen 

 have filled with brood by this time? I mean everything 

 favorable for her laying to her full capacity. My best queen 

 has 17 frames well filled in three stories. W.\SH. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. Perhaps something like 

 this: Get 'the colony strong, filling as many frames as 

 possible in two stories. Take out about half the combs 

 with brood, giving frames of foundation in place of the 

 brood taken away, and putting the foundation in the cen- 

 tral part. Put the brood taken away in an upper story, 

 with excluder between it and the two lower stories. Repeat 

 the process every week or so, always taking away the . 

 oldest brood present. 



2. I think not. But once having found their waj- across, 

 thev would go across the water that distance for stores as 

 readily as if it was dry land. 



3. Probably in her second year. 



4. I should say she was doing good work if she filled 12 

 or 14. Your queen must be a fine layer. 



Bees Affected with Foul Brood Extracting. 



1. I have kept bees over three years, and this spring I 

 was especially interested in them. I have spent lots of 

 money for them by buying supplies, bee-books and bee- 

 papers. I was witli the bees every day from five to six 

 times, from about the beginning of April. I have 1.5 colo- 

 nies—ten in 10-frame hives, and five in 8-frame hives. 

 Eight colonies in the 10-frame hives are pure Italians, and 

 the other two colonies in the other two 10-frame hives are 

 pure blacks ; the 5 colonies in the S-frame hives are hybrids. 

 Every colony came thru the winter very nicely, and built 

 up fast. The beginning of May they started to work in 



