[ 



406 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



June 29, 1899. 



the supers, and May 14 the iJrst swarm issued, and up to 

 June 6 I had the sixth swarm. 



Just a few days ag-o one of the black colonies was stop- 

 ping work in the supers, so I thoug-ht I would see what was 

 the cause. As I .opened the hive I found that almost every 

 comb had more or less foul brood in it, and as I opened all 

 the other hives the same day, I found about half of the col- 

 onies had some foul brood, but only on two or three combs. 

 (It may be that it has spread all thru the colonies now.) I 

 really can't tell how sorry I am. I can almost say I love 

 my bees, but when I found foul brood in some of the hives I 

 almost felt like crying-. I have neither opened nor handled 

 any of the diseased colonies since, for fear some of their 

 bees might give the disease to the other colonies. I don't 

 like to destroy the diseased colonies — if possible I would 

 like to save them. How can I get rid of the disease with- 

 out destroying any of the colonies, at least those which are 

 not affected so badly ? I have heard of spraying the combs. 

 What do they spray with, and what kind of tool is used ? 



2. I expect to buy an extractor ; what kind would you 

 advise me to get ? I mean to increase my colonies to about 

 80. I have some two-story hives for extracting, and in the 

 fall I mean to extract from the brood-chamber, so I will 

 always keep nothing else but Langstroth size frames. 



New York. 



Answers. — 1. A good deal has been said one time and 

 another about using naphtol beta or some other drug to cure 

 foul brood, but hardly any one in this country nowadays 

 thinks it advisable to trust to anj'thing of the kind. It does 

 seem hard to destroy nice combs, but it may be the cheapest 

 thing in the long run. 



2. A 2-frame extractor, such as the Cowan, would prob- 

 ably answer your purpose nicely. 



Young Queen Swarming the First Year. 



If a young queen is given to a nucleus in April, before 

 swarming, will she swarm the first year ? 



Subscriber. 



Answer. — Quite likelj' she will if the colony becomes 

 strong, and room is limited, but she is not so likely to 

 swarm as an older queen. 



Colony Suffering from Laying Workers. 



I have a colony of bees that has laying workers. Will 

 it do any good to buy a queen and give to them ? I g-ave 

 them a frame of eggs and brood last week, and find that 

 they started several queen-cells, but in each one there are 

 four or five eggs to-day, so I think it is a waste of time to 

 give them any more — only on your advice will I do so. 



CiTYMAN. 



Answer. — It probably won't pay to fuss with them, for 

 in most cases the best thing is to break up such a colony 

 and give their frames to other colonies. If you had a 

 queen-cell just ready to hatch, or, better still, a voung 

 queen that was just hatcht, it might pay to give to them. 

 If you unite them with another colony or colonies, you can 

 afterward draw brood and bees from those colonies and 

 start a nucleus that will be ahead of what you would have 

 had from this colony of laying workers. 



Bees Affected Perhaps Not Foul Brood. 



About 30 days ago I was forming new colonies by cut- 

 ting out queen-cells from natural swarms, grafting- in 

 frames of brood, placing in new hives, and shaking off some 

 young bees from other hives, or changing places with other 

 hives, etc. I found one colony with brood badly scattered, 

 with sunken caps, with nearly all the sealed brood dead, but 

 I had shaken off two frames of brood before I noticed the 

 condition of the brood. I had given the new colony a capt 

 cell already. I promptly closed both hives, went to my 

 library and read up all I could find on foul brood. (I have 

 Langstroth and A B C), and after reading all in them on 

 the subject, I lookt over all back numbers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal that had anything- on foul brood, and from all the in- 

 formation I could get I was not satisfied whether this was 

 really foul brood or not. I then ordered Dr. Howard's book 

 on foul brood, and after reading- this book carefully I came 

 to the conclusion that my case was the same trouble as the 

 one Dr. Howard describes on pages 12 and 13 in his book, 

 and not foul brood. But the queen that hatcht from the 



cell given to the above-mentioned colony was lost in mat- 

 ing, and I gave this colony a frame of unsealed brood to 

 rear a queen. I examined this colony this morning, and I 

 found dead brood. I cut in one of the queen-cells and found 

 a sick larva. The cells are all capt now, and I find another 

 colony (next door neighbor) has dead brood. I burned the 

 old colony, hive and contents on the same day, or rather 

 night, that I made the discovery of dead brood. Now, the 

 looks of the combs were just like the cut in Langstroth's 

 book, page 448 — all, or nearly all, brood dead that is sealed, 

 but none seems to be affected that is not sealed. The dead 

 brood has no bad smell, and is not ropy, and none so far 

 that I have found settles down in the lower side of the cell, 

 but is still in perfect shape. The unsealed brood, so far as 

 I can tell, is perfectly healthy. Do you think this is foul 

 brood ? I will be glad to furnish some samples for a micro- 

 scopist. How shall I prepare it for the mail ? 



Georgi.\. 

 Answer. — According to j'our description it hardly 

 seems like foul brood, but it would be the part of wisdom to 

 consult some one better informed as to foul brood, say Dr. 

 Wm. R. Howard, Fort Worth, Tex., or Wm. McEvoy, Wood- 

 burn, Ontario, Canada. A good way to send the brood by 

 mail is to send it in a tin box such as is used for seidlitz 

 powders, or a plain square tin box with cover that any tin- 

 ner would make for you. Of course paper would be wrapt 

 around the tin box. 



Hive with Jumbled-I3p ComDs. 



I bought a colony of bees the hive of which had not 

 been opened for three years. I got it home and opened it, 

 and found all the frames (8 Langstroth) one solid mass. I 

 cut one out, but the comb fell to pieces. I then closed the 

 hive up. As I wish to get a swarm or two from the colony 

 bv dividing or otherwise, will vou jjease tell me what is 

 the best thing to do ? ' N. B. 



Answer. — If I understand you correctly, the frames 

 are so filled with combs built crosswise that they cannot be 

 taken out. The best thing is to let them swarm naturally, 

 and there is not much trouble but what a good colony in an 

 8-frame hive will do so. If you think there is any danger 

 they will not swarm, you might make the matter a little 

 more sure by refraining to give them surplus room. It may 

 not be a bad plan to continue a colony in the same hive, 

 depending on a swarm from them each year, and depending 

 on the swarm for surplus, putting the swarm on the stand 

 of the old colony, and putting the old colony close beside 

 the swarm, then a week later moving the old colony to a 

 new stand. That will make the swarm strong for surplus 

 honey, and it will weaken the old colony so it will not 

 swarm the second time. But if you care more for increase 

 than for honey, then put the swarm on a new stand, leav- 

 ing the old hive on its own stand. 



Several Questions Locust vs. Basswood, Etc. 



I find at this time, after hiving a large prime swarm, 

 the first thing they seem to be doing is to build a queen-cell 

 or cells. I use 8-frame dovetailed hives, with 7 frames of 

 straight comb which I have on hand, and one of these 7 I 

 give them, with only a small piece of comb, or a small piece 

 of foundation, so as to give them a place to build or deposit 

 wax, as I believe it must be their characteristic to build 

 some new comb. Now, is it natural for them to build 

 queen-cells? They are laying eggs in regular form. 



2. I have dipt one queen's wings, and intend to destroy 

 her when she goes out to lead a swarm, and eight days from 

 then destroy all queen-cells but one. to prevent further 

 swarmitig. What do you think of the value of this ? 



3. I have one hive vrhich is now hatching a large supply 

 of drones. How is it best, if best, to destroy these ? 



4. How do you estimate the value of locust as compared 

 with basswood for honey ? I ask the last question as locust 

 grows much more plentiful here than basswood. 



I might add that where I found queen-cells started in 

 these prime swarms I failed to find queens, as I lookt for 

 them, but possibly I overlookt them, as they were verv large 

 swarms, and the queens very shy, owing to their being cast 

 by the black bees. Poland. 



Answers. — 1. I think it is much more common than is 

 generally supposed for a swarm to build queen-cells. Son e- 

 times they are built right after swarming, and sometimts 

 later. The greater part of superseding is probably done 



