Sept. 7, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



567 



bill instead of swallowing- it, seems to reconcile thing^s 

 nicely, and should not be forgotten — unless disproved. 

 Page' SOS. 



CONDUCTED EY 



/JR. C. C. AllLLER. Alarens-a, III. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.] 



Probably Faulty ttueens. 



I received an Italian queen from a queen-breeder who 

 advertises in the American Bee Journal, about the last of 

 July. She was successfully introduced in about two days. 

 I noticed that she laid four or five eggs in one cell all 

 around the edge of the bottom, but not in the center, 

 some eggs on the side of the cell and some in the center of 

 bottom, and sometimes one egg right on the end of another 

 egg. Where the brood is sealed it shows to be more than 

 half drone-brood, right among the workers in good worker- 

 comb. My neighbor got a queen from the same breeder, at 

 the same time, and his has all drone-brood in the worker- 

 comb. What do you think is the trouble ? Mich. 



Answer. — It is to be feared that the queens are at fault, 

 if you are sure that the queen is present in both cases. Re- 

 port the circumstances to thf breeder, and the probability 

 is that he will replace the queens. 



MIxt Bees in a Colony. 



I had a colony of bees come to nie June 1. being of a 

 different kind of bees from what our general hybrids are. 

 They are smaller and slimmer, with very narrow whitish- 

 looking bands around the body ; very gentle, and g^ood 

 workers. About the first of July I gave Ihis and one other 

 colony Italian queens : the one has now nice yellow Italian 

 young bees, and the one I refer to above has young bees a 

 little larger and not so slim as the old, with only two yel- 

 low bands. Why are they not all yellow ? Illinois. 



Answer. — The dift'erence in the j'oung bees that emerge 

 three weeks after the introduction of the new queens is 

 caused by the difference in the new queens them.selves. If 

 you refer to the j'Oung bees emerging before that time, 

 then of course these young queens have nothing to do with 

 that. If the two queens were alike in every respect, then 

 their progeny would be the same, no matter what kind of 

 bees were in the hive at the time ot their introduction. The 

 queen that produces workers with only two yellow bands 

 has probably mated impurely. 



Directions for Use of Naphthaline and Naphthol Beta. 



On page 467, Mr. Cowan, in an article on the treatment 

 •of foul brood, says he always has naphthaline in the hive, 

 and that he uses naphthol beta in food for bees. 



1. Would there be any evil results from the use of either 

 of these drugs ? 



2. What quantity of naphthaline should be placed in a 

 hive, and how could it best be kept from the bees ? 



3. How much naphthol beta should be used per gallon 

 of food ? 



At present there is no foul brood in my apiary, but 

 there is quite a bit in this neighborhood, so I wish to guard 

 against it as much as possible. Ont.\rio. 



Answers. — 1. A great many have used them, especiallj- 

 -across the ocean, and I've never seen any report of bad re- 

 sults. 



2. No special precaution is needed to keep it from the 



bees ; they'll look out for that part themselves. Mr. Cowan 

 says in the " British Bee-Keepers' Guide-Book :" "Naph- 

 thaline in balls is generally used ; two of these split in 

 half being the proper dose. The pieces are placed on the 

 floor-board of the hive in the corner farthest from the en- 

 trance. The temperature of the hive causes the naphtha- 

 line to evaporate, and it must therefore be retiewed as re- 

 quired." 



3. Mr. Cowan says ; " For convenience of measuring, 

 procure from a chemist an 8-ounce bottle, markt with 16 

 divisions of half an ounce. Thus each division will be 

 equal to one tablespoonful. Put an ounce of naphthol beta 

 into the bottle and half fill with pure methylated spirit. 

 Shake until the crystals are dissolved. Then add spirit till 

 the liquid reaches the fourteenth line on the bottle. The 

 solution is then ready for use. Each division will contain 

 one tablespoonful, which is just the right quantity for 10 

 pounds of sugar. The solution should be stirred into the 

 syrup while the latter is still hot." 



Likely a Laying-Worker. 



I hived a small after-swarm in July, which has been 

 building up very slowly. This morning I noticed a number 

 of dead bees in front of the hive, and on examination I 

 found a capt queen-cell on one of the combs which puzzled 

 me, as they must have a queen, as two of the combs had 

 brood and eggs. The capt brood-cells project like drone- 

 cells, but they seem to be all workers. Some of the brood 

 ready to emerge from the cells were dead. The eggs in the 

 cells were laid very irregularly, some cells contained one, 

 two, and some three eggs. What is the matter with them ? 



Wis. 



Answer. — There is a possibility that a drone-laying 

 queen is present, btit it is much more likely that you have a 

 case of laying-workers. The bees, you say, are all workers. 

 That's because the brood has not yet begun to hatch. As 

 soon as the young bees begin to come out of their cells, you 

 will find all drones. The best thing you can do is to break 

 up the colony and distribute the bees and combs to other 

 colonies. 



Colony With Laying-Workers. 



We had a colony that cast a swarm. May 25, 1899, which 

 we hived in a Simplicity hive. About ten days later we 

 lookt into the hive and found the colony in first-class con- 

 dition, with plenty of brood started, and it being just in 

 the middle of the white clover flow we put on an Ideal super 

 at once. About Juh' 25 we took oft' Impounds of honey ; the 

 colony was at that time in apparent good condition, but we 

 did not examine the brood-chamber, and yesterday (Aug. 

 22) we went to the yard to put on supers, when we noticed 

 that this colony had decreast in population, and on exami- 

 nation of the brood-chamber we found the following condi- 

 tion : 



Colony queenless, with no eggs, nor larva; in worker- 

 cells, but an extra amount of drone-comb, and in that we 

 found plenty of eggs and larv;e in all stages, even some 

 already capt, and on tha.t dronr-rotiid were seven i/iicoi-ceUs, 

 two of them already capt, and the others well advanced 

 with larva? in them. The brood-comb was scatteringly 

 filled with pollen and honey, but no eggs nor larva'. Please 

 do not overlook the fact that those queen-cells are built over 

 iironc-iclls onlj-. Illinois. 



Answer. — You have a plain case of laying-workers. 

 Sometimes it is hard to say whether laying workers make 

 the trouble or a drone-laying queen, but when, as in the 

 present case, eggs and brood are found in drone-cells and 

 none in worker-cells, then you may be sure of laying-work- 

 ers. The bees seem to know that all is not right, and make 

 desperate efforts to secure a queen by trying to rear one 

 from the only kind of brood they have — drone-brood — but it 

 is all of no avail, and you will find nothing but drone-brood 

 in those queen-cells, which will probably die in the cells. 

 When they are so anxious to have a queen as to try to rear 

 one from drone-brood, one would think they would be glad 

 to accept any queen offered them, but with a strange per- 

 versity they almost invariably refuse the best queen given, 

 unless it be a virgin queen that has just emerged from the 

 cell. The workers are advanced in age, and will die off 

 rapidly, so on the whole the best thing you can do is to 

 break up the colony, giving the bees and combs to other 

 colonies. 



