788 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Dec. 14 1899. 



more of a figure in the matter of successful wintering than 

 does the little additional room in the brood-chamber. 



The Lang-stroth hive is 9'2 inches deep. The hives 

 which I use, and which I am comparing- with the Lang- 

 stroth, are 12 inches deep, both taking 8 frames. The 

 deeper hive has about 540 cubic inches of space more than 

 the shallower one, and this space is largely taken up by the 

 additional amount of hone)' which the hive contains above 

 that which is contained in the smaller hives. Just how 

 much credit is due the remaining additional space for the 

 successful wintering of the bees I leave each one to judge 

 for himself. I give the credit to the honey, and not to the 

 space. 



If added size of brood-chamber, aside from its use as 

 storage-room for added stores, contributes anything to the 

 successful wintering of bees, it seems that many who use 

 deeper hives than the Langstroth have not found it out. 

 Their practice is to contract the brood-chamber to corres- 

 pond with the size of the brood-nest. 



Decatur Co., Iowa, Oct. 31. 



Why the Widely Differing- Views of Apiarian 

 Writers ? 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



PARTLY for lack of time, and partly because I wanted 

 to make further investigation, I have not sooner re- 

 plied to some things said some time ago by my good 

 friend, G. M. Doolittle. A rather common question for be- 

 ginners to ask is : "Why is it that such widely diflfering 

 views are given in the bee-papers by diiferent writers ?" I 

 think there are at least three reasons for diiference of 

 views : Difference in localitj-, difference in bees, and errors 

 of opinion. I don't know just how much each of these 

 figures in the differences between Mr. Doolittle and myself, 

 but I am sure we are both after the truth. 



RECEIVING CRITICISM KINDLY. 



And that reminds me of a question Mr. Doolittle asks 

 me on page 484 : 



" Does not the Master enjoin on his followers that they 

 have grace given them from on high to receive kindly any 

 criticism, or anything else, no matter whether given in the 

 spirit of kindness or not ?" 



I don't know whether I can give the exactly correct an- 

 swer to that question. My idea of receiving kindly is that 

 when I receive anything kindly from any one I am thank- 

 ful to him for it. If a man tries to kill me, I don't think I 

 ought to try to kill him in return (unless it might be to save 

 my own life), but I wouldn't feel under any special obliga- 

 tion to offer him a resolution of thanks for his murderous 

 attempt. Neither do I think I am expected to have exactly 

 the same feeling toward one who shows up my faults with 

 the sole object of humiliating me, as toward one who with 

 a spirit of kindness wants to show me the truth. At any 

 rate, I hope there will never be anything but a spirit of 

 kindness between us, Mr. Doolittle. 



HIVING A SWARM WITH A NUCLEUS. 



On page 371 Mr. Doolittle speaks of hiving a swarm 

 ■with a nucleus, and says : 



"There is only one waj' which I know of without hav- 

 ing many bees killed and making a general ' muss ' of it all 

 around ;" and that way is to have all the queens with dipt 

 "wings, and when a swarm issues to set the old hive in place 

 >of the nucleus, setting the nucleus on the old stand, after 

 first smoking its bees so as to get them to fill themselves 

 with honey; then when the swarm begins to return, to 

 shake the bees and queen of the nucleus on the ground a 

 foot to 18 inches from the hive, and all will unite peaceably. 

 " If you do not take these precautions," says he, " the bees 

 in the nucleus would kill the bees from the swarm as fast as 

 they came back, in nine cases out of ter." 



I read that with some degree of surprise, having many 

 times united a swarm with a nucleus in a simpler manner, 

 as follows : When a swarm issues take the old hive from 

 the stand, disposing of its queen in any way thought best ; 

 set the nucleus on the stand whence came the swarm, and 

 let the bees do the rest. In other words, I did not take the 

 precaution to shake the bees off" the nucleus on the ground. 

 Before moving the nucleus I always gave it a little smoke 

 to keep the bees from stinging me. I had never noticed the 

 bees fighting, but as I had not given the matter very close 

 attention, and this was only June 15, I thought I would 

 watch carefully, in case I had the opportunity, during the 



rest of the season. I had the opportunity in four different 

 cases in the month of July, but could see no fighting what- 

 ever. I do not understand why it is that in nine cases out 

 of ten the entire swarm should be killed for Mr. Doolittle, 

 and none at all for me. Hon. R. L. Taylor's experience 

 agrees with mine. 



METHODS OF MAKING NUCLEI. 



On the same page (371) Mr. Doolittle says four quarts 

 of bees will not make a good nucleus, that is, the bees will 

 not stay unless precautions are taken, but that one quart 

 will make a good nucleus if the bees are imprisoned 48 

 hours and fed, or if brought from an out-apiary and im- 

 prisoned 24 hours. If I should take four quarts of bees 

 without any precaution, and put them on a frame of brood 

 and one of honey, I think enough would remain to make a 

 fair nucleus, but as I have not actually tried for years tak- 

 ing bees from a hive with a laying queen to form a nucleus, 

 I am not positive about it. It may be that the kind of 

 brood has something to do in the case. But I am very posi- 

 tive I would not take the trouble to imprison bees to form 

 nuclei. If I take two frames of brood with adhering bees 

 from a queenless colony and put them in an empty hive, 

 plenty of bees will remain to make a good nucleus. I have 

 formed nuclei by the hundred in this manner. If I have no 

 queenless colony, it is easier to make one queenless than to 

 imprison the bees. I think it is W. W. Somerford who says 

 his bees will desert the nucleus, and he thinks the difference 

 is in the kind of bees. 



LOSING A QUEEN BY HR'ING A SWARM WITH A NUCLEUS. 



On page 484, Mr. Doolittle wants me to tell where I got 

 from his article the idea that if " Iowa " hived a swarm 

 with a nucleus, he would " lose a queen by the operation." 

 Mr. Doolittle, I didn't get it from your article, and you 

 would never have thought so if you had had time to give 

 the matter proper attention. But you wrote it in July, 

 when, no doubt, the bees were making heavy demands on 

 your time. I had no reference to your plan. I was trying 

 to show that he did not mean to hive a swarm in a nucleus, 

 and said //he did so he would lose a queen, and we have no 

 right to suppose he had your plan in mind, else why should 

 j'ou give him the plan afterward ? 



I think that very often such misunderstandings occur 

 from the fact that one person has one thing strongly in 

 mind, the other another, each supposing the other is look- 

 ing from the same standpoint. You had yourplan strongly 

 in mind, and I was thinking only from "Iowa's" stand- 

 point. McHe'nrv Co., 111., Nov. 28. 



Report of the Proceeding's of the 30th Annual 

 Convention of the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, Held at Philadelphia, 

 Pa., Sept. 5, 6 and 7, 1899. 



BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 



[Continued from pa^e 773.J 



Sec. Mason then read the following paper by Mr. N. E. 

 France, of Wisconsin, on 



Foul Brood— Its Detection and Eradication. 



Most bee-keepers who care enough about the welfare of 

 their bees to attend bee-keepers' conventions, and carefully 

 stud)' their books and publications on modern bee-culture, 

 almost without exception know how to detect and eradicate 

 this dreaded and contagious disease. 



Often I find practical bee-keepers who are so busy with 

 their many duties, and not having paid attention'to the 

 valuable articles written on foul brood in their papers on 

 bee-culture, think their bees are all right, but because they 

 did not do as well as in former years attribute it to bad luck 

 or poor seasons. Upon my examination of such apiaries I 

 find, to their surprise, foul brood in several hives. 



Again, so often I am askt if foul brood is near their 

 apiary, and if I answer no they release all care or fear, and 

 do not inform themselves so as to be able to detect it should 



