THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



155 



ISlhat and Jtoin. 



ANSWERS BV 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Economizing Wax. 



I have about 2.000 Gallup frames 

 wired, Init notuealed. C'au I till them 

 with thiu foundation (made on Given 

 press) by the button hook and melted 

 wax process, and be comparatively 

 sure of success if the frames of 

 foundation are tirst put in the brood 

 apartment 1 or 2 at a time and allowed 

 to be drawn out there V In view of 

 the scarcity of wax, I wisli to use the 

 sheets as " light as possible, say 12 

 sheets to the pound. 



A. A. E. 'Wn.BtJK. 



Moravia, N. Y., Feb. 22, 1884. 



Answer. — I think you make a mis- 

 take, and perhaps an unprohtable one 

 in using thin foundation in the brood- 

 chamber; another mistake, by using 

 any melted wax to fasten the founda- 

 tion to the top-bar ; another, by in- 

 serting sheets of foundation, a few at 

 a time ; combs will not be built as 

 perfectly in that way. For my pre- 

 ferred method of using foundation in 

 the brood-chamber, 1 will refer you to 

 page 348 of last year, and page 91 of 

 this vear. 



Q,aeenlessness. 



1. What is best to be done with the 

 combs and bees of a queenless colony, 

 during February and March, in Cen- 

 tral 'Ohio V 



2. Is it a good plan to remove all 

 unoccupied combs as early in the 

 spring as possible V 



I have 82 colonies now, having lost 

 2 by death, and one with plenty of 

 bees, but I found its queen in front of 

 the hive. J. R. Roebuck. 



Burton City, O., Feb. 19, 1884. 



Answers.— 1. If I had such a colony 

 with plenty of bees, I would unite 

 some weak colony with a good queen 

 with them, if I had sucli an one; if not, 

 would try to get a queen elsewhere. 

 If there are but few bees in the hive, 

 I would shake them out and lay the 

 combs away. 



2. Ido notremoveunoccupied combs, 

 in weak colonies, unless they are tilled 

 with honey, and the colony is too 

 weak to defend the entrance against 

 robber bees. Trouble from moths is 

 practically over here. Finding a 

 queen in front of a hive, does nc^ 

 prove that colony queenless. 



Pure Beeswax. 



Herewith I send you samples of 

 comb foundation. Will will kindly 

 give your opinion regarding them V 



! . Are they pure wax V 



2. If adulterated wax is used in the 

 making of them, what is the adulter- 

 ating constituent '? 



I am constrained to ask your opinion 

 concerning this comb foundation, be- 

 cause it is so different in appearance 

 to some samples I have received, and 



suggests to my mind that it is adul- 

 terated in some way. Many bee-keep- 

 ers who liave been supplied with it. 

 lind that they <aiin()t work easily with 

 the thin foundation, on account of its 

 being so brittle. If this foundation is 

 made from pure wax, what is the rea- 

 son of its appearance being so different 

 to that of the American '{ 



Bee-Keei'er in New Zealand. 



Answer. — On examination I be- 

 lieve the foundation to be of pure 

 wax. I forwarded a sample to Chas. 

 Dadant & Son, who are not only good 

 authority on beeswax, but bees with- 

 out the wax, and they consider it 

 pure. I will give you my opinion of 

 its faults. First, there is a great dif- 

 ference in the pliability of pure l)ees- 

 wax. This foundation was likely 

 made from liard, brittle wax; and 

 secondly, it has now been made so 

 long that it has lost much of the 

 little plasticity it had when new. Be- 

 sides this, I consider it poor print, as 

 it has too thick a base, and small, 

 hard-pressed sidewalls or lines. 



Diseased Bees. 



Will Mr. Heddon tell through the 

 Bee .Journal what is the cause of 

 my bees having the front of their 

 hives daubed over V If they have any 

 disease, what shall I use to cure themy 

 A Subscriber. 



Answer. — The cause of your bees 

 daubing the front of your hive is, 

 that the food of which they have been 

 partaking, has so loaded "them with 

 fecal matter that they can no longer 

 retain it ; not even until they can rise 

 upon the wing. We know of no cure, 

 but we are working at a preventive 

 for this condition of things, which is 

 called bee dysentery. 



Midwinter Report. 



In the last week in January, 1883, 

 I examined .51 colonies, all on the 

 summer stands in A. I. Root's chaff 

 liives. The brood frames of 50 of 

 these were covered with one thickness 

 of old sail-cloth, and above these were 

 clover-chaff' cushions, filling the upper 

 story completely but loosely, admit- 

 ting free circulation. Forty-nine col- 

 onies were in splendid condition, hav- 

 ing plenty of healthy bees and good 

 honey. A late swarm had perished, 

 being queenless. In preparing my 

 colonies for winter, I had unacount- 

 ably overlooked one, and this colony 

 had no covering whatever above the 

 brood frames. It was one of my 

 strongest colonies, both in numbers 

 and stores, when the section frames 

 were removed late in the fall, now 

 there was only a handful of bees 

 which showed any life, and they were 

 partly covered by their dead compan- 

 ions, and there was present dysentery 

 in its most malignant form. Had 

 this colony been prepared for winter 

 like the others of my apiary, I can 

 but conclude that they, to-day, would 

 be numbered among my best, and 

 like them would be free from that 

 dreaded malady, dysentery. All the 

 colonies I liave lost during the past ti 

 years by this disease, have perished 

 under the same conditions which 



proved so fatal to this fine colony. I 

 am convinced that there are various 

 causes which induce dysentery, and 

 the one most to be feared is a long 

 period of intensly cold weather with 

 insufficient protection. Please an- 

 swer the following question : l)o bees- 

 need upward ventilation to secure 

 best results when run for section 

 honey 'i Between last frame and side 

 of Roofs chatf liive there is a space of 

 ^4 inch the whole width of the hive; 

 ought this to be closed when bees are 

 working in the sections ? 



M. I. Todd. 

 Wakeman, O., Feb. 11, 1884. 



Answers. — 1. To those who hf^ye 

 never seen dysentery among bees 

 with conditions just opposite to those 

 surrounding the one colony you men- 

 tion, and found just sucli neglected 

 colonies with seemingly enough up- 

 ward-ventilation to freeze them to 

 death, the only ones in the apiary that 

 was free from the disease, your ex- 

 perience would cause them to believe 

 that tlie open chamber above caused 

 their death. There are many, how- 

 ever, that must know that that was 

 not the cause ; but I am forced to be- 

 lieve that in your apiary, this winter,, 

 it was the aggravation to the cause of 

 dysentery. I see no other rational 

 way to look at it. 



2. I have never been able to discover 

 any advantage in giving upward ven- 

 tilation during the honey flow. I find 

 it advantageous to have but one 

 thickness of material between the in- 

 side and outside of the supers, and 

 that well shaded. An outside cap 

 over all, I find not only expensive to 

 make and manipulate, but a positive 

 damage. 



3. The space you speak of will do no 

 harm, provided the bees do not build 

 comb in it, and that will depend upon 

 your system of management and loca- 

 tion. 



Position of Frames in the Hive. 



Will Mr. James Heddon please an- 

 swer this question through the Bee 

 Journal : What benefit is there in 

 having the frame to drop below the 

 level of the hive ? 



Frederic Allemand. 



Eden, Out., Feb. 20, 1884. 



Answer. — I suppose a host of old 

 practical bee-keepers are smiling at 

 this question, and wondering where I 

 can begin and leave off, in answering 

 it. It is something like, why is health 

 preferable to sickness? This I con- 

 sider the most valuable claim of the 

 now expired Langstroth patent. Mr. 

 L. discovered that bees would glue 

 all pieces of wood together that were 

 not far enough apart for them to pass 

 between them readily. He found 

 that in a space a little less than % inch, 

 bees would build but little comb, and 

 it being sufficiently large for their 

 passage, they would not glue it up. 

 Now, in putting a flat cover on to a, 

 hive, if the frames did not drop bee- 

 space below the top of the hive, the 

 liability to crush bees in placing it, 

 would "be greatly increased. After it 

 had remained in place sometime it 

 would be a very difficult job to remove 

 it. Some of the frames would stick 



