572 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Hignonette Described. 



About 4 years ago I bought an 

 ounce of mignonette (Reseda grandi- 

 flwa) from a supply dealer, which 

 has been supplying my bees with 

 some pasturage up to the present sea- 

 son. It grows to a very great size, 7 

 or 8 feet high, with long limbs, and 

 all covered with yellow flowers, which 

 are never without bees on them. The 

 farmers around me, iuid others who 

 should know better, declare that it is 

 nothing but wild mustard, aud that 

 it will corrupt their fields. They have 

 actually requested me to have it re- 

 moved. Will you be kind enough to 

 describe the plant, distinguishing it 

 from the troublesome weed called 

 wild mustard, so that my neighbors 

 may sleep quietly without fear of 

 having their fields contaminated V 



A SUHSCIUBER. 



[The most positive way to distin- 

 guish between mignonette and any 

 and all kinds of mustard is the num- 

 ber of «tamens in each flower. In all 

 ■of the latter these are uniformly six — 

 never more nor less ; while in every 

 flower of mignonette ihe number is 

 from 10 to 40. The stumens are the 

 thread-like organs bearing at the top 

 and enlarged part called the anther, 

 in which the pollen is produced.— T. 

 J. IJlihrill.I 



^^hat iimX BoxD. 



ANSWERS BV 



James Eeddon. Dowagiac, Mich. 



Rules for thiN Departiiient. 



1. Give your name and post-olHce address. 



2. Be brief, and to the point. 



'<T. Send no simple questions, sucli as are 

 lanswered in the bee-boolts. 



4. Ask only such questions as are of 

 general interest. 



5. This department is not intended for 

 advertising any one's wares — therefore 

 Questions concerning- the manufacture of 

 STOOds for sale are not appropriate. 



6. Direct all questions to the editor — 



XHOS. G. NEWMAN, 

 935 West Madison St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



IVas it Foul Brood? 



On last Saturday evening, a neigh- 

 bor of mine found and cut a l)ee-tree 

 about three-(iu:i Iters of a mile from 

 my apiary. ( )u Sunday evening he 

 told me that he had failed to get the 

 bees into a hive, and incidentally 

 remarked that the comb had a disa- 

 greeable smell. That at once aroused 

 my suspicion that it was foul brood. 

 On Alonday morning I visited the 

 place for the purpose of making a 

 personal inspection. I found the tree 

 to be a post-oak with a small, dry 

 cavity, containing only a few bees 

 and some combs which had the appear- 

 ance of being new. or made this sea- 

 son, and containing about one pound 

 of honey, some pollen, and brood. 

 The capping of the brood seemed to 

 toe torn, but I saw no small holes such 



as are described by the writers on 

 this subject. The combs emitted a 

 very offensive odor, and were black, 

 except the edges which were bright. 

 The brood was all dead when I saw it. 

 I had the tree, the bees and the comb 

 cremated. I fear that it is a genuine 

 case of foul brood. Am I correct y 

 Is it usual for foul brood to exist with 

 wild bees V If it was foul brood and 

 having been exposed for a whole day, 

 ( my apiary being only three-fourths 

 of a mile away ) are my bees in dan- 

 ger y If they are, what can I do under 

 the circumstances ? I am alarmed 

 for the safet}- of my colonies. I am 

 a beginner in the bee-business, having 

 commenced three years ago with 4 

 colonies, and this year I have 6;^. I 

 use the Simplicity-Langstroth hives 

 with Quinby bottoms. This has not 

 been a good honev season, yet I will 

 be able to sell 3,oiiO or 4,oOO pounds of 

 honey. Bees have swarmed but very 

 little'this spring. I got only about 25 

 swarms from .S4 colonies, spring count. 

 I lost only one colony last winter, 

 having wintered them on the summer 

 stands. (Jeorge E. Burnett. 



Ilarrisburg. 111., Aug. 19, 1884. 



Answer.— If I were on the ground, 

 I think I could tell whether or not it 

 was foul brood, though I have never 

 seen a case of the disease. Ele who 

 cut the tree may have smelled one 

 bad odor, or what he called bad, and 

 you another caused by the dying of 

 ihe brood since the tree was cut. 

 Another question, Is there any foul 

 brood within 20 or 30 miles of you ? 

 Supposing it to be foul brood, whether 

 or not your bees would catch the dis- 

 ease depends upon whether they 

 visited the spot or not, and that de- 

 pends entirely upon the amoiuit of 

 secretion and nectar in the flowers 

 about you. If it was a time of honey- 

 dearth, they would most certainly 

 visit the spot to greater or less extent, 

 and would more than likely contract 

 the disease, provided the tree-colony 

 had it. Your (luestioii, like many 

 others, is quite deficient in detail, but 

 I guess that it is not foul brood. 



give the bees a thorough flight after 

 your arrival— a flight of 2 or 3 days 

 duration. Ventilate the hives thor- 

 oughly, fasten the frames securely, 

 drive very carefully, avoiding all jars 

 possible. 



Eipening Honey. 



Will you kindly inform me through 

 the columns of the Bee Journal 

 which is the best way of ripening 

 honey, say in quantities of from 3.5 to 

 40 barrels ? If a tank is used, of what 

 material and shape should it be 

 madeV Bees liave done well in this 

 neighborhood, aUliough the country 

 was entirely submerged for several 

 mouths. This year I have taken on 

 an average of l(io pounds of extracted 

 honey per colony. M. T. Hewes. 



New Roads, La.. Aug. 17, 1884. 



Answ^er.— The subject of artifi- 

 cially ripening extracted honey, is 

 one I have thought upon considerably, 

 but having had no practical experi- 

 ence in the matter, I feel incompe- 

 tent to give you the information de- 

 sired. Our California brethren have 

 had some experience in this matter, 

 and if I remember correctly, have in 

 the back numbers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal given us some illustrations and 

 descriptions of the methods which 

 they use. I believe large apiarists 

 will flnd it advantageous to ripen their 

 honey ai'tificially. 



Moving Bees. 



What is the best time and method 

 of moving bees on a wagon 16 miles, 

 between August and November V 



Le Claire, Iowa. A. M. Earley. 



Answer.— I wish that you had 

 mentioned the number of colonies 

 which you wish to move. If only .5 

 or 6, I should put them on a spring 

 wagon with straw in the bottom, or a 

 larger spriugless wagon filled with 

 straw will do first-rate. Put in just 

 twice as much straw as you think you 

 need. If you are going to move lo to 

 100 colonies, put a flat rack upon a 

 wagon and pile as broad and flat a 

 load of straw on the rack as possible. 

 AVheu it is 2 feet above the highest 

 point of the rack, you have enough. 

 Upon this load you cai^put about 30 

 colonies, and let the combs run cross- 

 wise of the wagon. I would prefer 

 to move them on a cool, cloudy day, 

 and after the queens had ceased lay- 

 ing for 10 days at least, or as late in 

 the season as vou feel warranted will 



Killing Bees. 



I send you a sample of bees which 

 I have taken from a colony of Ital- 

 ians. There are quite a number of 

 them, and the other bees are putting 

 them out of the hive and killing 

 them. For several days past, at al- 

 most any time during the day, I could 

 see from one to a half dozen being 

 put out. What kind of bees are they ? 

 and why are they treated thus V 



H. J. NORTHRUP. 



Lansingburgh, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1884. 



Answer. — After examining the 

 sample bees, I should think that they 

 were individuals of the colony which 

 is putting them out and killing them, 

 and which have devoted the most of 

 their time to robbing, and that, too, 

 in some place where they have be- 

 come daubed. I think you have rea- 

 son to rejoice that these worse than 

 worthless bees are being destroyed. 



Utilizing the Cappings of Honey. 



Whv could not the cappings ob- 

 tained while extracting be utilized by J 

 the bees ? It seems to me that if it t 

 was made very line, that they might ' 

 use it just its they use the natural 

 wax-scales. Has any one ever tried 

 it y A. C. Sanford. 



Ono, Wis. 



Answer. — We have had several 

 reports of experiments made in try- 

 ing to get the bees to utilize cappings 

 in the very way that you mention ; 

 but so far experiment lias proved it a 

 failure, and that it is better to melt 

 the cappings into wax and make the 

 wax into foundation. 



