1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



219 



brood from the strong colony, then both would live and I'd 

 have two colonies. But giving brood from the strong didn't 

 strengthen the weak one as much as it weakened the strong 

 one. Then I tried uniting the weaklings, but somehow four 

 or Hve of them together seemed in a little while to just as 

 weak as if they had been left separate. So I finally settled 

 down to the very thing you propose, to unite a weakling with 

 a good colony, for the good colony would thus gain a little in 

 strength, and even if it didn't no harm would be done, for the 

 weakling was good for nothing any way. When they first 

 begin to fly they'll unite without any difficulty. 



Origfin and Use of Royal Jelly. 



What is royal Jelly made of ? Is it made by the bees or 

 man ? If by man, how would I begin to secure it, as I want 

 to rear some queens. I read that a certain man had his bees 

 to construct a number of queen-cells in the dead of winter — 

 not for queens, but for the sake of the royal jelly. I want 

 some information about this, as I would like to know how it is 

 produced. J. M. J. 



Pike, Tex. 



Answer. — Royal jelly is honey and pollen digested by the 

 nurse-bees and fed to the larvae intended to be queens. It is 

 supposed to be the same as is fed to all larvas during the first 

 three days of their existence. It probably cannot be manu- 

 factured by man, but you can get it in queen-cells by making 

 bees queenless. When bees prepare for swarming, they rear 

 a number of young queens, each one being lavishly supplied 

 with royal jelly beyond their ability to consume it. 



CONDUCTED BY 



AIRS. JEXNIE A.TCIILEY, BEEVILLE, TEX. 



From the North, to the South. 



Henry Guth, of South Dakota, spent a few days with us 

 lately. He is favorably impressed with Bee county for honey- 

 production. 



H. I>. Carrington, of Missouri, has landed in Bee county 

 with a carload of bees, and is well pleased with his move. 



M. Ramsay, of Ontario, Canada, recently made us a visit. 

 He has 100 colonies in a cellar at home, and thinks of moving 

 here, as he also is favorably impressed with this country. 



Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Adams, of Nebraska, have landed with 

 thair bees and effects, and are now locating their apiary west 

 of Beeville. They tried Brazoria county one or two years, 

 and found it too wet, and the honey too dark to be profitable 

 there. 



There is room for hundreds of bee-keeptrs in southwest 

 Texas. Jennie Atchley. 



Why Wouldn't the Bees Work in Supers P Etc. 



Jennie Atchley: — Please tell me why my bees would not 

 work in the supers last season. I put two-inch starters in all 

 the sections, but the bees failed to work in them for some 

 cause. When I saw they would not work in the sections, I 

 then filled some of the sections with comb and honey, and 

 some empty comb ; they would fill the empty comb, but would 

 not draw out the foundation. I placed the supers on gooa, 

 strong colonies, mostly young swarms. 



I have a good grade of bees, and they work well in hives 

 with frames. I am using the dovetailed 8-frame hive. I have 

 47 colonies, and I am comparatively a beginner. I lost 3 

 colonies during the freeze — they froze with plenty of honey in 

 the hives. What time shall I teed to have good strong colo- 

 nies for the honey-flow ? Will granulated sugar be better 

 than honey? My bees have plenty of honey in the hives. 



Arlington, Tex. Z. W. Gray. 



Friend Gray, it will be hard for me to tell why your bees 

 did not store in the sections, but I suspect they were not get- 

 ting honey sufficient to force them up into the boxes, or else 

 they were not strong enough. Try full-sized sheets in sections 

 next time, and if you can get it place a bait section with honey 

 already in it in the center of each super, and if your bees are 

 gathering much honey, and are strong in bees, I think you 



will find that they will store in the sections with foundation. 

 The combs and honey you gave them served as baits, is why 

 they went to work in the boxes filled with comb. 



You are not alone in losing bees by that unusual freeze, 

 as thousands of colonies froze to death. 



I would feed through May at your place, to get good, 

 strong colonies for the Juno flow. If I knew which way you 

 live from Arlington, I could better answer you, as I am well 

 acquainted with all your county, having lived at Arlington 15 

 years ago. If yon live out on the black land toward Grand 

 Prairie, get your bees good and strong for horse-mint in June. 

 If you live towards the river, or near Mr. Swan's place, you 

 will get some honey earlier than June, if it is not too dry. If 

 you are out towards Mountain Creek, you will get a crop in 

 June and July. If you are towards the Arkansas lane, or 

 Johnson Station, don't fail to get your bees ready for the 

 June flow. If you live in Arlington, or towards Handley, you 

 will get some ratan and grapevine honey in May. If I were 

 you I would watch my honey-resources closely, and always 

 feed up in time to have the bees good and strong by at least a 

 week ahead of your harvest, and you will catch a crop. 



Any further information that I am able to give, I will 

 gladly do so through the American Bee Journal. 



A Case of Little Wild Bees. 



I enclose four little bees or insects that I very much fear 

 are a destructive enemy to our bees. Soon after the late 

 freeze I noticed a great many dead bees in front of a hive, 

 and I cleared them away as is my custom. In a few days, 

 while passing the same hive, I noticed a great many bees 

 crawling around the front of the hive with the abdomens dis- 

 tended, or very much swollen, and shaking their wings very 

 similar to your description of bee-paralysis. I find these little 

 insects in the hives and boring into the middle of the combs, 

 and a good many in front of the hives among the dead bees. 

 Can it be possible that this insect is the cause of the paralysis, 

 and has not been discovered ? I am inclined to think this a 

 genuine case of paralysis. Whether the insects have any- 

 thing to do with it or not I cannot say, though, as I have never 

 seen any of it I have never given any attention to any of 

 those diseases, as I thought Texas was proof against bee-dis- 

 eases. I feel very much alarmed at this, for it has destroyed 

 a strong colony in a few days. Please advise met at once 

 what to do. I will isolate them from my apiary. 



Fairview, Tex. G. F. Davidson. 



Friend D., I sent your letter and insects to Prof. Cook, 

 who reports as follows on them : 



The insects sent by Mr. Davidson are small wild bees, of 

 the genus Angochlora. They are so crushed that it would be 

 impossible to determine the species. They are a beautiful me- 

 tallic green, as are all of the genus. They were in the hive as 

 pilferers, after the honey. I presume the bees are suffering 

 from paralysis, and so are weak and Justin condition to be 

 victimized by even these tiny wild bees. As weak colonies are 

 likely to be infested by the bee-moth or robbers, so are dis- 

 eased colonies more likely to be victims of such thieves as the 

 Andrena, Angochlora, etc. 



I have often noticed wild bees robbing from our hive-bees, 

 and have noticed many such cases through the bee-papers. I 

 doubt if such attack ever results in much harm. The robbers 

 are not numerous enough. A. J. Cook. 



Claremont, Calif. 



A B C of Bee-Culture.— This is the fine cyclopedia 

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 Remember, April 20 is the limit on these offers. Better order 

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