526 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 15, 



half-story, the lower story containing 2,000 cubic inches. 

 Joseph I. Earle advocates a hive measuring 12 inches each 

 way, and that from such a hive he gets 200 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey each year, the honey-tiow lasting two and a half 

 to three months. 



DRUG TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD. 



Rev. W. F. Clarke in Gleanings says that in trying to cure 

 foul-brood by the phenol treatment, he found a couple of 

 wrinkles ho thinks worth knowing, viz.: 



"The first is, to feed the phenolated syrup at a lime when 

 there is absolutely no honey coming in. Take advantage of 

 the period of complete cessation af nectar-yielding, when the 

 bees are ravenous for food, and are like a hungry man who 

 will not be particular to getquail-on-toast, and other epicurian 

 dishes. The second wrinkle is to take care not to medicate 

 the syrup too strongly with phenol. I overlooked in my first 

 trials this pregnant sentence: 1 500 dispatched the bacillus 

 quickly when honey was coming, in and 1 750 when it was 

 not.' I found that, even in a time of scarcity, the bees refused 

 the 1 500 decoction, and I kept diluting the syrup until they 

 took it freely." 



The editor comments: "With regard to the phenol, I per- 

 sonally tried it diluted 500, 1,000, 750, and, in fact, all sorts 

 of dilutions: and in nearly every case it would apparently 

 check the disease, but not in a single case do I remember that 

 it cured it entirely, in the long run; apd when we were fussing 

 with phenol, foul brood in the meanwhile got pretty well scat- 

 tered over our yard." 



SHAKING BEES OFF COMBS. 



Doolittle thus describes his method in Gleanings: "I place 

 the projecting ends of the frame on the ends of the two middle 

 fingers of each hand, and then with a quick upward stroke 

 throw the ends of the frame against the ball or thick part of 

 the hand at the base of the thumb. As the frame strikes the 

 hand, let the hands give a sudden downward motion, which 

 makes the shock still greater. As the frame strikes the fingers 

 it is again thrown back against the hand, aud so on till all or 

 nearly all of the bees are off. The principle is, that the bee is 

 on its guard all the while to keep from falling off, thus hold- 

 ing on tenaciously so as not to be easily shaken off by any mo- 

 tion which tends to throw it down. By a sudden stopping of 

 the upward and a quick downward motion, the bees are thrown 

 off their guard and dislodged from the comb in an upward di- 

 rection." 



The editor adds in a foot-note: "I sometimes practice your 

 method; but more often I pick the frame up, grasping the 

 projecting end of one end of the top-bar; and, doubling my 

 fist, I strike the top-bar one sharp, quick blow at a point where 

 there are no bees." 



I like the Doolittle plan for heavy frames, and the editor's 

 plans for frames not so heavy. For very light frames I like a 

 plan still different. Hold the frame in the left hand by the 

 end of the top-bar, and pound on the left hand with the right 

 flst. 



-******■ 



Soui1r)crr) T)cparin)cr)i^ 



CONDUCTED Br 

 DR. J. P. II. BliO^V:s\ A.UGUSTJI, GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department. — Ed.T 



Experience with Snrarin§ — Oood Queens, Etc. 



Large swarms have given me some trouble this season, 

 when I neglected to put on the surplus arrangement as soon 

 as hived, or shortly after. Every one so hived swarmed out. 

 In hot weather it is a safe rule to give ample room to begin 

 with. As a further precaution, if thought necessary, put on 

 a queen-trap. Don't depend entirely upon the proverbial 

 frame of brood. It doesn't work every time. 



The queen-trap is not reliable for hiving after-swarms 

 when the prime swarm issues before any of the cells are com- 

 pleted, and the old hive is moved to a new stand. Some of 

 the young queens get out. 



A good-sized mirror, held so as to throw the reflection 

 among the bees, will generally bring down absconders. This 

 was given some time ago in the Uee Journal, but is, I think, 

 worth repeating. It seems to work when the sun is shining. 

 But what are we to do when the sun refuses to shine for us ? 

 Try cow-bells, I suppose. 



I find it a good plan to winter two to four queens in 4- 

 frame nuclei, for queening any colonies that are found queen- 

 less in the spring. If not needed, they will generally make 

 good colonies for June, by giving plenty of combs. 



A WAY TO GET GOOD QUEENS. 



An easy way to get them is to select your queen-rearing 

 colonies in the early fall. Give them two stories of 8 or 10 

 frames each ; build up very strong by stimulating brood-rear- 

 ing and giving eggs from your nuclei, if necessary. See that 

 they have 40 to 50 pounds of stores for winter and spring. 

 Feed again in the spring during unfavorable weather, to get 

 them to swarm early. We ought to have our queens laying 

 by April 20. Then, by giving each three or four frames of 

 bees and brood, and lilling up with drawn combs, or full sheets 

 of foundation, with a favorable season they ought to give some 

 surplus in June. By fall they should be about equal to the 

 old colonies that did not swarm. In this way we get our in- 

 crease at a very small expense to tbe honey crop; and by 

 using large hives in most seasons we have but little trouble to 

 prevent swarming when running for extracted honey. 



BEES REARED IN LARGE HIVES. 



Large hives— "double discounters," but small ones for 

 manipulation. That is about where Mr. Davenport leaves us 

 on page 391. True, he says bees, but were they not de- 

 veloped in large hives — boxes? He also says: " They livei 

 longer, and a good deal longer than ordinary bees." That 

 seems to be a very important point in favor of large hives. I 

 am confident that the bees, and especially the queens, of a 

 thoroughly developed colony, are more vigorous and longer- 

 lived than those reared in most small hives. 



Newtonville, Ala. \V. W. Gravlee. 



Good Report from Texas. 



I started in the spring witn 105 colonies of Italian and 

 hybrid bees in poor condition, but having favorable weather I 

 succeeded in building them up for the main honey-flow, which 

 commenced the last of April, and continued until the last of 

 May. 



I increased to 128 colonies. I work my bees two, three 

 and even four stories high, trying to keep them from swarm- 

 ing as much as possible, and only hiving such swarms as set- 

 tle together while swarming, or such as I don't know from 

 which hive they came. All other single swarms I put back 

 where they came from. 



I use the Langstroth-Simplicity frames, ten to the hive. 

 I only work for extracted honey, using a two-frame Cowan 

 reversible extractor. I extracted from my bees 11,000 

 pounds of first-class honey, very thick and nice, all put up in 

 60 pound cans. 



My bees are in splendid condition now — plenty of stores — 

 and are making more than a living. The hives are boiling 

 over with bees. We nearly always have a honey-flow in the 

 fall. R. W. Sauer. 



Brackettville, Tex., July IV. 



Bitter Honey in liie Soutli. 



When the bees are at work on the yellow tops, bitter- 

 weed, it is advisable to remove all sections or comb honey, in- 

 tended to be taken, from the hive, as from this all the honey 

 stored will be bitter. All bitter honey in the supers should be 

 fed to the bees during fall and winter, and not left over to mis 

 with the spring supply. Otherwise that will also be more or 

 less bitter. 



bitter honey as a TONIC. 



There seems to be a greater freedom from diseases among 

 bees in the South than with the North, aud we must attribute 

 it to the tonic and prophylaxis of the bitter element in the 

 fall honey. It is also said to be an excellent cough remedy, 

 perhaps from the same medical virtue found in the bitter 

 principle of the hoarhound. There is nothing deleterious in 

 the titter honey, should any one be induced to use it, either as 

 food or medicine. — R. H. Whitfield, in Southern Live-Stock 

 Journal. 



Yliat ]^e-»v Song; — " Queenie Jeanette" — which is being 

 sung everywhere, we can send you for 40 cents, postpaid, or cinb 

 it with the American Bee Journal for one year — both for only 

 $1.10. Or, send us one new subscriber for a year (with $1.00), and 

 we will mail you a copy of the song free. 



