436 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Witb RepUea tbereto. 



[It is quite uselesB to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 •pace for them In the Journai,. If you are 

 In a "hurry" for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here. — Ed."] 



Vessel for CaMm Beeswax. 



Query 443 — What is the best vessel to 

 cake wax in when rendering comb ? My old oven 

 spoiled my wax, two-thirds of it being quite red 

 when taken out, but turned dark afterward. I 

 shipped a lot of it to a drm, and they said it was 

 badly burned, and paid me for dark wax. One 

 cake was melted in an iron vessel, and it was the 

 reddest and best cake in the lot, having been 

 taken out of the vessel the very morning it was 

 shipped.— A. B., Texas. 



A good, bright tin-pan.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



I use a flaring tin vessel for caking 

 wax in.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Four-cornered tin-pans give the 

 best shape for compactness in ship- 

 ping.— J. P. H. Brown. 



liron gives wax a dark color. New 

 tin is as good as anything.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



I cake wax in tin dishes. Make 

 sure that no iron is exposed to the 

 wax.— James ILeddon. 



Flaring, or funnel-shaped tin ves- 

 sels. Those that we prefer are 12 

 inches high and 14 inches in diameter 

 at the top.— Dadant & Son. 



Any basin or pan serves well. I 

 would advise all to use solar wax-ex- 

 tractors. Then the wax is surely all 

 right.— A. J. Cook. 



I suspect your oven is all right, but 

 it must not be allowed to get too hot. 

 Probably any vessel that will hold the 

 hot wax will do, if it is clean.- C. C. 

 Miller. 



I have had so little experience in 

 rendering wax that I am unable to 

 answer, and will leave itto those who 

 have made a business of so doing.— 

 J. E. Pond. 



I use pressed tin-pans a little wider 

 at the top than at the bottom, so that 

 the cakes of wax will come out easily. 

 Keep them clean, and your wax will 

 not be injured with iron rust. The 

 " red rust " could have been removed 

 before you sold the wax, by melting 

 the wax in a kettle of clean hot 

 water ; the " rust " will separate from 

 the wax and go to the bottom, and 

 the wax will " cake " on top of the 

 water. There is nothing equal to a 

 solar wax-separator, in my opinion. 

 There is no method known to me that 

 will preserve the color and quality of 

 the wax like a properly made and 

 properly handled solar wax-separator. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



Any clean, bright tin-pan will do if 

 it flares at the top. An iron vessel 

 will generally spoil melted wax when 

 put into it.— The Editor. 



Bees tliat Turn BM and Die. 



Query 443.— Are bees diseased when 

 they turn black, be^dn quivering, and go off 

 or die? If so, what ails them, and how do you 

 cure it? The brood is not affected It is the old or 

 middle-aged bees that are troubled.— Tennessee. 



I guess they are simply superan- 

 nuated.— A. J. Cook. 



It is constipation, caused by their 

 previous suffering by winter confine- 

 ment. There is no remedy .—Dadant 

 &Son. 



I could tell better if I could see the 

 bees.— H. D. Cutting. 



This is a question to which I would 

 like a satisfactory answer myself. — G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



I think it is what some have called 

 the " nameless " bee-disease. Change 

 the queen.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



This question is indefinite. If by 

 " turning black " is meant bees that 

 have had their hair gnawed oS by 

 other bees, and look glossy black, they 

 are not diseased.— J. P. H. Brown. 



I have had no experience with what 

 they term the" nameless bee-disease." 

 It is quite possible that in all, or 

 nearly all such cases reported, that 

 the bees have obtained poison in some 

 way.— G. L. Tinker. 



I do not think what you describe is 

 a " disease " in the common accepta- 

 tion of the word. It would require 

 more room than is allotted to me here 

 to give my views on the subject. I 

 have never known any perceptible 

 loss on this account, and, therefore, I 

 do not think the case is a serious one. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



1 should judge that this is the 

 "nameless disease." I never did any 

 thing to cure it, but I think it is said 

 that a change of queen will effect a 

 cure. I never saw any very old bees 

 affected by it,for old bees have ragged 

 wings in the summer, and I never 

 saw any bees with ragged wings af- 

 fected.— C. C. Miller. 



This must be what is called the 

 " nameless disease." I have often 

 read about it, but I have never seen a 

 case of it. I do not understand quite 

 about the turning black. No one as 

 yet has given a remedy, or in fact any 

 information that would enable myself 

 to figure out the cause. So far as I 

 have read, it affects old and young 

 bees alike.— J. E. Pond. 



To give the bees a new queen is the 

 best advice we can give. — The 

 Editor. 



1. For symptoms see the precedinjr 

 query. 2. I do not know. I have had 

 only one colony so affected, and that 

 was a hybrid colony. Change the 

 queen.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I do not know. A bee-keeping 

 neighbor says these black, shiny bees 

 are only those which are caught and 

 scraped by the other bees. In any 

 event such are becoming more numer- 

 ous in this locality with each succeed- 

 ing year.— G. M. Doolittle. 



See my answer to Query 443. I have 

 never seen a colony affected by this 

 disease, and I have never been able 

 to obtain any information as to the 

 cause or cure. I think the disease is 

 still nameless, and that nothing posi- 

 tive is known in regard to it.— J. E. 

 Pond. 



It is a kind of shaking palsy ar- 

 rangement, and the bees will be seen 

 on the alighting-board somewhat 

 shiny and trembling. I never did 

 anything to cure it, but it seems to be 

 hereditary, and a change of queens is 

 said to put an end to it.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



There is no " nameless bee-disease." 

 I presume you refer to the singular 

 ailment which some seasons appear 

 among the bees, which might be 

 properly called summer dwindling. I 

 believe it is caused by unwholesome 

 "weed honey." A well-informed 

 apiarist of Indiana says the trouble 

 comes on in his apiary when the iron- 

 weed is in full bloom. In the sum- 

 mer of 1884 my bees " dwindled " 

 while they were at work on the iron- 

 weed. The symptoms were much like 

 the descriptions given of the trouble 

 in other States and places. I do not 

 fear that any harm will come from it. 

 2. It affects all bees alike, so far as I 

 have seen.— G. W. Demaree. 



The disease is described as causing 

 a shaking, trembling, palsied appear- 

 ance. No remedy has yet been found. 

 To change the queen will sometimes 

 cause it to pass away. Some think it 

 is found only when the iron-weed is 

 yielding honey, and attribute it to 

 that weed. The losses from this ail- 

 ment are so slight that it need not 

 cause any uneasiness.— The Editor. 



Tie Kameless Bee-Disease.' 



Query 444.— 1. What is the " nameless 

 bee-disease ?" What are its symptoms ? How do 

 you cure it ? 2. Does it affect some races of bees 

 more than others? If so, which race?— J. H., 

 Tenn. 



I give it up. — A. J. Cook. 

 See my answer to Query 443.— G. L. 

 Tinker. 



Yes, what is it ? I, too, ask what 

 are its symptoms '?- J. P. H. Brown. 



Yes ; what is it ? 2. I guess so.— 

 H. D. Cutting. 



System and Success. 



Gff~ ah who intend to be systematic in 

 their work in the apiary, should get a copy of 

 the Apiary Register and commence to use it. 

 the prices are reduced, as follows : 



For 50 colonies {120 pages) $1 00 



" 100 colonies (2'20 pages) 125 



" 200 colonies (430 pages) 150 



The larger ones can be used for a few col- 

 onies, give room for an increase of numbers, 

 and still keep the record all together in one 

 book, and are therefore the most desirable. 



AVben Reneiring your subscription 

 please try to get your neighbor who keeps 

 bees to join with you In taking the Bes 

 Journal. It is now so cheap that no one 

 can afford to do without it. We will present 

 a Binder for the Bee Journal to any one 

 sending us three subscriptions— with $3.00— 

 direct to this oflBce. It n^ll pay any one to 

 devote a few hours, to get subscribers. 



