AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



245 



frame, which Friend Root, published in 

 Gleanings. I fully indorse what Mr. 

 Faylor says in the Bee Journal — that 

 this craze will yet hurt some unsuspect- 

 ing novices. Let us go slow, and wait 

 until the veterans have attained some 

 results with it; then we beginners can 

 take hold. A. L. Beach. 



Pineville, N. C, Aug. 4, 1891. 



Caused by Poor Stores. 



I lost a good colony of bees last Winter 

 with the diarrhea. Please state the 

 cause of the disease and a remedy in the 

 Bee Journal. C. Lower. 



Decorah, Iowa. 



[Bee-diarrhea is generally caused by 

 poor stores for Winter. If you had given 

 that colony some well-ripened honey for 

 Winter, you might have had it yet. — Ed.] 



Dark Honey. 



My bees are doing very well. I sowed 

 some buckwheat, and the bees are just 

 beginning to work on it. Honey is all 

 dark on account of so much lioney-dew. 

 H. Mansperger. 



Benbow, Mo., Aug. 9, 1891. 



Black, Shiny Bees. 



Early honey harvest is over, and 

 although much better than last year, it 

 is not what we expected. I have taken 

 off 570 pounds of extracted, and 470 

 pounds of comb-honey of good quality. 

 I have 68 colonies of bees in good con- 

 dition for Fall bloom, which promises 

 fair. In regard to those black, shiny 

 bees, the two colonies that I mentioned 

 (page 737) were so badly effected that 

 they dwindled down so that about July 

 1 I united them, after having destroyed 

 one of the queens ; but still they dwindled 

 until they were worthless, when I 

 destroyed the other queen, and inserted a 

 good queen- cell. The two queens that I 

 destroyed were both fine looking and 

 good layers, but the bees were so badly 

 diseased that they would die before they 

 were old enough to gather honey and 

 pollen. It surely is a disease of some 

 kind, and a very destructive one, too. If 

 Prof. Cook, or any one else, knows any- 

 thing about this disease, and a remedy 

 for it, they will confer a great favor by 

 giving it to the readers of the Bee 

 Journal. B. W. Peck. 



Richmond Center, Ohio. 



Wavelets ol News. 



Number of Drones Required in a Hive. 



One drone for each queen is all that 

 is really needed. All others are a sur- 

 plus, and only live to make the colony 

 poor in honey. All unnecessary drone 

 brood should be cut out, and empty drone 

 comb kept at the sides of the hive and 

 always away from the center, for storing 

 honey. When too great a quantity of 

 drones fill the hive, it should be opened 

 and most of the drones destroyed, or a 

 drone-trap used. — Exchange. 



Drone Colonies of Bees. 



Occasionally a colony of nearly all 

 drones is discovered. Now let us open 

 one of these and see what we will find. 

 Plenty of drones, with now and then a 

 worker. The sealed cells of workers' 

 comb stand high above the surface, and 

 are very much scattered. There will 

 soon be no more drones reared, for there 

 will be no workers to feed them. If 

 there is a queen she has never been 

 fertilized, and every egg produces a 

 drone. When a colony has been queen- 

 less a long time, some of the workers 

 aspire to motherhood and lay eggs 

 which produce drones. These bees have 

 been improperly called fertile workers; 

 better say laying workers. If such a 

 colony is left alone, the moths will have 

 the credit of destroying it, as drones 

 cannot long exist without workers. 

 When I find such a colony I give the 

 combs to a swarm or use' them in nuclei. 

 — Mrs. L. Harrison, in Prairie Farmer. 



Practical Hints to Beginners. 



The most essential and necessary thing 

 looking toward a good yield of comb- 

 honey is a good season, combined with 

 having the colonies you intend to use for 

 this purpose strong in numbers early in 

 the season. 



To have the bees strong early in the 

 season, each colony should be known to 

 have a good fertile queen. As the season 

 advances, you can help them by Insert- 

 ing an empty frame of worker comb 

 into the brood-nest, between the 

 brood combs; though never more than 

 the bees can cover well, as this will 

 spread the brood and induce the queen 

 to greater activity. 



In spreading the brood, if too many 

 empty combs are inserted at one time, it 

 will sometimes weaken, aye, even destroy, 



