2411 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 



fit ,,,: sail . and I am now blaming that Eoi 

 killing them in the i i liar. Somi ol th tnvi 

 tted. 1 ask your advice, 

 i have granulated combs from dead 

 hi ves \\ in bees i li an them up when I put 

 them in light hives, when 1 take them out o 

 U in the spring:- 1 ell me what IS 

 da with them' Should I melt them up 

 with water for fall feed' ON 1 



Answers. — 1. It is possible that your bees 

 had diarrhoea without the honey being to 

 blame. But scorched honey is death 

 in winter, and it is possible that wa 

 heated in the inciter. 



2. The bees will clean them up more or less 

 thoroughly, and it will help them if you oc- 

 casionally spray the combs with water. 



Diseased Brood— Dead Bees 



1 After going through my bees 1 



some diseased brood that has got me up a 

 tree." Out of my 15 hives I found about 4 

 that bad it. It is not American foulbrood 

 and I don't think it is European foulbrood, tor 

 the reason that it kills but few larva in each 

 hive The dea.l larv.e lie lengthwise in the 

 cells in a melted form. There is no roping; 

 the color of the larva is light, with a black 

 speck on its head. I was talking to a beeman 

 who keeps about 1,000 hives and he though 

 from my description it was the so-called 

 "pickle brood." 



2 I have a few supers that have been ovei 

 hives that had mild cases of American foul- 

 brood. The combs have never been used for 

 brood and they are clean of all honey. I was 

 told by an experienced beeman that they ought 

 to be safe to use. What do you think' 



3. Do you think I can get as good queens 

 here in California as I can in the east ? 



4. I noticed an unusual amount of dead 

 bees in front of one of my hives this spring 

 What causes this? I also noticed a few hives 

 that had taken fully-developed brood out ol 

 the cells and dropped it in front of the hives. 

 What causes this? Do you think it was 

 chilled while being examined a few days be- 

 fore? l ALIFI IRNIA 



Answers.— 1. Send a sample of the brood to 

 Dr. E. .F Phillips. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, and he will inform you as 

 to the trouble and the remedy. If you write 

 to him in advance he will send you, without 



charge, a box in which to send the bl 1 and 



also a frank with which to pay the i 



2. They ar< probably entirely safe to use 

 again for surplus, with not one chance in a 

 thousand of any danger 



3. I don't know any reason whj 

 reared in California should not be a 



,l ,1 ewhere, il reared Ei oti 

 stock. 



4. 1 don't know why the urn 



,l,.„l bei - 11" dead brood carried out might 



have been from chilling; it might h. 



from starvation; it might havi 



of the wax-worm, or it might have bei 



brood that the bees did not wish ma! 



Big Cover— Winter Killing 



i I would like to know what tne advantages 

 are of the large cover that the Da. hints use 



il hives, and why would 

 just as well foi winter packing? 



" Will you tell me some reasons for a 

 colony of bees winter-killing when the) were 

 in a good hive and were all ( ). K 

 with plenty of bees and Stor. 

 ing such a mild winter. ILLINOIS. 



Answei Om advantage is that the 



cover is larger than a super, and so allows 

 the hive to be covered more warml I 



bly another reason is that in the fin 

 covers were oi the ti and there 



never has seemed sufficient I 

 a change. 



I hi mild winter may possibly have killed 

 them. You say they had plenty ol 

 1, but don't say how it was in tl 

 inusually mild winter may have- made 

 than usual, thus using up all 

 their stores. They may havi 

 They may have had dysentery There might 

 have been some other trouble. 



Bottom Starters — Dandelions 



1. In using a 1-inch starter at thi 



of the br 1-frame, how much space should be 



left between the starter and the upper sheet to 

 allow for stretching in order to sei 

 names' Standard Langstroth frames 



2, Can bees make a living from dandelion: 



e then anj Howi i « hit h they can 



before fruit bloom? In northwestern Penn- 

 sylvania, I mean. 

 ' 3. Is the common white daisy a h 



4. In putting a 1-frame nucleus in a 10- 

 frame hive using six full sheets, i* it neces- 

 sary to use a dummy and increase it gradu- 

 ally? If so, why? PENNSYLVANIA. 



Answers. — 1. Anywhere from one-eighth to 

 one-fourth inch. But an inch bottom-starter 

 will topple over unless supported, and a much 

 smaller starter is in danger of being torn 

 down by the bees, unless in an upper story. 



2. Yes. dandelions are plentiful enough in 

 many places to afford bees a good living dur- 

 ing their season. 



3. I don't know. 1 think not. 



4. It is not necessary; but it may be a help 

 by -axing the heat 



of pure blood you may find impure wor 

 i! .,! have entered i rom othei colonies. 



2. Bees that are busily si,, nog a heavy 

 are on their best behavior, and a sudden 

 in the flow may make them croi ■ 



\i bei havi i ntrance two in 



deep the whole width of the hive, and il si 

 none too much. I don't believi il has 

 thing to do with their being cross, noi w 

 it start robbing in a heavy How 



Moving Bees 



Will you kindly state in the American Bee 

 Journal the various times in the year, in the 

 order of preference, for moving bees by rail 

 road 200 to 300 miles? PENNSYLVANIA. 



Answer. — Likely the best time is early in 

 the spring, before the combs have become 

 heavy with brood and honey. From that the 

 tune will constantly become morr objectionable 

 until the middle of the harvest. Better than 

 some of these days, probably, is the time when 

 brood-rearing ceases in the latter pan of the 

 season, but not too late for a flight after the 

 journey. To put all these different times in 

 thi i tact order or their preference is a thing 

 for "Inch 1 am hardly competent. 



Foulbrood 



I. Will it cure foulbrood to put 

 brood-nest 

 in betwee: 



bi i -i si api 

 heard of 



. . an a man who claims he ne 

 foulbrood, and has a colony that he never looks 

 in himself, be made to clean it up? 



:. Would 1 be safe in buying hues thai bees 

 died in three years ago, of foulbrood, if I boil 

 them out good' 1 am speaking of v . 

 foulbrood. WISCONSIN. 



ivers.— 1. It might in somi cases ol I u 

 ropean. 



those State 



the la 



ry good authoritii 



2. Yes, i 

 quires it. 



3. Some 

 tirely safe. 



Purity — Cross Bees — Entrances 



1. I have considerable trouble trying to 

 certain whether or not mj bees an pure. I 

 mi them are golden color and 

 . . ,., thi thn e bands are vei j blai k Is 

 it possible for bees to have threi distinct hands 

 and yet not be purer Can you state what is 

 an infallible mark of purity? 

 ■>- Occasionally my bees become verj 



t even, that 1 cannot walk out among 



the hives without having several of thi m chasi 



me about and even follow me somi di tanci 



\1 other tunes they will be very docile, 



lowing me to handle them 



ip] 'C 



this difference in tbeii 



i giving n | bi es as much spac< at thi 



entrance as possible, having taken awaj thi 

 itrance blocks and leaving a 



the hive of about an inch. Is 



much space at the i nl rai uld this 



thing i" do w il ii thi n be- 

 ing cross at timi Would this lag entranci 



obbing while a heavy b 

 is on? ALABAMA 



. ■ ; . ■ 



pure. A colony of 

 mixed blood may have some workers with three 



.i ... .. oh ;. .. and in ... b 



.... i. ds is ol 



no purer blood than one with less. B 

 the workers of a colony have I 

 colony is counted pure blood. Yet in a colony 



Equalizing Brood 



Havi you ever changed your mind as to the 

 advisability of taking brood from the stronger 

 and giving to the weaker, to equalize colonies 

 in spring? Is it not well to break up the 

 weaker altogether by giving their brood and 

 bees to the stronger and making increase later, 

 where valuable queens would not be discarded? 

 w i ' I iNSIN. 

 Answer. — Up to the present I have never 

 had occasion to change my mind on the sub- 

 ject, nor to have any sort of question al 

 But when a man of your experience ra 

 question it is time to give th 

 at least thoughtful consideration, whether 1 

 change my mind or not So 1 have given a 

 pretty good think to it. Especially 1 have 

 thought ovli the hundreds of cases in my own 

 experience through many years, and I cannot 

 recall a sii gli in which I thought the 



plan was not a good working plan, always hav 

 ing regard to certain restrictions, especially 

 nol I" reduct any strong colony to less than 

 four broods, and to help first the strongest of 

 those needing help. 



Of course. 1 can imagine a case in which it 

 would not be advisable to try to bring up all 

 the colonies in the apiary to good working 

 order. If in an apiary of 50 colonies there 

 was only one strong colony and the rest were 

 the flimsiest of weaklings, equalizing the whole 

 would only result in failure to get any crop 

 at all; whereas a small number might be 

 made to yield at least some surplus. The 

 others might be doubled up to save the bother 

 ol fussing with them. (Even then, if they are 

 dwindlers, as G. M Doolittle has pointed out, 

 the doubled up dwiiidlcrs will be dwindlers 

 still.) 



But such a case is so much out of the com- 

 mon as not to be fairly considered. Suppose we 

 have two colonies, one with 3 and the other 

 with 5 brood. Left to itself the weaker one 

 will make very slow progress; but if a frame 

 of brood be- given to it from the stronger it 

 will he in condition to walk right along increas- 

 ing in numbers, and the benefit to the weaker 

 will overbalance the harm done to the stronger. 

 5 ol thi 60 colonies in an apiary are- 

 weak. It would simplify matters to unite these 

 5 with stronger colonies and get them out of 

 the way. But if we let them alone till all the 

 others are made strong .we can then, at a 

 very little expense to any of the stronger 

 colonies bring up the a into serviceable condi- 

 tion, and get a little larger total crop than il 

 doubled up the weaklings. At any rate 

 Ibis plan has worked out so well for me that 

 as yet 1 see no good reason for changing 

 it; yet it is nol always wise to be too positive. 



To Cement Paper on Metal 



Dissolve dextrine in warm water; 

 tak( 20 parts of glyi ei ihe ; LO parts of 

 glucose. Apply this mixture to your 

 pap< i . then rub metal well with a 

 of an onion, then applj to 

 nutal. 



I his is an old recipe, but 1 have 

 never tried it. Let the readers ol the 

 \,,i. 'i ii an Bi e [oui nal try it and re- 

 port results. 

 BRO ALPHONSE \ EITH, O. S. B., 



St. Meinrad, lnd. 



