114 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
filled in, and there is always more or less 
honey stored in the upper parts of the brood 
combs, so we may fairly reckon that at least, 
there will be one-eighth of the space net 
available for breeding in, which would reduce 
the number of actual brood cells to 2(5,469. j 
Dividing these figures by twenty-one, the j 
number of days oicupied in the maturing of ! 
worker bees, we get the average number of 
eggs laid per day, which will uive us some 
idea of the value of these extraordinary queens 
as breeders. In reckoning thus, 1 have not 
taken into consideration the breeding of a 
proportionate number of drones, which take 
three days longer to mature ; had I done so, 
the average daily number laid would be still 
less. We now have 1260 as the number, that 
is, according to Mr. Abram’s statement. 
Surely there must be “ something wrong 
somewhere,” for all the best authorities tell us 
that a queen to be worth keeping should lay 
over 2000 eggs per (lay during the height of 
the breeding season, and that period is when 
mast honey is being gathered. 
I notice that Mr. (J. Fullwood, of Brisbane, j 
in a letter published in the April number of 
your journal, has raised exactly the same 
objections to the use of the Berlepsch hive 
that I have, and he moreover says that it 
“ has been used in all the colonics and aban- 
doned mostly.” 
The experience of Mr. H. Naveau with the 
Berlepsch hive, as given in the August 
number, fully corroborates what I said with 
regard to the bees propolising the ends of the 
frames iu the grooves. If Mr. N. considers 
the open space over the brood- nest an advan- 
tage in winter, he has only to put an empty 
super on his Langstroth hive to get it. 
In conclusion, I may say that any remarks 
Mr. Abram may think proper to make on the 
second part of my reply to his at tides 1 will 
willingly answer if necessary, and with your 
permission, but as regards the first part 1 am 
now done with it. Apis. 
New Zealand, 23rd September, 1886. 
{To the Editors of the Australian Beekeepers ■ 
Journal. 
Gentlemen, — Being under the impression 
that, you invito correspondence from bet- 
keepers through your journal, I apply to you 
hoping you may be able to help me ill my 
present trouble. Hoping to become a success- 
ful beekeeper, I (w hen in Brisbane in May 
last) bought a swarm of Italians from Air. 
i has. Fullwood, and brought them here. 
Fearing the weather during the winter would 
be too cold for them, 1 packed the whole hive 
in chaff, including chaff, cushion, &c. They 
wintered very well, as far I could see. This 
day week I transferred the five frames I 
brought from Qu ensland into a new hive 
having five other frames of foundation already 
in it. The bees still seemed to do well, but 
during the past three days they are dying 
off in hundreds. They feem to bo able only to 
rtach the alighting board, from which they 
roll off; their bodits become greatly distended; 
they struggle for a time and die. Can you 
inform me what is the matter with them, and 
what the remedy ? Anxiously looking for the 
next issue of the journal, I am, &c. 
Tiios. Dean. 
Bay-street, Brighton, 25th Sept., 1886. 
[Our correspondent’s bees were no doubt 
attacked with the disease by some called 
“ virtego,” by others “ distended bee disease,’’ 
and by some of our American brethren, “ the 
unnamed disease.” It has appeared in our 
apiary this spring in two hives, one of which 
has developed foul brood in a mild form, and 
it becomes a question whether the first disease 
may not sometimes be a premonitory symptom 
of the latter. It would therefore be well if 
our correspondent would examine the combs 
from time to time for any signs of this trouble- 
some plague. — E d.] 
{To the Editors of the Australian Beekeepers' 
Journal.) 
Dear Sirs, — I am a beginner at beekeeping 
in frame hives. If you would answer my 
question in your journal I should be obliged. 
My bees will persist in building drone comb. 
I wish to give them full frames of foundation 
comb ; my frames are eleven inches square, 
inside measurement. Could you tell me how 
to wire them to prevent the foundation sag- 
ging, so that no cells shall be large enough for 
drones ; also the best size of wire to use ? 
Clarence lliver, N.S.W. G. G. 
[G. G. will find it difficult to avoid stretch- 
ing of foundation in frames eleven inches 
deep without wiring, especially in warm 
weather; the result of stretching will of 
course be a superabundance of drone cells. 
The wire to be used should be about twenty- 
eight or thirty gauge, and tinned iron wire is 
brst, although we have found common iron 
wire of that gauge answer very well. To wire 
a frame you must pierce the top and bottom 
frames with a sharp bradawl, beginning at 
such a distance from the end of the top bar 
that the first wire shall be about one inch from 
the inside of end of frame ; the wires should 
not be more than 24 inches apart, and, tor a 
a frame eleven inches inside measurement, 
