The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-06-21
Bees.

In well pm portioned hive containing
10000 bees, there should be one queen,
500 males and the rest should be workers.
1t hive has no queen swarming can
never take place, however crowded it may
be. On the loss of queen the whole
hive is thrown into the greatest confusion;
they seek her in all directions, and if she
is not found and there are no eggs to rear
another they become disheartened and
disorganized. The best protection against
moths and worms is strong colony, hav-
ing fertile queen and stores of honey.
Such colonies are never injured by
worms. If the bees are not numerous
enough to cover all the comb in a hive,
the moth miller will deposit her eggs in
the unprotected comb. 1t is also best to
take all unoccupied comb from the hive
and keep it In close box to which the
millers have no access. A queen will lay
more eggs, and colony will develop
more rapidly when contracted, according
to the amount of bees it contains. When
bee keeper finds that worms are appear
ing in any of the hives he should remove
the combs, destroy all the worms he can
find and replace only as many as the bees
can co-er well. Then feed the bees IS
long as the honey drought lasts, and they
will at once take courage and rid them
selves of these pests. Have clean bot
tom board, without a crack or crevice
where worm or moth may 60, and the
bee be unable to follow. and if kept strong
the bees will always protect themselves
against this enemy. They will pounce
upon the Larvae as soon as they appear, be-
fore the silken case is spun, and carry them
from the hive. Moths may be destroyed
by placing dish of sweetened wafer,
with light burning nthe center of it, in
the apiary during the night. The moths
will be attracted by the light and fall in
the water. Chickens and ducks if al
lowed to run about the hives late in the
evening will catch a great many moths.
Never permit old comb to remain in
empty hives !; it becomes nursery of moths
in few weeks. Hives may be protected
from ants bv making chalk marks around
the legs of the stands; but they must be
repeated after every rain. A more trouble
some, but very effective, way is to place
the hives on benches, with legs standing
in vessels of water If the hives are so
low that toads can find a position on the
alighting board they will catch great num-
bers of bees, but If the boards are foot
or more from the ground the toads will
content themselves with the moths. Wasps
are troublesome, and when abundant they
carry away good deal of honey. They
are easily caught in bottle Of sweetened
water, which the bees will scarcely ever
eLter. Each wasp killed in the early
spring is equal to nest destroyed later In
the summer, as only the female or queen
wasp lives through the winter. In the
fall care must be taken that no opening
which would admit mice is left in the
hive, as they destroy the comb and honey.
Spiders, if allowed to make their webs in
the corners and fronts of hives, will en-
tangle many bees. When honey is scarce
in the fields strong colony will some
times attack and destroy weaker ones and
transfer their stores to their own hives. If
robbers are found actively at work
close the entrance, so as to admit only
one bee at time If this does not stop
the thieving the hive should be entirely
closed until sunset Large knots of fight.
ing bees may be quickly scattered to their
respective hives by sprinkling well with
water. The best treatment is to prevent
robbing py leaving no sweets exposed and
by uniting weak stocks in the fall. There
is sometimes an enforced idleness Of the
bees, consequent upon i'll management on
the part of the apiarist. The most appar-
.ent cause Of idleness is the absence of
bloom or the failure Of flowers to secrete
honey. In some localities these periods
are either so frequent or so protracted
that successful bee culture is impossible
When rains are very frequent even the
best honey plants fail to secrete. If the
hives are SO full as to preclude further
storing, the bee must, Of course, be idle.