250 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 31, 1904. 



a patch of drone-brood as big as the palm of my hand, but not a man 

 of worker-brood. I mentioned this to a bee-lseeping friend, and be 

 warned me to b^ on the lookout for a laying worker. On Feb. 24 I 

 again examined this hive, and found the drone-brood nearly all 

 hatched, but no more young brood coming on, and still no sign of 

 worker-brood. Acting on my friend's suggestion, I began to look for 

 the queen, but couM not find her. To make sure, I removed the hive 

 and set a new hive with new frames of drawn comb and some stores in 

 its place, and put an Alley drone-trap on the entrance; now I shook 

 all the bees off the frames in front of the new hive; they went in, 

 leaving 30 or 30 drones outside and no queen, which proved the theory 

 of a laying worker to be correct. I put a cover on hive No. 1, with a 

 hole 10 inches square cut in the center, and over this hole I tacked a 

 piece of mosquito-netting, and then set one of the box-hives over this 

 hole and closed the entrances of both hives with netting. I intend 

 leading them that way 4S hours, after which I will take the netting 

 away and let them unite. Do you think they will be all right? If not, 

 what will I do to get rii of of this laying worker; 



3. This leaves me with practically 8 colonies, counting hive No. 1 

 and the box-hive on top as one. I want to increase as much as 1 can 

 with safety, and would like to have 20 colonies by next fall. Please 

 tell me how to proceed. 1 intend Italianizing this spring. 



Fell. 25 I noticed bees coming in with pollen. Alabama. 



Answers.— 1. Yes, the probability is that your suggestion is cor- 

 rect. It is not certain just why the bees of No. 4 should have deserted 

 their hive; but I have known colonies to leave in the same way from 

 what appeared to be sheer excitement at a time when having their 

 first flight after long confinement. 



2. Pardon me if I say that I don't believe that there is satisfactory 

 proof that your theory of a laying worker is correct, if you mean by 

 that that only one laying worker was present, for the probability is 

 that a large number of workers were laying. 



Quite likely the uniting will be satisfactory, but you might make 

 it a little safer if, instead of having the hole between the two hives 

 entirely open, you would put paper between the two hives, tear- 

 ing a hole in the paper large enough for a single bee to pass 

 through, and leaving to the bees the job of tearing away the paper to 

 make the passage large. 



3. It is hard to tell just exactly what would be your best plan of 

 increase. Much depends upon circumstances. One way would be the 

 nucleus plan. See reply to " Illinois," page 170. Possibly natural 

 swarming might suit you better. If each colony should send out a 

 prime swarm, and half of them a second swarm, that would increase the 

 8 to 20. You would be very likely to get at least that increase if you 

 should hive the prime swarms on new stands, leaving the mother colo- 

 nies in their old places. 



Wholesomeness of Honey from Poul-Broody Hive. 



Is honey eatable, taken from a hive that had foul brood in it, 

 when the combs are lightly affected? I mean extracted honey. 



Maine. 



Answer.— The bacteria that are so deadly to the larvae do not in- 

 jure the human stomach. 



What of Bee-Keeping in Oregon? 



Is Oregon a good bee-State? How does it compare with other 

 States as a field for apiculture? Also, what are the principal sources 

 of honey in Oregon ; Oregon. 



Answer. — I must confess ignorance, and it may be that some 

 Oregon bee-keeper will answer your questions. Very 'little, certainly, 

 has been said about Oregon as a honey-State, and that looks as if it 

 were not remarkably good in that direction. 



What Caused the Loss-Feeding Old Honey-Alfalfa— 

 Transferring. 



1. I am a boy 19 years old. I just started last fall with 15 colonies. 

 During the winter 3 colonies have died. When I examined them I 

 found only about a double handful of bees, the others being chewed 

 up by something. In one of the hives the bees were chewed up, and 

 some were carried out under the hive. The comb was not chewed or 

 destroyed a particle, and there was enough honey to have wintered 

 them, so they did not starve. Now I would like to know what killed 

 them. Was it moths, or mice? If moths, how would you prevent 

 their from destroying them? 



2. I have some old comb honey I want to feed to the bees. 

 Would you advise me to feed it to them now? If not, when? 



3. I want to make some beeswax. How can I make it? Should 

 all the honey be out of the comb before making the wax? 



4. I want to sow some alfalfa for my bees. When should it be 

 sown ? and how to prepare the ground? 



5. I have some bees I want to put into new hives. What time 

 must I transfer them? 



0. What time should bees be placed on their summer stands? 



Illinois. 



Answers.- I. The moths had nothing to do with it; they take 

 warm weather for their work; and I don't know what it was unless 

 mice; if it was mice it's strange they should leave the honev and 

 combs undisturbed. 



2. Unless some are in danger of being short of stores so that feed- 

 ing should not be delayed, don't teed till bees are flying daily. 



3. Honey will do no harm, only it will be a loss of the honey. If 

 there is enough honey to make it worth while, put the combs in a 

 stone crock or something of the kind and heat slowly just enough so 

 that the wax and honey will be melted. Then let cool and pour out 

 the honey. 



If the combs are very old, you cannot get the wax out clean with- 

 out something in the way of a wax-press. If you have nothing of 

 that kind, and no solar extractor, you can do very well with a drip- 

 ping-pan extractor described in " Forty Years Among the Bees," page 

 307. " An old dripping-pan (a new one would do) has one corner split 

 open, and that makes the extractor. The dripping-pan is put into the 

 oven of a cook-stove with the split corner projecting outward. The 

 opposite corner, the one farthest in the oven, is slightly raised by 

 having a pebble or something of the kind under it, so that the melted 

 wax will run outward. A dish set under catches the dripping wax, 

 making the outfit complete.'' 



4. Prepare ground and sow the same as other clover or grass seed. 

 For the best success the ground should be inoculated with some of the 

 soil containing alfalfa bacteria (which you can obtain from the Illi- 

 nois Experiment Station, Urbana, 111.), although it is perhaps as well 

 to use ground on which sweet clover has grown well. 



5. In time of fruit-bloom, or perhaps better wait till the bees 

 swarm, and then transfer three weeks after swarming. 



6. If in the cellar, not until soft maples are in bloom, and not till 

 the weather seems somewhat settled ; if packed outdoors, they must 

 be moved before they fly enough to have the location well marked, say 

 as soon as they fly about once a week. 



Bees Storing Honey In Glass Jars. 



Have bees ever been induced to deposit comb honey, of their own 

 free-will, in glass honey-jars? If not, why not? California. 



Answer. — Yes, indeed; lots of times. 



Red Clover Queens. 



Does the red clover queen-bees work on red clover? What I mean 

 is, do they gather a good deal of honey from red clover? Have they 

 been seen to work on the plant? California. 



Answer. — As a rule the tubes of red clover blossoms are too deep 

 to be penetrated by hive-bees, and yet either because the tubes are 

 shorter than usual, or because they are unusually full of nectar, there 

 have been many cases in which Italian workers, and even blacks, 

 have been seen to work upon red clover, and in some cases important 

 amounts of honey gtthered from that source have been reported. 

 Some bees are especially distinguished as workers on red clover, and 

 the queens of such bees are denominated " red clover queens." ., 



Feeding Colonies in Box-Hives— Enlarging the Apiary. 



1. I have a few colonies in box-hives, which are not very strong 

 and I think they need feeding. I have no feeder, and some one told 

 me to make a little trough, fill with honey, and shove it in at the en- 

 trance. Would this be all right? These bees are in the cellar, and I 

 do not like to disturb them at the top. 



2. This is in northeastern Iowa, and the principal honey crop is 

 white clover, which lasts throughout June and July. Will this give 

 honey-flow enough to make bees profitable? There are no bee-keepers 

 near here, and I am trying to get all the advice I can. I have but 3 

 colonies. Would you advise my purchasing more ? Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, only in some cases the bees will not come 

 down. If you have some way to warm the cellar for the special occa- 

 sion it will help, or you may get them down by blowing in the en- 

 trance. 



2. Yes, bees may be quite profitable with white clover alone as a 

 surplus crop. 



Criss-cross Combs in Brood-Chamtoer— Burr-Comhs. 



1. I have purchased two 10-frame hives, chock-full of comb and 

 bees. I tried to look for the queen, but the vertically wired frames 

 were all built in a solid mass, and it is impossible to get one frame out 

 without breaking a piece from one next to it. I pried off two frames 

 and broke a piece of the third frame. The comb was running through 

 both frames. I like to get control of the bees and clip the queen's 

 wings. What would you advise me to do in this case? Let them 

 swarm naturally? or put supers on? Plum, pear and peach trees are 

 in bloom. Would it be advisable to cut out the crooked combs or 

 change the frames! 



3. How can I prevent burr-combs? Florida. 



Answers. — 1. Put supers on as soon as needed, then let the bees 

 swarm, and 21 days after swarming you will And a good time to 

 straighten the combs, there being no worker-brood in the way. If the 

 bottom is not immovably fastened to the hive, turn the hive upside 

 down, and with a long-bladed knife or a saw separate the combs from 

 the sides of the hive, and then lift off the hive from the combs. That 

 gives you a fair chance to see what you are doing, and from what you 

 say about the combs it is likely that you Cin with a little cutting get 

 every comb by itself, pressing the comb into the frame and tying a 

 string around it, then putting it in the hive. A little care will lirush 

 the bees out of the way, and after you get one comb back in the hive 



