266 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 7, 1904. 



PATIKNCB, TAI<K AND WAITING— ESSENTIAI,S TO BEE -INSPEC- 

 TORSHIP. 



Yes, Mr. Hutchinson, three patient visits, lots of en- 

 lightening talk, and print, and waiting — and at last the 

 man himself take hold and help clean up the foul brood— is 

 better than "enforcing the law" as Old Adam within would 

 say for us to do. " And fully as many thorns as roses" in 

 ridding a territory of foul brood. Yes, we can find ourselves 

 admitting that without argument. Page 146. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 





Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



When to Pat Supers On. 



When is the the proper time to put on supers? or how can you 

 tell when to put them on * Missouri. 



Answer. — When you see bits of white wax on the upper parts of 

 combs it is high time supers were on. If white clover is your first 

 surplus, put on sections as soon as it begins to bloom. 



The Foul Brood Microbe. 



Are scientists entirely agreed that foul brood is an animal growth 

 as mentioned on page 230? Sdbscriber. 



Answer. — No; I don't believe Mr. Aikin thinks so. as is shown 

 later on by his speaking of the spore of foul brood bicilli as a seed, 

 and comparing Bacillus alvei to a green growing plant. 



Bees Breeding in January. 



I would like to know how it is that my bees having brood in Jan- 

 uary. Some came out all right, while only one died on account of 

 having zero weather. All the neighbor's bees died on the summer 

 stands, while I lost one out of 21. I consider myself quite lucky. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — Very likely there is brood in your hives in January 

 oftener than you suppose, as it is not such an unusual thing. It is 

 possible that the unusually severe weather had something to do with it, 

 for the colder the weather the warmer it is in the n'ntn- of the brood- 

 nest, just as the colder the weather the hotter the fires in your stoves. 



Queens Not Obliged to Lay a Certain Number of 

 Drone-Eggs. 



Is it true that the queen is obliged to lay a certain number of 

 drone-eggs, no matter what the bee-keeper does, as seems to be taught 

 on page 211; Subscriber. 



Answer.— The remark on page 211 was evidently made by a cor- 

 respondent of the British Bee Journal, and it is a little strange that it 

 should have been allowed the endorsement of silence in both the Brit- 

 ish and the American Journal, for I feel confident that neither of said 

 journals believe in any such a doctrine. Full sheets of worker-comb 

 given to a swarm will make sure the queen shall lay a very much 

 smaller number of drone-eggs than she would if no foundation were 

 given. A queen may be restricted to laying of a small number of 

 drone-eggs, or she may be induced to lay a good many thousand. 



Sectlonless Supers of Honey-Entrance Feeding. 



1. I have a colony of bees which were hived two years ago in a 

 two-story hive, hut instead of hiving them in the brood-chamber they 

 put on the two supers without any sections in, so the bees began to 

 build comb in the top, and now it is full of honey from bottom to top. 

 What would you do with this? How would it do to smoke them down 

 in the bottom and remove the supers? What would I find in the 

 supers, brood or honey '. If so, what time in the spring should I do it; 

 It is not a chaff hive. 



2. I am feeding a few colonies of bees that I have in the cellar, by 

 placing a little liquid honey In a tin trough and shoving it in the en- 

 trance. They seem to take away a great deal of hooey from this 

 trough. Is this way of feeding them all right? I don't "know any- 

 thing about a bee-feeder. Iowa. 



Answers.— 1. They have probably consumed quitealittle through 

 the winter, and it is possible that enough has Deen emptied out so tlial 

 part or all of the brood-nest is above. You might raise the upper part 

 and find out where the brood-nest is. Then leave on the stand the 



part that contains the brood-nest, whether it be the upper or the lower. 

 If it be the upper, and you want combs in better shape, wait till three 

 weeks after swarming and then transfer, in the meantime giving the 

 bees a super, or supers, to store in. If, upon examination, you find 

 the brood below, and the upper part pretty well filled with honey, you 

 might leave it till entirely filled, and then take the honey. 



2. The less bees are disturbed in the cellar the better, and unless 

 you think they are in actual need don't feed. 



Spring Stimulative Feeding. 



I want information in regard to feeding bees in the spring, so as 

 to stimulate brood-rearing. How shall I proceed, especially when to 

 commence, and what precautions to use? Ohio. 



Answer. — Without a good deal of experience you may do more 

 harm than good. Don't begin till bees fly freely ; feed about half a 

 pound diluted honey or a syrup of sugar and water half and half — the 

 honey is better. Feed in the evening for fear of robbing. Every 

 other evening will do. It will do no good to feed when the bees can 

 get even a moderate amount among the flowers. 



Getting Into Bee-Keeping Again. 



On page 1S2, I notice your article on " Bill of Rights to Protect 

 Bee-Keepers in Priority of Location." I am a reader of the American 

 Bee Journal, and an ex-bee keeper, as it were. How am I to get into 

 bee-keeping honorably, and without intruding on the rights of any- 

 one? Illinois. 



Answer. — One way is to buy out some one already located. An- 

 other way is to settle where the ground is not already occupied. Start 

 right where you now are, it the field is not already occupied. It ought 

 to be BO arranged that any one could start in bee-keepiug just as he 

 can at farming, with no doubts whatever as to the matter of honor 

 and rights. Pity that it is not so. 



Position of Hives-Spring Feeding, Etc. 



1. I have only 3 colonies of bees, and all in home-made boxes. The 

 other day I found the hive empty of bees, but the box half full of 

 honey. The bees were thereabout two weeks ago. I suppose they 

 lost their queen. I want to get frame hives this summer. 



2. Is it necessary to stand them up off of the ground? 



3. Which are the most used, and the best hive? 



4. Isit necessary to feed bees in the spring! If so, at what time? 

 I have had bees for some years, but have not attended to them as I 



should. I had to kill them when I wanted honey. I will have a great 

 deal to learn about bees in order to make them pay. Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. It isn't at all certain that the queen was lost. Hun- 

 dreds of colonies with good queens have died during the past few 

 weeks. 



2. In most localities there is no need to raise hives any higher than 

 enough to keep from rotting the bottom- boards, say 4 to 6 inches. 



3. Plain dovetailed hives are probably as much used as any, and 

 as good. 



4. It is not necessary to feed them if they have abundance of 

 of stores. If they have not, they can be fed any time they are short of 

 stores. 



Noisy Colony— Other Questions. 



1. What is the cause of a noisy colony when the rest are quiet? 

 The colony is dead now. It gave me only one super of honey, and 

 they stored almost all of it before they swarmed. They crowded the 

 brood-nest. The queen was all right, as far as I could tell. 



2. How would it be to divide the brood, and give each a laying 

 queen? 



3. How many frames does the average colon.\- occupy ? 



4. What percent of your queens occupy more than 8-frames? (I 

 have seen a two-story Danzenbaker hive filled; also her daughter did 

 the same.) 



5. Does a queen usually reproduce herself ? Minnesota. 



Answers. — 1. Possibly queenless; possibly something else? 



2. Unless the colony be very strong; indeed it would be better to 

 keep all together till later. 



3. Perhaps six ; some only half that, and some twice as many. 



4. i cannot tell; none of them are allowed to have more than 8 

 frames while working on sections, but if given a fair chance probably 

 few of them would stop at 8, and some would occupy 16 or more. 



5. No. 



. ^ • » 



Trying to Avoid Trouble. 



I have Ti?! colonies which are heavy with honey, but the severe 

 winter left them, or most of them, not so strong in bees. I have lost 4 

 colonies this winter. 



I live in town and am afraid I will have trouble with my near 

 neighbor al>out the bees. I have no neighbors on the west, it being a 

 public highway, but on the north lives my near neighhur, and my gar- 

 den and also an alley are between. Now, I have room for 150 colouies 

 by setting a row along thealle.v, facing south, over near my neighbor, 



