May 19, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 





Dr. Miller's Answers 





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

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



Hop Honey— Adulterated Honey. 



1. If bees are kept near a field of hops would the honey produced 

 in a yard so located be liable to have a bitterish taste? 



2. If A produces pure extracted honey, marks it with his own 

 name and guaranty, sells the same to a second party who adulterates 

 it, puts it back into the same cans containing the producer's label, and 

 sells it to a third party, who comes back to the second party, and he, 

 to clear himself, goes after the first party, what protection, if any, 

 would the producer have against being prosecuted? Oregon. 



Answers.—!. I don't know. The nectar is likely to be somewhat 

 after the character of the plant from which it is obtained, but for all 

 that the hop nectar may not be bitter. Can any one tell us about hop 

 honey ? 



2. The producer could hardly be convicted without clear proof 

 that the honey had not been tampered with. 



Brood-Combs Built Crosswise. 



I have 3 good, strong colonies in which the combs in the brood- 

 frames are so badly crossed it is impossible to get them out so as to 

 examine them. They are well filled with capped brood and sealed 

 honey — are very heavy — and it appears as if the bees would swarm 

 soon. How can I best manage them to get the combs so I can handle 

 them; Missouri. 



Answer. — Turn the hive upside down. With a long knife and 

 saw, cut away the attachments from the sides of the hive, then lift 

 the hive off the combs. That will give you a fair chance to get at the 

 combs, and it is just possible that by cutting away a little here and 

 there you may be able to crowd the combs into place so they will be 

 easily movable. At the worst, you can cut them all out and fasten 

 into the fratpes as in transferring. It will be perhaps better tor you 

 to wait till ihree weeks after the prime swarm, when there will be no 

 brood in the way. Of course, the bees must be smoked or drummed 

 out of the way in order to allow you to operate. 

 ^-•-» 



Cottonwood and Bay-Tree— Swarms Uniting. 



1. What is the honey- value of cotton-wood, also the bay-tree* 

 The latter seems to be a species of magnolia, and blooms here in .June. 



2. Did you ever have an esperience like this; On April 28 I had 

 an af'.er-swarm come out, and about the time I had gotten them in 

 the hive a prime swarm from another hive came out and went in with 

 them ; as the latter went in another prime swarm issued from another 

 hive and went in on top of the other two. On the morning of the 2'.i[h 

 I found one dead queen in front of the hive, and about noon of the 

 same day one of the largest swarms I ever saw came out of the trio- 

 hive, leaving the original after-swarm apparently as they were in the 

 hive at first. Both the large and the small swarms are doing nicely. 

 Natural separation, isn't it? MississiPi'i. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know; I've alwiys supposed that cotton- 

 wood was of little value unless for pollen. If the bay-tree is of the 

 magnolia sort, it ought to be good. 



2. No, that was not at all a common occurrence. Are you sure 

 you had your after-swarm remaining with the young queen, and that 

 one of the laying queens was not left in t>ie hive*. 



An Experience with Bees-Llght-Welglit Sections. 



1. I had 2 colonies of bees, and one I thotight was queenless, as 

 was very weak in bees and did not seem to do so well as my other odi 

 which was full of bees. So into the queenles: one (No. 1) I introduce 

 an Italian (lueen on April 30. Sunday, May 1, I went to church un 

 some one told me there that my bees were swarming. I went horn 

 and found that a large cluster of bees had alightei in an apiary ri: ; 

 across the road, and they said they came from my apiary. The liei 

 had alighted on the corner of a hive, and after a while they started t 

 go into a hive where there were only a few bees without atiuecL 

 After searching around we found my Italian queen, and shortly afii 

 another queen which was just about dead, and in fact the Italiii 

 did not seem to be well. Now there were more bees in that " swarm 

 than there were in the hive the queen had been put into; and, aiiui h' 

 thing, the bees were very yellow, such as were in my other hive ( N; 

 2). I examined No. 2 which had previously been very strontc an 

 found scarcely any bees. All the bees were apparently still in Nu- 1 

 Now how do you solve this problem ' 



Now I suppose I have two queenless colonies. The other fell"> 

 says I can have the bees that went into his queenless hive, but may li 

 they are now queenless, because when we released the Italian qut 

 from the bees which were balling her we put her in the hive with ili 

 rest of the bees, but she seems as if she would not live long. Any wa ■ 

 let me hear your verdict. 



2. I use 1^'ii sections, and am going to use plain separators, which 

 rest close to the edge of the sections. Will this produce light-weight 

 sections? Ontario. 



Answers. — 1. At this distanec it is not easy to make a sure guess, 

 but it looks as if No. 1 was not in the circus at all ; No. 2 having 

 swarmed out and gone across the way. It is quite possible that your 

 neighbor's supposed queenless cjlony was not queenless after all, and 

 that its queen was killed by the intruding swarm, the Italian queen 

 being the queen of No. 2. 



2. If your sections are 4 ijxl'., they will be light-weight, or less 

 than a pound. If by saying that separators " rest close to the edge of 

 the sections " you mean that the separtors are as wide as the full depth 

 of the sections, that will probably be the same in result as if the sepa- 

 rators were a little narrower. But are you sure it will leave sufficient 

 passage (1-6 inch or more) for the passage of the bees? 



"Canucks" and the National -Requeenlng Weak Queen- 

 less Colonies— Extent of increase. 



1. Would It be any benefit to me, a "Canuck," to join the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association? 



3. I have a colony of bees which is very weak in bees, and queen- 

 less. Would it be safe to let them alone until settled warm weather in 

 May, before requeenlng, or would I better requeen now* Can it be 

 done? 



3. I lost nearly all of my bees the past winter, so I will have to 

 buy some, but I am not sure about what number to build up to. 

 About 2 miles east of here is an apiary of 30 colonies, 2 miles west 

 about 70 colonies, across the road about 2.5 colonies, and elsewhere in 

 the village about 12 colonies. Now how deep do you think I would 

 better dive in? The bees get honey mostly from white clover and cat- 

 nip. All the territory from northwest to northeast is unoccupied tor 

 miles. Do you think I could profitably build up to 100 colonies; 



Ontario. 



Answers. — 1. The benefits of membership extend to Canada, and 

 a number of good " Canucks " belong. By all means identify yourself 

 with the organization. 



2. Don't do either; unite them with another colony jww. It will 

 be hard for you to believe that's the best thing, but five years from 

 now you'll be sure of it — yes, five months from now, if you try to keep 

 that colony going. 



3. Those 37 colonies in the village count the same as if they were 

 yours, and it's doubtful if 137 colonies will find enough to do in that 

 spot. But it's a very hard thing to tell anything about it for certain. 



Carrying Out Young Bees -When to Put on Supers- 

 Swarmlng-Dlvldlng Colonies. 



1. I have noticed for several days that the bees in 2 of my hives 

 have been carrying out young bees and dropping them on the ground 

 in front of the hives. What is the cause of this ' Have they not 

 enough room to store honey in, or do robber-bees do it* 



2. Should I put on supers, or is it too early yet* 



3. I saw several drones a day or two ago. How long after the 

 first drones hatch will the colony send out a swarm? or can one tell by 

 this ; 



4. When is the best time to divide colonies* Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. No, it is not because the hive is crowded with 

 honey. In that case the queen would not have room to lay, but the 

 brood would not be carried out. The reverse may be the case if much 

 brood is carried out— starvation. If only a few larva; are carried out, 

 it may be work of wax-worms. 



2. In your region white clover is probably the first source of sur- 

 plus, so don't put on supers till clover is in bloom. 



3. You can't tell anything about the drones. 



4. About the time bees swarm naturally, which will likely Ije after 

 white clover Is fairly under way. 



Best Method of Introducing Queens. 



What, in your judgment, and with your experience, is the best 

 method of introducing queens! Maryland. 



Answer.— That's a rather tough one, when there are somany 

 ways, and occasional failures will come with almost any of them. For 

 introducing queens of ordinary value, the usual plan of putting her in 

 a provisioned cage answers well; the bees eating out the candy to 

 liberate the queen. A short time ajro E. F. Atwater sent me a sample 

 of the Chantry cage, and although I've had no opportunity to try it, I 

 should expect it to be safer than the usual cage. Over the candy in 

 the usual passage is a bit of excluder yinc, which allows the bees to 

 eat their wav into the cage, still keeping: the queen a prisoner there. 

 For some reason, bees will be kind to a queen when in a cage, while 

 they would ball her if out of it. Aiiniher and much longer passage, 

 without any zinc over it, allows the lues to eat out the candy and lib- 

 erate the queen a day or so after making' her acquaintance in the cage. 



But if you want to make a sun- thing of a valuable queen, take 

 several frames of sealed brood with v.. ung bees just emerging— don't 

 take a single bee with this brood uule-^ it be babies just out of the 

 cell— put the queen in a hive on the- eombs, fastening all beetight, 

 and keep in a warm place for four or live days, and then you will have 

 a colony ready to put on its stand with not the slightest danger to 

 the queen. 



