Aug. 4, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



337 



them up. I take them as a recreation, but I feel this sum- 

 mer as if in danger of having too much of a good thing. 



There are several other matters on which I would like 

 to touch. 



I want to give in my testimony in regard to those bee- 

 hive chickens, but for the present I must close. 



Custer Co., Nebr., July 13. A. L. Amos. 



Sweet clover bloomed nine days earlier here this year 

 than with you, but that was the very first bloom. 



Thank you very much for such full information regard- 

 ing the two sweet clovers. 



Hatching- Eggs Over Bees. 



Apropos of your comments on hatching hen's eggs in 

 bee-hives (page 4SS), I would say that many people about 

 the country do accomplish the incubation in that way — some 

 people indeed who do not keep bees. From my own experi- 

 ence and observation I know that it can be done. This, 

 therefore, makes another direct report as well as J. G. Nor- 

 ton's, and as much to the point as his is. 



Albany Co., N. Y. S. Davenport. 



Bees Doing- Well— Poor Queen, Etc, 



Dear Miss Wilson : — Bees are doing well now consid- 

 ering the rains. Not much surplus honey yet, but fair pros- 

 pects if it stops raining. Several prime swarms yet to 

 come, while some of the first hived in 10-frame hives are 

 almost ready for supers. I have been making frames, both 

 deep and shallow, and have fastened in all the foundation 

 this year. We use the Parker machine for sections and 

 shallow frames. With it one can fasten on warm days if 

 necessary. 



We moved our bees during fruit-bloom to a little nook 

 sloping eastward, sheltered by woods on the west and north, 

 and a large meadow on the south. On account of the tall 

 trees near, father put bunches of old combs tied to sticks at 

 convenient places about head high, thinking swarms would 

 alight (or " roost," as 4-year-olds would have it) on them, 

 but they chose high post-oak branches. 



One colony has been weak all spring. We have cleared 

 them of moth several times, and given them frames of 

 brood from other hives five or six times ; a few cells of 

 brood on some of the combs makes me think they have a 

 />oor queen. Would it be all right to transfer the frames to 

 a new hive — cover and bottom-board — setting it on the old 

 stand and hiving an after-swarm in with them ? 



Last winter was not so hard on bees here as at other 

 places ; one of our neighbors had one or two colonies die in 

 the spring, but so far as I know all others wintered all right. 



Hickory Co., Mo., July 5. Ann F. Kelly. 



You are probably right in regard to that colony having 

 a poor queen, and the first thing to do is to find her and kill 

 her. Then after the colony has been queenless a day or 

 two, unite with it the first after-swarm that issues. 



No need to transfer them to a new hive unless there is 

 some objection to the old hive. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon- 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



See Langstroth Book Offer on another page of thi 

 copy of the American Bee Journal. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 





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

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



Reducing; the Number of Colonies. 



I have 30 colonies of bees and would like to reduce them 

 to about 20, before they go into winter quarters. How 

 should I proceed ? About 5 of the colonies are very weak, 

 through persistent swarming. Iowa. 



Answer. — Unite just as soon as surplus storing is over. 

 Better still, just a little before that time. Take the 10 

 weakest colonies and set them over the next 10 weakest. It 

 will be better to kill one of the queens two or three days 

 before uniting them. Between the two hives put a sheet 

 of manilla paper, or three or four sheets of newspaper, 

 making in the paper a hole large enough for one bee to pass 

 at a time, seeing that the hole comes over the space between 

 two top-bars, so there will be no hindrance to the passage. 

 About three weeks later remove one story, putting in the 

 story that is left all the brood and the fullest frames of 

 honey. ^ 



A Honey-Dew Affliction. 



My bees are working on honey-dew, the trees just 

 glistening with it ; the leaves look as if they were var- 

 nished, and in the morning when the dew is on the bees 

 work " to beat the band." I have several hundred pounds 

 of it in the supers. It is bad looking stuff, and not fit to 

 eat or sell. What can I do with it ? Will it do to feed bees ? 



Iow.\. 



Answer.— It will do to feed it to the bees in the spring 

 or any time when they will use it for brood-rearing ; but 

 don't give it to them for winter stores. Such honey may 

 be sold for baking or mechanical purposes, or it may be 

 made into vinegar. 



ttueen Progeny-Testing Queens-Keeping Queens 

 Over Winter. 



I Italianized 3 colonies last August with red clover 

 queens. One of these queens produced nearly all black 

 drones, and I bought her as a tested queen. Her bees are 

 three-banded. 



1. Why did she produce black drones ? 



2. I have reared some nice queens, and find it diiScult 

 to test them. The young bees look very dark, but they 

 nearly all show the third band. Are they hybrids ? 



3. Could those dark-looking drones be the cause of such 

 dark bees ? 



4. One of those queens I bought last August superseded 

 about the middle of June. This was a select-tested queen, 

 and her drones were very nicely marked. Now the tested 

 queen is trying to supersede also. This gives me a chance 

 to rear some more good queens. What is the cause of these 

 queens superseding so soon ? 



5. Will it do to leave the tested queen alone in the hive, 

 or is she likely to die before spring ? 



6. Will the bees expel the drones if I cage the queen ? 



7. How can I keep a dozen queens over winter ? I 

 would like to keep them in one hive, if possible. 



,S. How would it do to make cages, put candy in them 

 with the queen and young beee, then put these cages in the 

 middle of a strong colony and make the colony queenless ? 



