Aug. 18, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



569 



( 



Dr. Miller's Answers 





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

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



Honey Quotations in ttie Bee Papers. 



1. What are honey quotations in bee-papers worth to 

 the honey-producer, anyhow ? If you write to any one 

 quoting prices for his city, his reply is always below prices 

 given in the paper. Is that your experience ? Iowa. 



Answer. — I have had no experience in the matter 

 lately. Years ago, the daily papers of Chicago quoted 

 prices that were always below the market. I have supposed 

 that nowadays the quotations in the bee-papers were the 

 same as you would get in private correspondence. If you 

 get diiferent quotations from those published, it would be a 

 good plan to send them to the bee-paper publishing the 

 quotations. If any quoter is giving wrong quotations he 

 should be brought to the mark. 



Do Drones Feed Tliemselves ? 



Don't you think the drone sips the water from the 

 honey ? It has been my observation that we find him on 

 the combs that contain the latest honey from the fields. I 

 never saw a bee feeding a drone, but have seen hundreds 

 helping themselves. It is absurd to say that a bee must 

 feed the drone or he will go hungry. If I am not correct, 

 why do they drive drones out ? My experience has been, a 

 fair quantity of drones, lots of honey. Arizona. 



Answer. — Now, that's strange ; you never saw a drone 

 fed by workers, and have seen hundreds helping themselves, 

 while I never saw one helping himself, but have seen them 

 fed by workers. But I never made a careful watch in the 

 matter, and have trusted the word of the authorities that it 

 was necessary for the workers to feed the drones. Perhaps 

 others can give their testimony. 



Wintering Bees— Chaff-Hives— Danzenftaker Hives. 



1. If you had to buy new hives, and propolis was not 

 plentiful in your locality, would you buy Danzenbaker 

 hives ? 



2 I have 5 colonies of bees in 10-frame dovetailed hives. 

 Can they be wintered in a cellar with a furnace in the ad- 

 joining room, or would they be safer on the summer stands ? 



3. Which do you think are the better, and which do you 

 use more, 8-frame or 10-frame hives ? 



4. What is your opinion of chaff-hives ? 



5. Do you think strong colonies o* bees in Danzenbaker 

 hives, with supers full of chaff, and telescope caps over all, 

 would winter well on the summer stands, in latitude 41 ? 



6. If I put 9 frames in my 10-frame hives, with a divi- 

 sion-board on each side, it leaves a ^2 -inch space behind each. 

 Will the bees build comb in those spaces rather than in the 

 supers ? 



This is my first year with bees, and I am 17 years old. 



Illinois. 

 Answers. — 1. No. 



2. I don't know. Perhaps in your locality on summer 

 stands. But try two or three in cellar so as to compare. 



3. I use 8-frame hives, but for extracted honey I would 

 have 10-frame or larger. Indeed, for comb honey 10-frame 

 hives are safer, and I should prefer them if I did not want j 



to give very close attention to my bees, and if I didn't care 

 for the heavier handling. 



4. If you try them at all, better do it on a small scale. 

 Some favor them, but there is hardly as much said in their 

 favor now as a few years ago. 



5. Yes. 



6. No, unless very badly crowded, and perhaps not then. 



Harvesting Bucltwtieat. 



Allow me to enlighten you on the buckwheat question 

 (page 522). Buckwheat is never tied — in fact, it doesn't need 

 to be tied, for it " sticketh closer than a brother." It is set 

 up in bundles of a convenient size to handle, the work be- 

 ing mostly done with a hand-rake, although it can be done 

 with the pitchfork. The tops are drawn somewhat closer 

 than the bottom, which helps to shed the rain, and brace 

 against the wind. 



This is written in all kindness, as part payment for the 

 many good things that I have gotten from your book and 

 other writings. Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — I am exceedingly obliged to "Pennsylvania " 

 for his correction. As he lives right in the locality where my 

 observations were made many years ago, I have no doubt 

 the practice was the same then as now ; but I had not sup- 

 posed the bundles would stand without tying. But there 

 is a whole lot of things I don't know yet. 



Eating Extracted Honey Stored by a Foul-Broody 



Colony— Vinegar Made from Foul-Broody 



Honey. 



1. What are the effects upon the human body of eating 

 extracted honey stored by a colony of bees which has foul 

 brood ? 



2. Would you consider vinegar made from honey stored 

 by a foul-broody colony of bees to be perfectly safe to use ? 



3. Will the fermentation process in making vinegar 

 destroy the germs of foul brood ? Of course, I take it for 

 granted that vinegar can be made from this kind of honey. 



Illinois. 



1. I don't believe there are any perceptible effects. 



2. Yes. 



3. No, the germs would probably be unaffected. 

 Answering more fully the spirit of your questions, if 



any part of the rotten brood should be in either the honey 

 or the vinegar, while it might have no perceptible effect on 

 the health, it would be filthy for table use. But honey 

 taken with proper care from a foul-broody colony, even 

 though it might not be safe to feed bees, would not be seri- 

 ously affected for human consumption by the spores, which 

 are merely infinitesimal seeds of a little plant. 



Cutting Out ttueen-Cells-aueens Mating with Selected 

 Drones— Mixing of Drones. 



1. Is it practical, on the issue of a swarm, to cut out 

 queen-cells and give to nuclei if they are uncapped ? 



2. If a swarm should issue, say June 1, on what date 

 should they be carried in the cellar in order that they may 

 be carried out in the evening to have the queen mated by 

 selected drones ? 



3. Upon giving a frame of eggs and just hatching 

 larvse on June 1, at mid-day, on what date at mid-day should 

 I cut out cells ? 



4. Will drones fly and mi.x from one colony to another, 

 say black drones and Italians in the same apiary ? 



England. 

 Answers.— 1. Yes, it is practicable, but hardly advis- 

 able. To rear the best queens the cells should be left in 



