Aug. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



587 



colonies quecnlcss two or three days before uniting, then put 

 the frames of brood and bees together alternately. Another 

 is to put one hive on top of the other (one of them being 

 queenless) with a sheet of manila paper or two or three 

 thicknesses of newspaper between the two stories, having in 

 the paper a hole large enough for the passage of a single bee 

 at a time. 



4. Shake or brush all or nearly all the bees from the 

 combs of a colony, leaving in the hive the bees, queen and 

 frames of empty comb or foundation, and removing the brood 

 to some other place — possibly leaving one frame of brood for 

 two or-three days — and you'll have a shaken swarm. 



Clover and Trees for Bees— Wintering in an Observa- 

 tory Hive— Wiring Frames— Requeening. 



1. What kind of clover can common bees work on? 



2. What kind of trees, other than fruit-trees, can bees 

 work on ? 



.?. Is there anything I can plant that will furnish honey 

 in July and August? 



-(. Will a queen winter all right in an observatory hive 

 with one frame of bees, if kept in a warm place? 



5. Do you put wire or strips in brood-frames if you use 

 only foundation starters, or only when using full sheets of 

 foundation? 



6. Will a sH X iJ4 section hold one pound of honey if 

 filled with plain separators in the super? 



7. Would you requeen a colony of bees if they did not 

 do as well as the others, when the queen is very large and 

 pretty? Virginia. 



Answers. — i. White, alsike, crimson, white sweet clover, 

 yellow sweet clover, sometimes red clover, and perhaps others. 



2. Oh my ! A whole lot ; more than I can tell, and more 

 than I know. A few are linden, locust, poplar, eucalyptus, 

 maple, banana, black mangrove, etc. 



3. Try sweet clover, buckwheat, and perhaps phacelia. 



4. Possibly, but you will not be likely to have much left 

 in spring. 



5. Only with full sheets. 



6. Somewhere in that neighborhood, but there's nothing 

 exact about the amount that can be counted on in that or any 

 other section. One colony may put more weight in a section 

 than another ; the same colony may make sections heavier one 

 year than another, and even in the same super there may be 

 a decided difference in weight. 



7. Yes, handsome is that handsome does. 



Sign of ttueenlessness-Making Nuclei— Dividing 

 Colonies. 



1. Do bees sometimes swarm out, cluster, and on being 

 hived stay and go to work, and yet have no queen? I have 

 one that I hived July 20, which seems to be that way. I ex- 

 amined the colony August 2, and no queen could be found. I 

 found some comb and honey, but no eggs or larvae. 



2. They carry very light loads of pollen. Is this a sign 

 of quecnlessness? 



3. How late will it do to make nuclei ? 



4. Can bees be divided without sealed queen-cells? 



5. Does a queen in a cell have her head up or down ? I 

 saw one in a cell that was not quite out. She looked as 

 though her head was up. 



6. What part of the hive is called the super? 



7. Where can I get "A B C of Bee Culture?" 



Nebr.\ska. 



Answers. — i. When the queen does not go with the swarm 

 the swarm returns to its old home or unites with some other 

 colony, although sometimes a swarm that has staid hived is 

 found quccnlcss afterward; possibly the queen was lost after 

 being hived. 



2. It is to some extent a sign of quecnlessness, although 

 not always reliable. 



3. \<^u prol'.Tbly mean to have the nuclei built up into 



colonies . for winter. It depends u|ion the pasturage, the 

 strength of the nuclei, and the help you give them. Generally 

 it is not safe to make a 2-frame nucleus later than the middle 

 of July, if you expect it to have no further help, although one 

 may be started in September if yon give it enough help from 

 other colonies. 



4. Yes. 



5. The usual way is head down; rarely on her side; 

 never head up unless you put her so. 



6. The upper part, in which the surplus honey is stored. 

 "Super'' is a Latin word which means "over." 



7. You probably mean Doolittle's excellent work on 

 queen-rearing, which can be had at the office of the American 

 Bee Journal for $1.00, or with the Journal a year, both for 

 $1.75. The book, "A B C of Bee Culture" is mailed for $1.20; 

 or with the American Bee Journal a year — both for $2.00. 



Bees Loafing-Perfiaps No Forage. 



I have a very strong colony of bees in a large box-hive. 

 They have been loafing for three weeks or more. Are they 

 likely to swarm? They cast one very good swarm in the 

 early part of June, but were very weak in the spring. This 

 same colony cast a swarm on August 24 last year, which was 

 the largest swarm of bees I ever saw. It almost filled two 

 Danzenbaker brood-chambers. This left the old colony weak 

 to go into winter quarters. It was a swarm itself in May of 

 last year. The swarm wintered with some fall feeding. 



Maryland. 



Answer.— That depends. If they have been loafing as 

 long as three weeks, and there is plenty of room in the hive, 

 perhaps there is nothing for them to do in the fields. If other 

 bees are busy gathering, they may be thinking of swarming,* 

 although three weeks is a pretty long think. 



Preparation for Swarming-Virgin Queen Perhaps 

 Starved. 



1. One of my colonies contained a valuable queen, which 

 I got last year. I went to it a short time ago to get a frame 

 of eggs for a queenless colony, and found nine sealed queen- 

 cells and one young queen. The old queen was gone, and 

 there were no eggs or larvse. (They had swarmed about three 

 weeks before, and at that time I cut out all cells and returned 

 them with their clipped queen, and found a few eggs m the 

 hive a week later.) I got the queen as a premium from a 

 firm that I consider perfectly reliable. Were they supersed- 

 ing their queen? If so, why? 



2. Did they kill her as soon as the queen-cells were 

 started? 



3. I caged the young queen, and as fast as I cut out the 

 cells the young quee'ns cut themselves out and I caged seven 

 more. I had several two-story hives with supers above ( I ran 

 for comb honey), and I smoked and drove the bees down mto 

 the lower hive till I felt pretty certain the queen was below. 

 Then I put the lower hive on a new stand, leaving the other 

 on the old stand, and put a caged queen in each for them to 

 take care of two or three days, when I intended to make sure 

 the old queen was not there, before letting the young one out. 

 While examining them today I found one young queen dead, 

 and the other one nearly so. Did they let them starve? If 

 so, why? I was under the impression they would take care 

 of' a virgin for a long time, whether they had a laying queen 

 in the hive or not. loWA. 



AnsW'Ers.— I. Hardly superseding; rather swarming. You 

 thwarted them in their attempt to swarm, and they at once 

 began fresh preparation to swarm again. 



2. Probably not till the young queen emerged; although 

 the old queen may have been viewed with some disfavor as a 

 continuance of the swarming fever. 



3. .A very young virgin is hardly considered as a queen 

 liy the bees, and would in many cases be allowed to starve. A 

 laying queen would be more likely to be fed than a virgin, 

 even in a queenless colony. You should have provisioned the 



