Oct. 6, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



683 



ng honey press. I would be glad to believe the birds all 

 nnocent, but it hardly looks that way ; and the disposi- 

 ion just now prevalent to formally pronounce them abso- 

 utely not guilty is premature, I fear. 



On page 622 there seems no chance of mistake. Either 

 an apparently candid and careful observer is lying or these 

 birds killed bees at a dreadful rate. Interesting to note 

 that the Virginian king-bird did not leave his dead bees all 

 looking just alike, but some much torn and some torn but 

 little. Consolidating the work of the two birds on three 



separate occasions, we find they captured almost exactly a 

 bee a minute — the old one six bees in five minutes, and the 

 young one four bees in five minutes. Didn't get every bee 

 they made a dive for — the old one getting four bees out of 

 five attempts, and the young one three out of four. The 

 number of bees found in the piles fell a few short of the 

 number they were seen to have. These presumably were 

 thrown away while on the wing after the next bee. 



But the climax number on page (i23 is wild — else sum- 

 mers are very long in Virginia. It would require 822 days 

 to destroy 378,000 bees at 450 per day. 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, or lo Dr. C. C. Miller, .Marengo, 111. 



Proportions of Honey and Pollen for Wintering. 



I have the lo-frame Hoffman hives. The bees seem to 

 be carrying in an immense amount of pollen. Is there any 

 danger of getting too much pollen? and what proportion of 

 honey and of pollen do they need to winter all right? 



MiSSOURL 



Answer. — It is pretty safe to trust the matter entirely 

 to the bees. I don't know just what proportion is best, but it 

 would probably be no harm to have one-fourth as much pollen 

 as honey. Next spring you'll find that they'll use up pollen 

 rapidly in brood-rearing. 



Honey-Dew— Non-Swarming -Preventing Increase 

 Winter Passages— Best Brood-Frame. 



The bees are gathering large quantities of honey-dew from 

 the soft maple trees. 



1. Is the honey good to eat? 



2. Will it hurt the bees to have some of it for winter 

 food? 



3. Does a white, cotton-like substance, firmly attached to 

 the twigs of the trees, always accompany the aphides? 



4. What is this substance? 



5. I have quite a number of sections of it, and if it is not 

 good to eat what shall I do with it? I have no extractor. 



6. I have a colony in an 8-frame dovetailed hive which 

 has not swarmed this season. It was a swarm last season, 

 but it sent out three swarms the same year. I have taken 141 

 nounds of honey from it this season, with about .So oounds 

 more nearly ready to come ofif. It was treated like the rest 

 of the colonies, all of which swarmed. Why didn't it swarm? 



7. Is this yield usual with colonies that do not swarm? 



8. Is the following method all right to use to prevent 

 increase : 



Let the swarm issue, kill the queen and send the swarm 

 back : wait seven days, then cut out all the queen-cells but 

 one. I tried this method with one colony, and it was quite 

 successful. 



9. Will it always be successful? 



10. If not, what method would you suggest? 



11. How much honey will a pound of comb store if cells j 

 are the usual size? 



12. How many colonies would keep one man busy during 

 the summer? 



13. Do you think it necessary to cut winter passages in 

 brood-combs? If so. when is the best time if frost comes 

 the middle of September? 



14. Of all the different brood-frames which do you like 

 the best? Wisconsin. 



Answers.— I. It's all right if it tastes right. 



2. There are kinds of honey-dew that are bad for winter 

 stores, but I think this kind is not. 



3 and 4. No, only particular kinds have this woolly sub- 

 stance, and if I mistake not it is part of the insects them- 

 selves. 



5. Honey that is not good for table or winter feed may 

 be safely fed to the bees in spring. 



6. Be thankful you have a colony that stores instead of 

 swarming without questioning why. I can't tell you why 

 they don't swarm, any farther than to say that there is a 

 difference in bees themselves, some being more inclined to 

 swarm than others ; and when you find a colony that makes no 

 offer to swarm, and piles up a lot of honey, it is a good plan 

 to breed from such a colony. There is, too. a difference in 

 seasons as to swarming. Last year was a very swarmy year 

 here, while this year many of my colonies made no attempt 

 to swarm. 



7. A colonv that does not swarm may give all the way 

 from a very poor to a very good yield, but it will give more 

 than it would if it swarmed, and the record takes are usually 

 from the colonies that do not swarm. 



8 and 9. The plan is good and will usually be success- 

 ful ; but sometimes you may miss a cell, and sometimes the 

 only cell you leave may be bad. 



10. You will make a safer thing of it if vou allow the 

 colony to swarm with the first young queen. Put the swarm 

 on the old stand, setting the old hive in a new place. A day 

 or so later, when all the queens in the old hive have been 

 destroyed but one, return it to the old stand and shake the 

 swarm into it. 



11. I don't know : but 200 pounds have been estimated. 



12. From 50 to 200, according to the man and the man- 

 agement. 



13. It is not necessary nor advisable. Let the bees have 

 a chance to go over the top-bars to get from one comb to 

 another. 



14. The Miller frame, and I'm ready to discard that as 

 soon as I find something better. 



Pollen-ttueen Traps-Sealed Covers for Cellar-Winter- 

 ing- Other ttuestions. 



1. Do bees carry pollen all summer? 



2. Do you recommend queen-traps in swarming-time for 

 undipped queens? 



3. Do bees become queenless after the honey season is 

 over (September) ? 



4. Would you remove supers before the first frost, or 

 wait, there being lots of goldcnrod and fall flowers as yet? 



5. Do you examine the new swarm everv few days? If 

 not, what is your plan? 



6. Do you recommend sealed covers for cellar-wmter- 

 ing, the cellar being damp? Minnesota. 



Answers.^i. Yes. 



2. That depends on circumstances. If you allow natu- 

 ral swarming, and cannot be on hand to see when they swarm, 

 it's a very nice thing to have a queen-trap to hold the queen 

 till you get around : thus saving the loss of queen and swarm. 



3. Probably it does not often occur. But don't decide 

 that a colony is queenless because you find no brood in Sep- 

 tember. Sometimes a queen slops laying very early in that 

 month. 



4. Go by the yield. So long as the bees are stormg 

 honey that you want in the supers, leave them. 



;. There's no need to gn through a new swarm, is there? 



