Oct. 20, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



713 



made to deceive, if I keep the idea, only substances suitable 

 to use as a substitute for eggs were put in the general shape 

 and appearance of eggs to capture the popular fancy. I 

 think it was added that the factory soon failed and ceased 

 operations. Don't say as I fully believe the story ; but 

 there seems no call to disbelieve it fanatically. Perhaps 

 the only reason why the thing could not be realized is that 

 material to make a really good substitute for an egg costs 

 more than the egg itself does. If I were bossing the factory 

 I wouldn't essay a shell with fluid contents; but I'd have 



the whole thing a little harder than putty, and with a nicely 

 buffed and polished surface. Page 633. 



AI.TOGETHEK TOO SWII'T FOR BELIEF. 



Surely, there must be something wrong about those 

 bees that flew ISO miles an hour. The two minutes named 

 would largely be consumed in loading up, even from open 

 cells of honey. Much more than two minutes is usually 

 required to load from flowers. Then the five miles would 

 have to be flown in less than no time. Page 629. 



Clsli Doctor 2TItIlcr 



99 



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



Vetch and Rocky Mountain Bee-Plant. 



1. Did your vetch do well this season? Mine did not, as 

 there was too much rain here for it. But the bees did very 

 well, I think. For new swarms 88 pounds per colony is 

 pretty good. 



2. Will you please give us the post-office address of some 

 one to whom we can send for the seed of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain bee-plant ? Missouri. 



Answers.. — i. No; but it didn't have a fair chance. 

 2. Ask any leading seedsman for Cleome integrifolia. 

 < ■ » ■ 



Superseding— Cane Juice for Winter Stores. 



1. A small swarm — about a pint of bees — issued from a 

 full colony Sept. 28. Was it a case of superseding, and the 

 old queen swarmed out rather than be killed? 



2. Would raw cane-juice be good to feed for winter 

 stores? My bees are working at the cane-mill in great num- 

 bers. Alabama. 



Answers. — i. Possibly, but hardly. More likely a case 

 of superseding, and a number of the bees going out with 

 the young queen on her wedding-trip. 



2. They would probably be better without it; but a small 

 amount may do no great harm. 



Cleome or Rocky Mountain Bee-Plant. 



1. Please give a description of cleome. If planted in 

 the spring will it flower during the summer? 



2. What soil is best for it? 



3. Is it an annual? 



4. What time in the vear should it be olanted? 



5. Where can I get the seed? Idaho. 



■ Answers. — Cleome integrifolia, or Rocky Mountain bee- 

 plant, grows wild in some parts of the West in large quanti- 

 ties, and is an excellent honey-plant. Some years apo it 

 had quite a boom, and seed was planted largely. But it is 

 doubtful that anyone who sowed seed ever got back the cost 

 of the seed. A. I. Root found it inferior to its near relative. 

 the spider plant, although neither was worth cultivating. It 

 is doubtful that it is worth while for you to try it if it does 

 not grow wild with you. You can get seed from leadinp 

 seed-dealers. It should be sown in spring; is an annual, so 

 blooming first year. I don't know what soil suits it best. I 

 know it does well here in good garden soil : but the acres 

 of it I saw out West were growing wild on land that looked to 

 me poor. 



Winter-Feeding in the Cellar Pollen in Sections 



Bottom-Starters-ttueenless Bees and 



Cotnl)-t)uilding. 



1. I have some honey in shallow frames which I would 

 like to use for winter-feeding in the cellar. Is it all right to 

 set these frames on top of the hives? 



2. Why is there so much talk in the bee-papers about 



pollen in the sections? Do the consumers object to it? I 

 like a little in the honey. 



3. You have said in Gleanings in Bee-Culture that a bot- 

 tom-starter should be ^-inch wide, but with tht founda- 

 tion on the market there is no room for such a wide starter. 

 Do you cut off that bottom-starter from the top one, or do 

 you have your foundation made to order? 



4. You also say in Gleanings (page 791 ) that queen- 

 less bees are likely to stop building comb. I removed a 

 queen for certain reasons, and the bees did almost nothing. 

 This puzzles me, and I would like to know how Mr. Elwood 

 and others manage when they cage the queen to prevent 

 swarming. Central Wisconsin. 



Answers.— I. It's all right if the bees will go up to them. 

 There is some danger, especially with a weak colony, that 

 the bees may not go up to the frames above. If given be- 

 fore being taken in the cellar, so the bees would get started 

 on the frames, or if stirred up a little in the cellar there ought 

 to be no trouble. 



2. There is no objection whatever to pollen in the sec- 

 tions for people that like that sort of thing. Most people, 

 however, would object most decidedly to such a thing, and 

 if you have any of that kind of honey you will do well to 

 reserve it for home consumption, seeing its suits your taste. 



3. My foundation is of the regular size offered in the 

 market, 3^ x 155^, and each sheet cuts four pieces, 314 each, 

 and four pieces H each. 



4. Queenless bees are little inclined to build comb, what 

 they do build being almost exclusively drone-comb; but if 

 a flood of honey is coming in and they have no other place 

 for it they will build comb in which to store it. 



Perhaps Not a Queenless Colony— Feeding for 

 Winter Stores. 



On June 29th, when returning from work I noticed a 

 swarm of bees on a fence-post. I hived them in an ordinary 

 soap-box about a foot deep. I did not inted to keep them, 

 but became so interested after awhile that I decided to do so. 

 About two months later I purchased a hive (bar-frame) 

 containing 9 frames. I put full sheets of foundation on 5 

 frames, and managed to get the bees into the hive. But I am 

 afraid I either smothered or killed the queen in transferring 

 the swarm from the box. I have looked for her often, but 

 do not find her. 



I could not do otherwise than make a mess of the trans- 

 ferring, as all the combs were built in a semi-circular form, 

 beginning in fhe northeast comer of the box, and extending 

 toward the center. I took the comb that was straight enough, 

 fixed it on a frame with wire to hold it, and put it in the body 

 of the hive, thinking that the bees would use it again for 

 storing honey, or for the queen to lay eggs in. Whatever 

 brood there was hatched out all right, but the bees would not 

 keep the voung ones in the hive. Now I find that not an 

 egg is laid in the old comb. Instead, they are building new 

 comb over it, all the cells in the old combs being empty. 

 I am feeding them syrup. 



I purchased and put into the super 7 one-pound sections 

 of honey, and they consumed it all. I put 4 of the empty 



