858 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 22, 1904. 



much seed per acre ? When sown 7 Will it bloom the first 

 year? 



4. I am using the 8 and 10 frame hive with Hoflfman 

 brood-frames and Danzenbaker super. I am after comb 

 honey, and thought I would try 10 Danzenbaker hives next 

 season. What do you think of them ? Are they, or any 

 other hive, better than the one I am now using ? 



5. Is it now too late to introduce queens ? 



Tennessee. 

 Answers. — l. The probability is that it would pay you. 

 At any rate, it will cost very little to try one queen. Then 

 rear a few queens from her, and see how their colonies 

 compare in results with your blacks. 



2. The 3-banders are not all alike, and there is likely to 

 be still greater variation in the S-banders. One of the best 

 of either will give good results. 



3. It is well worth the trial. See article by C. P. 

 Dadant, page 790. It is a perennial, blooming the second 

 and succeeding years. You can probably get the seed of 

 any seed-dealer. I don't know the cost, nor amount of seed 

 per acre, but you can hardly be far out of the way to follow 

 the time and amount of sowing other clovers in your 

 locality. Possibly some one who has had experience may 

 tell us more about it. 



4. The little experience I had with Danzenbaker hives 

 did not impress me very favorably. I very much prefer the 

 dovetail with Miller frames to either the Danzenbaker or 

 Hofiman. 



5. No, not in Tennessee ; but it is generally more con- 

 venient to wait till next season, and you would hardly gain 

 anything by introducing now. 



Clipping aueens-Sugar-Syrup Winter Stores-SJiaking 

 Swarms— Requeenin? Colonies-Wiring Frames- 

 Slotted Sections. 



1. What time next spring would you clip queens ? 



2. How would you start, and how do you handle them ? 



3. I find a dampness against the top of the hive. Should 

 the bees have top ventilation, or will the dampness not do 

 any harm ? 



4. Do you think bees will winter all right on sugar 

 syrup when on the summer stands ? They have a flight 

 about once a week. 



5. Will extra-thin section foundation do for brood- 

 frames if I put in splits about 3 inches apart ? 



6. Will it make any difference if in wiring frames I use 

 tinned wire double the size usually used 7 



7. I find in requeening a colony that to find the old 

 queen I break some of the honey-cells and start robbing. 

 How do you prevent it ? 



8. I don't want any swarming next year. How will I 

 know when to shake a swarm 7 If I wait until the day be- 

 fore they swarm they may swarm the day before I expect 

 them. 



9. Is honey that has candied in the comb good to feed 

 bees in winter 7 



10. Will candied honey do for spring feeding 7 If so, 

 how do you prepare it for use 7 



11. I have 12 colonies down in the country that I expect 

 to bring home. Should I want to requeen them, what is the 

 earliest that I can get queens next spring? 



12. Do the open sides in sections help the bees any 7 



Richmond, Va. 

 Answers. — 1. Any time when it is warm enough for 

 bees to fly freely ; only not when they take their first 



cleansing flight. On that day there's some danger the bees 

 might be unkind to the queen after you return her. 



2. With the thumb and finger seize the queen by the 

 wings, then hold her by the thumb and fingers of the left 

 hand, head to the left, tail to the right, holding her by the 

 thorax— perhaps you would call it by the shoulders. Be 

 careful not to squeeze her by the abdomen or soft part. 

 With a pair of small scissors (I use common pocket scissors 

 that I carry in my trousers pocket all the time), cut ofif both 

 wings on one side. Cut off half or more of the wings. 

 Then put her back on ths comb or on the top-bar. Most 

 likely, instead of running down, she'll run up on your hand. 

 Take a leaf, chip, or somethinu of the sort, let her run on 

 that, and then lay it on the frames. She'll do the rest. 



3. If there is enough dampness so it will fall in drops 

 on the bees it will do harm. Give upward ventilation, or 

 else cover something over the top to keep it warm. Then 

 the dampness will not settle on it. 



4. Yes. 



5. I don't know ; thin might do ; I'd be afraid to try 

 extra-thin only on a small scale. 



6. It would probably answer, only it would be just a lit- 

 tle more in the way of the bees. 



7. I'm afraid I don't fully understand ; what do you 

 break the honey for 7 The only thing I can think of is 

 that your combs are a little uneven, with brace-combs from 

 one to the other, and this can be avoided by keeping the 

 brace-combs cut away whenever you take out the frames. 

 But even then, robbing might be started when you open a 

 hive if honey is not coming in. Open the hive in the even- 

 ing, as soon as robber-bees have stopped flying. 



8. Every week or 10 days look for queen-cells, and shake 

 as soon as you find them with eggs or larvre in them. 



9. Yes, only there's waste in it, for the bees will reject 

 the solid part. 



10. Melt it by heating, adding a little water. It's all 

 right for spring feeding. 



12. Write to those that advertise early queens and ask 

 I how early. Those down South are the earliest. 



12. I doubt that openings at the sides of sections help. 



Feeding Bees (3p for Winter Stores. 



We have continued fine, warm weather. Bees are on 

 the wing all the time. Is this good or bad for them 7 How 

 would it do to feed them 7 There are no other bees (to 

 amount to anything) in the neighborhood. Would it pay 

 to feed some each day to keep the amount of stores already 

 in the hives 7 Tell me what efi^ect it would have on them 

 now, and in the spring. Would it pay 7 They are on the 

 summer stands, and fixed nice and dry for winter. 



What I want to know is. Would it be a good scheme to 

 keep them fed up full this fall on sugar syrup 7 And how 

 would it do to let them have rye-meal also 7 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — The continuous good weather, allowing the 

 bees to fly daily, is all right, although they will use a little 

 more food. Don't think of feeding them syrup or meal, un- 

 less they have so little that you are afraid they will not pull 

 through the winter. If they are short of stores don't fill 

 them up with small daily feeds, but feed as rapidly as pos- 

 sible. If you do as you suggest, you are likely to start 

 them to brood-rearing, and then have Jack Frost catch them 

 with a lot of brood that will only be a damage to them. Let 

 them severely alone — that's the best care you can give them 

 now. 



I BEE-ENTRANCE GUARD, 8 CTS. | 



^ One of the most useful inventions to the bee-keeper. It prevents ^• 



i5 the queen from coming out or drones going in. All bee-hives should be ^' 

 !^ supplied with one. Each, 8 cts. If sent by mail, 5 cts. extra. ^i 



i JOHN DOLL & SON, | 



.^ Power Building, 



MINNEAPOLIS, MINN, ^ 



You would not think of buying 



Why? 4» Raisins 



INot because you could not use them, 



E}|]f because on account of the price hereto- 

 •^***- fore paid you have learned to regard 

 raisins as a holiday luxury only. 



We are shipping out several carloads of 

 CHOICE SEEDED RAISINS in 16-oz. cartons, SO 

 cartons to case, from which you can lay in a 

 winter's supply at $3 N5 per case, or two cases 

 for $7,50 f.o.b. either Ciiicaijo or Denver, Colo. 



Address, H. L. WEEMS, 



p. O. Ho.x 267. CHICAGO, ILL., or 

 H. E. TENNEY, 



DENVER, COLO. 

 Jee Journal. SlA4t 



325 E. Iliff Av 

 ^B"Reference, Americac 



