Jan. 31, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



73 



forth to mate. After mating-, the workers or soldiers bite 

 off the wing-s of the queen so that she is ever after held as 

 a sort of a prisoner in the ant household where she performs 

 no other duty than to lay eggs. 



I have been explicit in this narration as it is a remark- 

 ably interesting case. Ants for the most part do little 

 harm. When we see them visiting trees we may be almost 

 assured that there are either scale-insects or plant-lice on 

 the same trees. These scale or plant-lice secrete honey-dew 

 and it is this which attracts the ants. The ants, then, do 

 no harm here except, perhaps, to protect the scale and 

 plant-lice from birds which are slow to visit plants on 

 which ants abound. AVe all know that ants sometimes bore 

 into trees. This tunneling, however, is rare except in 

 trees more or less decayed. In such cases, however, the 

 tunnels are often very numerous and the carving done 

 by the ants is interesting to study. In California, where the 

 ants are near trees, they sometimes do damage by destroy- 

 ing foliage. I have not seen this but have it from what I 

 consider good authority. 



The most grievous offense that the ants commit in our 

 country is that of entering our houses and making them- 

 selves a nuisance on the lawn about the house. Strings 

 dipt in corrosive sublimate will keep them from the houses, 

 while burning with gasoline or suffocating with bi-sulphide 

 of carbon is the easiest way to rid the lawn of their pres- 

 ence. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



\ Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTE 



DR. O. O. AirCtER, Afareng-o, HI, 



[The Questions maj be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.] 



Moving Bees in Winter. 



I have an apiary of about 50 colonies. Would you ad- 

 vise me to move them now ? Virginia. 



Answek — Without knowing more about the case it is 

 hard to answer. If you yourself expect to move, it will 

 probablj' be more convenient for you to move the bees also. 

 If you remain where you are. and the pasture is very much 

 better at some place two or more miles away, it may be ad- 

 visable to move the bees. If you expect to move the bees, 

 and desire only to know whether the present is a good time 

 to move them, it may be said in reply that it will be better 

 to wait till the bees begin to fly in the spring. Still, if it is 

 much more convenient to move them now, thej' may be 

 moved carefully without danger of much harm. 



Getting Straigtit Brood-Combs Moving Bees. 



1. As I am a beginner in the bee-business, I would like 

 to know what is he best way of getting straight combs in 

 the brood-fratnes ? I have 20 colonies, and I wish to run 

 for extracted honey another year. The past year I workt 

 for comb honey, so the brood-frames are in such a shape 

 that it will be difficult to extract a great many of them that 

 I would like to get into. 



2, And, furthermore, is it best to contract the space in 

 the hive, when there is an extra frame in the hive that isn't 

 filled ? 



2. After a swarm issues, can I move the old colony, say 

 a half mile, without injuring them, to a different place, sup- 

 posing that the swarm that issued would better be put back 

 on the old stand ? The reason that I ask is, I want to have 

 them on the opposite side of the river. I have 20 colonies. 



California. 



Answers. — 1. The very best way to have combs built 

 straight is to fill the frames with comb foundation. That 

 makes a sure thing of it that the center of the comb will be 

 in the center of the frame, and you may make sure at the 

 same time of having all worker-comb. 



2. It is not desirable to have any more space in the hive 

 than can be tilled by the bees, especially in winter, for it 

 costs the bees extra to keep up the heat in that extra space. 



3. Yes, it will be all right to move the mother colony. 



away a half a rod or half a mile. If you want to have the 

 moved colon)' pretty strong, move it immediately after it 

 swarms. But it is generally considered good practice to let 

 the old hive stand close beside the swarm for a week and 

 then move it. That makes the swarm very strong, but of 

 course the mother colony is just so much weakened. The 

 object desired is to prevent a second swarm, and also to 

 make the first swarm strong for surplus. Moving the 

 swarm a half mile will be much the same as moving it a 

 short distance, only there will probably be not quite so 

 many bees leave the old hive for the swarm, if the old hive 

 is moved a long distance. 



Storing Supers-10-Frame vs. 8-Frame Hive. 



1. I am anxious to fix my surplus honey arrangement 

 during the winter, but having been deprived of the use of 

 the building I used for a shed, I have no place to store my 

 supers where the temperature does not go much below 

 freezing — in fact, I must leave some outdoors. Thru the 

 kindness of the " gude wife," I can work in one end of the 

 kitchen, but must store my traps elsewhere. Will freezing 

 injure the foundation in the sections, provided they are kept 

 dry and in the dark ? By an eye of faith I see a shop and 

 honey-house after next summer's big honey-crop ! 



2. Why is a 10-frame hive better for extracted honey 

 than an 8-f rame, as you advise New Jersey, on page 25 ? 

 How about two 8-frame hives with queen-excluders be- 

 tween ? HOOSIKK. 



Answers. — 1. Don't be worried about the freezing. It's 

 probably a good deal colder here than where you live, and 

 I've had thousands of sections tilled with foundation stay 

 in a place as cold as outdoors not only all winter but two 

 or more winters, and I don't think they were hurt by it. 



2. One reason for preferring the 10-frame hive is that 

 it is safer for winter. There is more room in it for winter 

 stores. There is not the same reason for restricting the 

 brood-nest at any time for extracted honey that there is for 

 comb honey. The bees will not do anything at comb honey 

 in the supers so long as there is room below. But it is not 

 quite the same with extracting-combs above. If they have 

 old black combs above they will store it in them nearly if 

 not quite as readily as below, and even if the extracting- 

 combs are new they will prefer them to sections divided up 

 into little compartments. Of course, you will need more 

 than one story of 10 frames in the harvest, and you will be 

 safer from having the harvest interrupted by swarming 

 than if the ciueen vrere confined to 8 frames. 



Mating of Queens Growing Plants for Honey. 



1. I have been reading "Langstroth on the Honey- 

 Bee," and I find that it says that the queen mates with the 

 drone while on the wing. I do not find that it .states atiy- 

 where that queens mate in any other way. I have six dipt 

 queens, and others that seem to be too large to fly, and I 

 would like to know if they will be all right for breeding in 

 the spring. 



2. I wish to purchase some honey-plants in the spnng, 

 and would like to know what would suit this climate best. 

 What kinds of clovers would you advise, and what kind of 

 garden flowers ? West Vircinia. 



Answers.— 1. It is exceedingly doubtful whether 

 queens mate any other way than on ttie wing. If the wings 

 of a queen are dipt before she flies on her wedding- trip, or 

 if by anv means the wings of a virgin queen are bad so she 

 can not fly, you may better kill her at once ; she is utterly 

 worthless^ as all the eggs she lays will produce only drones. 

 The six dipt queens are all right for the next spring, if 

 they were all right in the fall, for a queen does not need to 

 meet the drones each year, but only once for life. 



2. Your best chance will probably be among the clovers. 

 Alsike clover is one of the best, especially if the location is 

 somewhat low and wet. Sweet clover will do almost any- 

 where, and vf ill do well on poor land and on stiff clay. Very 

 likely crimson clover may prove a success with you. It is 

 very' beautiful when in flower, and would be an ornan.ent 

 in the door-yard. Crimson clover is not usually sown in 

 the spring, but it may be worth while for you to try some 

 at that time, as in that case you will be a little ahead if it 



succeeds. 



^ ■ > 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth work 

 ing for. Look at them. 



