106 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 14, 1901. 



\ Questions and Answers. ! 



CONDUCTED BY 



OR. C, O. AIILLER. A/areng-o, 212, 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1 



Boiling Foul-Broody Hives— Newly-Hived Swarm 

 Leaving. 



1. If I boil hives and frames that have been taken from 

 foul-broody bees, will it kill the germ ? and will they be 

 safe to put bees in again ? 



2. Can one tell whether the disease is foul brood or 

 pickled brood when it is found in an early stage ? If so, 

 how ? 



3. Last season in swarming-time it was quite warm, and 

 in hiving bees they would leave the hives soon after being 

 put in. A remedy was tried of cooling the hive with cold 

 water, and after letting it drain put the bees in, but they 

 would leave them. Mint was tried, and had but little suc- 

 cess. The hives were new, and had foundation on each 

 frame. Please suggest a remedy. What do you think was 

 the reason of their deserting ? Ut.^^h. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, and' some good authorities say it is 

 safe to use a hive of the kind without boiling. 



2. You can hardly be certain till some advance has 

 been made. Look up the subject in the last volume of 

 American Bee Journal. 



3. When a swarm is hived and leaves the hive, in a 

 large proportion of cases it is because the hive is too warm. 

 Sometimes wetting with cold water will help, but if the hive 

 stands in the sun it may still be hot in spite of the wetting, 

 especially if the hive is close. Let the hive be raised from 

 the bottom-board, and perhaps the cover open a little for a 

 day or two. Some give to a swarm a frame of brood. Bees 

 are not likely to desert this. 



Queen and Swarming Questions. « 



1. What percentage of queens reared by a strong col- 

 onj-. and then 3 daj-s before hatching being given to nu- 

 clei, would swarm the same year? 



2. What percentage of virgin queens would swarm, if 

 allowed to hatch before being introduced to nuclei ? 



3. Would it be better to let each nucleus rear its own 

 queen, providing each had 4 or 5 frames of sealed brood 

 with one containing some eggs, and all being well covered 

 with bees ? 



4. What would be the best method to increase from 30 

 to 55 colonies and keep swarming down ? 



5. Would it make anj- difference in the harvest if all 

 old queens were replaced by virgin queens 45 days before 

 the flow ? or would it be better to give them fertile queens 

 of this year's rearing ? and what difference would it make 

 in swarming ? SrBrRB.\NiTE. 



Answers.— 1. I don"t know. If you will tell me what 

 will be done with the queens afterward. I may be able to 

 tell something about it. Your question is such as to sug- 

 gest that you suppose a queen reared in a strong colony 

 and given to a nucleus three days before hatching will give 

 results as to swarming quite different from one that has not 

 been given to a nucleus. I doubt that. It is not so much 

 what has been done before the queen begins laying, as it is 

 what has been done after. 



Let me try to answer fully the spirit of your question, 

 for there are some misconceptions likely to be entertained 

 in the minds of beginners. It is a commonly believed 

 opinion that a queen of the current year's rearing is not so 

 likely to swarm as an older queen. The belief is right. 

 And it is wrong. It all depends. Formerly it was held as 

 a sure thing that a queen would not swarm before sis 

 months of age. At that time it was probably correct. 

 Latterly the opinion is held that a young black queen of 

 the current year will not swarm, but an Italian queen may. 

 There may be some difference between blacks and Italians 

 in this respect, but I'm a little skeptical as to its making 



much difference. I think the rule was true of blacks before 

 Italians were introduced — not because they were blacks, 

 but because of the treatment they had. 



Before the introduction of Italians, there was little 

 in the way of changing queens, making swarms by divid- 

 ing, etc. Bees were left pretty much to their own devices. 

 Leave them to their own devices to-day, and you may count 

 that a young queen of the current year's rearing will not 

 swarm till the next season, whether black or yellow. In 

 other words, if a young queen is reared in a colony in the 

 neighborhood of the swarming season, and left in that col- 

 ony, that queen and that colony will not swarm that season. 

 I'm not so sure that any satisfactory reason can be given, 

 but the fact seems to be well establisht. 



If a queen is reared this season, and after being reared 

 is put in a hive where conditions are favorable for swarm- 

 ing, her age will not prevent swarming. Let a colony be 

 on the point of swarming, or take it iramediatel3' after it 

 has swarmed and the swarm has returned ; take its queen 

 from it, and give it another queen, and that colony will 

 swarm without regard to the age of the queen. I once had 

 a colon}' swarm and return (the queen was dipt), and I 

 took awaj' their queen, giving in its place a young queen 

 that had not been laying more than two or three days. 

 Promptly that swarm came out with the young queen not 

 more than two days later — I think it was the next day. 



If a queen is so old as to require superseding, and that 

 supersedure occurs about swarming-time under prosperous 

 conditions, there is likely to be swarming, whereas there 

 might have been no swarming if a j'oung queen had been 

 present that did not need superseding. 



I haven't given you, perhaps, a satisfactory answer, 

 but it's the best I can do. 



2. Probably just the same as if they had been put in 

 the nucleus before hatching. 



3. Four or five frames of brood well covered with bees 

 would be rather a colony than a nucleus. A queen reared 

 therein might be a very good queen, supposing, of course, 

 she was of good parentage, but such a plan of rearing 

 queens would hardly be advisable if many were to be 

 reared, because too expensive. A number of bees may be 

 reared in one colony just as well as to let the colonj- rear a 

 single cell, and when the cell is near hatching it may just 

 as well be in a nucleus till the queen lays. 



You would proba'oly find Doolittle's queen-rearing book 

 a profitable investment. 



4. What would be best for one might not be best for an- 

 other. For some, natural swarming would be best, pre- 

 venting second swarms by hiving the swarm on the old stand 

 with old colony close beside it, and removing the old colony 

 to a new location a week later. For some the nucleus plan 

 would be best : Start a sufficient number of nuclei, and 

 from time fo time give to each nucleus a frame of brood 

 with adhering bees, or brood onlj-, planning to give just 

 enough help to build each nucleus up to good strength for 

 winter. 



5. It would probably make a big difference to give a 

 virgin queen 45 days before the flow — so great a difference 

 that you would not be likelj' to try it a second time. The 

 harvest with you is likely to begin somewhere about June 

 10. Forty-five daj's before that time would be in the latter 

 part of April. As far north as northern Illinois j'ou will 

 hardly succeed in rearing good queens by that time. That 

 is objection enough of itself. To put a virgin queen in a 

 colony April 25th would stop the laying and brood-rearing at 

 a time when it is important to have it pusht to the ability 

 of the colony. That is also a sufficient reason of itself. 

 Neither would it be wise to think of giving a young laying 

 queen in April. It would make chances for swarming 

 somewhat less, but riot enough less to overbalance the dis- 

 advantage. 



Qut-Apiary and Swarming— Feeding for Winter. 



1. How could an out-apiarv be managed where daily at- 

 tention could not be given to it, mainly the swarming ques- 

 tion, possibly 25 or 50 colonies, in a fine honey locality? 

 Would the bee-entrance guard on each hive prevent swarm- 

 ing ? What would be the result if they did swarm, and 

 were lost, as long as the remainder did well ? 



2. What would be a fair share (of honey) to give to a per- 

 son for allowing me to place 10 or 12 colonies on his farm, 

 everything to be furnisht bj- me, he only to see to the 

 shade-boards, etc., as he does not understand hiving swarms 

 or bees at all ? 



3. What is the best time for feeding sugar syrup, for 



