234 



AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL. 



April 11, 1901. 



I Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTED BY 



DIt, C. O. AlILLER, Marengo, ni. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofl&ce, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1 



A Beginner's Questions. 



My bees were put into winter quarters very light in 

 stores, and I think they won't have enough to bring them 

 thru till spring opens. I began feeding too late in the fall, 

 and cold weather started in, so they did not have time to 

 store much. 



1. Can I feed them before good weather comes, or will 

 I have to wait till good weather comes in the spring ? 



2. How large should the hive-entrance be in the spring 

 of the year ? 



3. Will bees taken from a bee-tree in the woods swarm 

 as much as tame bees do ? 



4. How much honey does it take to winter a colony of 

 bees ? 



5. What time do bees generally begin swarming in the 

 spring? 



6. How can a person tell when the bees are to swarm ? 



7. Will bees taken from a tree store as much honey as 

 a tame swarm ? 



8. How long does it take a new swarm to fill up the 

 brood-chamber after they are hived, when there is lots of 

 honey in the fields ? 



9. How many times should bees be allowed to swarm ? 



10. Should the entrance-guard be kept on when robber- 

 bees are troublesome ? 



11. How long does it take bees to fill a super when 

 there is lots of honey in the fields ? 



12. Where do the bees gather propolis ? 



13. Should bees have shade on a hot summer daj' ? 



14. Do bees need any salt in summer when they build 

 comb ? 



15. How can I prevent second swarms ? 



16. Do bees store any nectar from corn, pumpkins and 

 cucumber blossoms ? 



17. Will putting supers on a ten-frame hive prevent 

 swarming ? 



18. Do the drones build comb and gather honey when 

 newly hived ? 



19. Should the honey-board be on top of the frames, 

 that is, between the super and the frames ? 



Wisconsin. 

 Answers — 1. If they have enough stores to last till 

 that time, wait till weather when they are flying. But if 

 you fear their starving before that time, don't wait ; you 

 may as well disturb to death as to let them starve to death. 

 If you feed before they are flying, you must make sure 

 they can get the feed. Hang a Doolittle feeder close to the 

 cluster, or give them a brood-comb containing syrup, or 

 give them candy right over the cluster. 



2. No larger than in the winter, if as large. Anywhere 

 from one to three square inches, according to the strength 

 of the colony. 



3. Fully as much. 



4. It varies greatly ; from 6 to 25 pounds or more. The 

 size of the colony, the character of the winter, whether 

 wintered in cellar or not, all have to do with the matter. 



5. If wintered in the cellar, about the first day they are 

 taken out. If wintered outdoors, perhaps about the last of 

 March in Wisconsin. But these are hunger-swarms, or 

 swarms because there is something wrong. Normal swarm- 

 ing for increase comes later in the North than in the South. 

 In Wisconsin there may be rare cases in the last of May, 

 June being as early as it generally begins. 



6. By finding a number of queen-cells started in the 

 hive. If a colony swarms the second time, it will generally 

 be somewhere in the neighborhood of eight days after the 

 first or prime swarm. 



7. Just as much as another of the same strength. You 

 will find the colony taken from the tree just as tame as any 

 other. 



8. That depends upon the size of the swarm and of the 



hive, and the time of the swarm. It may be a week, and it 

 may be not till the next year. 



9. Once or less. 



10. It will be a little help, but is not commonly used for 

 that purpose. Strong colonies are a better guard against 

 robbers. 



11. It will be excellent work if done in two weeks. It 

 may be less, but it is oftener a week more before all sec- 

 tions in the super are sealed. 



12. From the buds and twigs of poplar and other trees. 



13. It is desirable. 



14. They seem to have a liking for salt, and a few bee- 

 keepers take pains to furnish it to them. It perhaps has 

 more relation to brocd-rearing than comb-building. 



15. Put the swarm on the old stand, and set the old col- 

 ony close beside it, both facing in the same direction. A 

 week later move tlie old colony to a new place. 



16. Yes ; much from pumpkins and vines of that sort, 

 but mainly pollen from corn. 



17. Yes, it will be an excellent plan if there are bees 

 enough to fill them ; but it may not prevent swarming. 



18. I have never seen them engaged in such occupations 

 when first hived. 



19. That is the proper place for it if you use one ; but 

 honey-boards are not as generally used as formerly, except 

 as queen-excluders. 



Spring Questions. 



1. I put into winter quarters an even SO colonies, 

 about ■ i Italians and the balance blacks. In the fall I ran 

 them all together, made two rows, 12 in each row, back to 

 back, and covered with gable roof like a house. From 

 some cause my Italians went into the winter with less 

 stores than the blacks, but I thought all had an abundance, 

 and could have, I thought, taken two frames from each 

 hive, but as it has turned out fortunately for them I did not 

 do it. 



Feb. 1st I put them all on the summer stands. At that 

 time I thought they had plenty, but, for fear, I fed all the 

 Italian colonies about five pounds of syrup each. Sunday, 

 March 17th, as I was looking at them I noticed from my 

 best Italian colony the bees crawling all around the front 

 of the hive on the ground, and many dead bees. I got the 

 smoker, lookt into the hive and found they were starving — 

 not one bit of honey. All my Italians are in the same fix, 

 but not quite so bad as that one. The blacks are, most of 

 them, able to go thru. 



I at once began to feed, but I fear too late. What shall 

 I do ? We have had no winter, scarcely a day but what the 

 bees have been flying. The peach-trees are all putting out 

 in bloom yesterdaj' and to-day; elm and soft maple are also in 

 bloom, and the earlj' wild flowers. Do vou think the elm, 

 maple and peach will provide food for them — that is, can 

 they hold their own on that, or will they keep getting 

 shorter of food ? 



2. Was it you that made a visit to Sebastian Co., Ark., 

 some weeks ago ? I have forgotten who it was. If you, 

 kindly give me your impressions on bee-keeping and prob- 

 able success in that portion of the country, as I live only 75 

 miles from Ft. Smith. The bee-papers give us very little 

 information relating to our part of the country, in fact it's 

 all for Northern bee-keepers. 



3. Why have my Italians fallen behind the blacks ? 

 The -Italians did store just enough honey to carry them 

 thru (and it has turned out not enough to do that), while 

 many of my blacks had from 1 to 2 supers of surplus. One 

 early swarm of blacks stored 252 pounds surplus. I bought 

 queens from several of the leading queen-breeders last 

 year, but had very poor success with them. Does it take 

 more stores to run them than blacks ? or why is it they are 

 a/l just ready to starve ? 



4. I want to clip all my queens. When would you do it 

 — right now, or wait till they are stronger ? As they now 

 are, I cati not open a hive but the robbers are right after 

 me, and just cover the hive after putting in feed. I have to 

 close it entirel.v up tight. I am nearly discouraged. Tell 

 me what to do, and I will be so thankful. 



Indian Territory. 

 Answers. — 1. It is quite possible that the bees will be 

 able to take care of themselves, but it will be well to make 

 sure by giving some feed. In any case it will not be lost. 

 You are fortunate in having weather when they can fly 

 nearly every day, for that makes feeding an easy thing. 



2. I have never been in that part of the country, and 

 can give you no reliable information about it. 



3. I don't know why the blacks should have done better 



