June 20, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



393 



may cut out all queen-cells but one, a week after the first 

 swarm. You may listen for the pipinj^ of the young queen 

 in the evening- of the seventh day after the swarm issued, 

 and if you do not hear her then, listen every evening till 

 you do, or till the sixteenth evening ; when you hear piping 

 cut out all queen-cells next morning. You may hive the 

 swarm when it issues with the young queen, and put it ir. 

 the cellar till the evening of the next day, and then return 

 it to the old hive. By that time the bees will have disposed 

 of all the queen-cells. 



2. It is probably redeposited, in most cases. 



3. It matters much. If the space is less than about '4 

 inch, the top-bars will be cemented to the parts over them 

 with propolis or wax. If the space is more than about '4 

 inch, burr-combs will be built and filled with honey. 



4. The bees will work in the super no matter how irreg- 

 ular, even if half the spaces are so close together that they 

 can not get up through them. 



Using Old Combs for Swarms. 



If you had empty combs that the bees had died on last 

 winter, would you put in as many such frames as the hive 

 would hold to hive new swarms on, or would you put in 

 some frames with only starters or foundation in them ? I 

 work for comb honey. Wisconsin. 



Answer. — I would fill up with combs as long as they 

 last. There is no better place for combs to be protected 

 than in the care of the bees, and the sooner the bees get 

 the combs the better. 



Bees Deserting the Hive. 



I had a swarm of bees leave a hive June 1. In the 

 spring I transferred the bees from an old box into a new 

 hive ; for a while they seemed to be doing well, building up 

 their broken combs, and were gathering honey. About 

 noon June 1 they left the hive, taking the queen, young and 

 old bees with them, and leaving unsealed fresh honey, 

 young bees just gnawing out, and bees in the larval state. 

 There were no mice or ants to bother them. The hive was 

 clean, and they had plenty of honey, and when I looked in 

 the hive there were only five or six bees — robbers, I sup- 

 pose. ■ Colorado. 



Answer. — I don't know what the trouble was. Very 

 likely it was a case of what is called spring dwindling. I 

 have had colonies desert their hives just as yours did, leav- 

 ing honey and brood in all stages, with no apparent excuse 

 that any self-respecting colony would give for leaving, and 

 the only thing that I could guess in the case was that the 

 old bees had died off. and there was more brood present 

 than the young bees could take care of. You may have 

 trouble of the same kind again, and you may not have 

 another case in years. 



Too Rapid Increase— City Bee-Keeping. 



I started the season with four colonies, which, up to 

 date, has increased to ten, and one ready to swarm. I have 

 one colony that is working in the supers. We have plenty 

 of white clover, and I think will get some honey soon. 



1. I have one colony which has cast two swarms, that 

 seems to be about half drones. What is the cause of so 

 many, and what will be the result if let alone ? 



2. My bees are a good quality of Italians — the best in 

 this section. I live in the city, and don't branch out very 

 strong. Now. what would you advise me to do ? I am a 

 dr)' goods clerk, and have not much time. I can sell a few 

 colonies now. Would it be a good idea to rent pasture close 

 to town, and try to take care of the over-supply, or not ? 



Illinois. 



Answers. — It may do no great harm before answering 

 your questions to make the gratuitous suggestion that you 

 may make the mistake that many a beginner makes, and 

 increase too rapidly. When you increase from four to ten 

 or more, your colonies will not be as sure to live through 

 the winter as if you were satisfied with a more moderate 

 increase. Neither will you get as much honey. Of course, 

 if you are anxious for increase, and will give them the 

 proper care, feeding all that is necessary, you maj- piill 

 through all right. 



1. If the drones are so plentiful immediately after cast- 

 ing the swarms, the trouble probably is that there is a great 



deal too much drone-comb in the hive. If the drones ap- 

 peared in plenty not until two months or so after the last 

 swarm issued, then the trouble may be that you have a 

 drone-laying queen, or laying-workers. If the trouble i& 

 from too much drone-comb, then your bees will gather less 

 honey than they otherwise would, and much of it will be 

 wasted in rearing and feeding those useless consumers. If 

 laying-workers are present, or a drone-laying queen, it 

 means the destruction of the colony. 



2. What do you want to rent a pasture for? If you 

 mean for the bees to feed upon, they will not thank you ta 

 rent it, but will find it if it is within two miles of your 

 home. You can keep in a city yard as many bees as can 

 find pasture within reach. 



Bees Not Worlting. 



Bees are building up fast. I have a colony that has a 

 queen, but the bees work hardly at all. scarcely any of them 

 coming out. What is the matter ? They have some honey. 

 I will Italianize about the middle of this month. I lost 

 heavily the last winter, because of short stores last fall. 



Oklahoma. 



Answer. — There may be nothing the matter except 

 that the colony is very weak. The presence of a queen can 

 not of course warrant a goodly number of bees flying unless 

 there are plenty of bees present. Look and see whether the 

 queen is a drone-layer. If not, you will probably see bees 

 flying well as soon as the colony is a little stronger. If it 

 should turn out that there are plenty of worker-bees in the 

 hive, and very few of them flying while other colonies are 

 busy, then it may be well to change the queen and give 

 them one of more industrious stock. 



Perhaps Pickled Brood. 



I bought five colonies of bees this spring in movable- 

 frame hives. Three of which I looked into and found dead 

 brood, which looks watery, and lies on one side. There is 

 no smell about it yet. It doesn't seem rubbery, or anything 

 like that, and will not draw out with a toothpick. Will the 

 swarms have the same disease ? What will become of foul 

 or pickled brood if not attended to ? M^hat can be done for 

 them ? New York. 



Answer. — When anything so serious as pickled brood 

 is suspected, it is too serious a matter to be treated by a few 

 words in this department, especially as it would take up 

 too much room. Study up the subject fully in back num- 

 bers, and get the leaflet on pickled brood, if you do not 

 have it already. Very likely as honey comes on now plenty 

 you will find the disagreeable symptoms largely to disap- 

 pear, but none the less you should inform yourself so as to- 

 battle it, for it will be a safe thing to count on its reappear- 

 ance in the future. 



Thinks Late Thin Honey Injures the Bees. 



There is a plant here that has yielded honey in October 

 for the last two years. The bees have filled the brood- 

 chamber full of this thin honey, and when they had the 

 first flight in the spring they soiled the hive badly, both 

 inside and outside around the entrance. I lost half of my 

 bees, and the other half are weak. It seemed to affect the 

 queens. I would like to know how to keep this thin stuff 

 out of the brood-chamber. If I put sections on would they 

 not put it in the brood-chamber as long as they had room ? 

 How would it do to run it through the extractor without 

 uncapping it ? If there would be any brood in the hive at 

 the time would it not kill it ? I believe the honey is from 

 the asters. Ohid. 



Answer. — I'm afraid I don't know enough to help you 

 out. There is a possibility that you may be mistaken about 

 the honey from that late plant being the cause of the mor- 

 tality among your bees. But if you are satisfied that ex- 

 tracting without uncapping would help matters, you can do 

 so without hurting the brood. So long as you do not turn 

 the extractor fast enough to throw out the brood you are all 

 right. ^^^^ 



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