March, 1913. 



American l^ee Journal 



winter remains to be seen, but naturally 

 we would feel safer if it had a good 

 covering of snow. 



Transferring Bees 



A lady bee-keeper in Florida writes 

 me asking how to transfer bees into 

 modern hives from "gums." Not 

 knowing much as to the nature of the 

 said " gums," 1 was at a loss to advise 

 what would be the best way. My own 

 experience in transferring bees has 

 been with but a limited number of box- 

 hives, but the following plan is the best 

 for this job I think, and will apply 

 equally well to any kind of a "gum." I 

 think it is useless to advise some com- 

 plicated plan to a person who has had 

 but little experience with bees, as fail- 

 ure is sure to result, no matter how 

 good the plan may be in the hands of 

 an expert : 



If I buy a few box-hives I leave them 

 alone until they are strong enough to 

 get the notion of swarming. If there 

 are no openings in the top of the box, 

 I make some with an auger, or the bo.x 

 may be turned upside down, providing 

 the bottom-board is loose. Place a 

 hive-body full of nice combs over the 

 box-hive, and if it does not fit exactly, 

 a few laths or otherthin pieces of wood 

 can be tacked around the sides where 

 the two hives join. In a short time the 

 queen will go above into these combs 

 and start to lay. 



Some day, after having prepared the 

 colony in this way, take a queen-e.x- 

 cluder, carefully open the top hive and 

 lift up a comb or two to see if the 

 queen is above. If she is on the combs 

 quietly lift up the top hive with the 

 combs in it, and slip the queen-ex- 

 cluder on top of the " gum." Then 

 place the top hive back over the ex- 

 cluder. 



All that is necessary now is to leave 

 them alone for 21 days and then take 

 away the lower hive, placing the top 

 one on the stand in its place. All 

 brood will be hatched out of the old 

 bo.x-hive, and the bees can be smoked 

 or driven out and the contents broken 

 up and disposed of as you see fit. There 

 is nothing new in this plan of trans- 

 ferring, but I doubt if there is a better 

 way of transferring when you wish to 

 save time and avoid a tedious job. 



The Inspector's Salary 



Much has been said in the past rela- 

 tive to the inspection of bees. I am 

 very much in favor of a strict system 

 of inspection, but if we are to have the 

 efficiency necessary for this work, the 

 men who are sent out on inspection 

 must be remunerated better than they 

 are now. That statement from the 

 British Bee Journal, copied in the 

 American Bee Journal, page 43, gives 

 my ideas on the matter so forcibly that 

 I cannot forbear quoting the same 

 again by way of emphasis: "Unless 

 these men have had the practical ex- 

 perience of managing numbers of col- 

 onies successfully, they are surely not 

 fit to be sent out to exercise compul- 

 sory powers over those of their neigh- 

 bors ; but if they have had such expe- 

 rience they must be worth a great deal 

 more than they get." 



It is easy to get men tolgo out on 



inspection work, but it is not easy, un- 

 der present conditions, to get men 

 tropii-lv qualified. Ontario has some 

 good rnen at present who are acting 

 as inspectors, but there have been a 

 few who were not qualified for the 

 work. The qualified men are, as a rule, 

 giving their time at a sacrifice, for if 

 able to inspect efficientlv, they could 

 make more money devoting the time 

 to their own interests. 



I am speaking from experience, for I 

 was at the work 4 years myself. The 

 present allowance is, I believe, the 

 same as when I was at the work, viz., 

 $.5.uO per diem, and you pay your own 

 hotel bills— livery and railway bills be- 

 ing paid by the department. This means 

 about $4.00 a day net, and while that 

 may sound like a big figure to some, 

 bear in mind that often a bee-keeper 

 has to go away from home when one 

 day's absence may mean many times 

 $4.00 of loss to him. While I am not a 

 moneyed man, used to getting a big an- 

 ual return, I could not afford to go on 

 inspection work any more. The job 

 would not tempt me if I were offered 

 considerably more than the present 

 remuneration. 



Feeding in the Fall 



On page .jti of the .American Bee 

 Journal, the h^ditor writes that J. L 

 Byer says "that in Ontario they feed 

 the bees as much sugar syrup as they 

 will store in the brood-chamber before 

 winter.'' "They," in this case, means 

 only a small percent of bee-keepers 

 who winter on the summer stands, but 

 the few who practice this plan do 

 not "think" it pays; they kriozv it 

 pays. While I know it pays, I have 

 never put all of my colonies in thaf 

 condition because of the extra work, 

 and naiiifd extra cost. I say, " fan- 

 cied," as I doubt if we have many sea- 

 SDns when the plan of heavy feeding, 

 for outdoor wintering in a cold climate, 

 will not pay good interest on the 

 money invested, and return the princi- 

 pal the first season. 



Mr. McEvoy contracts his hives when 

 using this plan, placing his bees on 

 five or si.x solid combs. At least one 

 of our most successful men feeds his 

 10-frame Langstroth colonies all they 



will take late in September or early in 

 October, and he gets it all into the 

 bees, too, before the clover flow comes 

 in June. But this is a dangerous doc- 

 trine to preach, as it would surely lead 

 to overstocking if all practiced it. But 

 no danger of that, too much trouble 

 and too big a bill for feeding to suit 

 the majority, especially as we have an 

 occasional winter when the bees come 

 through fairly well without feeding in 

 the fall. 



Carniolan Bees Preferred 



At various times in the past J have 

 championed the Carniolan bees, and 

 have often wondered at some of the 

 bad reports made in regard to them. 

 I have been forced to the conclusion 

 that, in some cases at least, mixed 

 stock must have been tried instead of 

 a good strain. 



In a kindly appreciative letter lately 

 received from a friend in Nebraska, I 

 quote the following. It shows that at 

 least a few appreciate the good quali- 

 ties of those bees: " I wish to thank 

 you for bringing the Carniolan bees to 

 my attention. They have proved very 

 satisfactory, as they are hardy, winter 

 well, build up rapidly and early in the 

 spring, and cap their honey white. It 

 is a pleasure to handle them, as they 

 are quiet and gentle after having han- 

 dled a cross colony of Italians." 



Wintering on Full Combs 



The editor of one of our bee journals 

 writes me: "lam with you on the 

 winter-nest proposition, as I have 127 

 colonies fed up in the way you advo- 

 cate—all wintering on the summer 

 stands." 



The plan referred to is that of feed- 

 ing the colony all they will take in the 

 fall (brood-nest can be reduced if de- 

 sired), so that the bees can go into 

 winter quarters on solid combs. My 

 friend says that he will report in the 

 spring as to how they winter; but I 

 feel pretty sure, even now, as to the 

 nature of the report, and venture to 

 forecast that not a single colony will 

 be the worse for the winter, unless 

 queenlessness or other causes not re- 

 lating to wintering affect them. 



Bee-Keeping 



In Dixie^ 



Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. 



Queen and Drone Traps to Control 

 Increase 



Friend Wilder: — I run my bees for 

 comb honey, and do not wish any 

 more increase. I haven't the time to 

 go over the combs every 5 or 6 days 

 during swarming time to destroy 

 queen-cells. Can I use queen-traps 

 over the entrances to confine the 

 queens to the hives, and when the bees 

 swarm let them go back, and save the 

 swarms and get more honey? Should 



I kill the queens as I catch them in the 

 traps, or let them go back in the hive ? 



Jefferson, Ga. W. A. Gordon. 



Some years ago I tried traps for 

 keeping down increase, but I was not 

 successful, and I wonder if any one 

 has ever been successful with them for 

 this purpose. The bees will kill the 

 old queen after several efforts to 

 swarm, if she is confined there. When 

 the young queens hatch they swarm 

 again, and may keep it up for some 

 time, if the young queens are confined 



