134 



April, 1913 



American Vee Journal 



please reporl how it turns out. Sawdust be- 

 tween walls is not liked so well nowadays 

 as something looser, as planer shavings or 

 crumpled newspapers. 



2. As my queens are all clipped, I have 

 had many swarms come out. and after the 

 queen dropped on the ground the swarm 

 would return to the hive after sailing about 

 in the air for a few minutes. Sometimes 

 they settle on trees, returning to the hive 

 after hanging there for a time. Dccasion- 

 ally they will return to the wrong hive if a 

 swarm has issued_from it a little while be- 

 fore and the bees are making a call at the 

 entrance. 



3. I don't know. 



4. Ventilating in that way is a help against 

 swarming, although, of course, it will not 

 prevent it. I have practiced it much, and 

 never knew any harm to come from it in the 

 way of chilling bees. The only harm is that 

 sections ne.xt to the opening are delayed in 

 being finished, but not always, fnstead of 

 shoving the lower section-super back. I 

 shove it forward. I have used the plan with 

 extracting-supers. and "stuttered " them; 

 that is. I shoved the lower super forward, 

 the next back, the next forward, and so on. 



5. I have had no experience, but some 

 claim one way is better and some the other. 



6. Some have a hole in thecenter and some 

 do not. but in either case there must be 

 packing, the same as when gunny-sacking is 

 used. 



7. Wire-cloth with three meshes to the 

 inch is a good thing at the entrance for win- 

 ter, but not when bees are flying daily. 



Introducing Queens 



What success do you have introducing 

 queens ? We lose a great many by the candy 

 route. This country is so dry they don't 

 seem to eat her out. We always have to 

 help her out. and she is often badly dealt 

 with. Can you tell me some surer way of 

 introducing? New Mexico. 



Answer.— If you help a queen out. the ex- 

 citement of opening the hive is likely to 

 stir up the bees so that the queen is in more 

 danger than when she quietly comes out of 

 her own accord, when the bees eat out the 

 candy. Instead of helping her out. you 

 might wet the candy with water and return 

 the cage, wetting it more than once if nec- 

 essary, but leaving the bees to free the 

 queen. 



Yes. I can give you a way of introducing 

 that is entirely sure, although it is some 

 trouble, and I have never used it except 

 with a queen of extra value. Put any num- 

 ber of frames of brood in an upper story 

 over an excluder, where the queen can not 

 lay in them. When all the brood is sealed, 

 replace the excluder with a sheet of wire- 

 cloth, put an empty story over it. into which 

 you will put the frames of brood after you 

 have brushed off every sinsle bee. Put your 

 queen upon the combs, close the upper 

 story bee-tight, and in five days set it on a 

 new stand, giving an entrance for a single 

 bee to pass, enlarging the entrance a few 

 days later. The queen, of course, is per- 

 fectly safe, as these young bees know no 

 other mother. 



Another way nearly as safe, but easier, is 

 based on the fact that it is the older bees 

 that kick up a rumpus with a new queen. 

 Take from the hive one or two frames of 

 brood and put them in a new hive. Set this 



new hive in place of the old hive, put on i 

 supers if there are any. and cover over. It 

 makes little difference whether you fill up 

 the vacancies in the two hives. Now- set 

 the old hive on topof all. and put your caged 

 queen in it. Of course, you have removed 

 the old queen entirely. After the queen 

 has been out of the cage two days or more, 

 return the old hive to its place, giving back 

 the brood-combs that were removed. The 

 old bees, as they return from the field, 

 will accept the situation kindly, having 

 been queenless since the change. With this 

 plan you ought not to have one failure in a 

 hundred. 



Wintering Bees on a Porcli in Cliina 



I am wintering my bees in a porch at the 

 back of my house. I covered the open sides 

 of the porch with paper. It is about I2xti 

 feet. It has a big window, and a door also 

 made of paper. I put the hives near the 

 window and door, surrounded them singly 

 with boxes 4 feet square, having no bottoms 

 or tops. They are made of reed matting, 

 and chaffed with lice husks from the bot- 

 tom up to 7 or 8 inches above the hives. On 

 top of the hives I put the supers with a 

 piece of burlap nailed on the bottom of 

 each. I put a board in the middle of each 

 super, in which I cut an opening 4 inches 

 square, and it is covered with a piece of 

 glass through which I can feed and inspect 

 the bees without disturbing them. Then I 

 placed a thermometer on topof the frames 

 just under the glass opening, and 1 find the 

 temperature averages a bout 40 degrees Fahr.. 

 while the temperature in the paper-covered 

 porch is about 20 degrees Fahr. The out- 

 side temperature near the porch is about I 

 or 2 degrees lower. I found no dampness in 

 the hives, and the bees are active and mov- 

 ing about in the hives whenever I examine 

 them through the glass opening. 



1. Does the queen, in this condition, still 

 lay eggs and the colony rear brood ? 



2. Do you think my way of wintering satis- 

 factory ? 



3. Would a thermometer put on top of the 

 frames serve the purpose of approximately 

 ascertaining the temperature in the hives ? 

 If yes. what average temperature should it 

 show during winter, spring, summer and 

 autumn for a normal colony? 



4. In wintering, is it better to leave the 

 bees in the cold ibut not to the drafts of 

 cold wind) so that they may not be able to 

 move or fly rather than to artificially warm 

 up the hive in order that the bees may not 

 mistake the artificial warmth for spring. By 

 flying out they would certainly die. 



China. 



Answers.— I. The likelihood is you will 

 find the queens stop laying in the fall and 

 then begin again perhaps toward the last of 

 February, or in some cases possibly in Jan- 

 uary, although this is guessing, and my 

 dates may be much outof the way. "as I don't 

 know the climate in your part of China. At 

 any rate. I feel pretty sure your queens stop 

 laying altogether for a time, even if the bees 

 do rot seem entirely dormant. 



2. I would guess that a little higher tem- 

 perature would do no harm, and yet my 

 opinion is not worth as much as the opinion 

 of the bees, and if they winter satisfactorily 

 nothing more should be asked. 



3. I suppose you mean the temperature in 

 thecluster of bees.anda thermometer on top 

 of the frames would not tell very much about 

 this. In the human body the temperature 

 remains nearly-the same whatever the tem- 

 perature of the surrounding air. It is a good 

 deal the same with the bees. Indeed, when 

 there is a fall in the thermometer placed 

 over the frames, you might find the tem- 

 perature rising in the cluster, paradoxical 

 as it seems, just as the colder the day the 

 hotter the fire in our dwellings. For the 



bees have the ability to raise the tempera- 

 ture in the cluster by increased consump- 

 tion and activity. 



4. Yes. nothing should be done to induce 

 the bees to fly when they would get chilled. 

 Indeed, it is sometimes a good thing to 

 shade the entrance lest the sun shining in 

 may induce them to fly when the air is too 

 cold. While the hives should be protected, 

 there is such a thing as keeping them too 

 warm. 



Renting Bees on Halves— Cellar Ventilation 



I- 'let my bees on halves last summer. 

 Should the man who took the bees have 

 left enough stores for winter ? Four of my 

 colonies starved to death before I could at- 

 tend to them, and 10 more would have 

 starved within a week if I hadn't fed them. 

 1 his man told me they had plenty of stores 

 for the winter. I let him have 28 colonies on 

 June 5. Wasn't he supposed to return to me 

 28 colonies in the fall? He returned only 28 

 colonies with half of the increase, and the 

 increase was 8 swarms. Now. wasn't this 

 man supposed to leave my bees in good 

 shape ready to put into the cellar ? 



Now. Doctor, is there any law on renting 

 bees on halves .- 



2. I winter my bees in the cellar, and the 

 thermometer registers from 40 to 42 degrees. 

 It is a stone cellar with a cement floor, 

 and the ceiling has a double floor filled in 

 between with sawdust. It is 10x14 feet in- 

 side, and b feet high. I have a 2 foot square 

 hole in the center of the ceiling for ventila- 

 tion. I throw a quilt over this box, but still 

 the cellar seems to be damp. Can you tell 

 me the cause? The bees are quiet. I find 

 big drops of water under the cover over the 

 bees when I feed them. New York. 



Answers.— I.— If there is any law about 

 the matter it must be a State law. But I 

 very much doubt that there is any law about 

 it in your State or any other State. The 

 great probability is that the law would in- 

 sist on the carrying out of any contract 

 made in the premises. So the whole thing 

 depends upon theagreement that was made, 

 and to make sure about it the agreement 

 should have been in writing. If there was 

 an agreement that you should receive back 

 a certain number of colonies at a specified 

 time, then that agreement should be carried 

 out. even if the man to whom the bees were 

 let should have to buy bees to make out the 

 number. As to disposal of the increase, a 

 common custom is to divide it equally, but 

 that custom is hardly law. You let the man 

 have 28 colonies, and you say "he left me 

 only 28 with half the increase, and the in- 

 crease was 8 swarms." If you mean by that 

 that you got back the orignal number. 28. 

 and half of the 8 swarms, or 32 in all. it 

 would seem right. If, however, he left you 

 only 28. inclutliiiE half the increase, or only 28 

 in all. that would seem unusual. As to the 

 condition of thebees in the fall with respect 

 to stores, that depends upon agreement. 

 Unless there was some special agreement to 

 the contrary, you would get the bees back 

 in the fall without any feeding, if the season 

 was so poor that they needed feeding in the 

 fall. But if they had plenty of stores for 

 winter in the brood-chamber, and he should 

 extract some of the honey from the brood- 

 chamber before turning over the bees to 

 you. then I should say he was not trying to 

 play fair. 



In a matter of this kind, if there is no 

 written agreement, the fair thing to both par- 

 ties is the fair thing to do If you have bees 

 and I take care of them, I furnish the time 

 an! perhaps the location and you furnisli 



THE BEEWARE BRAND 



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 INSURANCE 



Send for Anniinl Catnlop which will tell 

 yoii «lio is your nearest Distrilmter. 

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