August, 1!li: 



279 



American Vee Journal 



special information in " Doolittie's 'Jueen- 

 Rearint:." pleiuy of questions are lilieiy to 

 arise whicli will be uladly answered in tins 

 department. This department is not in- 

 tended to take ttie place of a book on bee- 

 keeping, but to supplement it. and it can 

 supplement it only by having the book come 

 first. It may be that you have already made 

 a study of some good book, and that there 

 are special points that trouble you. in 

 which case I'll be glad to do my level to an- 

 swer, so far as I can. 



4. Yes. if it is in best condition when put 

 in the cases it will continue so unless in a 

 room which is bad about inviting dampness 

 If the honey is not thoroughly ripened it 

 will not be so well to have in the cases 

 where little or no air can get to it. In that 

 case it is better to have it stacked up in su 

 pers with blocks at the corners, so as to al- 

 low a space of half an inch between each 

 two supers. A room where damp salt will 

 dry out is a good place to keep honey. In 



a place where dry salt will become moist, 

 the honey will become thin. 



Pollen on Bees' Feet 



I think I have something new this season. 

 My bees have great long things dangling 

 about their feet, and when they alight these 

 thongs lie on the alighting-board to one side 

 of the bees' feet. They are about ^sof an 

 inch long, and just as red as can be. 



What are these false thongs on my bees' 

 feet? Are they Nature or not ? 



West Virginia. 



Answer.— I think what you call " false 

 thongs" must be the pollen masses from 

 milkweed. In some cases it gets so bad that 

 the bees can hardly climb upon the combs, 

 and I have seen the other bees drive them 

 out of the hive. Sometimes the bees are 

 fastened upon the blc»ssoms. not being able 

 to tear away, and if you examine the milk- 

 weed blossoms in your vicinity, you may 

 find some dead bees upon them. But these 

 plants are good honey-plants, and perhaps 

 in this way pay for the injury done to the 

 bees 



Prime Swarm on Parent Stand 



In the article by me in the American Bee 

 Journal for July, page 244. under heading of 

 " Prime Swarm on Parent Stand." if you 

 will read the third paragraph carefully and 

 apply the rule of grammer strictly pertain- 

 ing to a pronoun standing for the noun im- 

 mediately preceding it. you will read that it 

 was the parent colony that was moved 

 away. How could the parent colony send 

 out a second swarm in 50 hours and no 

 queen to lead them ? A virgin queen could 

 not have left 2',i frames filled with eggs. 

 Anyhow, on that supposition, the article 

 would fall tiat and not be worth the reading, 

 much less the wi iting. N'o. don't make any 

 mistake, it was the prime swarm that came 

 out the second time, and certainly did not 

 get as much gain from the parent colony as 



must have filled more than 20 Langstroth 

 frames during June. Wesi.ev L Roberts. 

 Lime Ridge. Wis.. July 7. 



I We acknowlege error on our part in hav- 

 ing put the wrong interpretation on Mr. 

 Roberts explanation.— Editor! 



One Way to Pack Bees for Winter 



I moved 5 colonies of bees 5 blocks with 

 success in every way. It turned suddenly 

 cold and not a bee was Hying. The way I 

 prepare my bees for winter is as follows : I 

 set the hives in small houses wJiich hold two 

 hives. I bridge over the entrances 4 inches 

 from the bottom-boards, then pack planer 

 shavings all around the hives 6 or 8 inches 

 thick. Next [ put a ?s-inch board over the 



Assistant Inspector for Iowa. Mr. J. W. Stine. ot Salem. 



it would if I had left it the parent colony 

 the usual 8 days. 



I am using that method altogether this 

 season, where they swarm in spite of all I 

 can do. only I break up. double up, or use 

 the brood where I can. I have only in 

 creased from 41 to 52. and have queens that 



brood frames. It is raised !i inch above the 

 same. This board has a s-inch hole in the 

 center, with 2 oblong holes 2x7 at each side. 

 These are covered with 2 thicknesses of 

 burlap, then over the whole 1 put 2 thick- 

 nesses of carpet. The hole in the center is 

 5 inches in diameter, and is very convenient 



to feed for winter or spring without disturb 

 ing the cluster. 



Regarding Mr. Hopkins statement on page 

 'ji (March number), it may do to have the 

 covers sealed down tight in his locality, 

 lam certainly in harmony with the state- 

 ment on page 7'j of the same number. " Ven- 

 tilation of Hives. " as I find it is best for this 

 location. K. Langohr. 



Columbus City. Ind. 



Prospects in Iowa 



The fine rain we are having today will 

 lengthen the honey-How well into July, and 

 possibly to August. I never saw bees do- 

 more and better super work than they did 

 this spring. I am enlosing a picture of my 

 self, team and two swarms of bees. I had 

 just come home from inspection work. One 

 of the swarms I shook into a nail-keg. and 

 covered it over with a gunny-sack, and on 

 the other one 1 drew a large gunny-sack over 

 the limb of bees, and cut the limb and tied 

 them on the side of the buggy. This saved 

 timeand bother, for I did not have to take 

 the second trip after my bees, and have to 

 wait for them to settle in a hive. 



There is a great deal of foul brood in 

 southeastern Iowa. I find the beekeepers 

 are very glad to co-operate with me in trying 

 to wipe it out. J. W, Stine. 



Salem. Iowa. lune 20. 



Uses Smoke for Introducing 



I am introducing all my queens this season 

 by smoking. All thanks for that article in 

 the .■\merican Bee Journal of last October, 

 by Arthur C. Miller. It seems to me to be 

 the most logic of all ways. It is a wonder it 

 was not thought of before I have run in 5 

 so far. and they seem perfectly at home. I 

 give them perhaps a little more smoke than 

 he suggests after she runs in. 



It is a most disappointing season so far; 

 such cold winds and the clover is in bloom. 

 Some days it is too cold for bees to Hy. No 

 honey gathered yet. K. Hi'NT. 



Halifax. N. S.. June 10. 



A Good Report 



I have sold so far from 6 colonies of bees 

 $45 worth of honey, and with the clover crop 

 not yet over, and the sweet clover and fall 

 blossoms yet to come, may reasonably ex- 

 pect to get as much more. Most of my honey 

 is produced in shallow extracting frames, 

 anil sold as bulk comb honey, though I have 

 also sold more or less in sections and in the 

 extracted form. ■ C. KOELLE. 



Hamilton. III.. July 7. 



Many Swarms in Washington 



Bees came from their winter quarters in 

 fair condition, and prospects are good so 

 far I have had more swarms this spring 

 than usual-ii from 28 colonies. I usually 

 get 3 or 4. Some queenless colonies I had to 

 double up in the early spring. 1 had only 28 

 colonies for a spring start. O. K. KiCE. 



(irays River. Wash. 



Report from Oklahoma 



Bees came through the winter in good 

 shape, and are doing well. There is just 

 enough of a honey-How to cause fast breed- 

 ing and lots of swarming. „ „ ^ 



Anadarko. Okla. R B. Camprei.l. 



Bees Doing Well 



Bees have certainly done fine this year. 

 This is the greatest season we have had for 

 sometime Bees wintered wetland bred up 

 fast in the spring, and were ready for the 

 great flow which has come. R. J. Hudson. 



Lebanon. Tenn.. June 28 



Much Honey in Kentucky— Hybrids Best 



Bees in this locality are "making things 

 hum" White clover, which is usually in 

 full bloom about May is. is about eight days 

 ahead of schedule time. I have kept bees 

 here for 15 years, but have seen nothing like 

 the present flow from white clover, [pro- 

 duce "chunk honey" exclusively. 1 he in- 

 side of the frames is the same size as a 

 sheet of surplus foundation. When one of 

 those frames is full it will weigh about tour 

 pounds, I retain all the honey I can pro- 



