July, 1908. 



American ^ee Journal 



^lestion-Box* 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, or to 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Marengo. 111. 



Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Spring Dwindling and Pollen. 



Did you ever see a case of spring dwindling 

 where there was plenty of pollen in the hive? 

 Illinois. 



Answer. — I don't know. Sorry to say I 

 never gave the »matter any attention. Why 

 didn't you tell us the result of your observa- 

 tion? 



Prevention of Robbing. 



I would like to know the best way to stop 

 up the hives and prevent the colonies from 

 robbing each other. Iowa. 



Answer. — The very best thing to prevent 

 robbing is to keep all colonies strong and pro- 

 vided with good queens. A queenless colony is 

 likely to be a point of attack for robbers, es- 

 pecially if weak. Close up all cracks about a 

 weak colony in danger from robbers, and leave 

 the entrance large enough for only one bee at a 

 time. Piling up hay at the entrance and keep- 

 ing it wet with water helps to keep robbers 

 away. If robbers have got started, you might 

 try painting cracks and entrances with a strong 

 solution of carbolic acid applied with a paint- 

 brush. 



Virgin Queens — Swarming, 



1. How long will a virgin queen be safe 

 in a cage if ordered through the mail and in- 

 troduced to a full colony, and become fer- 

 tilized? 



2. When a swarm issues which alights first, 

 the queen or the bees? Kentucky. 



Answers. — i. At one time I had 2 virgin 

 queens sent me by mail irom England, which 

 were introduced, fertilized, and did good work. 

 Whether they could have been caged longer 

 I don't know. 



2. There is no fixed rule about it. I never 

 heard of a queen alighting before any of the 

 workers, although such a thing might happen. 

 When a swarm issues, the queen is more likely 

 to be among the last than the first, and proba- 

 bly the same holds as to settling. 



Disposing of Big Drones. 



I have a colony of bees that has cast 2 

 swarms this year, one extra large from 6 

 frames, and one medium size. Now in the old 

 hive there are a large number of bees about 

 three times as large, and I believe some will 

 make 4 of the workers. They do not work. 

 Is it possible that they are drones.-' -\t times 

 the colony, or rather the large part of it come 

 out, and around and around they go and we 

 often find 2 or 3 of the large bees dead after- 

 ward, and many are carried out dead. The 

 workers work well. I have often counted 19 at 

 one time in back of the hive. The large ones, 

 if drones, take the ribbon for size. What do 

 you think about it.' New Jersey. 



Answer. — Drones and queens are the only 

 bees in the hive larger than workers. As 

 you would hardly find 19 queens at the same 

 time in one hive, they must be drones. The 

 colony swarmed twice, its young queen is fer- 

 tilized, and now there is no more need of 

 drones, and the workers are disposing of them. 



Do Early Southern Queens Prevent 

 Swarming? — '^Dudley Tube." 



1. One apicultural writer claimed that he got 

 queens from the bouth early in the season and 

 introduced them to colonies, and by this means 

 averted swarming. Has this been your experi- 

 ence? 



2. Have you noticed the description of the 

 Dudley Tube, by Atwater, in the Review of last 



August? Have you tried this scheme? Do you 

 consider your method for the prevention of 

 swarming, as outlined in the March American 

 Bee Journal, superior? Minnesota. 



Answers. — i. I have had no experience in 

 getting early queens elsewhere. W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson says it is a success, and he has tried it on 

 a large scale. 



2. I have had no experience with the Dudley 

 tube, so I am not in a position properly to 

 compare the two methods. 



Preventing Swarms from Swarming — 



Second-Crop Red Clover — Late 



Requeening. 



1. How can I prevent the first swarms that 

 come out from swarming again? I think they 

 have plenty of room, for after storing one 

 super of honey, they do not work in the second 

 super as they should. 



2. Would 2 supers placed on the brood- 

 frame at the beginning of their work, help the 

 matter any ? 



3. I tried hiving new swarms on the old 

 stand and moving the parent hive 10 feet 

 away, but they fight. Is this natural, and can 

 I prevent it in any way? 



4. Will a second crop of red clover afford 

 honey ? 



5. Can I introduce queens to advantage in 

 September? Virginia. 



Answers. — i. When a swarm is hived, gets 

 to work, and a few weeks later sends out a 

 swarm, it is called a virgin swarm, and is not at 

 all common. There is no special treatment that 

 will prevent a virgin swarm except such as 

 tends to prevent a prime swarm — room, venti- 

 lation, and perhaps some other things. You 

 say, "after making one super of honey, they do 

 not work in the second super as they should." 

 That sounds as if they fiUed the first before get- 

 ting the second. When the first super is about 

 half filled — sooner if they are storing very rap- 

 idly — put a second super under the first. That 

 will make sure of their working in the second, 

 and will also tend to prevent swarming. 



2. Yes. only it is perhaps as well to let them 

 have at least a start in one at first. 



3. Never heard of such a thing before, and 

 don't know how to prevent it. 



4. \'es, but the question is to have the bees 

 get it. 



5. Yes. 



Italianizing Colonies — Finding 

 Queens — Introducing Queens. 



1. I am a beginner in the bee-business. I 

 have 4 colonies and have just introduced an 

 Italian queen into a nucleus which will give 

 me the fifth colonv. I have the latest edition 

 of "A B C and X Y Z of Bee-Culture." I 

 wish to Italianize all my colonies. When will 

 be the best time to do so? Our largest honev- 

 flow is in July. Would it be advisable for me 

 to purchase enough Italian queens to introduce 

 to all my colonies, or can I do so by intro- 

 ducing cells from my Italian colony? 



2. I have trouble in finding the queens of 

 the hybrid colonies. Would it be safe in de- 

 queening the colonies by shaking all the bees 

 in front of the hive, having placed a bee-en- 

 trance-guard in front of the hive, or is there 

 danger of the nueen going through this en- 

 trance? 



3. How soon after destroying the old queen 

 should the new one be introduced? What 

 would be the best way for me to introduce 

 a queen? Minnesota. 



A.nswebs.— I. You can Italianize at any time, 

 but it will likely interfere less with the honey 

 crop if you wait till toward the close of the 

 flow. You can use a cell from the Italian col- 

 ony. 



2. Yes, you can sift the queen out with en- 

 trance-guard. 



3. Better not destroy the old queen before 

 introducing. Put the new queen in the hive 

 with the candy in the cage fastened so the bees 

 can not get to it. In 2 days remove the old 

 queen and let the bees at the candy so they 

 can release the queen. 



But if you use cells, you must make your 

 Italian colony queenless so as to get the cells. 

 In 8 days remove the old queens. Two days 

 later (10 days after making the Italian colony 

 queenless) give a ripe cell to each colony. 



Sweet Clover for Honey and Hay. 



I have about one-tenth of an acre of sweet 

 clover that is very fine, and in full bloom. 

 How can I manage to save the seed, for I 

 want to save all the seed trom it that I can? 

 The bees are swarming in it all the time. It is 

 as high as rav shoulders. Can I mow it for hay 

 for stock? Does stock like it, and is it good 

 for horses? My cattle eat it as soon as they 

 get to it. If it is good for all kinds of stock. 

 I want to sow it extensively for my stock and 

 bees. The bees are doing well. I have 52 colo- 

 nies, and they are gathering the honey. 



Texas. 



Answer. — Sweet clover is good food for any 

 kind of farm stock. Some complain that their 

 stock will not eat it, but they must become 

 accustomed to it. Horses that are not used to 

 it are likely to eat it better dry than green. 

 If left till it blossoms, so that the bees can 

 work on the bloom, the stalks become too coarse 

 and hard for hay. If, however, it be cut some 

 time before the regular time for blooming, it 

 will start growth again, blooming a little later. 

 Of course, where it is wanted for seed, you 

 will get more seed by not cutting it for hay 

 at all. Sweet clover is a biennial, coming from 

 the seed the first year, blooming the second 

 year, and then drying root and branch. Some 

 cut it for hay the first year. The seed may be 

 sown fall or spring, and it seems to do best to 

 have the seed tramped down in hard ground. 

 To save the seed, cut before all the seed is 

 ripe, sav when the first seed begins tu shell oft, 

 let it lie and dry, then thresh out. 



Making Hives — Bees Near Street- 

 Rearing Queens — Space Under 

 Bottom-Bars — Sweet Clover. 



Chronic asthma has "put me on the shelf," 

 so far as professional work or other steady, ac- 

 tive employment is concerned, incidentally, my 

 income almost ceased as a result, until finally 1 

 was induced to go into the bee-business, which 

 I did with one colonv. The second season I 

 captured 18 swarms from which I made 10 

 good, strong coionies. I lost 2 from ignorance, 

 and now have 9, all in good condition, so far 

 as I am able to judge. 



As I am handy with tools and have a good 

 place to work, and have a buzz-saw on the way 

 to which I can hitch a 2-horse-power gasolme 

 engine, I have been making hives. I .go' 

 hold of the Danzenbaker hive tlie first thing, 

 and while it has too many parts to suit me 1 

 will be obliged to continue using it, as I have 

 brood-frames for 30. 



I wish to continue making hives, but now 

 want to know what I am doing. I have no 

 cellar or place for one, and am therefore com- 

 pelled to winter the bees out-of-doors, and want 

 to make a hive which will be warm enough for 

 a fairly strong coionv with sufficient stores. 

 I have an ideal location, with a grove H o f a 

 mile from my vard, white clover, basswood, dan- 

 delion, wild cherry and grapes— in fact an 

 abundance of feed, and I want to take advan- 

 tage of it. I desire to have ^o, 50. 60 colo- 

 nies—all I can attend to in a yard 40x70 



l' like the work very much, like to experi- 

 ment, but I do not care to invest in a lot of 

 hives that I should have to change, therefore 

 the following questions: 



I If I make a hive with a 2-inch space 

 packed with chaff, and a cover for the same, 

 covered with galvanized iron, will such a hive 

 properly sealed down keep the bees? Shou d 



1 use a bottom-board with inch rails, or would 

 rails % high and as wide as the walls be bet- 

 ter? I can make the walls any thickness, if 



2 inches is not enough. I propose to use H 

 and J^-inch stuff for walls, getting the lumber 

 from boxes which I borrow, beg and acquire 

 from the local stores. Will I gain anything by 

 making the supers the same way, namely, with 

 2-inch chaff walls? So much is written about 

 the supers in the early part of the season, and 

 as I am not able to do all this work. I want to 

 use a warm super if I can make them this way, 

 and possibly use the supers for "divisible" hives 



