American Vae Journal 



later on, if by study 1 find that it is a good 

 v.'iv to get comb honey. 



^. My apiary is right in town. We have a 

 poj'iilalion of about loo. Incorporated. There 

 is a little complaint. In case the objection 

 becomes serious what defense can I make? At 

 present my hives are 30 feet from the side- 

 walk^ and 40 feet from the street. Neighbors 

 who pass and repass many times a day and 

 within 6 feet of one hive do not complain, 

 but one farmer claims the bees bother hia 

 horses. 



3. Would there be any objections to boring 

 holes on four sides of a hive to open into 

 spaces which will take 2 frames each, separated 

 by bee-tight partitions, so that 1 can rear 

 4 queens at once by putting frames with eggs 

 in them and putting an excluder under all? 

 Or would you have queen-excluder partitions? 

 I might not feel well enough to look after the 

 newly-hatched queens at the right time, and 

 fear they would fight through the excluder. 



4. I think I read somewhere that you said 

 you wanted a 2-inch space under bottom-bars 

 winter and summer. Is that correct? If not, 

 what space shall I leave under the bars as a 

 permanent arrangement? With my queens 

 clipped, what difference does it make if the 

 bees do build down? Do I have to be haulin'^ 

 out the brood-frames to look at them, especially 

 as they are all filled with worker-combs? 



5. In the Danzenbaker hive, if the end- 

 wedges are in place of what use are the 

 springs? And if the springs are used, of what 

 use are the wedges? 



6. If sweet clover is planted this spring, may 

 I look for much of it to blossom this year? 



7. With sweet clover planted on 16 square 

 miles, a pinch of seed here and there, will it 

 be worth while to put in crimson clover? I 

 have all of the railroad right-of-way to culti- 

 vate, without asking consent. Iowa. 



Answers. — i. Such a hive would probably 

 work all right. I am sorry to say that I am 

 not entirely certain yet whether bees will build 

 down in a i-inch space. If they do not, then 

 1 inch under the bottom-bars is better than %. 

 I think, however, that they will not build down 

 in the i-inch space. I prefer, however, and 

 have for several years used, a bottom-board 

 witn not merely a H or i-inch space, but with 

 a 2-inch space. During the time of year when 

 there is any danger of bees building down into 

 this space, I put in a rack that is ^g below 

 bottom-bars. 



I don't know, but I have some doubts 

 whether it win pay to have your supers with 

 double walls. Still, it might be worth trying. 



2. As a first precautionary measure, become a 

 member of the National Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion, if you have not already done so, and get 

 from General Manager France printed matter 

 on the subject. A fence of some kind between 

 the hives and the street will be a good thing. 

 It is probably better to have it close to the 

 sidewalk rather than close to the hives, ^ake 

 it high enough to clear the heads of passers-by, 

 6 feet or higher. If at a place where a board 

 fence would appear unsightly, you can have a 

 fence of wires or poultry netting covered with 

 vines that will be ornamental. 



Above all else look out for the character of 

 your bees. There are bees that would never 

 disturb persons massing within a rod. Again, 

 there are bees that will volunteer an attack at 

 more than 10 rods from tneir hives. If you 

 find any colony that is cross, pinch its queen's 

 licad off, and replace with a queen of better 

 disposition. 



3. Your scheme of partitioning the hive into 

 four compartments, a 2-frame nucleus in each 

 comj>artmcnt (it must be a lo-frame hive to 

 take the 8 frames) is all right. I've reared 

 many queens in this way. Of course, the cells 

 must be started and sealed in strong colonies. 

 The partitions should be thin boards, not ex- 

 cluders, with no sort of communication between 

 the different nuclei. Vou say "putting an ex- 

 cluder under all" — that sounds as if you mean 

 to put your nucleus hive over a full colony, 

 the bees of the colony having entrance to the 

 nuclei through the excluder. I think others 

 have reported success with this, but I must 

 confess failure. 



4. As explained in a previous answer, I 

 strongly prefer the 2-inch space. Gives a nice 

 lot of air — ?. good thing at all times. If the 

 bees are allowed to build down, that will take 

 away nearly all your space, with whatever ad- 

 vantages it may have, for the bees will build 

 down within perhaps ^i inch of the floor. Be- 

 sides, your combs will very likely no longer 

 be movable, as the bees just as like as not will 

 build from one comb to the next. 



S- I don't know. 



6. Sweet clover is a biennial, coming from 

 the seed first year, blooming and producing seed 

 the next, then dying root and branch. C. A. 

 Green, however, gets it practically into one 



year's time by sowing the seed as soon as it 

 ripens, so that it makes its first growth during 

 the remainder of the year, blossoming the next. 

 This may, however, be yellow sweet clover, 

 which matures seed considerably earlier than 

 the white. 



7. I don't know, I think it might; for crim- 

 son sown in the fall blossoms next season, if I 

 am not mistaken, earlier than sweet clover. 



Some Various Kinds of Bees — Trans- 

 ferring — Comb and Extracted 

 Honey in Same Super. 



In the enclosed box are a moth and a bug. 

 I can also find a small white egg. The bug and 

 moth seem to feed on the pollen in old combs. 

 I can see no web. 



1. What is the bug and moth? 



2. What is the difference between the golden, 

 red clover, and leather-colored Italian queens? 

 Is it the color only? 



3. Could bees be transferred to modern hives 

 now? and would I lose much noney by so do- 

 ing? 



4. In running for both extracted and comb 

 honey in the same super, how is the fence held 

 tight against the section next the frame? Mine 

 is a Danzenbaker. New York. 



Answers. — i. I'm not an entomologist, but I 

 suspect the specimens sent are one and the 

 same thing in different stages of their being. 

 I don't think they belong in the list of bee-ene- 

 mies, never troubling live bees, but feeding oc- 

 casionally upon unprotected pollen. I think 

 I've seen the same thing on dried beef and 

 other foods. 



2. The distinction :s perhaps not always kept 

 very clear. A red clover queen is one whose 

 workers are supposed to visit red clover more 

 than other bees, and may be golden or some- 

 thing else. A golden queen is one whose work- 

 ers show all, or nearly all, yellow bands. 

 Leather-colored are those which are 3-banded 

 and rather dark. 



3. When the colony swarms, hive the swarm 

 in a modern hive, putting it on the old stand 

 with the old hive close beside it. Twenty-one 

 days later cut out the combs and add all the 

 bees to the swarm, unless you want to have 

 another colony, in which case you will trans- 

 fer bees and comb to another hive. 



4. I don't think any one runs for both 

 kinds of honey in a Danzenbaker super. 



Heat May Have Caused Swarming 

 Out. 



I hived a swarm of bees a week ago, and 

 they went to work and drew out their combs 

 and stored honey, and to-day (June 20) they 

 swarmed out and left their store and the eggs 

 the queen haa laycd. I had the hive on the 

 ground with a large entrance. Was there too 

 much ventilation? I have kept bees a long 

 time and never saw anything like this before. 

 Illinois. 



Answer. — No, surely not too much ventila- 

 tion; more likely the great heat. 



Building a Honey-House — Storing 

 Comb Honey. 



1. We intend to build a 2-story honey-house, 

 including basement, at the bottom of the north- 

 ern slope of a small hill; the 70-colony apiary 

 is located at the side of this hill, southeas't 

 from the location where the honev-house is to 

 be built. If the dimensions of the building 

 are to be 24 feet long by 14 feet wide, how 

 high should it be? Also, please state how you 

 would arrange the building, giving the size 

 and number of windows, doors, etc. 



2. Is it advisable to store comb honey at this 

 time of the year in an attic? The attic is very 

 light, but somewhat hot. Illinois. 



Answers. — i. Nine feet high for the first 

 story and 7 for the second will work well, and 

 8 for the cellar. An outside door to enter 

 the center of one side, with a stairway facing 

 it. First story in 2 rooms — one for storing 

 with one window, the other for workshop with 

 window at each of 3 sides. The stairway can 

 he in the storeroom, so the workshop can be 

 easily kept warm in cold weather. 



2. Yes. It can be none too hot. 



What Became of the Honey? 



On the morning of the 3d I put out about 

 5 pounds of old honey for my one colony of 

 bees, and they went to work at it with a will, 

 and late in the afternoon they sent out a big 

 swarm; I hived them on 10 full sheets of 

 foundation. Yesterday morning I placed them 

 where the old hive had stood, and moved that 



one about 25 feet, and put out more honev, 

 hoping to draw all the field-bees from the old 

 hive, and I seemed to succeed well, and this 

 morning (June 5) I put out more, and it was 

 all gone before noon, at which time I opened 

 up the hive to see how they were doing, and 

 imagine my surprise at finding not one drop of 

 honey in the hive. The queen had commenced 

 to lay, the hive was packed with bees, and they 

 had some bee-bread. What could they have done 

 with all of that honey? Nebraska. 



Answer. — I don't know. One guess would 

 be that bees from neighboring colonies carried 

 off part of the honey. But that guess is hardly 

 necessary. The f. st part of the answer is easy: 

 They carried the first 5 pounds into the old 

 hive. When they swarmed, they took with 

 them a sacful each, and the only trouble is to 

 tell what became of the honey they took after- 

 ward, seeing each bee was already filled, and 

 seeing no honey was in sight in the hive after- 

 ward. It might not be a wild guess to say 

 that although each bee had its sac well filled, 

 some of the bees might still load up a little 

 more heavily, taking some of their neighbors' 

 loads, these latter unloading so that they could 

 bring in the honey you put on the 4th. Bear 

 in mind, too, that a large force of bees was 

 engaged in secreting wax, thus using up honey 

 rapidly. 



Diseased Brood. 



I live in a localitv that is full of brood-dis- 

 ease. My bees have it. One summer I cure 

 them and the next it will show up as bad as 

 ever. Suppose a person moves his bees this 

 fall to a. place w^here there is no disease, do 

 you think he could cure them, being careful 

 not to have any robbing? If you were in ray 

 place how would you do it? Indiana. 



Answer. — Rather a tough problem. Hardly 

 the right thing to take diseased bees in a 

 healthy locality. If tiie number is not large, 

 it would be better to buy a start of thor- 

 oughly healthy bees in the new location. Other- 

 wise you might pretty safely get rid of the 

 disease this summer by the McEvoy plan, 

 throwing the bees on comb foundation, and 

 trust to the closest kind of watching to fore- 

 stall any outbreak next season. 



Best Honey-Producing Plants. 



Suppose that all honey-producing plants, 

 flowers, brambles, trees, etc., of the North Cen- 

 tral States were in great abundance near your 

 apiary at Marengo, 111. Of these, please name 

 in rotation, the 10 plants which you consider 

 best for your bees; taking into consideration 

 the markets, also the quantity, quality the de- 

 mand for certain flavors, etc., of honey. I 

 would like to have them named, as for in- 

 stance: ist, white clover; 2d, buckwheat, etc. 

 Subscriber. 



Answer. — I don't know enough to answer 

 your question, and don't believe I could answer 

 it if I should spend a whole year at nothing 

 else but trying to find the answer. Asparagus 

 is visited by the bees, but there is no way 

 that will tell anything about the quality or the 

 quantity of honey that might be obtained from 

 it if it were in great abundance. Of those 

 that I do know something about, I don't know 

 enough for a certainty as to be sure about 

 placing them in their right order, but it might 

 be something like the following: White clover, 

 linden, (basswood), alsike clover, dandelion, 

 fruit-bloom, yellow sweet clover, white sweet 

 clover, heartsease, buckwlicat. 



Swarms With Clipped Queens — Salt 



for Bees — Best Section — Wiring 



Frames — Introducing Queens — 



Wood Splints for Frames. 



1. How do you manage a swarm of bees with 

 a clipped queen? How do you hive them? 



2. I have heard old bee-keepers say that 

 bees must have salt. Is that so? If it is so, 

 how do you feed it to them? 



3. Which is the best section to use, plain or 

 bee-way ? 



4. Which is the best way to wire brood- 



5. G 

 a q 



me full instructions for introducing 



Is there nectar in potato blossoms? If 

 there is, won't spraying the potatoes with paris- 

 grccn kill the bees? 



7. Can you buy splints for brood-fratnes 

 ready made? If so, where? If not, give diiec- 

 tions and size for making. New York. 



An'Pwers. — I. Look on the ground for the 

 queen as the swarm comes out; she may be 

 among the first, but more apt to be among the 



