August 



American ?ee Journal 



bla 



,ann slit was lost. It is nut an 



tiling for virgins to be lost on 



wedding-trip; and birds are often 

 d for this. 



and if fating more or less to the south the 

 heat of the sun would <so its work better. 

 Sometimes it is thought the bees are kept too 

 warm, strong colonies suffering the worst, 

 as it was with some of yours. 



Trying to Prevent Swarming. 



1. I have a colony of bees which I have 

 been trying to keep from swarming, but they 

 cast a line swarm on June iQ. I then wait- 

 ed •> days, and opened the hive and cut out 

 20 queen-cells— 14 of them capped over and 

 6 rcadv to cap in a few days, and I left one 

 ready to hatch for th-oir own queen. Is this 

 an unusual number of queen-cells, or is it be- 

 cause the bees have not enough room? They 

 arc in a 10-frame Langstroth hive, with 3 

 supers for section honey, holding 28 sections 

 each. I have removed 45 pounds of white 

 clover honey from the hive at this date, and 

 another super will be ready to be taken off 

 in a few d^s, and will be replaced with 

 another empty one. 



2. Are my hives large enough, as I run 

 simply for comb honey? 



3. Will an unusual amount of clover blos- 

 som hav6 a tendency to increase swarming? 



4. I had a swarm of bees from a box-hive 

 colony. April 26, which I put in a lo-frame 

 hive, Langstroth size, and when they had the 

 combs drawn out in the brood-chamber, I put 

 on a super of 28 sections, which were drawn 

 out ready for honey, when they sent out a 

 very large swarm, June 20, one day later 

 than the first colony mentioned. On opening 

 the hive I found 11 queen-cells just a few- 

 days old, which I cut, and they have showed 

 no further signs of swarming, are working 

 very nicely, and have also a good number of 

 bees. Did they simply catch the swarming 

 fever from the other colony? 



New Jersey. 

 Answers. — i. You will often find as many 

 queen-cells or more. 



3. I don't know. I never knew a more 

 bountiful crop of white clover in my locality 

 tlian this year, and I never knew swarming 

 worse. And yet in some localities they say 

 that when a heavy flow is on, bees give up 

 the idea of swarming and devote their whole 

 energies to harvesting the crop; and some 

 indications of the same thing have not been 

 lacking here. 



4. No. for the c:Ils were started several 

 days before the other colony swarmed. 



Winter Loss of Bees. 



Last November 1 prepared 10 colonies of 

 bees as follows: Boxes were made of matched 

 lumber JS-inch thick, length inside 28 inches, 

 width 26 "^4 inches, with tight floors, and so 

 constructed that when the hive was placed 

 inside, the hive was entirely shut in, bottom- 

 board, cover, and all, except an opening 

 Ji X 8 inches, for the bees to pass in and 

 out. With the hive inside, I had a space 

 at the front between the hive and outer box 

 of I '4 inches, which was filled with old 

 grain sacks. On the sides between the hive 

 and the outer box a space of 5^^ inches, and 

 on the rear end a space of 6J4 inches was 

 packed with straw placed above the cover. 

 A tar-paper roof covered all. 



An examination on March 26 showed 6 

 colonies dead. Of the remaining 4 colonies, 

 one had 7 frames, 2 had 6 frames, and one 

 had 5 frames covered with bees. 



Some of the combs were mouldy in all 

 the hives, and the straw packing on the out- 

 side of the hives and on top was damp and 

 niouldv next to the hives. 



Plenty of honey was found in the hives. 

 The entrance to one hive was found some- 

 what clogged with bees, but the others were 

 open. Some of the dead colonies were among 

 the strongest in bees when packed for the 

 winter. The hives stood on a side hill slop- 

 ing toward the east, and on the east side 

 of a building. They stood facing the east 

 among tall oak trees, and about 15 feet in 

 front of the entrances was an open field- 

 The entrances to the hives were about is 

 inches from the ground. 



Can you give me any light as to what 

 caused the loss, or have you any criticism or 

 suggestions? Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — Reports differ as to results when 

 bees are packed similarly to yours, perhaps 

 on account of difference in winters, and per- 

 haps on account of difference in locations. 

 - Some say that such thorough packing pre- 

 vents the sun warming up the hives enough 

 to start the bees to flying when a warm day 

 comes, whereas with only a single wall the 

 heat will penetrate and warm up the bees in a 

 short time. Possibly you would do better 

 to leave the entire front of the hive open. 



Carniolans vs. Caucasians — Hearts- 

 ease. 



1. I have 3 colonies of bees (common brown), 

 and would like to increase. Would you recom- 

 mend Carniolan queens for rapid and cheap 

 increase, or would Caucasians be better ? 



2. Do Carniolans defend their hives against 

 robbers as well as Italians? 



3. Please describe heartsease. 



4. From what do bees make comb? 



Ar 



SSAS. 



.\nswers.- 



Not sure, but if you mean 



vhich of the 2 are most given to increase by 

 swarming, probably Carniolan. 



2. Likely they do. 



3. I am not good at describing such things. 



or rent land in a suitable locality for bees? 



3. How many colonies would you advise me 

 to Start with? 



4. What size hives and what kind of sec- 

 tions would you use? 



5. Is it necessary to locate apiaries near 

 creeks, swamps, and rivers? 



6. What is your opinion of the best honey- 

 gatherers? I have seen several kinds, and 

 the Italians seem the best. 



7. Is natural shade preferable? 



He.\rtse.\SE. 



If you have any smartweed in your locality, you 

 will find the two look almost exactly alike. 

 Come to think of it, there's a picture of 

 heartsease in "Forty Years Among the Bees," 

 page 171. and perhaps the editor will print it 

 liere for vour b^nefit- 



4. From what they eat, honey and pollen, 

 much as a cow makes milk from what she 



Starting in Bee-Keeping. 



Five years ago I purchased a colony of bees 

 and set out over a rough road to bee-keep- 

 ing. "That year I learned to like bees in 

 spite of their stings- The next year I had 

 increased to 3 colonies, and the flow of sweet 

 clover being good I sold some $30 worth or 

 more, and supplied the family with honey. 

 In the winter of 1905-06, I bought 20 colonies 

 of bees and increased my old stock some, 

 thinking the next year would be good. But 

 the pasture near here was overstocked, there 

 being about 200 or more colonies, and the 

 flows of 1906 and 1907 were so small that I 

 was compelled to sell the greater part of my 

 bees to pay mv debts. During my success 

 and failures I worked for Mr. J. M. Cutts. 

 an experienced and active bee-keeper, and 

 paid careful attention to the different duties. 

 I am a reader of the American Bee Journal 

 and Gleanings, in both of which I find much 

 valuable advice. I believe if the failure of 

 1906 and 1907 had been postponed by the 

 (Jne that controls these things, I would have 

 been an active man in bee-keeping. I have 

 at least learned that a man is at the mercy 

 of the season, not to try to increase too fast, 

 and to use judgment at all times. 



, I. Do you think that I am capable of ven- 

 turing out in my own canoe safely? 



2. Which is the best in the long run, to buy 



.•\I.A 



AMA 



.\nswers. — I. Others with no more experi- 

 ence than you, have paddled their canoes all 

 right, why not you? 



2. If you can as well do so, it is better 

 to own than to rent. Then you can make 

 any improvements you like without fear that 

 you will be thrown out of possession. 



3. Diflicult to say. Perhaps 25 to 50, and 

 have your time at first partly occupied with 

 something else that will make your living sure. 

 Then you can grow into the business. 



4. Unless you give the closest attention to 

 your bees, better have 10-frame hives. But 



ch close watch that yo 



the bees 



uflter for 



nt of 



stores, 8-frame hives may be better for section 

 honey. Two-bee-way sections, 4]^ x 4\i x iH 

 are about as popular as any. 



5. No; locate where is the best bee-pastur- 

 age. 



6. .'\bout as safe to tie to Italians as any. 



7. Probably no difference; only natural 

 shade generally costs less. 



Cutting Out Queen-Cells — Uncapped 



Sections — Salt to Kill Weeds— 



T-Supers. 



1. When you have 2 or 3 supers on a hive 

 and desire to cut out queen-cells what do you 

 do with the supers during the operation? 



2. How many colonies of bees have you 

 at present count? 



3. How many colonies can be put on a space 

 20 X 50 feet? 



4. Is there any danger of uncapped sections 

 in double-deck supers? 



5. I understand you use salt to kill weeds 

 in front of the hives? Do you always have 

 success with it? I have used the plan 2 or 3 

 years with perfect success. 



6. What is the best way to find and catch 

 the queen in a box-hive? 



7. I do not understand the T-super. Has 

 it section-holders for supporting the sections? 



8. I have a colony which when it had 

 filled the first super about 2-3 full I placed 

 the second one under it. In a few days 

 they deserted the first super and went to the 

 second. What is the trouble? Will they go 

 back and finish the first? They are in a 

 lO-frame hive. 



9. How much thin super foundation will 

 be required to put one-inch starters in 250 

 4% X 4li bee-way top and bottom sections.' 



Missouri. 



Answers. — i. Generally set them on top of 

 the nearest hive, standing them on end. 

 Sometimes set the first one on the ground, 

 leaning against the hive from which it was 

 taken, then set the others one after another 

 on the ground, each one leaning against its 

 predecessor. This supposes that robbers arc 

 not troublesome. If at a time when rob'aers 

 are troublesome, a thing which doesn't often 

 happen when supers are on and queen-cells 

 are to be removed, the supers are piled on 

 an empty hive and a robber-cloth thrown over 

 them. , ,. 



2. I have 181 hives with bees in. part of 

 them nuclei, and only 130 strong colonies 

 storing in sections. 



4. Not altogether sure what you mean. If 

 you mean danger that bees will not cap scc; 

 tions when supers are tiered up 

 may say that my sections 

 when 4 to 6 super 



5. I think salt neve 

 grass. 



well capped 

 1 a hive, 

 fails to kill the 



le bees out. put them in a mov- 

 able-frame hive with a frame of brood in it. 

 give the bees time to settle, and then look on 

 the frame of brood for the queen. Or, you 

 may sift out the queen with an excluder. _ 



7. No: it is much simnler than that. Its 

 called a T-super because T-tins are used in it 

 to support the sections. .-X cross-section of a 

 Ttin is like an inverted T, in which shape 

 you will see it is hard to get more strength 

 with so little room taken. There are 3 of 

 these T-tins for each super, each one 12 

 inches long to rest inside a super J2',t w-ide 

 inside. The super itself is a plain box 

 without top or bottom, '/i inch decoer than 

 the height of a section, or a little deeper to 

 allow for shrinkage with age. a strip of tin 

 on the bottom at each end to support the 



