September, 1908. 



American ^ec JoarnaTj^ 



get in or out, and there I keep a frame of 

 honey or some syrup. If by any chance the 

 bees begin robbing, 1 just throw a small piece 

 of mosquito-bar over the entrance, lacking the 

 upper edge to the hive and cover, and holding 

 it down at the sides with small sticks. This 

 confuses the robber-bees and stops robbing. 

 If it commences again after removing the mos- 

 quito-bar, I try to find the hive of the ma- 

 rauders and treat them in the same way. I 

 can very soon break up the worst scrimmage 

 that they can get into. . 



I start queen-cells in the strongest colonies 

 I can get. I tier them on the Alexander plan 

 for increase, and where the brood in the upper 

 hive is about all capped, I remove the whole 

 hive and queen, and use the upper hive with 

 returning bees on the old stand to start cells. 



I would like to hold a lady queen-breeders' 

 convention, just to see who we are. Anyway, 

 I have quite a feeling of friendship for them, 

 and wish them all the best of success. 



Allegan Co., Mich. Emily H. Hafford. 



If sisters are allowed to be bee-keepers 

 at all, there is no good reason why they 

 should not engage in queen-rearing, and 

 successfully. It requires less strength 

 than honey-production, and for the parts 

 of the business that require delicate 

 handling a woman's fingers are no 

 clumsier than a man's. 



We don't have any trouble with vir- 

 gins dying in cages when more than one 

 are in a hive, but there is some ques- 

 tion whether the free virgin does just 

 as well if the caged virgin is present 

 before the free one has mated. 



Others agree with you in preferring 

 to introduce cells. At our house we 

 prefer virgins. It is true that when cells 

 are used you can reject any cells that 

 do not look the best, but you cannot be 

 sure what is in the cell. It may contain 

 a dead or defective queen. If you use 

 virgins instead of cells, you can be sure 

 to have only those that are best in ap- 

 pearance. It is also easier to know ex- 

 act age when virgins are used. But 

 there may be advantages on the other 

 side. 



This department is open for that meet- 

 ing of lady queen-breeders. 



Mr. Scholl Congratulated. 



Congratulations on your fine crop, Mr. 

 Scholl. Pretty good— for a man ! 



Starting with Bees — ^Transferring. 



Early last spring we bought a colony of 

 Italian bees for $5. They were in an old-fash- 

 ioned hive, and as we know nothing about bees, 

 we have not been able to see the inside, and 

 do not know whether there is, or was, any 

 honey in the boxes. We have "Forty Years 

 Among the Bees," but it does not tell the be- 

 ginner just how to proceed. We sent for a 

 new I'/i story hive with one-inch starters, to be 

 ready for a swarm, but so far as we know 

 the bees have not swarmed; neither have the 

 bees of Mr. Osborne, from whom we bought 

 our colony. 



Do you think it advisable to put the bees into 

 the new hive? If so, how are we to do it? 



There are no other bees near us, but there 

 is plenty of white clover. We do not care to 

 go into the business extensively. Still we want 

 enough honey for our own use and some to 

 spare. Our bees are quite cross, but they 

 Bccm to be busy. (Mrs.) E. W. Griffino. 



Amagansctt. N. Y., Aug. 6. 



You say your bees are in an old-fash- 

 ioned hive, and you haven't been able to 

 see the inside. That probably means the 

 hive is a box-hive, in which case there 

 is no chance to see the inside. To do 

 that they should be in a movable-frame 

 hive. But the season is now so far ad- 

 vanced that it may be best to leave them 

 where they arc till next year. Then you 

 may transfer them into a new hive dur- 

 ing fruit-bloom, although the plan pre- 



ferred nowadays is to wait till they 

 swarm, hive the swarm in a new hive, 

 setting the 2 hives side by side as close as 

 possible, and then 21 days later cut up 

 the old hive, unite the bees with the 

 swarm, and melt up the combs. 



In the meantime it will pay you well 

 to get one of the regular bee-books, 

 such as are advertised in the American 

 Bee Journal, for the information therein 

 contained may be worth several times 

 the cost of the book in a single season. 

 There are those who think "Forty Years 

 Among the Bees" one of the best books 

 published, but Dr. Miller claims that it 

 was not intended to supersede any of 

 the regular books of instruction on bees, 

 but to supplement them. 

 Although it is not advisable just now 

 to do anything about getting your bees 

 into another hive, it is very decidedly 

 advisable for you to see about those 

 boxes you mention. If there has been 

 anything like a fair flow of nectar from 

 the flowers, those boxes are crammed 

 full of honey, and like as not so much 

 honey has been packed in the brood- 

 chamber that the queen is crowded for 

 room. The result of that might be 

 that you would have a hive very heavy 

 with honey but so weak in bees that it 

 would not survive the winter. 



First, get a bee-smoker. If you can- 

 not wait for that, make a smudge of 

 burning rags, blow smoke into the hive 

 entrance, pry up the boxes, blowing 

 smoke into the crack as you pry up, 

 and take the boxes off. Replace with 

 empty boxes. Put the boxes into a 

 tub, cover with a sheet, and occasionally 

 turn the sheet over to let the bees out. 

 Of course this will be outdoors. 



Maybe you have had no flow of hon- 

 ey, in which case the boxes will be 

 empty and there will be nothing to be 

 done. 



Transferring Non-Swarming Bees 

 from Box-Hives. 



Frequently, when giving directions for 

 transferring bees. Dr. Miller says it is best 

 to "wait until they swarm, hive the swarm 

 in a new hive, setting the two hives side by 

 side as close as possible, and then 21 days 

 later cut up the old hive, unite the bees 

 with the swarm and melt up the combs. 

 But my bees don't swarm. I have been 

 waiting now for several years to transfer 

 those pesky bees from the box-hives. If 

 they don't swarm, why wait longer? What 

 shall I do? (Miss) Susan Swertsome. 



Poseytown, Ind. 



You are to be congratulated, and ought 

 to be all swelled up with pride that 

 you have bees that will not swarm. Many 

 of the veterans would give dollars to an 

 insurance' company that would insure 

 their bees against swarming. 



There may be three reasons why your 

 bees do not swarm. The first is that 

 the season may be so very poor tliat they 

 can not afford to swarm. Since your 

 case has continued "for several years," 

 tliat can hardly be the reason. 



Second, your hive may be extra large. 

 In that case you might cut off the lower 

 part next spring, making the hive small- 

 er. If filled with combs, the lower part 

 of the combs will be empty in spring, 

 and hive, combs and all, may be cut 

 away. Cut down to a size that will 

 contain less than a cubic foot, and that 

 will likely result in swarming, if too 

 large a hive has been the trouble. 



Third, your bees may be of the kind 



that don't believe in swarming. If so, 

 be thankful, and transfer them in fruit- 

 bloom next spring. In any case, no 

 matter what the cause of their not 

 swarming, you can transfer at that time. 

 Your bee-book will give you instruction 

 as to transferring. Briefly, it is to drum 

 out the bees, cut up the hive, cut out the 

 comb, and fasten all straight worker- 

 comb in frames. Or, you may drum 

 out part of the bees, making sure to 

 get the queen, put them into a hive 

 filled with worker-foundation, set the 

 hive on the old stand, putting the old 

 hive close beside it, and in 21 days, 

 when all worker-brood has hatched out, 

 cut up the old hive, add the bees to the 

 first lot, and melt up the combs. 



Storing in Brood-Frames Instead of 

 Supers. 



I have a colony that won't work in the 

 super. It is filling up the brood frames with 

 honey in fine style. I find eges in some 

 of the empty cells that are left, which show 

 that they have a queen all right. Also there 

 is some brood. (Jan it be that the queen is 

 getting tired, or petering out? 



Recently I took out several of the combs 

 and with a dining-fork scored them on both 

 sides, breaking the cell-cappings. Will this 

 cause the bees to "get a hump on them- 

 selves" and hustle the honey upstairs into the 

 super? If not, what can I do? How would 

 changing the queen do? 



Clifton Place, 111. Georgiana Proctor. 



As the season advances, less and less 

 space in the brood-chamber is occupied 

 with brood, and more of it with honey, 

 until perhaps September or October, 

 when laying will cease. But if this one 

 colony is restricting its brood while other 

 colonies have plenty, there is something 

 at fault, and it is time for you to have 

 a hand in it. There is more likelihood 

 of this restricting if section-supers are 

 on than if extracting-supers are used. 

 The likelihood is that the queen is at fault 

 — almost certainly that is the case— and 

 the thing to do is to replace her with 

 a young and vigorous one. 



Breaking the cappings may do some 

 good, but not likely. 



Changing the queen is not likely to 

 have much effect on this season's yield, 

 for the new queen's progeny will not 

 go afield under 5 weeks, but it would do 

 good for next year. If, however, the 

 queen has been a good one, and is peter- 

 ing out merely because old, very likely 

 you don't need to do anything, for the 

 probability is that the bees will super- 

 sede her about the close of the harvest. 



I DO the very best I 

 know how — the very 

 best I can; and I 

 mean to keep doing so 

 until the end. If the end 

 brings me out all right, 

 what is said against me 

 won't amount to any- 

 thing. If the end brings 

 me out wrong, ten angels 

 swearing I was right 

 would make no differ- 

 e nee. — A bra ham Lincoln 



