American Bac Journal 



September, 1908. 



the Spring of 1907, I took out 40 very weak 

 colonies and s bushels of dead bees. 



In the fall of 1907, I extended the partitions 

 to the west wall, took out the window, and put 

 in two dummy windows in its place. I cut 

 holes through the dummies for a 4inch pipe; 

 put the pipe through these holes and extended 

 It slanting up the outside 12 feet. There is a 

 damper in the cellar end of the pipe. I raised 

 the platform that the hives were on 10 inches 

 Irom the floor. The last of November. I put ^e 

 colonies m fair condition in the cellar. Last 

 spring I took out the worst lot of bees I 

 ever saw— nearly all dead, with water and 

 honey running from the hives; combs all 

 mouldy and daubed. 



How can I make that cellar a safe place 

 to winter bees? I used the Heddon hive. 



Michigan, 



Answer.— It isn't easy to say just what is 

 tne trouble without having more particulars 

 I suspect that the chief trouble is cold. If the 

 cellar stands a good part of the winter below 

 45 degrees, you can not expect good results 

 If a small stove is kept to warm the cellar 

 whenever the temperature falls below 41;, that 

 may solve the whole trouble. Ventilaiion is 

 important, but likely your ventilation is all 

 right. 



Toads— Packing Bees for Winter- 

 Bees Gnawing Foundation — 

 Brood-Frames in Winter. 



I' wT u° y°" ''^■''P ^""i^ "■°'" «="'"e bees? 

 . 2. _Which would be the best way for winter- 

 ing bees, by putting 2 colonies in each chaff 

 ' ?L ''y P"»'"K 'hem all in one? 



3- Would a colony of bees produce enough 

 honey from August on, to keep them throulh 

 the winter? 



4. What makes the bees gnaw the founda- 

 tion-starters? 



.5. Should the brood-frames be taken out for 

 winter? If not, how should I get out the 

 P°"«"? Minnesota. 



Answers.— I. Perhaps no better way than 

 to raise hives so high that toads cannot reach 

 ttie entrance. 



2. There is the advantage of mutual heat 

 by having 2 in the same box. 



3. Sometimes yes, s metimes no. All depends 

 upon the amount of forage. 



,,Jh} '^fu''- '"'°'"-, I^'schief, perhaps, and 

 perhaps they use the wax the same as bee- 

 glue Generally you will find them gnawing 

 foundation only when they are not ^storing^ 

 It is a bad plan to leave sections on the hive 

 after the harvest is over. 



„„r A°,' "',';^' '^° yo" ,^-3"t to get the pollen 

 for the bees it is as valuable as honej; some- 

 times more so. If you could get all the pollen 

 out of the combs in the fall, you would find 



c"ouff gafhe'r^^ollen"" '" ''""' "" '""^ ""= 



Starting with Bees. 



I have one colony of bees, said to be the 



fhlllf"' T.,"'7 ^'''"' ""i •"'"''=■ ^^ "«=y all call 

 them. The fuzz on the front part of their 

 bodies IS very yellow on most of them; some 

 arc silvery gray. They were put in a new hive 

 with 8 frames. After I had them 2 weeks I 

 put on a super with 24 pound-sections, with 

 one inch of foundation in each case. Thev 

 must have the hive about full of honey as it 

 18 very heavy. I never had anything to do 

 with bees before, so I would like to know if I 

 have gone right so far. There is a great 

 t!"^ '", "'I A'""'<=^" I'^'^ Journal that I don- 

 understand. I got my bees June 20, and have 

 been trying to get some more, but they have 

 stopped swarming. 



2. I would like to know how I can see. the 

 queen without getting stung. 



3.. What kind of bees do you think best for 

 get mg honey from red clover? I would like 

 to know this, as I am going to get some more 

 °"^'- Missouri. 



Answers--i. You have done very well for a 

 beginner. Next time, instead of waiting 2 

 weeks before putting on sections, put them on 

 withm 2 or 3 days after the swarm is hived, 

 or as soon as the queen has begun to lay bc^ 

 low. It IS quite possible, too. that more super- 

 room should have been given before this. Don't 

 wait till the first super is filled, uut give the 

 second super when the first is half filled; soon- 

 1 ., 'he colony is strong and the yield heavy. 

 Instead of having only a i-inch starter in each 

 section, many of our best comb-honey producers 

 fill the section with foundation. 



2. One way is to wear veil and gloves, so 

 that the bees can not get at vou to sting 

 you. You may do without the gloves if you 

 use care in moving slowly and handling the 



bees gently, using just enough smoKe to keep 

 the bees under subjection. 



•'L y ^^"^ is any difference, Italians are 

 probably better than blacks; but you needn't 

 count much on red-clover honey from any but 

 bumble-bees. 



>. ^' "}' X""^ y°" a P'«<:<^ of advice that may 

 be worth $5.00 to you if you have only a sinele 

 colony of bees, and I'm not coing to charee 

 you a cent for it. My advice is to ..uy a bee- 

 book. After you have studied it with some 

 care, many things in this publication that are 

 now (,reek to you will be entirely clear A 

 bee-paper comes after a bee-book as a sort of 

 supplement, and there are some standing in 

 their own light who think they can get along 

 with the paper alone. If you can't have both, 

 do without the paper and get the book. 



Cleansing Beeswax with Acid. 



How do you cleanse or brighten beeswax 

 with acid? What kind of acid do you use, and 

 how is It applied? Michigan. 



Answer.— You will find the matter very 

 fully treated in .atest edition of Uoot's "A 

 B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture." In a 

 large way steam is used. Not many have that. 

 In that case you can use, in a smaller way, a 

 large earthenware kettle. Into this put a small 

 quantity of water, and, after it has come to 

 a boil put in a cake of wax. When melted, 

 add the acid. 



"If this is too slow and tedious a job, a 

 large iron kettle that will hold 7 or 8 pails 

 of water may be used. Fill this kettle about 

 half full of water. Start a fire under it. and 

 when the water boils, put in the wax. When 

 melted, add the proportionate amount of acid. 

 Keep hot for a few minutes, and then allow 

 the fire to die down. As soon as all the par- 

 ticles of dirt have settled in the water, dip off 

 the free wax on top, being careful not to stir 

 up the dirt in the water." 



I have cleansed wax by merely pouring the 

 acid into the wax and water, after it was tak- 

 en from the fire and ready to be poured out 

 and cooled, pouring in the acid very slowly 

 for fear it would boil over. 



Sulphuric acid is the kind used, in the pro- 

 portion of about one part to 100 of wax and 

 water. G. M. Doolittle uses a pint of strong 

 vinegar in a ouart of water for every 10 

 pounds of wax. 



Some foundation-makers prefer that the wax 

 be not thus cleansed, saying that it changes 

 too much the character of the wax. 



Milkweed as a Honey-Plant? 



I want to ascertain the value of milkweel 

 blossoms for honey. It is very plentiful here. 

 The blossoms have a very fragrant odor, and 

 contain a great deal of sweet. The blossom 

 slapped on the back of the hand will make it 

 wet with the sweet liquid. It has occasionally 

 been used by the Indians in making sugar, and 

 the taste is nearly the same as maple. I am a 

 small farmer and thought that possibly this 

 milkweed might be valuable for honey. If so. 

 I think I should like to try a few colonies of 

 °^^s. Michigan. 



Answer. — From what you say, the plant 

 ought to be a great honey-yielder; greater, 

 probably, than is generally supposed. Nothing 

 very definite is known on this point, and it 

 IS doubtful if any milkweed honey has ever 

 been reported. Vou arc in a good position to 

 test the matter, and perhaps can give definite 

 information that will be valuable. If the com- 

 mon milkweed, Asclcftiai coniuti, is meant, it 

 IS better known by the fact that its pollen- 

 masses cling to the feet of the bees, crippling 

 and sometimes causing them to be driven from 

 the hive. It may be, as Prof. Cook suggests, 

 that the large amount of nectar yielded may 

 much overbalance the harm done in this way. 



Partly Filled Sections. 



1. In taking off combhoney supers, I find 

 very many sections only partly filled. I know 

 they will be very valuable next year to coax 

 the bees into the supers; but what can I do 

 with them now? 



2. I filled some supers with these sections 

 and put them back on the hives, as they con- 

 tained considerable honey; besides, I thought 

 they would be safest there from the moths. 

 Would it be best to leave these sections on the 

 hives through the winter? Would the comb 

 m them get black? Missouri. 



Answers.— I. In many localities there is 

 a fall flow, and if there is such a flow in your 

 locality you may be able to get the bees to 

 fill out the partly filled sections. If the flow 

 is over, the sooner they are off the hive the 



better Even if you do not have a fall flow, 

 and It ,s some time before it begins, betted 

 ake the sections off and then give them back 

 to the bees again when the flow is on. Partly 



sh„,,ld'1fi'°"%i";?''"'S '" •"= ''^P' over winter 

 should have all their honey emptied out by the 

 bees. If you have so many of them that you 

 have something like a superful for each colony, 

 you may put them where the bees can have 

 access to them all at once, putting them out in 

 the open perhaps better toward Svening. But 

 nuZr '■"1 only a few in proportion to the 

 number of bees, then pile 3 or 4 supers in a 

 pile, and allow an entrance so small that only 

 one or two bees can pass at a time. You see 

 I;J= Fk 1°^ '"^^P, ^'^'^ a' a ''"'<^ 'o' of sec- 

 2. No, don t leave them on after the bees 

 stop work in them. The sections may not get 

 ^i,rV ,'^- •"" they are likely to be daubed 

 with bee-glue so that the bees will not readily 



envtrE,1 !""° J'"'" , ^^"- '^'^•^P ""= sections 

 covered in a dry place over winter. 



Gunny-Sack Smoker- Fuel — Shreddea 

 Wheat Biscuit and Honey. 



Take a piece of an old gunny-sack, roll it 

 up and light one end of it with a match. 

 Ihen crowd it down into the smoker and put 

 a few small chips on top. Vou will get a 

 bigger cloud of smoke in this way than any 

 other kind of fuel. If the piece of gunny- 

 sack IS pretty well propolized, all the better. 



lake a shredded wheat biscuit, soften it 

 pretty well with hot water, mash it down flat, 

 then cover it with butter, and cover again with 

 a very good quality and quantity of extracted 

 honey. Then eat it and tell readers of the 

 American Bee Journal how you like it. 



Edwin Bevins. 



The best fuel for smokers is to some extent 

 a matter of convenience. Both gunny-sack 

 (.Durlap; and dry hardwood chips are excellent 

 seperato, and no doubt the combination is 

 good. Just now the chips are plentier in this 

 locality than burlap, so they are preferred. A 

 piece of cotton rag that has been saturated 

 with saltpeter is thrown in the smoker, a 

 match touched to it, the smoker filled with 

 chips, and then a little blowing puts the fire 

 in good trim. 



"The burlap is the favorite of W. L. Cogg- 

 shall, in the form of old phosphate sacks, which 

 are probably plenty in his locality. He rolls 

 up a piece of the material, ties a string around 

 It at intervals, and then chops the roll into 

 proper lengths with an ax. Each roll has one 

 end dipped in saltpeter-water, and when dried 

 It IS easily lighted. 



Shredded wheat biscuit are mostly used here 

 minus the "shredded," but the rest of the pres- 

 cription IS all right with a little variation. A 

 piece of biscuit, or bread, is fairly spread 

 with honey, cut up into squares, and then 

 slid from the plate into a bowl of Guernsey 

 cream. No particulars are needed as to the 

 rest. 



Getting Into the Bee-Business. 



A novice in the bee-business has got into 

 trouble by having a swarm of bees make a 

 home m the cornice of my house in June, 1007 

 They seemed to thrive, for on June 16, 1908, 

 they swarmed, and went away. Well, I said. 

 Good riddance," but again on the 25th an- 

 other swarm came out and 1 thought if they 

 were going to keep that up I would take a 

 hand, so I resurrected an old hive that I had 

 not seen for years, and a neighbor came and 

 hived them, and on the 28th another swarm 

 came out, and I put them in an old box. Now 

 I thought it time to prepare for the future, 

 so I got a new dovetail hive, and none too 

 soon, for on the 29th they swarmed again 

 and I hived them in the new hive, and on 

 July 1st. another swarm issued and a cracker- 

 box had to make a home for them. 



Now I have become interested in the little 

 workers, and have ordered a bee-book and 

 two bec-p.Tpcrs, but my trouble has just com- 

 menced. I looked at the first box-hive on the 

 25th, and there is considerable honey in it 

 and joined to the cover. If I make an open- 

 ing in the cover and put a hive with frames 

 and foundation on top. will the bees go into 

 the hive? Then I can put the hive on the 

 bottom and save the bees, for I rather like to 

 work with them, and we seem to get along 

 pretty well. Illinois. 



Answer. — This is an extraordinary year, and 

 it may be th.lt your numerous swarms m.iy all 

 build up for winter. Ordinarily it would be 

 good practise to return all after the first to 

 the old hive. 



Yes, if you set a hive on top, the bees 

 will go into it without any trouble, but their 

 brood-nest will remain below, and the hive 



