American ^ae Journal 



September, 1908. 



gaining access to the queen and killing her. 



1. Did I do right in removing a frame in 

 .order to find room for the introducing cage? 



If not, how should the cage be placed? 



2. I opened the hive when the queen had 

 been in ^4 hours, and also when it had been 

 in 48 hours, when there was a very thin layer 

 of candy left, which made me conclude that 

 they would release the queen in about 6 more 

 hours. Should I have opened the hive after 

 removing the old queen? 



^. Did I do wrong in removing the old queen 

 30 hours after putting in the queen to be 

 introduced? 



4. Snould I have removed the old queen 

 at the time of introducing the new queen? 

 The colony I tried to introduce her into was 

 a second after-swarm, 4 weeks old. 



Minnesota. 



Answers. — i. It was all right; any way so 

 that the bees could readily hobnob with the 

 queen, and also get at tne candy. 



2. Opening the hive unnecessarily can do 

 no good, and sometimes it does harm. 



3. Nowadays those who favor leaving the 

 old queen in the hive after the new one is 

 put in rather favor about 3 days before the old 

 queen is removed and the bees allowed to get 

 at the candy. 



4. It might have been safer. 



It was only 24 hours from the time the old 

 queen was Killed till the bees were allowed to 

 get at the new queen. That's a pretty short 

 time for the bees to transfer their allegiance 

 from one sovereign to another. 



You removed the card-board from the candy. 

 Instructions generally are to allow the bees to 

 gnaw the card-board away. 



Hiving Swarms — Bees in Sun or 



Shade? — Metal Hive -Covers — 



Propolis Knife— Chaff Cushions. 



1. What is the best way to get a swarm of 

 bees into a frame-hive? 



2. I read in Gleanings that bees do better 

 in the sun than in the snade. Is that so? 



3. Are metal-roof covers for hives with inner 

 covers better than wooden covers? If so, why? 



4. What is the best kind of knife to use for 

 scraping propolis off of sections taken from the 

 supers ? 



_ '. What is the best way to make chaff cush- 

 ions for hives to winter bees in ? 



New York. 



Answers. — i. If you mean to hive a swarm, 

 It IS hived in a movable-frame hive just the 

 same as in a box-hive. If you mean to transfer 

 Irom a box-hive into a frame-hive, wait till 

 the colony swarms and hive the swarm in the 

 unproved hive. Then 21 days later all worker- 

 brood will have emerged, and you can cut up 

 the old hive and melt the combs. 



2. There may be some locations where bees 

 do better in the sun, but hardly in yours or 

 mine. I take a good deal of pains to have 

 mine under the shade of trees, more for the 

 comfort of the operator than of the bees, and 

 yet the bees do very well, thank you. 



3- Their chief advantage is that they are 

 always rain-proof. 



4. At our house we use a cabinet scraper 

 such as cabinet-makers use, and also sand- 

 paper. This for the tops and bottoms of the 

 sections while they are all in a block. Then 

 what little scraping is needed after the sec- 

 tions are taken apart is done by a common 

 case-knife kept pretty sharp. 



5. Make a plain bag a little larger than the 

 size of the required cushion, closed on all 

 sides except enough of an opening on one side 

 to admit the *'stuffing." At each corner sew 

 a straight seam as long as the depth of the 

 cushion. Don't sew it with the bag lying 

 flat, for that would spoil the shape of your 

 cushion. Instead of that, pinch the cloth to- 

 gether sidewise at each corner, making a seam 

 that will be vertical in the finished cushion, 

 making the cushion box-shaped. Fill the cush- 

 ion and sew up the hole. 



Unsealed Cells of Honey. 



I. I have 12 colonies, all doing fine but 

 one— my best colony. It is in a homemade 

 frame. hive. In the spring they went to work 

 Jlf^'y-. 'P , '\P''il I put on a super. They 

 filled it with comb in a short time, filled one 

 side of comb with honey, and sealed about 

 two-thirds of the cells all right. The un- 

 waled cells arc about half full of honey. 

 When I raise a frame to examine it, the 

 honey will commence to blubber. Five weeks 

 ago I took out 5 frames of the partly-filled 

 combs, took out what there was in them, and 

 put 3 inches of found.irtion in the feturned 

 frames. They went right to work and filled 

 the frames with comb and honey, but have 

 sealed only a part of the cells. What is the 



matter with the bees, and what can I do? 

 There has not been much swarming this year. 

 Oklahoma. 

 Answer. — The probability is that there is 

 nothing wrong with the bees, but something 

 wrong with the honey. I don't know what it 

 is, but some plant is yielding honey that he- 

 haves badly. There is probablv nothing you can 

 do about it except to wait till the bees get 

 through bringing in that kind of honey, and 

 then get it out of the hive, for it is not likely 

 it will he good for bees to winter on. If only 

 a small amount, the bees may use it up before 

 winter. 



Foul Brood Not from Comb Founda- 

 tion. 



1. We have 8 colonies of bees — 4 new ones. 

 This year is the first I have used comb foun- 

 dation. My new colonies have foul-brood. Is 

 It likely that they got it from the foundation? 



2. Can I save any part of these hives, or 

 IS it best to uurn everytning? 



_ •'. Will they winter in this condition or 

 IS It best to change them now? 



Missouri. 

 Answers.— I. No case, that I know of, has 

 been reported in which the disease was carried 

 by foundation, and it is asserted very positively 

 that it can not be thus carried. The long con- 

 tinued heating of the wax when made into 

 foundation prevents any such occurrence. 



2. The hives may be used again, but not 

 the frames. 



3. They can winter as they are. 



Where Did the Honey Come From? 



The alsike clover has blossomed very much 

 here this year, and I have noticed that very 

 few bees were on it. I have examined the 

 clover and found that there was some liquid 

 in It. Now, was this water or nectar, as the 

 bees did not take to it, and there is also no 

 seed in same? 



I have 4 colonies, extracted 150 pounds, and 

 have 48 pounds of comb honev from them. 

 1 can not understand where all this comes 

 from, as they did not get it from the alsike, 

 and there are very few different flowers to 

 get It from except some white clover. 



Wisconsin. 



Answer.— Very likely any liquid you found 

 in^ alsike blossoms was nectar, unless it was 

 rain or dew. I have 2 pieces of alsike that 

 bloomed bountifully at the regular time but 

 scarcely a bee was to be found on it. Either 

 there was no nectar in it, or the bees had 

 so much to do on white clover that they 

 could give little attention to the alsike. I sus- 

 pect the latter, and it may have been the same 

 with you. 



Double Hive-Covers — Hive Weights 

 for Winter — Foul Brood. 



1. I have some ventilated or double covers 

 which are recommended so strongly for the 

 climate m Calfornia, hut I believe that even 

 """= ."} California the bees would be better 

 off with all the sunshine possible for any way 

 8 months of the year. Now if I am right in 

 that, then a single plain cover and tlfe use 

 of shade-boards would be preferable to the 

 double cover. 



2. I have a few colonies in old hives a.id 

 on old combs which are not ^ f 1 1 ich account 

 (the combs, I mean). Now in Ihe fill I would 

 like to put these bees on good combs. I run 

 for extracted honey. Would it do for me to 

 fill the brood-chamber with nice, new, empty 

 combs, and put the super with the old combs 

 containing the honey for winter supply on top 

 of It? I am at the same time going to put 

 in young queens, and thought by giving all 

 new combs I would give them a good chance 

 to do some work in the fall as well as early 

 next spring. 



3. What should he the weight of a 2-story 

 lo-fr.nme Langstroth hive with 45 pounds of 

 sraled honey for winter supply? How much 

 difference in the weight of new and old combs? 



4. Does foul brood disappear during a heavy 

 honey-flow to show up again the following 

 spring m the same colonies? California. 



Answers.— I. There doesn't seem much dif- 

 ference between ventilated covers and plain 

 covers with shade-hoards; but perhaps your 

 idea is to use the shade-boards only part of 

 the year. I don't know, but I think I would 

 prefer the ventilated covers. But if your own 

 experience tells you differently you should he 

 guided thereby. 



2. Your plan ought to work all right. 



3. I have no such hives to weigh, and so 

 can not give you weight. If you haven't one 

 convenient to weigh entire, you can weigh 



some of the parts, and weigh a single frame, 

 and then estimate. 



The difference between the weight of a new 

 and an old comb is a constantly varying quan- 

 tity. A new comb may weigh about half a 

 pound, and gradually increase in weight with 

 each year until it weighs 3 times as much, 

 and then if may still keep on increasing. 



4. Yes, it may disappear to all appearance, 

 although the seeds of disease are there all 

 the while. 



Feeding Granulated Sugar for Winter 

 Stores. 



I have 3000 pounds of granulated sugar 

 which I wish to feed the bees for winter stores. 

 Is it as safe to feed beet-sugar as cane sugar? 

 I think this I have is beet-sugar. How should 

 I mix if, half sugar and half cold water? 

 Please give me any advice you think would 



be of 



to 



Iowa. 



Answer. — Opinions differ. Some think best 

 to feed early and thin; hut lately there seems 

 a tendency to feed later, half and half. Quite 

 late it may be 2 parts water to 5 of sugar, 

 fed warm. In England they insist that cane 

 sugar is greatly to be preferred to beet. In 

 this country there seems no preference, and it 

 is doubtful if there is any way by which one 

 can be sure of having pure cane and not beet 

 sugar. Of course I am referring in either case 

 to granulated sugar. 



Brood and Honey in Same Frame — 

 A Nucleus. 



1. Do bees deposit honey and brood in the 

 same frame, or do they use so many frames 

 for brood and so many for honey? 



2. Is a 2-frame nucleus 2 frames covered 

 with bees on comb, with brood in the comb? 



Connecticut. 

 Ans\vers. — I. Yes, you will find brood and 

 honey in the same comb, brood in the central 

 and lower part, honey above and at each end. 

 In the height of the brood-rearing season you 

 will find that an extra-good queen may have 

 one or more of the central combs so filled with 

 brood that scarcely a cell of honey_is in the 

 frame. The outside frame at each side may be 

 almost entirely full of honey and pollen. As 

 the season comes to a close, there will be more 

 and more honey in the frames, and the brood 

 will be correspondingly contracted, until the 

 queen ceases to lay. 



Frames Built Together — Apifuge — 

 Extractors and Extracting. 



1. Last spring I bought one colony of bees, 

 and got 2 swarms from it. Now both hives 

 are full of honey, but the frames of the old 

 hive stick together badly. To cut them loose 

 with a knife will kill scores of bees. What 

 is best to be done, and how often should I 

 take the frames out to prevent this? 



2. In what part of the hive can I find the 

 queen? I am a beginner and never saw a 

 queen except in a picture. 



3. I have a box-hive and would add the 

 bees to another colony. Must I kill the queen 

 in the box-hive, or will the bees of the other 

 hive do it? I think this is difficult, because I 

 can not take the frames out to look for her. 



4. I read in my bee-book about apifuge. 

 What is it? Will it really keep bees from 

 stinging? 



5. If a person has no extractor, what is the 

 best way to clear the honey of comb? 



6. Does a one or 2 frame extractor work as 

 well as a larger one? What kind should I 

 bu^ for a dozen colonies? 



Ihcre is no other apiary in this whole coun- 

 try so far as I know, and I depend upon the 

 American Bee Journal for my information. 

 The "Question-Box" is a great help to begin- 

 ners. Washington. 



Answers. — i. There is no way to avoid kill- 

 ing .some brood when cutting apart the combs, 

 unless you do the work at a time when there 

 is no brood present. There will be less of it 

 now tlian earlier in the season, but more honey 

 in the way. In fruit-bloom is a good time, be- 

 cause then there is not so much of eiiaer brood 

 or honey. Once straightened up in good shape 

 there ought to be no need ever to take them 

 out so fax as concerns their being built 

 crooked. 



2. The queen may be anywhere in the brood- 

 chamber, but is most likely to be found on 

 the brood. Don't give much smoke, handle the 

 frames quietly, and look them over one after 

 another, and you'll be likely to see her lady- 

 ship. 



3. The bees will see to killing one of the 

 queens, and perhaps to killing one another. 

 Some dredge the bees thoroughly with flour 



