October, 1908. 



American Hee Journal k 



513 



the hive. They did not have any disease, but 

 I found a few moth-worms in one of their 

 combs. <Jne afternoon I opened the hive at i 

 o'clock and the queen and her few bees were 

 all right. The same day at 4 o'clock I looked 

 in again and the hive was empty. If all the 

 bees left her. would she crawl out of the hive 

 and the chickens eat her, or do you think it is 

 possible that they had alt gone in with another 

 colony of bees? She was not in or near the 

 hive, as I looked carefully. 



2. When a colony of bees is sent by express, 

 is the queen allowed to go free in among 

 the bees, or is she placed in a cage among 

 them? If she is free among them, would they 

 not ball her. Please tell me just how they 

 are shipped, as I want to buy a colony of 

 Italians in the spring and would like to know 

 before it is time to order them. 



A Marvlander. 



Answers. — i. It is not easy to say for a 

 certainty just what a queen with a few dis- 

 couraged old bees might do. It is entirely 

 possible that they may have gone in with a 

 neighboring colony, where the queen would be 

 killed. • They might have gone in with a 

 queenless colony, where the queen would be 

 spared. If the queen's wings were whole she 

 might have flown away from the bees. Not 

 very likely that chickens ate her. 



2. The queen is at liberty among the bees. 

 Of course she belongs with those bees, just as 

 a queen does in any colony or nucleus, and 

 so there is no likelihood that the bees will 

 hall her. 



I don't know of anything in particular that 

 you need to know in advance about a colony 

 that is shipped. You will easily see what the 

 fastenings are, and will easily undo them. 



Beginning with Bees. 



1. I have just startecl iii tlie bee-business. 



I bought 6 colonics Aug. 15. Placing empty, 

 supers on them a day or two before bringing 

 them home, X was told that they would fill 

 the supers again with the fall flow of nectar. 

 Must I remove the supers as soon as frost 

 comes, or will they work any after frost ? 

 I was assured tliat there was plenty of honey 

 in the hive to keep them through the winter. 

 and that it would be best to remove the 

 supers for the winter months. Our winters 

 here are very open, and we have some very 

 fragrant flowers in February that grow on 

 bushes iiKe the liazel bushes of Missouri, only 

 these are not nut-bearing. 



2. I was told that they would not swarm 

 at this season of the year, but for a week past 

 between 4 and 6 p. m., there has been a 

 disturbance around the different hives, and a 

 few flying high in the air. If any swarm went 

 off I did not see them. 



3. I do not know anything at all about 

 the business. Will your book be best for me 

 as a beginner, or the "A B C and X Y Z of 

 Bee-Culture?" I am not able to buy both at 

 present. 



4. I have been told to keep plenty of salt 

 near by for the bees, and they would use it 

 themselves to kill the moths. I notice when 

 [ put salt for them, they begin using it right 

 away, and it soon disappears. Although I was 

 assured that there were no moths in my bees, 

 but they said salt was good for them. I also 



keep both salt and water, and water without 

 salt, near by for l\um. .\rkansaS. 



Answers. — i. Supers should be removed 

 whenever the bees are done storing. They 

 may stop storing in July, or they may store 

 until well on in September, but are not likely 

 to store after frost. To be sure, they may 

 gather a little almost anv time when they 

 can fly, but they'll use it faster than they can 

 gather. 



2. It was probably the bees taking a play- 

 spell, just flying for fun and for exercise. 



3. If you can not have both, get the "A H 

 C and X Y Z of Bee Culture.^' 



4. I don't believe giving salt has anything 

 to do with the moths. 



Comb Honey Seeping Out. 



I have been in the bee-business for -25 years, 

 but in all that time I have not haH anything 

 happen with my bees nr honey that I could 

 not remedy. What the trouble is this year, 

 I cannot comprehend. The sections are sealed 

 and filled nicely, and still the honey seeps out 

 all over the comb, and sections that have 

 weighed a pound have leaked so much that 

 there is hardly any honey in them at all. 

 Some sections are all right on one side, and 

 on the other side all the honey has seeped out. 

 Also, there is something wrong with the colon- 

 ies. From some the honey is all right, and 

 from others, leaky. This is all spring honey 

 that I refer to. The leaky honey tastes a 

 little queer, and is very thin. Illinois. 



Answer — I am utterly at a loss to say what 

 is the trouble or to suggest a remedy, and 

 will gladly yield the floor to any one who will 

 help. It may not be a wild guess to say that 

 some special bloom has yielded honey with 

 an unusually strong affinity for water; but 

 what flower? and how much would it help 

 if we knew? 



Genuine Gluers — Fine Season. 



A queen reached me September 10. and I got 

 her safely introduced. When I opened the hive, 

 about a week ago, I found the entrance to the 

 hive closed up with propolis, all but a few 

 holes for the bees to pass in and out. I 

 tried to cut out that gum, but found that 

 I could do nothing with knife or chisel, so I 

 took a clean hive, and put the bees into 

 that, and then took a key-hole saw and sawed 

 out the entrance. A week later, when I opened 

 the hive I had put them in, I found it closed 

 up again. If they are not the pure Caucasians, 

 then I don't know where to find them. I 

 use the lo-frarae Langstroth hive with full- 

 width entrance, and }i-ipch deep. I don't 

 know how many more times I will have to saw 

 t»ut that entrance. 



We have had a fine season for honey. I 

 have taken up to date a little over 4,100 

 pounds of honey, mostly extracted, from 24 

 colonies, spring count, and have increased to 

 41. Th.Ly are still bringing in honey. 



Fred Bechlv, 



Searshoro, Iowa. Sept. 13. 



Prefer Tobacco to Bee-Literature. 



I have been trying to get at least one new 

 subscriber for the American Bee Journal, but 

 have failed in every instance. I asked at least 

 .i men who spend from $10 to $20 per year 

 for tobacco, but I could not get them to spend 

 75 cents for something that would inform 

 them. How strange! Ignorance may be bliss, 

 but the less the better. I give away nearly 

 all of my journals after I have read them. 

 I. M. Newman. 



Hewins. Knns.. Sept. 3. 



Bees Have Done Well. 



Uees in this locality which have had toler- 

 ably good care have done very well this sea 

 son so far. They are now working on buck 

 wheal, which is yielding nectar this year. 



I had 10 colonies in the spring, which in- 

 creased to 18. They are mostly Italian, and 

 are in 8 and 10 frame Ileddon and Langs- 

 troth hives. 



I have taken off' some 450 pounds of surplus 

 comb honey in 4^4x4^x1^ sections; also ^50 

 pounds of extracted honey. The markets around 

 here are pretty well supplied with honey now. 

 I will hold" the most, of mine a while until 

 there is a better demand. Wm. Martin. 



Highland. Mich., Sept. i. 



Part of Apiary of Walter Goss. 



I am sending a photograph of a part of my 

 bee-yard in the apple orchard, taken August 12. 

 The big boy is myself, and the little boy is 

 Hubert Sink, 12 years old, my helper. I have 

 25 colonies. Fourteen are in Root's lo-frame 

 hives, 3 are in divisible brood-chamber, and 

 the rest are in home-made ones, but are the 

 regular Langstroth dimensions. Most of the 

 hives shown in the picture are home-made. I 

 don't think it pays to make one's own hives 

 when they can be ordered so cheap in tiie 

 fall. 



I contracted the bee-fever when a mere 

 child, helping father with his bees in the old- 

 fashioned way with his log-gums and box- 

 hives, and at last I became so enthusiastic 

 about bee-keeping that I coldn't rest satisfied 

 until I knew more about the inside workings 

 of the bee-hive. In 1902 I sent for a bee- 

 book and bee-paper, and I now take care of 

 the bees in an intelligent, up-to-date way. I 

 have also been reading the American Bee Jour- 

 nal since October, 1902, and couldn't get 

 along without it. 



This has been my best year with bees. They 

 commenced gathering honey from white clover 

 May 20, and never lost a single day till the 

 very last days of June. I have harvested 

 and sold nearly 600 pounds of chunk honey. 

 It was about all engaged before it was off the 

 hives. I have never had enough to supply 



Apiary of Walter (ioss, of liospORT. Ind. 



