344 



November, 15 



American Hee Journal 



allowing the queen to occupy them both until 

 the honey-flow begins, then teeeping her below 

 with an excluder? Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — i. It would certainly decrease 

 the tendency to swarm, just as increasing the 

 queen's room for eggs always does; whether 

 it could he relied on in all cases as an entire 

 preventive is hard to say without trying. I 

 should rather expect it would so long as tresh 

 room for the queen is constantly given, and 

 even when the flow comes and the Tower hive 

 is given above as an extracting super, there 

 ought to be little inclination to swarming, 

 as in the case of the Demaree plan, which is 

 to put all brood above an excluder at the be- 

 ginning of the honey-flow, leaving the queen 

 beiow the excluder with comb foundation or 

 empty combs. When one story is entirely re- 

 moved and a section-super given, it is much 

 the same as shaking a swarm. 



Even if I had given the plan a thorough 

 trial, and could tell you exactly what I could 

 rely on, it would still remain ti je that un- 

 der your conditions and with your bees, re- 

 sults might be different. After actual trial 

 you may like the plan, and you may not. 



2. You would find it practically impossible 

 to shift combs of sealed brood without having 

 anv unsealed, nor would it be necessary. 



3. I don't know. Separating the bees so 

 that they occupy separate hives must be at a 

 loss of some heat as compared with keeping 

 the bees all in one body, and yet Mr. Dudley 

 must count that there are overbalancing aci- 

 vantages or he would hardly use the plan. 

 Whether it will so turn out for you can be 

 told only upon trial. 



Tincture of Myrrh for Bee-Stings — 



Drumming Bees — Transferring 



Bees — Robber-Trap-— Cutting Out 



Queen-Cells — Ventilating Hives. 



1. What kind of bee are those enclosed? 

 I see no mention in any article in "A B C 

 of Bee-Culture." 



2. Are there no bee-sting remedies among 

 so many that are worthless? I will mention 

 what I came across that I am now using, 

 and it is the best of all the many I ever tried. 

 Get a lo-cent vial of tincture of myrrh, and 

 if stung just remove the cork and turn the 

 bottle upside down over the sting and mois- 

 ten the part stung. The effect is none, or 

 very little swelling, and the pain will cease 

 in from 15 to 30 minutes. When working 

 with bees I always carry the bottle in my 

 pocket, and as soon as stung, out and on it 

 goes. If certainly is fine, and I shall use it 

 hereafter always, although 1 am somewhat 

 used to stings. Still, once in a while I get a 

 dose that lasts 3 or 4 days, especially on the 

 eyelids. _ Now let some of our bee-friends try 

 it. It IS a wonder, and only 10 cents. It 

 has a pungent odor just as bee-poison, but 

 harmless, and good for many things. 



3. What do you mean in answering queries 

 by "drumming" the bees out of a hive in trans- 

 fering, and how is it done? Is it knocking 

 on the sides or lop, and for how long, and 

 how hard? Do you use just the fingers, or 

 fist, or stick? 



4. When not practicable to give idle combs 

 to bees to clean out the worms, what would 

 you do? 



5. In transferring bees from box-hives into 

 modern hives, I see you always advise "after 

 they swarm, then 21 days after." Now, as 

 one person asks in the September issue, sup- 

 pose they don't swarm. I had 2 or 3 colo- 

 nics at one time, and oh, how I had wanted 

 them to swarm, as I wanted increase, and 

 they did not put forth a swarm for 3 sea- 

 sons. I did not consider myself lucky. Sup- 

 pose, and I know it is a fact, a swarm issues 

 that has been in a box-hive and I want in- 

 crease badly, and before 21 days one more, 

 or 2 more, will issue out of the same hive; 

 what then? From where do I count 21? At 

 the present time I want to save all the bees 

 until I get a supply, as I have at this time 

 only 8 colonies, and 4 of them are in box- 

 hives. Those I shall change over into modern 

 hives the coming spring. The other 4 arc 

 not any too strong to adopt the nucleus plan, 

 and I don't consider myself adept enough for 

 that, so I want the natural process, and be 

 ready for it. I seem to have been *' up 

 against it," for every time I would do any- 

 thing with my colonics I would lose them. 

 So hereafter no more experimenting. I am not 

 out for the money in the bee-business. No, 

 bless you, no; but I take delight in it, and 

 know a little better, so now that I have 8 

 colonies — more than I ever hhd before ; but 

 dear me, not my own rearing, but my pocket- 

 book's depletion, for in the last 8 years as 

 high as I ever got was 3 colonies, then 2, 



then one, and finally none, and oh, what a 

 success bee-business is to a beginner! Well, 

 I know better ; but I paid for it. 



6. In doubling up swarming bees, or 21 

 days after swarming, do you smoke them 

 the same as you would in doubling weak col- 

 onies in the fall for wintering? 



7. Ii) the September issue I see a robber- 

 trap described as a flat tube made out of wire- 

 screen funnel-shaped, the point to extend int 1 

 about the middle- of the hive. \'cry simple, 

 destroy the robbers. Very good, but how about 

 the bees in the hives ? I know the be»-s in 

 and among the robbers, but how are you going 

 to pick them out when the bottom is nailed 

 on? You destroy just as many home bees as 

 you will robbers, and the way I look at it 

 you surely make a mess of it. How do you 

 understand it? 



8. Suppose I have a queenless colony, at 

 least I think they are. I want to re^ueen 

 by the only chance I have, in lakiu.? a frame 

 from another hive of the same dimensions, 

 and have but 2 hives alike. Said frame is partly 

 covered with hatching bee-larvse i-i several 

 stages, and eggs. No queen-cell that I could 

 see. If I give this frame without anv live 

 bees on it 10 the queenless colony will they 

 rear a queen from it? 



9. At what time of year will I find queen- 

 cells, and where shall t Ij.ik for them? I 

 found 1 had any amount if c: 'i^lv ci'iceu C.Hs. 

 I had bought those bees previously, and they 

 were in a sugar-barrel, so I transferred them 

 right away, aad i;ave had tr.i.Tr. tr less tni'Lle 

 with them since, '.'here wa^ where iny tr'-uhlc 

 started, in saving comb and losing or killing 

 the queen. I have looked m 3 hives and could 

 find nothing but empty queen-cells. 



10. In hiving a swarm in the spring will 

 this swarm send out another swarm in the 

 same season? Can I expect a swarm again? 



11. Is a glass over the top of the hive in- 

 jurious to the bees? I put a glass over my 

 hives in order to see them, whether they are 

 doing all right. Then I put on a wooden 

 cover, then a gable roof, and then an oiled 

 canvas large enough to hang over the sides. 

 Besides that they were under a tree. You 

 must remember that this is south, and it gets 

 hot. I have now discarded the glass plan as 

 being no good, and henceforth will replace 

 with oilcloth. Am I right? 



12. When should the cutting out of queen- 

 cells be done, and what is the object? Do 

 you take a knife and cut them off and destroy 

 them? 



13. When ventilating a hive by pushing 

 the top forward, will not the bees use the 

 space as an entrance, or maybe start comb- 

 building? Where you Jiave to raise the cover 

 on account of the strips on the bottom and 

 sides, and having an oilcloth under the - top, 

 how about air then? Oilcloth is almost air- 

 tight; besides it is stuck all around. 



Tennessee. 

 Answers. — 1. I don't know. The number of 

 different kinds of bees, I think, runs up 

 into the hundreds; they are of no more inter- 

 est to bee-keepers than other insects, and so 

 descriptions of them are wisely omitted from 

 our literature. 



2. Yes, the number of remedies offered has 

 been very great, and they were offered with 

 just as much confidence as you offer this. 

 May yours prove more reliable. 



3. Turn a hive upside down, drum on the 

 sides of the hive with your fists or a heavy 

 stick on the opposite sides, and if you drum 

 long enough with heavy strokes you will set 

 the bees to running up into whatever is 

 placed over. No light tapping with your 

 fingers will do, neither will the fists do unless 

 strong and heavy. 



4. According to the description in your let- 

 ter, you certainly had a serious time trying 

 to get rid of the worms. Once established 

 and of good size, it is hard to kill them in 

 a comb with any amount of sulphur. Even 

 if you kill the worms, the eggs are still 

 left. Try bisulphide of carbon. Pile up 

 your combs in hivc-bodies, an empty body on 

 top. in which set a saucer of the bisulphide 

 and quickly cover up close. Don't have a 

 fire or light near, or you will have an explo- 

 sion. You will find not only the worms but 

 the eggs will be killed. 



5. If you want to get all the swarms pos- 

 sible, hive the first swarm and set it on a 

 new stand, leaving on the old stand the old 

 colony. A second swarm is likely to issue 

 in 8 or 10 days. Hive it and set it on a 

 new stand, and treat any others that may issue 

 in the same way, always leaving the old hive 

 on the old stand. In 21 days from the time 

 the first swarm issued, cut up the old hive 

 and transfer to a new hive. 



But you say, "Suppose the colony does not 

 swarm. ' If you want to make sure, don't 

 wait for it to swarm. As soon as it is good 



nd strong, honey coming 



well. 



out a 



It 



nd set 



old stand. Call the old hive No. 

 As before said, set the swarm on the stand 

 of No. I ; set No. i in place of another old 

 colony. No. 2, and set No. 2 in a new place. 

 In a little less than 2 weeks you may be pretty 

 certain No. 1 will send out another swarm. 

 Hive it and set it in place of No. i; and set 

 No I in place of another old colony, say No. 

 3, setting No. 3 in a new place. That will 

 strengthen No. i again, so that in one or 

 more days it will be likely to swarm again, 

 and every time it swarms you will set the 

 swarm in place of No. i, set No. i in the place 

 of some other old colony, which old colony 

 you will set in a new place. 



Of course, you have the alternative to 

 transfer all colonies without waiting for any 

 to swarm ; a good time for that being during 

 fruit-bloom. 



6. Yes. 



7. You probably refer to an item on the 

 middle of page 276. I think the idea is that 

 the colony which is being troubled by robber- 

 bees will be taken from its stand in the even- 

 ing, after flight has ceased, and put in a cel- 

 lar. Then "the trap is put on the stand of 

 the robbed colony," the trap being, as you 

 are told on page 276, nothing more nor less 

 than a common hive with a Porter escape or 

 a cone escape. Thus you will see there will 

 be nothing but robber-bees in the trap-hive. 



8. Yes; but the experience you detail shows 

 that there may be exceptions and failures. 



9. You will find empty cell-cups almost any 

 time; but you will find them occupied nor- 

 mally only when the bees prepare them for 

 swarming or supersedure. If you desire them 

 at other times, you must make bees queenless, 

 and then they will start queen-cells. 



10. If a swarm is hived and itself sends out 

 a swarm the same season, the latter is called 

 a virgin swarm. In an experience of 48 sea- 

 sons I'm not certain that I ever had more than 

 one virgin swarm, and that was in the past 

 season. But some others have them more 

 commonly. I don't know how it may be with 

 you. 



11. A queen-cell is cut out when one wishes 

 to move it to some other place for the bees 

 to rear a queen from it. If it is desired to 

 destroy queen-cells, to prevent queens from be- 

 ing reared in them, they are not generally cut 

 out, but mashed down so as to destroy the 

 larvse in them. 



12. If an opening is made other than the 

 usual entrance after the bees have that en- 

 trance established, they seem little inclined 

 to use any other but the regular entrance. I ■ 

 don't understand how there would be chance 

 for comb-building. Most hives do not have 

 oilcloth, nowadays, I think. 



A Thanksgiving Hymn. 



Another year with bounty crowned 

 Has rolled from out Thy hand; 



Another year with blessings rich 

 Our lives has gently spanned. 



Another year of peace has blessed 



Our free and happy land. 

 And plenty dwells in all our homes 



By Thy divine command. 



And now as round the cheerful board 



We gladly join once more. 

 With dear ones gathered from afar. 



To count Thy goodness o'er, 



Let all our hearts with thanks be filled 



Unto our fathers' God — 

 For Mercy, Love and Peace which He 



Hath scattered far abroad. 



And let the beauty of the Lord 



In every mind be found. 

 Until the country of our choice 



With wisdom shall abound. 



• — Selected. 



Iteporfs afl(l 

 icxperiencey 



Some time ago a person protested against 

 ic making of new bec-kccpers, that they 

 'ould soon put the specialists out of busi- 

 ess. Now, I do r.zl believe that the spread 



