February, 191 1. 



American Vee Journal 



capped, take one frame out with 2 or 3 cells 

 on it (brushing the most of the bees off) to a 

 hive containing black bees; kill the queen 

 and put the frame with the cells in the cen- 

 ter of the hive; take the frame that was just 

 removed with young bees in the cells (but be 

 sure there is no queen-cell on it) to the 

 queenless Italian hive. Then take the rest 

 of the cells and do as before, except one. 

 which you must leave in the queenless hive. 

 This will prevent the bees from makingcells 

 on the black brood-combs, and will hinder 

 the black colonies but a few days till the 

 new queen commences laying. 



2. Would this plan retard swarming? 



i. Would it be a good plan to have another 

 hive with a good Italian queen filled with 

 drone-brood at the same time I removed my 

 Italian queen ? Arkansas. 



Answers.— I. Your plan will work, with 

 the exception given in the next answer. 



2. It may hasten swarming, and may even 

 induce swarming in a colony which other- 

 wise would have no notion of swarming. For 

 you put in 2 or 1 cells, and that makes the 

 colony in the condition of a colony that has 

 swarmed and is ready to send out a second 

 swarm, only it is stronger, and so more sure 

 to swarm. If you give only a single cell, and 

 the young queen gets to laying, that will not 

 only retard swarmini;. but will prevent it 

 altogether for the season. 



3. Yes. only it will be enough to have 

 the equivalent of one or two frames filled. 



Wintering Bees in British Columbia 



Wintering bees seems to bother here. I 

 have my bees in chaff hives out-of-doors, but 

 there are quite a lot of nice days which coax 

 the bees out. but they drop on the snow 

 never to return to the hive. I have the en 

 trance blocked, but still some bees come 

 out. Would it hurt to enclose them with 

 wire-netting for a time? 



British Columbia. 



Answer.— You could hardly do a worse 

 thing than to close the entrance with wire 

 cloth. Finding themselves imprisoned, a 

 great uproar would be raised by the bees, 

 and more would die than would die outside 

 on the snow. A board set up to shade the 

 entrance is about as good as anything. But 

 sometimes it is not the best thing to prevent 

 the bees flying, especially after long confine- 

 ment. The greatest trouble comes from 

 snow that is so soft that the bees sink in it. 

 Some sweep away the snow for some dis- 

 tance, or beat it down hard. The snow may 

 also be covered with straw, hay, or some- 

 thing else. 



Keeping the Bee-Cellar Dry 



Is there any way to kcei) a cellar dry 

 enough for bees w-hen. tlie thermometer is 

 only 38 degrees. Fahr. ? I lost all my bees the 

 last 3 winters. I think i( must be because 

 of the dampness and the cold. What can I 

 do to keep it warm and dry ? We have had 

 bees for the last 20 years, and have been 

 successful until the spring of 1008. when we 

 lost all. Minnesota. 



Answer.— Hutting lime in the cellar will 

 help to keep it dry. But at 38 degrees, the 

 cold may be more to blame than the damp- 

 ness. For years, before there was a furnace 

 in my cellar I kept a small stove in it. and 

 kept a low fire in it whenever necessary to 

 keep the temperature up to 45 degrees. It 

 seems a little strange that after 17 years of 

 success you should have a failure 3 years in 

 succession. Like enough the tide will now 

 turn, and you will again have good success 

 In my earlier years of bee-keeping I had ex- 

 perience as bad as yours, but by sticking to 

 it I've made quite a lot of money from the 

 bees since. 



Splinting Combs— Painting Hives— Queenless Col- 

 onies in Spring 



1. What is the system you advise in using 

 " des lattes dc bois," so that the bees will 

 build the foundation nearly perfect ? 



2. Do you really think that a light blue 

 paint on hives is better than white paint ? 



3. In taking colonies out in the spring, if I 

 find that some are queenless. what shall I 

 do? Having no queen on hand or to spare. 

 is it the best way 10 make one colony out of 

 two? If so. should it be done at once re- 

 gardless of the weather ? Canada. 



Answers —I. If I am not astray in my poor 

 knowledge ol French, " des lattes de bois " 

 means "wooden lath." 1 can hardly think 

 you mean to use lath in getting foundation 

 perfectly built, and the nearest I can think 



of is foundation splints. When you buy 

 foundation splints, you receive with them a 

 printed slip that tells you how to use them, 

 the same as the directions given in " Forty 

 Years Among the Bees." The splints, which 

 are about 1-16 square, and % inch less in 

 length than the inside depth of the frame, 

 are boiled in beeswax until the air and 

 moisture are boiled out of them, and then 

 while warm, but not too hot. they are one 

 after another laid upon the foundation and 

 rather lightly pressed in with one edge of a 

 little board kept wet. The foundation rests 

 upon a board that fits inside the frame. Of 

 course, the foundation is fastened in the 

 frame at the top-bar. and it is also fastened 

 at the bottom-bar. About i!i inches from 

 each end is placed a splint, and between 

 these 2 splints 3 others are placed at equal 

 distances. 



2. I hardly think so. 



3. Either unite the queenless one with a 

 queen-right colony, or divide the queenless 

 one. giving parts of it to two or more colo- 

 nies. There is no such haste in the matter 

 that it need be done in bad weather. 



Moving Bees — Facing Hives — Weak Colonies 



1. I have 17 colonies of bees, and 1 would 

 like to move them about 300 yards to a small 

 orchard. When would you advise me to 

 move them, and how ? 



2. Which direction do you think it best to 

 have the frames of hives ? I have my hives 

 facing the south, and every warm day that 

 comes they take a flight, and so many drop 

 in the snow and die. 



3. I have 3 weak coloines and would like to 

 save them. How is the best way to feed 

 them ? I am not fixed to feed them as some 

 of the larger bee-men. Iowa. 



Answers.— I. You might wait until they 

 have taken a cleansing flight in the spring, 

 and then move them on a wagon, fastening 

 the bees in the hives. Clean up everything 

 on the old location, so it will look as differ- 

 ent as possible. 



2. It probably makes little difference 

 which way they face. Perhaps more favor a 

 southern or southeastern exposure than any 

 other way. You can prevent the bees com- 

 ing out and falling on the snow by putting a 

 board up before the entrance. 



3. No one should ever wait till winter to 

 feed bees. Perhaps the best thing you can 

 do now is to lay comb honey on top of the 

 frames, covering up warm. If you can not 

 get the comb honey, you can use cakes of 

 sugar candy. 



Names and Terms in Bee-Keeping 



What does " foul-broody " mean ? Does it 

 mean anything? How can a colony be 

 "broody?" What is the need of using such 

 an expression? Is it not taking liberties 

 with the English language? Why are so 

 many of us older beekeepers slip-shod in 

 our use of terms relating to bees an bee- 

 keeping? Why not say Italian rather than 

 I-talian ? Why not be right rather than 

 wrong when it does not cost anything? Why 

 use freak terms, pronunciations, etc. 



New York. 



Answer.— Why are people ignorant ? Why 

 are they careless ? I'm afraid, however, 

 that not all violations of good usage on the 

 part of bee-keepers can be attributed to 

 ignorance or carelessness. There are bee- 

 keepers who have all the outward appear- 

 once of respectability, and who do not seem 

 to transgress on account of either ignorance 

 or carelessness, who write about "shook 

 swarms." It must be pure cusscdness. 



There is. however, some warrant for 

 "foul-broody." It seems to be in accord 

 with good custom to add the termination 

 " y " to a disease to mean suffering from that 

 disease. "Colicky." meaning suffering from 

 colic, is an example. " Croupy " and ' head- 

 achy " are also good dictionary words, and 

 there are probably others of the same kind. 

 It is a little shorter to speak of a " foul- 

 broody colony" than to speak of a "colony 

 suffering from foul brood." 



Hoffman frame it seems as if they put too 

 much honey in the brood-frames and not 

 enough in the sections. With the Danzen- 

 baker shallower frames, of course, more 

 would go into the super, but with this shal- 

 low frame hive is there not danger of getting 

 pollen into the super also ? 



2. If you have ever used this hive how did 

 you like it ? 



3. Do the bees winter well in it ? 



4. Are not the frames harder to handle 

 than the Hoffman ? 



5. Will the bees store enough in brood- 

 frames to winter on without feeding? Any 

 information you can give me on this hive 

 will be gladly received. 



6. If you think I am making a mistake by 

 adopting this hive over the dovetailed with 

 Hoffman frames, please say so ? 



Missouri. 



Answers.— I. Yes, in my own experience I 

 found more pollen over the Danzenbaker 

 frames, and others have made the same 

 complaint. 



2. i used only 2. but did not like them well 

 enough to continue their use. I could not 

 get more honey with them than with the 

 other hives, and I don't believe you can. 



3. Yes. 



4. The Hoffman frames are harder to han- 

 dle than the frames I use, and the Danzen- 

 baker are still harder than the Hoffman. 



5. In this respect you will find them about 

 the same as the Hoffman. 



6. Before settling down upon this hive and 

 section I strongly advise you to make a trial 

 of both the hive and the section on a 

 small scale. The majority of large pro- 

 ducers. I think, prefer the regular Lang- 

 stroth size of brood-frame (nHxqH) either in 

 the form of the Hoffman or some other form, 

 and the tHxiH section. 



Danzenbaker vs. Dovetailed Hives 



I. I want to adopt the 4X5xi>s plain section. 

 and I understand one can get more comb 

 honey with the Danzenbaker than with any 

 other hive. I now have my bees on Hoffman 

 frames in my own make of hives. No two 

 arealike. I want to get down to business 

 now. and have all equipment exactly alike. 

 My honey-flow is from white clover only, and 

 of only a lew weeks' duration. With the 



Frames and Hives from European Foul-Broody 

 Colonies 



1. Could a nice lot of s-inch extracting 

 combs that have been on European foul 

 brood colonies, and after extracting cleaned 

 up by the bees, be fumigated in any way so 

 they would be safe to use again ? Would it 

 do to use them to rear brood in ? 



2. Would the frames from European foul 

 brood colonies be rendered safe for further 

 use by thoroughly boiling them ? 



3 Would the hives from such colonies be 

 rendered safe for use by scorching with a 

 painter's blow-torch ? 



4. How much of the hive and fixtures 

 (nearly new) of such colonies may profitably 

 be prepared for safe use again ? 



Minnesota. 



Answers.— I. It is a bit doubtful whether 

 fumigation of any kind would be successful 

 against spores, so as to make one feel safe in 

 usingcoinbs that would not be safe without 

 fumigation. But it is an open question, yet. 

 whether such extracting combs would be un- 

 safe without fumigation. 



2. I used a large number of such frames 

 after boiling them in lye. Possibly the boil- 

 ing was not necessary for safety, but for 

 cleanliness. 



3. Yes. and a large number of men experi- 

 enced with foul brood say that there is no 

 need to disinfect the hive in any way. either 

 for European or American. 



4. I don't know. It's a problem I'm work- 

 ing on. There are extremes of opinion. 

 Some say use all; some say use none. Per- 

 sonally. I think I would risk using every- 

 thing but the brood-combs, and it is possible 

 that it would be safe to use an infected 

 comb if it had been away from the hive a 

 week or more and was given to a s/nmi' col- 

 ony. But remember this refers to E. F. B.. 

 for A. V. B. is another story. 



Dr. F. Li. Peiro, 72 E. Madison St., 

 Chicago, 111., will be glad to furnish 

 advice free to readers of the American 

 Bee Journal along the line of obscure 

 surgical and medical aid. Any of our 

 readers, who wish to consult a doctor 

 who understands his business, will find 

 it to their interest to write or see Dr. 

 Peiro. The Editor of the American 

 Journal has known him intimately as a 

 neighbor, and also through personal 

 treatment, for almost 2U years. He will 

 "treat" you right, if you give him the 

 opportunity. 



