May, 19 (I. 



147 



Amarican ^ae Journal 



appeared made up of a mixture of nat- 

 ural wax and dyed wax in equal parts. 

 In addition, the two contiguous combs 

 — one on each side of the dyed comb — 

 and built of natural wax, were also 

 sealed in light green wax of the same 

 shade [Fig. 2J. It results from this ob- 

 servation that the bees had enough sur- 

 plus material in a foundation of this 

 thickness to seal the comb entirely, 

 but that an addition of new wax seemed 

 to have been indispensable. 



The adding of new wax, leaving an 

 excess of green material, the latter was 

 transported, as we have seen, to the 

 opposite combs. These combs whose 

 thickness of base corresponded to 108 

 decim. [■5.27 ft.] were thus sealed with 

 stained wax, which confirms our first 

 remark, that cappings can not be se- 

 cured from a sheet of this thickness. 



If we summarize these different ob- 

 servations, we reach the following 

 statements: Strictly speaking, the thin 

 sheets might be adopted, the addition 

 of wax by the insect being slight, upon 

 the whole, but we must take account of 

 the method of sheeting which takes 

 away from the wax a part of its homo- 

 geneity; in addition, being very much 

 weakened by the work of the bee, it 

 acquires a frailty which renders the use 

 of these sheets very hazardous. 



In the thick sheets we have found a 

 surplus plainly indicated and rather 

 detrimental to the interests of the 

 apiarist. 



These examples place us in the con- 

 dition of the first two cases considered 

 at the outset, shortage and surplus. 

 Neither the one nor the other can 

 please us. We are therefore brought 

 by deduction to consider again the 

 comb mentioned formerly. We stated 

 that all the sealed cells had been capped 

 over with perfectly white wax, and that 

 after the passage of the knife the cells 

 showed no longer a trace of these de- 



FlG. ).— The lump at the outer edee of the 



cell, first stage— longitudinal section, 



enlarged 35 diameters. 



posits. [Fig. 3.] Consequently the 

 foundation UDon which this comb was 

 built is the nearest to the type we seek 

 by experiment. Turning this time to 

 the method of weighing discarded by 

 us, we will in a way dissect this comb, 

 bringing to your knowledge the weight 

 of the different parts which composed 

 it when it had just been baited. Taking 

 the total of these we will compare it 



with the present weight to establish a 

 possible synthesis. 



The nakedwire frame weighed 120 gram. 

 The foundation " 50 



The fastening wax " 8.5 " 



Total 178.5 gram. 



The present weight hardly reaches 

 180 gr. We therefore reach an approxi- 

 mation very close to exactness since 

 the difference is less than 1 percent. 



In the above conditions it appears 

 that this sheet of 108 decim. [5.27 sq. 

 ft. to the lb.] may serve to determine 

 the point where the equilibrium is es- 

 tablished between the amount furnished 

 by the apiarist and that supplied by the 

 bees in the most economical sense for 

 the production of extracted honey. 



To positively state this point after 

 this trial would be attributing to the 



latter an importance which it does not 

 possess ; it was attempted with the aim 

 of furnishing information ; we will not 

 make the mistake of trying to draw 

 from it a conclusion. However, this 

 experiment has provided us with some 

 teachings, and we should at least give 

 our opinion, which may be summed up 

 as follows : 



In a practical view-point we think 

 that the sheets measuring 85 to 90 

 decim. [4.15 to 4.40 sq. ft. to the lb.] can 

 not be advantageous, while those com- 

 prised between 100 and 110 decim. [4.37 

 to 5.37 sq. ft. to the lb.], according to 

 the size of the frame and the use of 

 which they are to be put, appear to fur- 

 nish not only the best yield, but also 

 sufficient guarantee of solidity. — Trans- 

 lated by C. P. Dadant, from L'Apicul- 

 teur, of Paris, February, 1911. 



Dr. Miller*s 



Answers^ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C C. Miller. Marengo, III. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Italian Queen Mated with Black 

 Drone — Material for Honey Ex- 

 tractors and Tanks — Raising 

 Hive From Bottom-Board 

 to Prevent Swarming 



1. If an Italian queen mates with a 

 black drone all of her progeny will show 

 some yellow the first year ; the second 

 year part of the drones will be yellow and 

 part black ; but the third year not a sin- 

 gle drone will show the least trace of yel- 

 low, but all will be back. 



2. How I wish you bee-doctors would 

 use influence to get honey-extractors and 

 honey-tanks made of charcoal or some 

 anti-rust grade of tin. Galvanized iron 

 will spoil the taste of honey in a single 

 night. We have to remove our honey im- 

 mediately from the extractors after ex- 

 tracting or it will become tainted and 

 strong in a very short time. 



.3. I am sorry the American Bee Jour- 

 nal had to be changed to a monthly. 



4. Perhaps you will remember that I 

 was the first to advocate raising the brood- 

 chamber from the bottom-board to retard 

 swarming. Indiana. 



Answers. — This is something new, and 

 1 am wondering if it is not very excep- 

 tional. 



2. It lies rather with the users of such 

 containers to get what they want. If you 

 order a certain material to be used, you 

 will no doubt get it. There has been no 

 little discussion as to what is the best 

 material for anything in the line of a 

 honey-tank. 



3. On some accounts it is better to have 

 a bee-paper oftener than once a month, 

 but there are also advantages in the 

 monthly. By far the greater number of 

 bee-papers in the world are monthlies. 



4. Abundance of fresh air at the bot- 

 tom of the hive is a very important mat- 

 ter, and in many a case may be the de- 

 ciding factor to prevent swarming. 



Moving and Transferring Bees 



I have 2 colonies of Italian bees in 

 i^-story Danzenbaker hives. I have 10 

 colonies in the old box-hives. I want to 

 move them about 50 yards from where 

 they are, and I want to transfer them to 



frame hives. These bees are the little 

 blacks. When can I move the bees, and 

 when transfer them into the new hives? 

 How can I do it? Our bees begin storing 

 about April 15, and continue until June 1. 

 They are taking in some honey and bee- 

 bread now when we have a warm day. 

 The maple trees and alder bushes are 

 blooming now (March i). Subscriber. 



Answer. — The best time to move bees 

 so short a distance as 50 yards is before 

 they fly enough in spring to mark their 

 location. At that time, or any time 

 through the winter when they seldom are 

 flying, they may be moved without any 

 special precaution. It is probably too late 

 for that now, as they are daily flying, and 

 if moved without any precaution many 

 bees will return to the old location and 

 be lost. So you will proceed as follows: 

 In the evening after they have stopped 

 flying, or else early in the morning before 

 they begin to fly, fasten the bees in the 

 hive. Then in the morning move them to 

 the new place, and all the better if they 

 are handled quite roughly. Clear otT the 

 old ground where they stood, of all stands 

 and anything that would make the place 

 look like home, so that if any bee should 

 return it will find nothing home-like. 

 Some time in the middle of the forenoon, 

 go to the hives, and before opening them 

 pound hard on the hives so as to make 

 them roar. Then open the entrance, hav- 

 ing in front a board set up for them to 

 strike their beads against as they issue 

 from the hive. It will be as well if the 

 entrance is not opened very wide at first. 



Nowadays the favorite way of trans- 

 ferring is to wait until the bees swarm, 

 and hive the swarm in the new hive, set- 

 ing the swarm on the old stand and the 

 old hive near it. Then 21 days later, 

 when all the worker-brood is hatched out, 

 you can chop up the old hive, add the bees 

 to the swarm, and melt up the combs. Of 

 course, if you prefer, you can transfer in 

 the old way during fruit-bloom, as direct- 

 ed in your bee-book. 



Mating Queens to Choice Drones 

 — Preventing Swarming 



I. How can I get a fair percentage of 

 queens mated to my choice drones? Can 



