August, 1911. 



American ^ae Journal 



ieat had something to do with it. It was 

 100 degrees in the shade. 



2. Would it pay to have an 8-frame 

 "honey-extractor for 300 colonies? 



3. I lost my membership badge. Where 

 •could I get another? Ohio. 



Answers. — i. Yes, very likely it was 

 the heat. You were fortunate that the 

 lees did no more than to bunch out, for 

 under such circumstances they are quite 

 likely to go off for good. The right thing 

 is to shade the hive well, and to give 

 abundant ventilation. Raise the hive on 

 blocks an inch or so, at least at one end, 

 -and shove the cover forward to leave 

 .about an inch opening, learing it this 

 way for 3 or 4 days. It will do much 

 to make the bees stay if you give them a 

 frame of brood. In such very hot weath- 

 •er it is well to spray the hive with water. 



2. Very likely it would. 



3. I suppose you have reference to 

 membership in the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. Very likely you can get an- 

 ■other badge from General Manager N. E. 



France, Platteville, Wis. ; but of course 

 you ought to pay for the second badge, 

 perhaps 5 cents. 



Bleaching Comb Honey — Keeping 

 Down Increase 



1. What is the best way to bleach 

 travel-stained comb honey? 



2. Will it work all right to keep down 

 increase, when working for comb honey, 

 to return prime swarms, cutting all queen- 

 cells at the same time ? New York. 



Answers. — i. I have never had experi- 

 ence in the matter, but some have report- 

 •ed success by simply exposing to the light. 

 A south exposure, allowing the direct 

 rays of the sun to shine upon the sec- 

 tions will work more rapidly than a north 

 exposure, but care must be taken with a 

 southern exposure, for in a place too con- 

 fined, and with sections too near the 

 glass, the heat might be so great as to 

 melt the comb. 



2. In some cases it would work, but 

 ■generally the bees would swarm again in 

 from one to 10 days. But if you remove 

 the old queen, wait until you hear the 

 young queen piping, and then cut out all 

 queen-cells, there will be no more swarm- 

 ing, unless once in a great while the 

 ■colony swarms out with the young queen, 

 leaving the colony hopelessly queenless. 



Do Frogs and Toads Eat Bees? 



I have seen a frog on the alighting- 

 Tjoard of the hive, and close to the en- 

 trance late in the evening, just when the 

 bees have clustered on the outside these 

 warm, dry days and night. I did not see 

 Mr. Frog eat any bees at this time, but 

 I wonder if he doesn't? Missouri. 



Answer. — Yes, there has been a good 

 deal of testimony that frogs and toads eat 

 bees. Toads are such useful creatures in 

 the garden that they may pay for eating a 

 few bees by the number of injurious in- 

 sects they destroy. 



a quart of dead bees was the result of 

 the fight! 



I figured that the virgin had been shut 

 up in the upper story until "something 

 had to be done," and the bees had "taken 

 sides" and were fighting it out on that 

 line. 



I related the incident at the recent sum- 

 mer meeting of the New Jersey Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, at Spring Lake, and 

 no one would believe it ; said "it was im- 

 possible that bees would fight among 

 themselves in the hive" ; "it must have 

 been a case of robbing," etc. It was not 

 a case of robbing, I am positive of that. 

 The case is so unique that I woud ask 

 your comment. 



In this connection I would say queen- 

 cells in the upper story of shaken swarms, 

 when no increase is desired, and the orig- 

 inal hive-body is left on top as an ex- 

 tracting super, has been my chief annoy- 

 ance with that method of swarm con- 

 trol ; and the idea of providing an en- 

 trance (at least temporarily) at the rear 

 for the upper story in all cases of shak- 

 ing swarms, has occurred to me as a good 

 means to let the bees settle the upper- 

 story-queen business for themselves. If 

 the surviving queen is needed elsewhere 

 she is ready, and if not wanted she may 

 be eliminated soon after hatching ; in the 

 meantime there will be no "overlooked" 

 queen-cells to make trouble. I would not 

 think this arrangement would lead to 

 swarming. How about all this? 



New Jersey. 



Answer. — It is not always a safe thing 

 to say that a thing can not happen merely 

 because one has not seen it oneself. It 

 so happened that one of my first experi- 

 ences wixti bees was seeing two workers 

 fighting. There could be no question in 

 the case that they both belonged to the 

 same colony. I liave no idea why they 

 fought. Such a case is probably very 

 rare, as I have never seen one since. But 

 I have had qyite a number of cases that 

 parallel yours, that is, cases where 

 there was a chance to take sides. At 

 least there was every appearance of that 

 kind. A queen would be introduced and 

 an unusual number of dead bees would 

 be found in front of the hive, and the 

 only way I could account for it was that 

 sides had been taken and a battle en- 

 sued. We know very well that sometimes 

 a cell or a virgin is allowed to remain 

 and sometimes destroyed. As there are 

 two ways of deciding the thing, it is noth- 

 ing impossible to believe that there might 

 be a division of opinion, the arguments 

 succeedng to violence. 



In most cases, wlien I have tried hav- 

 ing a virgin over an excluder, the queen 

 has in some way disappeared. Others re- 

 port success. At any rate I see no harm 

 in trying your plan, provided swarming 

 does not result. I don't know, but I'm 

 afraid that sometimes there would be 

 swarming. 



3. Many, among them some of the 

 most prominent foul-brood inspectors, are 

 very emphatic that foul brood, perhaps 

 especially European foul brood, can be 

 overcome much more readily with Italian 

 bees. The late E. W^ Alexander held it 

 as an important part of his treatment 

 for European foul brood to introduce an 

 Italian virgin or queen-cell. 



Some "Shaking" Experience in 



Svifarm-Control 

 A colony which I had "shaken" this 

 spring, upon finding queen-cells, had been 

 standing more than 3 weeks (possibly 5), 

 ■when I noticed dead bees on the landing- 

 l)oard. and many more coming out and 

 tumbling over. (Queen-cells were de- 

 stroyed at the time of shaking, and a 

 ■week later.) On looking into the upper 

 story I quickly found a virgin queen 

 ■which was being balled in lively fashion ; 

 a queen-cell had been overlooked, evi- 

 •dently. I immediately got the virgin out, 

 and the fighting ceased at once ; nearly 



Super from Foul-Broody Colony — 

 "Educated" Bees 



1. A super has been used over a colony 

 affected with American foul brood. Only 

 a few cells affected in the colony, but 

 some of them in the advanced stage. The 

 bees have not worked in the super. 

 Would it be safe to place this super over 

 a healthy colony? 



2. In the American Bee Journal for 

 July appeared an advertisement of a 

 dealer who offers queens from his "Edu- 

 cated strain of golden Italians." What is 

 meant by "Educated?" Are the bees edu- 

 cated to read or write, or smoke cigar- 

 ettes, or act as umpire in a baseball 

 game? In what way could bees be "edu- 

 cated ?" 



3. Is not such as advertisement as re- 

 ferred to in No. 2, misleading when 

 looked at seriously? Indiana. 



Answers. — i. Wm. McEvoy, and I 

 think most of the foul-brood inspectors, 

 do not think it necessary to disinfect a 

 hive in which a foul-broody colony has 

 been, and there would seem to be still 

 less danger from a super that had been 

 over, but not worked in. 



2. I don't know; perhaps Mr. Britton 

 will explain. 



3. I'm afraid so. 



Stingless Bees — Best Working Bees 

 and Most Disease-Proof 



1. If I would get a stingless queen, 

 could I introduce her to a colony of 

 blacks or Italians? If she would live, 

 could I get a start of stingless bees in 

 that way? 



2. What kind of bees are the best 

 workers? 



3. What kind are the least apt to get 

 diseased? Indiana. 



Answers. — i. Stingless bees are so ut- 

 terly different from our common honey- 

 bees that I don't believe you could get 

 them to work together any more than 

 you could honey-bees and bumble-bees, 

 and I don't believe it would be possible 

 to have a stingless queen accepted by 

 either blacks or Italians. 



2. Italians are probably as good as any. 



What Kind of Hive to Use 



Please give me some advice on what 

 kind of hives to use. 



North Carolina. 



Answer. — Opinions dift'er as to what 

 is the best hive. Some are partial to this 

 or that particular hive which the major- 

 ity of bee-keepers would hardly take as a 

 gitt. The greater number, however, per- 

 haps 9 out of every 10, would tell you to 

 take the lo-frame dovetailed liive. You 

 can hardly go amiss on that. But please 

 remember that the hive does not make 

 very much difference in the work of the 

 bees. A good colony of bees will store 

 just as much honey in an old-fashioned 

 straw hive as it will in the most up-to- 

 date hive. But it makes a big difference 

 to the bee-keeper wliether the hive is such 

 that he can easily get at the honey and 

 perform the various manipulations that 

 he may think necessary. 



Ho-w to Cure Idle Bees 

 Tasting Honey 



-Raw- 



i. The condition of the hive is as fol- 

 lows : Plenty of bees, queen present, no 

 unsealed brood, very little sealed brood 

 in the hive, and the brood-chamber 

 crammed full of honey. The bees refuse 

 to work in the supers even when baited, 

 and hang out on the hive in a great clus- 

 ter. No preparations are made to swarm, 

 and the colony lies idle when there is 

 plenty of honey to be had. What I would 

 like to know is this : How can I get the 

 bees to work, and how can I get the honey 

 that is in the brood-chamber into sections, 

 as I run almost entirely for comb-honey? 



2. A day or two ago I removed a 

 super of honey, either basswood or su- 

 mac, which was entirely sealed over. 

 Upon tasting the honey I found it left a 

 raw taste in my mouth. I suspect it was 

 green, and gave it to the bees again. How 

 can I tell when it is ripened? 



3. Won't those bees mentioned in ques- 



