October. 1911. 



American Hee Journal 



Dr. Miller*5 



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. 



Mating of Queens 



1. If a queen is never allowed to mate 

 with a drone, would she lay fertile eggs? 



2. Will a queen mate with a drone if 

 she is never allowed to leave the place 

 where she is confined with a drone? 



Georgia. 



Answers. — i. If she lays eggs at all, 

 they will produce only drones. 



2. If you mean confined to the hive, 

 no. It is possible she might mate if 

 confined in a tent, but it would have to 

 be an immense tent. 



Comparison of Races of Bees for 

 Cleaning Up Foul Brood 



Please write an article on the diliferent 

 races of bees as to their good qualities, 

 and for cleaning up foul brood. Are the 

 Cyprian, Carniolan, Banat, Caucasian, and 

 Holy Land bees, good races to clean up 

 and keep bees free from foul brood ? 

 New York. 



Answer. — It would take more room than 

 can well be spared to tell all about the 

 ditTerent races of bees, if indeed one per- 

 son may be supposed to have such knowl- 

 edge ; but you will find pretty full in- 

 formation in Root's "A B C and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture." As to the relative abil- 

 ity to clean up foul brood, it is doubtful 

 that any one knows. It is generally be- 

 lieved that Italians are the best to help 

 keep down foul brood, but there is proba- 

 bly no one who can say just how the 

 other races compare in this respect. 



Perhaps "Braula Coeca" or Blind 

 Louse 



There is a spider-like insect that clings 

 to the backs of my bees, and in some cases 

 covering the forepart of queens all over, 

 of a reddish color, about the size of a 

 pinhead. Is this the Italian bee-louse? 

 It makes no difference whether the col- 

 ony is strong or weak. Is there any way 

 of getting rid of them? The temperature 

 gets very high here in summer. Would 

 the heat breed these things? 



British Columbia. 



Answer. — Yes. it may be braula coeca 

 or the blind louse, although I don't re- 

 niember to have heard of such a case this 

 side of the ocean. It is said smoking 

 with tobacco will make the louse loose 

 its hold. Fortunately it is not so very 

 dangerous. Please send a sample to Dr. 

 E. F. Phillips, Washington, D. C. 



Combs Built Crosswise — Colony 

 Stored No Surplus 



1. A colony built their combs cross- 

 wise of the frames. I want to transfer 

 the bees into another hive with wires and 

 starters. Or would I better get old 

 combs? How would you do if you were 

 in my place ? 



2. This colony has not stored any sur- 

 plus this year, and don't seem to be any 

 stronger than it was last spring. What 

 is the matter? Indiana. 



Answer.— I. Perhaps it will be better 

 for you to leave matters as they are until 

 the time of fruit-bloom next year. If, 



however, you conclude to make the change 

 now, unless there is a good fall flow you 

 will have to feed until the bees have 

 their combs well finished and filled for 

 winter. Drawn-out combs will answer 

 better than comb foundation, as bees do 

 not make very good work building comb 

 50 late. 



2. It is not easy to tell what is the 

 trouble without knowing more about the 

 circumstances. The likelihood, however, 

 is that the trouble is more w-ith the sea- 

 son than with your bees. You are proba- 

 bly in the zone of dearth this year, like 

 myself. At present not many of my colo- 

 nies are as strong as they were earlier 

 in the season, and they have given no 

 surplus honey. The bees are not to 

 blame — it is the dearth. If, however, 

 your other colonies have given a good 

 surplus, then the fault may be with the 

 bees, and it may be on account of queen- 

 lessness, or it may be something else. 



A Breeder Queen vs. Others 



1. What is the diflerence between a 

 breeder queen and any other? 



2. How can you tell a breeder from 

 any other queen ? Arkansas. 



Answers. — i. A breeder is merely a 

 queen supposed to be good enough to 

 breed from. If you find that colony No. 

 5 is the best colony in your yard, and 

 decide to breed from her, then the queen 

 of No. 5 is your breeder. If a dealer 

 oiifers to sell you a breeder, it it sup- 

 posed that in some way he has found 

 out that she is an extra-good queen to 

 breed from. 



2. Of course, there is no way to tell 

 a breeder by her looks. 



Late Dividing of Colonies 



Would Sept. 2olh be too late to make 

 a new colony by the plan given on page 

 275, under the heading: "Double 8-frame 

 Hives," for one living in Northern Illi- 

 nois? Illinois. 



.A.NSWER. — Reference to the place men- 

 tioned shows that the man who wrote 

 that answer made the inexcusable blunder 

 of understanding that the bees were to 

 rear their own queen, when the ques- 

 tioner distinctly asked how it would do 

 to get queens for those supers. 



The answer to your present question 

 depends upon whether you have in mind 

 to let the bees rear their own queen, or 

 to do as "New Mexico" proposed — get a 

 queen for the removed i>art. It will work 

 very well if you furnish the bees with a 

 laying queen, but if you think of letting 

 the bees rear their own queen, then the 

 division should be made about a month 

 earlier, say August 20th. Please luider- 

 stand that this involves the idea that 

 there is brood enough in each story, and 

 bees enough so that when divided neither 

 part will be too weak for winter. If 

 that is the case, you will probably do 

 well to put nearly all the brood on the 

 new stand, especially if you do not at all 

 imprison the bees, and you will also leave 

 the old queen on the old stand with lit- 

 tle or no brood. That will leave your 

 new colony with only the younger bees, 



and so the more willing to accept a new 

 queen. The new colony will at first be 

 much the weaker of the two. but having 

 most or all the brood it will be all the 

 while growing stronger in the next 3 

 weeks, while the other will be growing 

 weaker. 



I am thankful to you for indirectly 

 calling attention to the blunder in the 

 answer to "New Mexico," to whom my 

 most humble apologies are oft'ered. 



Winter Cover Over Bees. 



1. I want to winter my bees on the 

 summer stands. Which way of wintering 

 do you think suits my climate better, the 

 sealed-cover or absorbent cushion over the 

 brood-chamber ? 



2. Our merchants have what they call 

 "oilcloth." What is the difference be- 

 tween it and enamel cloth, if any? Would 

 it answer in place of enamel cloth be- 

 tween the cluster of bees and absorbent 

 cushion ? 



3. Are dry forest leaves as good as 

 anything for the absorbent cushion? 



Virginia. 



Answer. — i. If the choice is between 

 sealed covers with nothing over them, 

 and cushions, then take the cushions. 

 For with nothing over the sealed cover 

 it is cold, the moisture from the bees 

 condenses tipon it, and then drops down 

 on the cluster of bees. But if something 

 is packed over the sealed covers to keep 

 them warm, then there is little to choose. 



2. Oiled cloth, or oilcloth, so far as I 

 know, is all the same thing as enamel 

 cloth. It may be a question whether you 

 might not prefer burlap or some other 

 porous cloth. 



.?. Nothing could be much better, un- 

 less it be cork chips. 



Management for Increase — "Fifty 

 Years" 



I am interested in your answer No. 

 3, center column, page 245. Will you 

 kindly elucidate further in my behalf? 

 I have lo-frame (HolTman) hives. As to 

 the "another" (2nd) way — ■ 



1. Must it be to take away 2 or 4 

 frames of brood, or may it be 3 ? 



2. You say, put these 2 or 4, in with 



3 or 4 frames with small starters: 2 and 



4 would be 6, or 4 and 4 would be 8. 

 What about place in hive for 4 or more 

 frames, so as to fill up with 10? 



3. Is it better to have the pieces of 

 starters at the ends of the top-bar or 

 away from the ends and sides of the 

 frame ? 



4- You say, put one hive on the other 

 with no communication between theni. 

 Does this mean with a queen-excluder 

 between, or a solid board? Absolutely 

 no communication would mean a solid 

 board ; but then, what would be the use of 

 one hive on the other? 



The whole matter involved seems to 

 me valuable and worthy of an absolutely 

 exact understanding. 



5. I notice that there is a new edition 

 of your book out, "Forty Years " having 

 grown to "Fifty." I have the "Forty 

 Years"; if one rates that at $1.00, please 

 rate the "Fifly" correspondingly, so as 

 to indicate exactly how much better off 

 one would be to have the "Fifty" and 

 give away the "Forty." 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — i. Yes, it may be 2, 3, or 4. 

 In frying to make my answers without 

 taking up too much room, I sometimes 

 make awkward work of it. In the i)res- 

 ent case the idea is to take away enough 

 frames so that the bees will build only 

 worker-comb. 



2. Here again my trying to econoinize 

 in words makes bad work. Evidently, 



