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(il.KAXLXdS IX HKK (TLTrHK 



May 1 



TWO SIMl'LE METHODS FOK MAKING INCKEASE. 



In the Americcin Bee Journtil for last year, p. 275, 

 a method of swarming bees is given. Is it necessa- 

 ry to have Queen-cells in tlie sections when trans- 

 ferring from hive A to liive B, or do tlie bees make 

 this iiueen-cell after the combs are transferred? It 

 is not clear to me where the queen-cells come from 

 in the queenless hive. 



South Norwalk, Ct. li. Beaupain. 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



To make it intelligible to others I give the plan: 

 Take from the hive to be divided half Its combs with 

 the adhering bees. Put them in an empty hive and 

 fill up each hive with frames filled with foundation 

 and leave the two hives standing side by side. A 

 week to ten days later there will be in one hive 

 eggs and brood in all stages. The other hive will 

 have only sealed brood and perhaps some large 

 grubs. Move the latter hive to a new stand ten 

 feet or more distant. The bees will do the rest. 



This is not given as a be.st plan, but as one of the 

 very simplest for a beginner. To make a more 

 nearly eyual division, swap the four frames of 

 foundation in the queenless hive for four frames of 

 brood of the other hive at the time when the queen- 

 less hive is moved to its new stand. 



Answering H. B.'s question, the bees in the queen- 

 less part start queen-cells as soon as they are made 

 queenless. and no queen-cells need be given them. 



To make the plan still simpler (although not so 

 good), merely make the division as directed, with- 

 out any further change in seven to ten days. 



The objection to all the foregoing is that you are 

 not sure of the best kind of queen. Here is a plan 

 which will give a good queen, although the plan is 

 not quite so simple, because you must And the 

 queen: Take two frames of brood with adhering 

 bees, and put them together with the queen in an 

 empty hive on a new stand. That leaves on the 

 old stand all the field force and nearly all the young 

 bees — every thing in the very best shape to rear a 

 good queen. In ten days let the hives swap places. 

 Thafs all. Vou now have two good colonies. The 

 one on the old stand with the queen and the field 

 force will do good work at surplus. If you want it 

 to do still better, brush (don't shake or you will kill 

 the queen-cellsi the bees from half the combs of the 

 (lueenless part into the queenright part at the time 

 you return the queen to the old stand. 



Marengo, 111. C, C, Miller. 



sujjer, then a wire screen. Thei'e should also be 

 .screen for the bottom, and below the .screen should 

 be secured the bottom-board so that there may be a 

 clearance of a couple of inches. In the spring 

 months the screen on top is usually sufficient.— Ed.] 



PREPARING BEE.S FOR SHIPMENT. 



1 am going to .ship some bees by express late in 

 -Vpril or early in May in eight and eleven frame 

 hives. .Some hives will have to be transferred to 

 another railroad, and thus may be longer on the 

 way. My bees were iJUt out March 23. and were in 

 good c<jndition. 1 protected them with building- 

 paper. 



1. Will a rim on top of the hive to tack the wire 

 screen to be too shallow if it is % thick, or should it 

 be more? I have strips cut Va thick. 



2. What distance above this wire screen should I 

 fix the cover for cool or warm weather? 



'ii. ^\■hat kind of directions should I place on the 

 Iiive to insure careful handling by railway officials? 



i. How long can bees be confined this way with- 

 out much loss? 



Giroux, Man., Can. C. Langill. 



[1. A rim such a« you describe will be deep enough 

 for this time of year. In hot weather we would ad- 

 \ ise not less than two inches deep. 



2. ( >ne or two inches — preferably two. 



:5. We usually i)ut on the words " I>ive bees. Keep 

 out of the sun. Handle with care." The fact that 

 the bees are "alive" insures careful handling on 

 the part of the railroad people. 



4. This depends upon the time of year, and how 

 the bees are put u:>. When wire cloth is supplied 

 top and bottom, and the bees given water, they can 

 go a couple of weeks: but the water should be given 

 (luite often. If they seem to be suffering from want 

 of air, the wire screens should be sprinkled with 

 water to cool them off. This will drive them back 

 from the wire cloth and cool them off. It is usually 

 desirable to get bees through to destination as .soon 

 as possible. When properly jjut up they will go 

 through without any water in good shape if not on 

 the journey longer than four or five days. 



A very imi>ort;int requisite is to see that there is 

 sii_ffivient mitiliition/or the size of tlie volinxu. Do not 

 try to put a very powerful colony down into one 

 hive-body. If it Is very strong, put on a half-dei)th 



SHOULD THE EXCLUDER BE USED? 



In studying Doolittle's i>lan for the production of 

 comb honey I am a little puzzled to understand the 

 treatment in cliai)ters 3 and 4, After the bees are 

 shaken into the prepared hive and the super is to be 

 placed thereon, is the queen-excluder, recommended, 

 or is it abandoned? He has removed the excluder 

 that was used between the hive and i)rei)ared hive 

 in bloom time. 



Silver City, N. M., Jan. 27. Mrs. O. C. Hlnman. 



[This was referred to Mr. Doolittle, who replies:] 



When tjie ten-frame Langstroth h ive is used, there 

 is no need of a queen-excluder. Often the bees are 

 .shaken into the prepared hive, for with ,so large a 

 brood-chamber the queen is not inclined to put 

 brood in the section.s. With an eight-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive, or a small sectional brood-chamber, it 

 Is well to use the excluder as a precaution against 

 brood in the sections. 



Borodino, X, Y., April 11. (1. M. Doolittle. 



WILL paper instead OF CANDY DO IN AN INTKO- 

 DUCING-CAGE? 



What is the best method to introduce queens to a 

 colony that has swarmed — that is, when I move the 

 old hive to a new location, and in the morning wisli 

 to introduce a layine queen? Is it necessary to 

 have candy in the cage, or would it do to fill up the 

 hole with fibrous paper? R. N. King, 



Whig, Ark., Feb. 18. 



[The simplest and best way for the average begin- 

 ner to introduce a queen is to use an ordinary in- 

 troducing-cage having lia one end a plug of candy 

 which the bees eat out in from 12 to 36 hours. When 

 the candy is removed the queen is released, and by 

 that time will have acquired the scent of tlie colony, 

 A plug of soft fibrous jjaper will not answer; but we 

 frequently put a thin piece of jiasteboard over the 

 plug of candy to delay the entrance of the bees into 

 the cage. This paper must not cover entirely the 

 candy, as otherwi.se the bees will not eat it away. 

 When properly put on, the pasteboard and candy 

 will delay the bees" acce.ss to the queen from 24 to 

 48 hours. Without the pasteboard .she may be re- 

 leased anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. This is too 

 soon in many cases. — Ed.] 



THE SCHOLL HIVE NIMHEH. 



Ixmis 11. Scholl. paee 87, 1908, gives his method of 

 numbering hives, and invites bee-keei)ers to tr.vthe 

 .same and report. 1 have tried the plan for the last 

 two seasons, and find it the most convenient I ever 

 saw. The cost for my numbers up to -^1 is less than 

 25 cts., and they will last for years. \\'\X\\ these num- 

 bers the work of keeping a rec'ord of a colony is re- 

 duced to almost nothing. .\. .\. .\ugenstein. 



Dakota. 111., Feb, 16. 



SPRAVIN(i IN BLOOM DESTRUCTIVE TO BEES. 



T should like to have some information about 

 spraying with poison while the trees are in full 

 bloom. Will it not spoil the honey? There are lots 

 of bees in our place. Is there any protection? 



Hockingport. ()., .\pril 5. .\. B. Chute. 



[Bees will soon be killed in the vicinity where the 

 Bordeaux mixtures are applied to the trees while 

 they are in bloom. The experlTuent stations and 

 practically all authorities now say that trees should 

 be sprayed just before they come into bloom and 

 about a week after the petals fall. There is no ad- 

 vantage — indeed, it is a great disadvantage to the 

 fruit-grower— in spraying while the trees are in 

 flowei-. See the statement by Mr. Waugh. on page 

 243. He is probably the best authority, from the 

 standpoint of fruit-crowens, in the Ignited States. 



There is no l;iw in Ohio to prevent the spraying 

 of trees while in bloouL The only thine you can do 

 is to send the fr\iit-growers the April 1st and 15th 

 issues of this journal. Secure a copy of Waugh's 

 book.* "Ihe .Vmerican .\pple Orchard." and refer 

 them to chapter 11. The.se ignorant fruit-growers 

 should be posted. — ICD.] 



* Price, postpaid. ?l.(i(i. 



