July, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



427 



In order to make room for the brood below, 

 it would be a good plan to put part of the 

 brood, and probably most of it, above, leav- 

 ing at least a few empty combs below with 

 the queen, and using the queen-excluder be- 

 tween the two stories. The heat will then be 

 just where it is needed, in the upper story 

 where most of the brood is, and the queen 

 will have an abundance of room for laying. 

 Since she is a young queen we believe the 

 colony will then build up very rapidly. 



Question. — What becomes of the old colony out of 

 which the new swarm comes ? Do they hatch a new 

 queen, or do you have to furnish them with one? 

 or do they set up a democracy and go right on with 

 business? Thos. A. Banta. 



New York. 



Answer. — When the bees swarm, they 

 leave queen-cells in various stages of con- 

 struction in the old hive. The queen goes 

 with the new swarm so that for a few days 

 the old colony is queenless. They do not 

 seem to so regard it however, for with cap- 

 ped cells in the hive, they appear to be 

 perfectly contented, seeming to understand 

 that in a few days a new queen will be pres- 

 ent. If one desires to improve the strain, all 

 these cells may be torn out and another 

 queen introduced or a capped cell (in a pro- 

 tector) given them. Otherwise all but one 

 queen-cell should be destroyed in order to 

 prevent after swarms. In regard to the 

 form of government, we are rather inclined 

 to call it a democracy after the queen 

 hatches as well as before. For the queen 

 is a queen merely in name. She has no ac- 

 tual part in governing the colony. Of course 

 the bees vary their actions according to her 

 presence or absence, but other factors be- 

 sides the presence or condition of the queen 

 call forth just as decided responses from the 

 bees. Each bee seems to govern itself for 

 the good of the colony. 



Question. — I am going to install a sorghum mill 

 on my fann where I now have 15 colonies of bees 

 which I intend to increase by about one-third by 

 August. The thought has come to me that the juice-s 

 of the sweet sorghum might affect my bees, as the 

 plant will be removed only about 100 yards from the 

 original colony complete them? M. E. Ballard. 



Texas. 



Answer. — Regarding the sorghum mill, it 

 will probably be necessary for you to screen 

 the building, using wire cloth or mosquito 

 netting for the doors and windows of the 

 structure. We have every reason to believe 

 that if the mill should be running during a 

 scarcity of honey, or of natural nectar from 

 the fields, the bees would rob the juices of 

 the sweet sorghum as fast as they run out 

 of the mill, and, moreover, it would cause 

 considerable robbing. 



Question. — The ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture, 

 page 586, says, after getting queen-cells started in 

 queenless and broodless colonies the cells should be 

 given to cell-completing colonies. Why not let the 

 original colony complete them? M. E. Ballard. 



New York. 



Answer. — The best queens are raised in the 

 largest queen-cells, those fed with an abun- 

 dance of royal jelly. Such cells may be 

 started by queenless and broodless colonies, 

 for at the start there are plenty of nurse 



bees with a quantity of prepared food but 

 no young larvae to feed — the very condition 

 most favorable for cell-building. However, 

 this is not the best colony for completing the 

 cells for since all the brood has been re- 

 moved, the number of nurse bees and the 

 amount of royal jelly constantly decrease. 

 If it is desired to use this same colony for 

 completing the cells, the above objection 

 may be overcome to some extent by insert- 

 ing frames of hatching brood from other 

 colonies. 



ANSWERS BY C. C. MILLER. 



Question. — How do you think it would work if I 

 divided a colony when they had queen-cells started, 

 putting the queen and most of the brood, say five 

 or six frames, in a new hive on the old stand and 

 moving the old hive off a ways, so the old bees 

 would return? Would this be as good a plan as any 

 to get more honey from the old hive that season, and 

 would it be best to give the " old bees " in the new 

 hive full sheets in the empty space made ? I am 

 assuming that they have been discouraged from 

 swarming, of course. 



Answer. — If I understand correctly, that 

 last sentence means that you assume that the 

 division you have made will discourage the 

 bees from swarming. That's just the trou- 

 ble; I'm afraid it won't, and if it doesn't, 

 then the whole thing is knocked endways. 

 Of course the changing of hives cuts no 

 figure and you would have the same result if 

 you should leave the old hive on the stand 

 with the queen and five or six frames of 

 brood, merely taking away four or five 

 frames of brood and putting them in a new 

 hive on a new stand. That much depletion 

 would have no effect; the bees would swarm 

 exactly the same, unless you should destroy 

 all the queen-cells in the hive that has the 

 queen. In a few cases that would prevent 

 swarming, but in most cases would only de- 

 lay it till a new set of queen-cells should be 

 started. To make it effective you should 

 take all the brood but one from the old 

 stand, and that will probably bring you as 

 much honey as any way you can do, especial- 

 ly if you shake off part jf the bees when 

 you take away the combs, leaving with the 

 brood on the new stand only enough bees to 

 keep the brood from chilling. And in fol- 

 lowing this course you have done nothing 

 more or less than what is called making a 

 shaken swarm. Vacancies in a hive should 

 have frames with full sheets of foundation, 

 unless you want an unprofitable amount of 

 drone-comb. 



Question. — In Stray Straws you say the Dadants 

 use shallow frames without excluders. Can you 

 tell how this is or probably could be done ? To 

 know this would be worth something to me next 

 season. I had two queens parade thru the second 

 floor (sections) into the attic (shallow frames). 



Delaware. C. A. Colell. 



The Dadants use large frames spaced l^/^ 

 inches apart. The large amount of room no 

 doubt helps to keep the queen down. But 

 even with eight-frame hives and 1%-inch 

 spacing, my queens do not go up into sec- 

 tions enough to make it worth while to use 

 excluders. I wonder if you fill your sections 

 with foundation. If they are less than full, 

 and drone comb "is limited in the brood- 

 chamber, the queen is likely to go up. 



