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G I. K A N I N (i S IN \i K K C V L T U K E 



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GLEANED 



E. R 



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QUESTION.— 

 As I had just 

 finished e x - 

 tracting my 1918 

 crop a well-known 

 beekeeper happein- 

 ed in ; and, looking 

 at the honey in tho 

 larfce opein i-eoeiv- 

 ins tank, remark(Ml, 

 "Do you know that 



if you do not cover (hat tank tiuhtly llic aiiiiiumia 

 in the honey will evaporate and your honey will 

 lose flavor, and depreciate in ([uality f" As it is 

 practically impossible to cover nn tank air-tisbt, T 

 wish you would advise nic if the above statcuucnt 

 is correct. 



I extracted about the middle of July, after which 

 I piled on the hives the empty supers of extracting 

 combs to be cleanedi up. Now, if I take, them off 

 and place them in the honey-house, I understand I 

 am running' a grave risk of moth-infested combs. 

 What is the best thing to do ? To leave them on the 

 hives means a lot of work taking them down every 

 time I wish to examine a colony. To take them off 

 means moths. E. V. Tillson. 



Ontario. 



Answer. — We were not aware of the pres- 

 ence of any ammonia in honey, and wonder 

 if your friend did not allude to the fact that 

 if the honey were left uncovered a small 

 amount of the aroma might be lost. How- 

 ever, even in regard to this, we do not 

 think that you will notice any appreciable 

 difference in the flavor of the honey, 

 whether the tank is covered or not. After 

 the combs have been thoroly cleaned, they 

 may be carefully piled in the honey-house, 

 taking pains that at the top and bottom of 

 the pile and also between the supers, no 

 opening is left large ejiough for the admis- 

 sion of the wax moth. Such stored combs 

 should be examined every two weeks dur- 

 ing the summer, and, if any evidence of 

 moths occurs, the combs should be fumigat- 

 ed immediately, or else given to strong 

 Italian colonies to be cleaned up. 



Question. — Would it be too early to take off top 

 super of combs the last of August and let them store 

 what honey they can get from that on in the brood- 

 chamber ? or do you leave them on so they can put 

 what they get in the fall from fall flowers in the 

 super? Buell Buddinger. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — In your locality it would be 

 well to leave the super on, as you will prob- 

 ably obtain some surplus from sumac after 

 the main flow. 



Questions. — In the book entitled " Practical 

 Queen-rearing," by Frank C. Pellett, on page 85, 

 is the following for making increase: "When the 

 colony becomes populous place the queen on a 

 frame of brood in an empty hive.-body and fill out 

 with empty combs. This is set on the regular hive- 

 stand occujned by the colony. * * * Now place a 

 queen-excluder over the hive-body containing the 

 queein, and over this a super of empty combs. On 

 top of these is set the original hive-body containing 

 the brood. A hole is bored in this upper hive- 

 body to give the bees an extra entrance above. 

 About 24 hours later a ripe queen-cell is placed in 

 the upper story with the brood. The queen will 

 emerge in a day or two, and in due time will leave 

 the hive on her mating-flight, by way of the auger- 

 hole. Within a few days more she will be laying 

 in the upper hive-Iwdy, while the activities of the 



BY ASKING 



Root 



1 



Im'cs will coiitiiuic 

 witliiiiil interruption 

 in the lower story." 

 ( I ) Is there any 

 danger of the colo- 

 ny swai'niing, cither 

 w h e n the young 

 queen takes her 

 riiafing flight or be- 

 fore that time with 

 tlie old queen ? (2) 

 He say.s, " When (ho colony ))econies populous." 

 Will this system work after preparations for swarm- 

 ing are started ? or is it necessary to do this work 

 before they think of swarming? (3) Could a lay- 

 ing queen be introduced after 24 hours, instead 

 of a "ripe queen-cell," as given in, the book? (4) 

 Would the upper entrance be necessary if a laying 

 queen were given, or does it prevent swarming? 

 (5) Would two queen-excluders be any advantage 

 — one between the first and second story, as suggest- 

 ed, and the other between the second and third 

 story?. (0) Would slipping the top hive-body for- 

 ward to give an entrance be as good as the auger 

 hole? Johni E. Geiger." 



Kansas. 



Answers. — ^(1) Not much danger unless 

 the colony has already contracted the 

 swarming fever. (2) We believe this system 

 tends to prevent swarming, even if apj^lied 

 after the bees have begun building queen- 

 cells. (3) Such introduction would be 

 very risky. (4) An upper entrance 

 should be given. The upper and lower 

 stories are then virtually- two separate colo- 

 nies, each with its own entrance and its 

 own queen. (5) Yes, two excluders would 

 be a decided advantage. When only one 

 excluder is used, one of the queens may be 

 killed. (6) Except in very hot weather we 

 should prefer the auger hole, since with this 

 smaller entrance the brood would not be as 

 apt to chill. 



Question. — Please tell me how Arthur C. Miller 

 uses his smoke method to introduce a queen. 



Tennessee. W. T. Anderson. 



Answer. — On page 442 of the ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture you will find a very 

 complete discussion of the Artiiur C. Miller 

 method of introduction. In general, we 

 may say that the entrance should be closed, 

 leaving only an opening one inch square. 

 Into this the nozzle of the smoker is insert- 

 ed, and several good puffs given until, in a 

 few seconds, the bees begin roaring. The 

 entrance is then completely stopped and 

 left for 15 or 20 minutes. Then the one- 

 inch square opening is again given them, 

 and the whole entrance not given for over 

 an hour, or, better still, not given until the 

 next day. 



Question. — In one of my hives (here are no 

 queen-cells and no eggs nor grubs, yet the queen 

 is not to be found. What should be done? I in- 

 troduced one queen but she was killed. 



Pennsylvania. H. O. Whidinger. 



Answer. — Immediately after the honey 

 flow the queen usually lays fewer and fewer 

 eggs, and may even stop entirely for a time, 

 so tliat the absence of eggs and young larva; 

 in the liive does not prove conclusively that 

 the colony is (jueenless. We suggest that 

 you give such a colonv a frame contaiiiiniJ:- 



