Repteniber, 1916. 



American Bee Jonrnajj 



317 



)>=-^^^^5l^"] 



6. The natural tliini; is for tlie swarm to 

 issue as soon as the tirst cell is sealed. 



7. Hard to say. The dark paint and your 

 disturbins; the bees may both have been to 

 blame, and it may also be that ventilation of 

 the surrounding air may have been too little 

 on account of surrounding shrubbery or 



'|}uildint;j. 



« Yes. such a practice is considerably in 

 vogue. 



<j. Nothing is needed to keep them from 

 blowing over. My supers are often piled 

 six to eight hik'h, with nothing put on lop. 

 and not one has evtr blown over. There 

 may be localities with such very strong 

 winds tliat it is necessary to pile stores on 

 top. 



Swarm Control 



My aoiary consists of 30 colonies, and I 

 have only had one year's experience. lam 

 running for comb honey. Could you give 

 me some advice on swarm control ? 1 do 

 not like to have any more increase. All my 

 queens are clipped. Illinois. 



Answer— The most common means used 

 to prevent swarming is called shaking a 

 swarm. Look through the hive every week 

 or ten days, and when you find queen-celTs 

 started take away all brood but one. The 

 brood taken away may be used to strengthen 

 weak colonies, or wherever it will do most 

 good. If you want it to make a new colony, 

 you must take with the brood enough bees 

 to keep the brood from chilling. It may be 

 better to leave the brood for a week or ten 

 days over an excluder, leaving the queen 

 with her one brood below the excluder. 



It may do no harm to mention that a satis- 

 factory way of preventing swarming has 

 been one of my most difficult problems, and 

 it may be protitable for you to study the 

 different plans I have tried, as given in my 

 book " Fifty Years Among the Bees." 



Swarming 



1. I hived a swarm of bees about June 6. 

 Will those bees build queen-cells soon and 

 is it likely they will swarm ? 



2. After my bees quit swarming and I 

 know that my bees have queens, would it 

 be all right for me to cut the queen-cells out. 

 and if so. would the bees build them again 

 soon ? 



3. Is a queen and drone trap successful or 

 not. and when a swarm issues will they 

 hang on the hive outside or will it cause 

 them to go back in ? Illinois. 



Answers.— I. Having sent out a prime 

 swarmjune6.it would be nothing strange 

 for a second swarm to issue about eight days 

 later, and it they didn't swarm within 16 

 days you would not expect any afterswarm. 

 The colony is not at all likely to start cells 

 or to swarm again. The swarm may start 

 cells for superseding, out not tor swarming. 



2. There will be no need to cut out cells in 

 the old colony, and to cut them out in the 

 swarm would only interfere with supersed- 

 ing the queen 



3. A trap will catch the queen, and so pre- 

 vent the swarm from leaving, but if left on 

 more than two weeks or so after issuing of 

 the prime swarm it would hinder the young 

 queen from going on her wedding trip, and 

 so bring disaster to the colony. Yes, when 

 the queen is caught in a trap upon the issu- 

 ing of a swarm, the bees are likely to hang 

 out if the weather is hot. 



frames in two days I saw three nice large 

 queen-cells, so I did not send for a queen. 

 What, in your mind, caused the death of the 

 queen? She had done fine. 



3. I got a two frame nucleus and have 

 taken two one-frame nuclei away for in- 

 crease, and they (the parent hive) have filled 

 nearly half a super now and no queen since 

 June 26 until today a virgin will hatch. Is 

 that very good ? 



4. Now. if this virgin mates with these 

 dark drones will the bees be three-banded 

 like the ones from the dead queen (she prov- 

 ing to be purely mated) ? 



5 There are black bees one-half mile 

 away (bee line). Will they be as apt to mate 

 with my queen as one from my own yard ? 



New York. 



Answers.— I. You cannot judge by the 

 drones. Some of the best Italian stock may 

 have dark drones, especially if they be of 

 the leather-colored variety that so many 

 prefer. If the workers show the three yel- 

 low bands, it doesn't matter about the color 

 of the drones. The queen also may be quite 

 dark, so long as the workers are all right. 



2. I don't know. It is just possible that she 

 was in some way injured the last time pre- 

 viously that you opened the hive, or that the 

 bees balled her on that occasion, a thing 

 that sometimes happeni. 



3. You did well, and yet the loss of the 

 queen would show more later on. 



4. Yes. I would expect the worker progeny 

 to be three-banded. 



5. There is a likelihood that at least half 

 of your virgins will meet your neighbor's 

 drones. ■ 



Leather Colfred— Three Bandeil 



I would like to know the difference, if 

 there is any, between the leather colored 

 and the three-banded Italians ? 



Minnesota. 



Answer.— The name "leather colored" 

 applies to that type of Italians whose work- 

 ers are of a hue somewhat like leather that 

 is 'tanned without being colored. Their 

 workers are three banded as well as the 

 workers of the light colored Italians. 



Replacing the Queen 



1. I bought from a queen-breeder a queen 

 as advertised by him. and the drones are 

 very dark, some having only one band, and 

 none are light like Italian drones I have 

 seen before. 



2. On June 26 I found the queen dead on 

 the entrance • board. On examining the 



Introducing a Queen-Cell 



I will explain to you the circumstances 

 that lead to the question; I had a very 

 strong colony with a mismated queen. She 

 was on a frame when I shook the bees off I 

 noticed her down on the bottom-board a few 

 minutes later. She was drawing her abdo- 

 men in and out. giving her the appearance of 

 panting. Ten days later she was not to be 

 found, there were no eKgs or unsealed 

 brood, and the cells had been started, so 

 that 1 considered the colony queenless. 



I destroyed the cells and put in a frame of 

 brood that had a nice cell on it. This 

 frame had been raised above the excluder 

 in my best colony, seven days before. Ten 

 days later there was a big swarm cast at 2:ro 

 m.. and another one at 4:30 p.m. 1 hey 

 were looked for, but not found. I looked 

 through the hive and found a queen, evi- 

 dently young, judging by her speed and shy- 

 ness, also two more cells, which I cut out. 

 Now. I am wondering how to account for 

 two swarms and a queen left, also whether 

 it is ever safe to requeen a strong colony by 

 giving a cell. You speak of this condition 

 on page loSof " Fifty Years Among the Bees." 

 but I don't think you quiteanswer this ques- 

 tion there. Would all have been well it the 

 cell had been on brood that had been ten 

 days above the excluder instead of seven, or 

 would they have swarmed anyway ? 



New York. 



Answer,— It is fairly safe to introduce a 

 queen-cell into any colony which is queen 

 less and has no unsealed brood. I say " fairly 

 safe." because it occasionally happens that 

 when the virgin goes out on her wedding 

 trip the bees swarm out with her. and some 

 have reported that she does not always re- 

 turn. 



The cell you gave was on a comb that had 

 been over an excluder seven days. In all 

 probability the. comb contained brood in all 

 stages down to eggs that had just been laid 



at the time the comb was put over the ex 

 cluder, So there would be present brood 

 not more than four days old. young enough 

 to be changed into queen larv;e. even though 

 a four-day larva will not produce a queen of 

 the best grade. Notiiing strange, then, that 

 a strong colony with several young queens 

 should do some swarming. If the comb has 

 been over the excluder ten days, as you 

 suggest, possibly if only eight days, there 

 would have been no trouble. 



One-Half Story Hives 



1. I am in a locality with an intermittent 

 flow and a long season with conditions such 

 that all early swarming colonies will pre- 

 pare and swarm again in about five or six 

 weeks, as will the parent colony; also the 

 natural increase is about four to one regard- 

 less of adding comb-honey supers. 



I am using 8-frame hives (too small un- 

 doubtedly for this vicinity). An article in 

 June 1st Gleanings outlines what seems to 

 be an ideal plan, using 1J2 stories as a perma- 

 nent brood-chamber, this being equivalent 

 to 12 frames regular. 



It seems that where colonies naturally 

 swarm twice and construct three new sets 

 of combs with a surplus, one could easily 

 maintain a I'A story brood-chamber manipu- 

 lated as described with less swarming and 

 more surplus and less manipulating. Would 

 the depth be detrimental to securing section 

 honey, and what has been your observation 

 with a iH story permanent brood-chamber. 



2. In a recent answer to questions in the 

 American Bee Journal, you mention doub- 

 ling up on swarms, hiving the second, third 

 and fourth swarms with the first. What 

 about the queens in this case? Do you 

 mean to run in the swarms, queen and all on 

 a previously hived swarm, or should the 

 queen in the hive be killed before hand ? 



Beginner. 



Answers.— I have not experimented with 

 1% story hives, but would not expect any 

 difficulty with supers for either comb or ex- 

 tracted honey over the hives of such depth. 

 It may do no harm for me to suggest that if 

 you do not care to procure the half stories 

 you can accomplish the same end by using 

 two full-depth eight-frame stories, having 

 only four frames in the lower story, using 

 dummies in the vacancy. You could also 

 experiment to see whether you would like 

 five frames in the lower story better than 

 four. 



2. Yes. no attention is paid to the queens, 

 they can settle their differences to their 

 own satisfaction. It might be mentioned 

 that sometimes an afterswarm is returned 

 to the parent colony as often as it swarms. 

 If an afterswarm is hived in a hive or box. 

 and returned to the old hive 24 hours later, 

 there will generally be no swarming. For 

 when the swarm is kept separate for 24 

 hours, or even over night, the likelihood is 

 that all virgins in the cells in the old hive 

 will be allowed to emerge, and they will 

 fight until only one is left. 



Bee House— Cypress Lumber 



I am starting into the bee-business for the 

 second time with frame hives. I have a 

 beautiful little grove not far from the house, 

 say 150 steps with it> acres pasture in front 

 and a clear running spring and fresh cool 

 water not far distant. I have only three col- 

 onies now, but want to increase to about 25 

 or 30. and 1 would like to put my bees or my 

 hives in this little grove, but that would 

 mean no honey for me. for men and boys 

 steal honey here. 



Now what 1 want to ask you is. can I keep 

 my bees in a house ? Can I put up a house 

 say 12x20x8 feet and leave a hole just in front 

 of each hive for a bee entrance, say Hxo 

 on the south side of the house, and on the 

 inside have my hives side by side, so no bee 

 can get in from outside; have alighting- 

 board outside s or inches wide all along 

 the side, just under the bee entrance, and it 

 covered over with a plank a foot wide and 

 only about 4 or 6 inclies above the alighting- 

 board, all painted nice and good. Then 

 have holes at the top of the wall for bees to 



