October, 1916. 



American l^ee Journal 



is to Introduce by means of an introducing- 

 caee provisioned witli candy, tlie bees eat- 

 ine out tlic candy and tlius allowing tiie 

 queen to get out of the cage. 



6. The one probably most favored among 

 beekeepeis is the lo frame dovetailed. 



Riqueening— Kind of Super— Rendering Wax, Etc 



1. When is the best time to requeen, in 

 the spring or autumn ? 



2. I only want lo keep three or four colo- 

 nies of bees for family honey. Would you 

 advise comb or e.\tracted honey P 



J. What do you think of "chunk honey" 

 production, and what hive is best for it ? 



4. For extracting, which is best the deep 

 or shallow super and frames ? 



5. I have been thinking of using the shal- 

 low super 5-8 inches deep so I could produce 

 comb, extracted, or chunk honey as I may 

 choose. What do you think of this plan ? 



6. I have one colony which is mixed, some 

 bees show three dull yellow stripes, some 

 bright yellow stripes and some all black. If 

 I requeen with a pure Italian queen will 

 they make a good colony ? 



7. What is the matter when the bees on 

 the aligiiting-board chase each other around 

 in a circle ? No excitement in the hive nor 

 signs of robbing. 



8. Do you think I can make my hive-bodies 

 and supers cheaper than I can buy them ? 



Q. How can I render wax so it will be clear 

 and free from dirt and trash without an ex- 

 tractor ? 



10. I caught a swarm in a decoy box. and 

 as I was taking it down out of the tree 

 it fell to the ground, breaking the combs 

 andliillingthequeenand many bees. When 

 1 opened it up to transfer them the remain- 

 ing bees acted crazy; they would go into the 

 air, then cluster, then go into the air like 

 they were crazy, and iinally left. Do you 

 suppose thev missed theirqueen. and where 

 do you suppose they went ? 



11. How do you like a deep cover with 2- 

 inch air space above the sections, the cover 

 covered with asbestos rooling? lowA. 



Answers— I. In the fall, near the close of 

 the harvest or a little after. Yet on account 

 ofthetimegained.it often happens that it 

 is better not to wait so late. 



2. Hard to say: probably extracted. 



3. I hardly think you would like it for your 

 purpose. In Texas it is popular. Any hive 

 will do for it. 



4. Shallow; except that it is convenient to 

 be able to use the same combs in brood- 

 chamber and super. 



5. All right; only if you want to produce 

 sections, better use the popular iMtuMTLVA. 



6. Sure. 



7. I don't know; I think it is a sort of play. 

 Q. The chances are nine out of ten that it 



will cost less to buy them factory-made, and 

 ten out of ten that they will be more satis- 

 factory. 



Q. The secret of having it clear is to let it 

 stand hot a good while; in other words, be a 

 good while in cooling. If there's only a 

 small quantity of it. have a good deal of hot 

 water with it. so it will not cool soquickly. 



10. Yes they missed their queen, and likely 

 went back to the old home from which they 

 swarmed. 



11. All right, provided no bee can get into 

 that2-inch ait-space. 



painted blue, and set at the end of the row. 

 Ihe rest of the hives were not painted so 

 she had a good chance of finding her hive. 

 Did stie get lost or were the bees hostile ? 



1 EXAS. 



Answer.— There is no way to telljustwhy 

 the queen disappeared, though such disap- 

 pearance is unpleasantly frequent. .Some- 

 times the queen is lost on her wedding trip, 

 sometimes the bees swarm out with her, 

 and sometimes they ball her on her return. 



kill cells on these combs and return them 

 to the lower story. Make what use you like 

 of any combs built in the empty frames, but 

 generally there will not be very much in 

 them, and you can melt it up for wax. The 

 combs that you restore to the lower story 

 will have in them a good deal of honev, but 

 the bees will empty it out and carry it up 

 into the sections. Thus you have no in- 

 crease, and all the honey goes into sections. 



Queens Disappearing 



In June I hived a small swarm of bees, the 

 queen looked as if she had been mated with a 

 black or hybrid drone, so I gave them some 

 brood from an Italianqueen. In two or three 

 days I examined the hive and the queen had 

 begun to lay eggs, and was depositing two and 

 three eggs in the same cell. In a day or so I 

 looked again and she was gone. I gave them 

 a frame of brood from another hive differ- 

 ent from the first and they began to rear a 

 queen. In due lime she hatched out and 

 was a nice Italian queen. She had destroyed 

 all except one. and the bees had a strong 

 guard over her. When I examined the hive 

 again she was gone, and the next day she 

 had not returned. The next day another 

 queen hatched: she was of a darker color. 

 but she soon disappeared. The hive was 



Keeping Section Honey Over Winter— Queen 

 Breeders 



1. I have put six brood-bodies on to get 

 frames of honey to feed with and to make 

 increase next season How can I keep these 

 without putting them in a warm room 45 to 

 70 degrees ? 



2. Also to keep section honey, will it not 

 keep well in a drv room where it freezes ? 

 One with only 500 or 600 pounds cannot afford 

 to keep a room to a certain temperature for 

 such a small amount. 



3. Who buys all the queens that are reared 

 by so many queen rearers ? For if one has 

 good Italians and they requeen themselves, 

 then why so many queen rearers ? 



Missouri. 



Answers, — I. A good cellar will do. In- 

 deed in a smoke-house, or almost anywhere, 

 it will do well enough, only some of the 

 honey may candy. 



2 Freezing will make more crac?ks in the 

 surface of the sections. That will not do for 

 sections, although it may do no great harm 

 to the combs previously mentioned I have 

 known sections to keep well in a garret, but 

 they had been in the garret during some of 

 the hot weather, so as to get a good roasting. 



3. Who buys all the cattle sold for breed- 

 ing purposes, and all the settings of eggs? 

 You say. " If one has good Italians and they 

 requeen themselves," but the matter is not 

 so simple as that. The great majority of 

 beekeepers don't have have good Italians to 

 begin with. The average beekeeper has 

 bees with more or less black blood in them. 

 He buys a pure Italian queen, and some of 

 the queens he rears from her will be purely 

 mated, but the most of them will not, for 

 there are more dark than yellow drones in 

 his apiary and in the surrounding apiaries. 

 So he will have to keep getting fresh stock 

 to work out the dark blood. Even if his 

 bees are all Italian, if he is wide awake he 

 will buy afresh now and then in the hope to 

 get something better, just as it is with cattle 

 and chickens. Then there are a few bee- 

 keepers having large apiaries who buy 

 queens by the hundred to replace old 

 queens, believing they can buy for less than 

 they can rear young queens. The result of 

 all this is that instead of decreasing the 

 number of queens sold seems to be con- 

 stantly on the increase. 



Running for Comb Honey 



How can I run for comb honey and at the 

 same time prevent increase? I have read 

 the plan written by G. W. Joice. in the July 

 IS, IQIS, issue of Gleanings, page 578. but I do 

 not want to use the extracting super, as he 

 advocates, if I can help it. Illinois. 



Answer.— The plan given by Mr. Joice is 

 good, provided you want part of your honey 

 in the extracted form. In my book. "Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees." you will find given 

 very fully the plans I have used to get along 

 without extracting and without increase. 

 One way is something like Mr. Joice's plan. 

 Put all but one brood in a second story over 

 an excluder, leaving the queen in the lower 

 story with the brood at one side, and next to 

 it two or three frames entirely empty, not 

 even a starter or any kind in them. Before 

 putting the brood in the second story, kill 

 all queen-cells on them. In ten days again 



European Foulbrood 



1. I had a battle with the European foul- 

 brood four years ago. and last week I noticed 

 several affected cells in three colonies. I 

 sent a sampleof brood to Washington. D. C, 

 and they called it European foulbrood. I 

 cannot understand why I cannot clean it 

 from the entire apiary and keep it out. 'The 

 whole apiary is headed with Moore's queens 

 or some equal to them. I have tried most 

 every method known, and in several cases it 

 re-appears, but most cases are new ones. 

 How can I rid my apiary of this pest ? I have 

 read your method in ' Fifty Years Among 

 the Bees," but you do not say that it has 

 been thoroughly proven. It seems to be an 

 easy way if it works. 



2. Will bees ball a queen when freed after 

 being caged for a week in the hive ? 



3. Is there any danger of spreading Euro- 

 pean foulbrood by using combs from supers 

 of colonies affected by foulbrood on or in 

 the brood-chamber of healthy colonies ? 



Kentucky. 



Answers —I. The two kinds of foulbrood 

 have become so generally distribued that 

 one or the other is likely to turn up almost 

 anywhere. But there's no great occasion to 

 be discouraged at the presence of European 

 foulbrood. It is no worse to fight than 

 weeds on a farm. Plenty of farmers raise 

 good crops, and yet are never entirely free 

 from weeds. Indeed. I wish I could as easily 

 battle with weeds in a garden as with Euro- 

 pean foulbrood in an apiary. 



I did not want to claim too much in " Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees" for my treatment of 

 European foulbrood, but I am very confident 

 that no better treatment has yet been 

 offered. Just cage the queen for 10 days, if 

 the case is a mild one and the queen good, 

 and in a severe case kill the queen and after 

 ten days of queenlessness introduce a vig- 

 orous Italian queen, or else give a ripe cell 

 at the same time the queen is killed. Even 

 if you find only one bad cell, treat it at once 

 You may not become entirely rid of it, but 

 by thus treating it you will have less trouble 

 with it than with weeds in your garden. 



2. " Bees do nothing invariably," but in 

 very rare cases would the bees harm a 

 queen after so long a confinement in their 

 hive, always provided there is nothing else 

 in the hive that they in any way consider in 

 the light of a queen. 



3. With American foulbrood, yes: with 

 European foulbrood there is very little dan- 

 er. although I suppose there is always a 

 possible danger. 



Hunting Wild Bees 



1. From whom could I get lessonsor advice 

 how to hunt wild bees, or through which de- 

 partment ? 



2. Would home-made hives be good for 

 bees? Should the boards be planed from 

 the outside? Should they be painted and 

 what color ? 



3 Will plaster of paris or putty injure 

 bees ? Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— I. I don't know. Not a very 

 large proportion of beekeepers ever have 

 done anything at hunting wild bees. Yet it 

 is possible that there may be some one near 

 your own home who is an expert in that line, 

 and an advertisement might bring you the 

 chance you desire. 



2. Home-made hives are just as good for 

 the bees as any other, but likely not to be so 



