December, 1916. 



425 



American ISee Journal 



colony caught some seven years ago. These 

 bees are located on A's 40 acre farm with 

 other bees in small apiaries 'A mile dis" 

 tant. The farm and adjoining (arms are 

 producing mostly alfalfa crops. 



A. having not given much attention to hiv- 

 ing, has let the apiary take care of itself re- 

 sulting in most of the colonies building 

 crosswise in frames, as no starter was pro- 

 vided when new swarms were caught. 

 About one-half the colonies have done little 

 else than live this season, and the total in- 

 crease is ten swarms (or this season, and 

 about (60 worth of honey from the so colo- 

 nies. 



In June last A proposed to B that B care 

 for As bees on the copartner plan o( equal 

 shares in the profits (increase being consid- 

 ered a part of protits). B to stand labor, ex- 

 pense except selling, which was done by 

 both A and B. Later A proposed that B take 

 one-half interest in the original 40 colonies 

 on account of the extra work to put them in 

 shape. 



Now it appears to B that if he keeps A's 

 bees for a term of years on this share and 

 share alike plan (labor to be done by B) 

 in a few years this plan would favor A to 

 such an extent that B would be forced to 

 quit. 



So far very little else than section honey 

 has been produced There are no tools, 

 worth considering, furnished by A. B thinks 

 he should take his half of the increase away 

 so that he will not have to divide their in- 

 crease and honey next season? How about 

 B's interest in the original 40 colonies? B 

 thinks that he would be giving too much the 

 next season to leave them in the partner- 

 ship apiary, while A thinks not. 



Both parties are anxious to tind a fair 

 plan. A has not the time nor experience to 

 care for bees, while B intends to build up 

 this apiary and operate it in connection 

 with other outapiaries. Any suggestions 

 that would be fair to both parties will be 

 very much appreciated. Washington 



Answer.— The mix-up is new to me. and 

 I am not sure I know enough to advise. But 

 if I understand correctly, the agreement is 

 that B gets half the crop and half the in- 

 crease. If the arrangement were to be 

 closed up at the end of the first year, then B 

 would take away half the increase as his 

 own property. Then if a new bargain were 

 made for the next year, B's bees would 

 hardly be considered in the transaction, 

 and I hardly see how the case is any differ- 

 ent if the arrangement continues from year 

 to year. In other words, if B gets half the 

 increase, that half is his own private prop- 

 erty, and A has in it no claim whatever. 



Bait in Sections 



What is the least quantity of baits to be 

 used in sections in a super of 32, to do the 

 full good? Pennsylvania. 



Answer.— That depends on what you 

 mean by " full good." The chief thing is to 

 get the bees itjrtcd in supers, and for that 

 purpose I'm not sure that a single bait is 

 less effective than a superful. If you mean 

 to get the most honey possible, then the 

 more baits the better, since of course bees 

 will store more when saved the expense of 

 making comb. 



A Beginner 



I. I have an old stand of bees in an 8-frame 

 hive which I would like to transfer in the 

 spring, but I do not know exactly how to do 

 it to receive the best results, and would like 

 to have you explain in full. 



2 Is a queen and drone trap successful or 

 not when a swarm stays on the outside of 

 the hive, or do a lot of the bees go back 

 into the hive again ? 



i. When you unite swarms is there any 

 danger of them getting out the next day ? 



4. What causes them to destroy the sealed 

 brood when they are united with a colony 

 that has several combs of sealed brood ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. You want me to explain in 

 full, and to do that I should have informa- 

 tion in full, which you (ail to give. All I 

 know is that you want to trans(er from an 

 old 8-frame hive, but I don't know the size 



of frames the bees now have, although I am 

 pretty safe in guessing that you want them 

 in frames of Langstroth size. If they now 

 have that size, I74»x«!^, and you merely want 

 to transfer from an old to a new hive, all 

 you have to do is to give the bees some 

 smoke, and then lift the combs, bees and 

 all, from the old hive, and put them in the 

 same order in the new hive. If you want to 

 transfer into frames of different size, then 

 just what is to be done depends upon the 

 sizes o( the old and the new frames. If the 

 old frames are larger than the new, then 

 cut out thecomb, lay the new frame upon it, 

 and cut to fit the inside o( the frame, mak- 

 ing the fit rather tight, and then tie strings 

 around it. To do this latter easily, cut sev- 

 eral strings, perhaps four or five for each 

 frame, and have the strings long enough to 

 reach around the frame from top to bottom, 

 and then enough string to tie easily. Lay 

 these strings upon a board in order, lay the 

 comb upon the strings, put on the frame, 

 and then tie. Better not try to lift the 

 frame and comb from the board, but lift up 

 the board with the frame on it so the frame 

 will be in the right position, with top-bar up 

 and then you can lift the frame. 



2. A queen-and-drone-trap is successful in 

 holding prisoner a queen that attempts to 

 pass out with a swarm. When the swarm 

 returns, a good many of the bees will clus- 

 ter outside, but gradually they will go back 

 into the hive, unless it be so warm that they 

 prefer to hang out. 



8 There is hardly any more danger than 

 there is of a single swarm leaving the hive 

 if it is too close and warm. 



4, I don't know. I don't think I ever knew 

 a case of that kind, although it might hap 

 pen with drone-brood. In that case it would 

 be killed when no longer needed. 



Wintering— How to Make Bees Work in Supers 



I We are using 10 frame hives Is it ad- 

 visable to leave all ten frames for winter 

 stores, or how much honey does the average 

 colony need from October to April ? 



2. I have had trouble in getting some colo- 

 nies to build in the supers. They had plenty 

 of bees and honey in the lower box. but 

 would not do anything in the supers. 



3. Why will some colonies swarm when 

 they have plenty of room, not even working 

 in the supers ? 



4. Will bees work better in large or ex- 

 tracting frames than in sections ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. What you need to know is 

 not how much the average colony needs 

 but how much is needed by the colony that 

 uses the most. Suppose you knew that the 

 consumption by your bees the coming win- 

 ter and sprinc would average 25 pounds, and 

 you made sure to have 25 pounds of honey 

 in each hive. The result would be that you 

 would lose .about half your colonies from 

 starvation. For there is a big difference in 

 the amount of stores consumed by different 

 colonies, and you cannot tell beforehand 

 which the big eaters are; and so the only 

 safe course is to consider every colony a 

 big eater, and provide accordingly. In your 

 case it will probably be wise for you to 

 leave not less than 30 pounds to each colony, 

 and 35 may be better. Some would even 

 prefer 40. You see there will be no waste 

 if you give them five or ten pounds more 

 than they need, for it will save their using 

 just so much of the new harvest to fill up 

 the brood chamber before storing in the 

 super. Leave the whole ten frames for 

 winter, with all the honey the bees have 

 stored in them. 



2. If sections are in the super, then you 

 need to put in the first super given to each 

 colony a bait section; that is. a section that 

 was partly built out the previons season, 

 and emptied by the bees in the fall. If the 

 super contains extracted combs, then either 

 the colony is not strong enough or else there 

 is not honey enough to fill the brood-cham- 

 ber and send a surplus above. 



3. Hard to tell. Indeed, it is not entirely 

 understood just why bees swarm at all, and 

 such cases as you mention may occur for 

 more than one reason. 



4. It is generally believed that they will. 



Index to Vol. LVI. 



SUBJECTS 



Advertisers, Our — 48. 



Advertising Contest, New York — 95. 



Advertising Honey— 79, 129, '^74, 275, 278, 



334, 373, 387, 415. 

 Advertising Airline Honey — S3. 

 Alder, Hoary — 122. 

 Alfalfa. When Does It Yield?— 136. 

 Alfalfa Honey— 280. 

 Angry Bees — 310. 

 Ants — 244, 282. 

 Ants, to Destroy — 82. 

 Aphids and Blight — 202. 

 Apple Aphis — 48. 

 Apples, Next — 406. 

 Aroma of Honey, Retaining — 64. 

 Aster Honey, Wintering on — 319. 

 Australasian Beekeeping — 373. 

 Australian Bee Farming — 193. 

 Automobile Crossing — 303. 

 Automobile, Chrysler — 367. 

 Automobiles for Apiary — 54, 58. 



Bahama, Village Scene in — 345. 



Basswoods — 64. 



Baxter, E. J.— 151. 



Bee. Habits and Life Functions of — 305. 



Bee Houses — 317. 



Bee House of M. C. Silsbee— 412. 



Bee Moth — See Moth. 



Bee Journals, Oldest— 301, 352. 



Bee Pirates of Africa — 87. 



Bee Tree, Cutting— 314, 386, 424. 

 Bees, Live, Trading in — 119. 

 Bees, Short Articles About — 269. 

 Bee Suit — 237. 



Bee Yard, Thoughts From — 416. 

 Beginning With Bees — 172. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF— 



Apple, The— 25. 



Beekeepers* Library — 24. 



"Elementary Entomology" — 60. 



"Embryology of Honey Bee." Nelson — 13. 



"Beekeeping Simplified — 50. 



Pellett's "Productive Beekeeping" — 12. 



Phillips' "Beekeeping" — 13. 



"Productive Orcharding" — 94. 



"Productive Vegetable Growing" — 134. 

 Bisulphide of Carbon — 354. 

 Bitterweed — 340. 

 Blaker, C. D.— 261. 

 Blight — 41, 201. 

 Bloodroot — 200. 

 Bottling Honey — 282. 

 Bottom Boards — 98. 

 Breed from the Best — 228. 

 Breeding for Better Stock — 264. 

 British Columbia Beekeeping — 349. 

 Brood Chamber, Divided — 169. 

 Brood Chamber, Divisible — 100. 

 Brood Combs, Value of — %Z. 

 Brood. Diseased— 281. 

 Building Up Colonies — 245, 316. 

 Bumblebees Wanted— 241. 



Campanula — 20. 



Campanula Honey — 24. 



Canada, Honey Sources of — 376. 



Capping Can — 47, 283. 



Cardo of Chile— 168. 



Carr, E. G.— 45. 



