62 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



February 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Pee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo. Ih:. 



He does not answer bee-keeoing questions by mail 



Keeping Down Swarming and Getting a Good 

 Crop 



What do you think of this plan for getting 

 extracted honey and keeping down swarm- 

 ing? We will suppose that we have the 

 hives well shaded and plenty of ventilation 

 and well supplied with supers, but once in 

 a while one will swarm. Now suppose you 

 remove the hive and all surplus supers to 

 one side and hive the swarm in a new hive 

 with frames of foundation except one that 

 would contain a little brood and eggs: this 

 frame would be taken from the hive that 

 swarmed. 



Now set this new swarm on the old stand, 

 then place a queen-excluder on the hive, 

 then put all of the supers back on the hive, 

 then shake all of the bees that were left in 

 the old hive in front of this new hive and let 

 them go in; then place the old hive contain- 

 ing the brood on top of all the supers, and in 

 seven or eight days look to see if any queen- 

 cells are started; if there is cut them out 

 and keep right on putting on supers until 

 the honey flow is over: then in the fall of 

 the year double all the swarms up by put- 

 ting one hive on top of the other. When 

 they are all united take the top hive off 

 and see that the hive left to the bees has 

 plenty of honey for winter. I have had to 

 winter my bees outdoors whichldonotlike. 

 as I have never been very successful. 



Minnesota. 



Answer.— Your story reads all straight 

 until you say to cut out any cells that may 

 be found seven or eight days after swarm- 

 ing. You should have cut out cells on the 

 day of swarming, and then for the next cut- 

 ting I'd rather wait eight or nine days more. 



You say. " Then in the tall of the year dou- 

 ble up all the swarms by putting one hive 

 on top of the other." That sounds a little 

 as if you meant to unite two different colo- 

 nies. I hardly think you mean that, but 

 merely to set over the lower story that at 

 the time of swarming was put above with 

 brood in it. But in the fall there will be no 

 brood in it. Within three weeks after 

 swarming all the worker-brood will have 

 emerged, and in the fall it will be a story 

 filled with honey, provided the flow is good. 



Your plan on the whole is excellent, and 

 has been used a good deal. 



Giving Queen Room for Early Laying 



I have six colonies of bees in lo-frame 

 hives. I fed them late last fall just as much 

 as they would store away in their combs, I 

 am wintering them in a cellar, but before 

 I put them into the cellar I weighed them 

 and they weighed from 65 to 75 pounds each. 

 Will the queen have enough room in early 

 spring to lay? Minnesota. 



Answer.— There is very little danger that 

 the queen will not have enough room, but if 

 there should be any trouble in that way 

 just take out one of the outer frames of 

 honey and put in its place an empty comb, 

 placing it outside the brood-nest, but next 

 to the brood. 



Feeding a Weak Colony in the Winter 



Last fall I got two colonies of bees. They 

 were robbed and left weak. How is the best 

 way to feed them so they will go through the 

 winter all right? I do not have any comb 

 honey but have some extracted. 



Nebraska. 



Answer.— You can lay sections on top of 

 the top-bars, cover over with cloths, and 

 leave the bees to themselves. You can feed 

 the extracted honey. Put it in friction-top 

 honey pails having a lot of holes punched 

 through the covers with a wire-nail. Have 



the honey as hot as your finger will bear, 

 but be sure not to scorch it. It will be bet- 

 ter to have more than one pail, so that the 

 bees will not be long in carrying the honey 

 all down. Just set the pails upside down 

 on the frames, and then cover up with 

 cloths. It may be worth while to warm up 

 the cellar to 50 or 60 degrees. If you are not 

 sure that the honey is tree from disease, you 

 can teed sugar syrup in the pails. Heat the 

 water, and while it is on the stove sprinkle 

 the sugar into it, keeping it stirred until 

 well dissolved. For each part of water, 

 either pint or pound, use 2 or 2}i parts of 

 sugar. Use granulated sugar. 



Increasing— Requeening 



1. How early would you advise me to start 

 increase as I want the colony to build up 

 strong before fall ? 



2 Would you advise rearing queens from 

 brood or buying queens ? I have some good 

 stock. «^ 



3. It I buy shoulcTI buy virgins, untested 

 or tested queens ? 



4 If the queen is clipped and a swarm 

 comes out is it necessary to settle them or 

 will they return to the new hive which has 

 been placed on the old stand ? 



5 If I start queen cells in a strong colony 

 (made queenless). then give the cells to a i- 

 trame nucleus would they finish them all 

 right ? Kentucky. 



Answers.— I. One of the surest ways to 

 spoil your chances for good increase is to 

 divide your colonies too early. A point of 

 chief importance is to have colonies first 

 build up strong, and even then better not do 

 any increasing before about the time tor 

 natural swarming, or at least a little before 

 that. 



2. That depends. If you want to keep 

 down expenses, don't feel in a hurry, rear 

 your own queens. It you care more tor in- 

 crease than for the expense, buy queens 

 from farther south, unless you can get them 

 early enough nearer. 



3. Like enough untested may be advisable. 

 i. They will return of themselves, although 



sometimes a swarm will cluster on a tree 

 and remain some time before going back to 

 the hive. 



5 Yes: but you better leave the cells as 

 long as you can safely in the strong colony. 

 You can leave them safely in the strong 

 colony until ten days after taking away the 

 queen, provided no queen-cells were started 

 before the queen was taken away. 



Sour Honey 



I had some dark honey gathered this fall 

 from buckwheat, aster, and some other wild 

 flowers and it was quite thick. After ex- 

 tracting I put it into lo pound pails One of 

 these pails fermented and soured. What 

 was the cause ? There was no wateror mois- 

 ture in the pail, and the honey was kept in a 

 warm place after extracting. 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — Without knowing more about 

 the case I could not speak positively, but 

 my guess would be that the honey was not 

 well enough ripened, and so began to sour. 



no bee disease. I have my bees in a large 

 orchard, and by the time the spraying was 

 done. June 10. my bees were so depleted 

 that they were killing and dragging out the 

 drones. They built up afterwards: no colo- 

 nies were lost. 



The trees were not sprayed while in 

 bloom, but there was a heavy underbloom of 

 dandelion, and at the last sprayingthere was 

 much white clover in bloom: there were 

 3 sprayings. The workers seemed to go to 

 the field and tail lo get back. I got the same 

 dose in igii. but in 1015 there was little un- 

 der-bloom and the loss of bees was not 

 noticed. 



The brood looked healthy, and not many 

 dead bees in front of the hives other than 

 drone larvje and drones. Iowa. 



Answer.— It looks pretty certain that the 

 bees were poisoned by the spray that tell 

 on the dandelion and clover. In States 

 where there is a law against spraying trees 

 while in bloom, there seems nothing to 

 reach the case, and there is nothing tor the 

 beekeeper but to grin and bear it. The only 

 law that would be of use would be one tor- 

 bidding all spraying at any time, and such a 

 law would do more harm than good. 



Getting Swarms from Bee-Trees- 

 Swarms 



-Baiting for 



1. In May and June there are a number of 

 runaway swarms that go flying across the 

 country. How can I capture them or induce 

 them to settle ? 



2 Often they have taken up their abode in 

 some hollow tree. How could I use a bee- 

 escape to capture them, letting them escape 

 into a tight box. taking the box home and 

 giving them a queen ? 



3. How can I put up a box in the woods 

 and let them hunt it up and go into it of 

 their own accord ? Kansas. 



Answers.— I. If you get ahead of them and 

 throw a heavy spray of water upon them 

 you may possibly get them to settle. Some 

 say use a mirror and throw the reflection of 

 the sun upon them. Others say shoot small 

 shot or sand from a shot gun into them. 



2. There is no great difficulty in getting all 

 the workers that fly afield by having an es- 

 cape through which they can pass, with all 

 other exits closed, but the trouble is to get 

 the queen and the younger bees, which are 

 quite satisfied to remain. Possibly you may 

 drive them out by throwing in enough 

 smoke, carbolic acid, or something of the 

 kind. If you can get them out in that way 

 without any escape, then you can quickly 

 close up all chance tor them to return. 



3. The usual way is put the hive in the 

 crotch ot a tree, but it may do as well placed 

 on the ground. One or more empty brood- 

 combs may help, but the moth is likely to 

 get them if they stay long. 



Kind of Sections — Artificial Shade 



1. Are untested queens fertilized ? 



2. Which sections are the best to use, 

 plain or beeway ? 



3. What is the best plan tor shade it you 

 have no trees? Missouri. 



Answers.— I. Yes. It unfertilized they are 

 sold as virgins. 



2. Personally I prefer the beeway. and I 

 think the great majority agree with me. 



s. Vines may be quickly grown. You may 

 have a shade-root ot shingles or any cheap 

 material, allowing it to project on the south 

 side, weighted down with stones. A satis- 

 factory way is to take an armful ot hay or 

 straw— better long grass freshly cut— and 

 pile it on top ot the hive, weighting it down 

 with two or three billets of firewood. 



Believe My Bees Were Poisoned By Spraying 



My bees were wintered in a cellar in 1J2 

 and 2 story hives. On May i the bees were 

 very strong with plenty of stores We had 



Honey and Sugar Compared 



I. A man who owns a large number ot bees 

 gave up a piece ot ground he had been rent- 

 ing and accidentally left a tew hives on the 

 place. A new beekeeper rented the ground 

 and put his bees on the place. He found the 

 boxes left there by the former beekeeper 

 and cleaned them out and set them in a pile. 



