100 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



II. I have been asked a good many differ- 

 ent questions, and once a man accused me 

 of manufacturinif questions (lie died), but 

 you are the first man that ever aslted me to 

 furnish both questions and answers. Id 

 hardly like to undertake to make 150 ques- 

 tions that would just fit your case; but fort- 

 unately it happens that there is a possi- 

 bility your desires may be met. since Editor 

 Dadant or one of his sons expects soon after 

 the time when this Bets into print to have a 

 book made containing 1000 questions with an 

 answer to fit each question. Don't count 

 too surely on it. however: he may go crazy 

 before he gets through with it. Sometimes 

 it's made me nearly crazy answering one at a 

 time; I don't know how it would be to tackle 

 a thousand at once. 



Putting Up Hives— Maple Syrup as Feed 



1. When setting up the dovetailed hives. 

 do you nail the corners? If so. how far 

 apart do you put the nails ? 



2. Will maple syrup kill bees if it is fed to 

 them in the spring? 



3 Is it necessary to paint hives different 

 colors so that the bees will go back into the 

 right one? j. . u u • 



4 Does it do any harm to disturb bees in 

 the spring? Vermont. 



Answers.— I. It is well to put a nail in 

 each finger of the corners. 



2. No. 



3. No. 



4. Up to the time bees can fly daily, it is 

 bad to disturb bees unless there be some 

 strong reason for it, such as feeding to keep 

 them from starving After they fly daily a 

 little disturbance does no harm, although it 

 is better in general not to disturb them un. 

 necessarily. 



Increase — Dividing 



I What is the best method of hiving and 

 caring for bees where only a small amount 

 of honey or surplus is wanted and increase 

 of swarms ? , ^ . t. i,- 



2. Do bees swarm the hrst year after hiv- 



^"^ Can dividing be safely done; if so. how ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. Perhaps as good a way as 

 any. for one without much experience, is to 

 allow the bees to swarm naturally, leaving 

 the old hive always on the old stand and 

 putting the swarms on new stands. In that 

 way you may get several swarms from each 

 old one. much depending on the season. 



2. If you hive a swarm this year you are 

 quite safe in counting that it will not swarm 

 until next year. In rare cases, however, it 

 does happen, and then the new swarm is 

 called a virgin swarm. 



3. Yes. dividing can be safely done by one 

 with sufficient knowledge, but to doit suc- 

 cessfully, withoutmakingsomebad blunder, 

 you should be familiar with the general 

 principles of beekeeping, such as you will 

 find in a good bee-book like Dadant Lang- 

 stroth. For a beekeeper to try to get along 

 without a good bee-book is penny-wise and 

 pound-foolish. To tell how to divide a col- 

 ony hardly belongs in this department; but 

 1 may say that one way is to take from a col- 

 ony all but one of its frames of brood with 

 adhering bees, put them in a new hive on a 

 new stand, leaving the queen on the old 

 stand with the one frame of brood, and fill 

 up each hive with frames filled with foun- 

 dation. 



Transferring— Swarm Prevention 



I I want to transfer my bees on metal- 

 spaced Hoffman frames. Langstroth size. I 

 do not want to use the combs of the old hive 

 as they are too old and black. Would you 

 advise me to use full sheets of foundation 

 or not ? . 



, 2 About what time of the year would you 

 advise me to transfer my bees? 



3 Would I need a queen or drone trap, 



and what other tools would I need ? 



4. Would those bees swarm in the spring 

 after they are transferred, or would you 

 advise me to let them swarm before I trans- 

 fer them ? They swarmed four times last 

 spring, but seem to be pretty strong yet. 



5. They claim that by cutting the queen- 

 cells you can prevent swarming. But what 

 ifyour queen should get killed or would die 

 from old age. how could they get a queen ? 



6. What is the color of the larva of the 

 bee-moth? Does it look like the larva of 

 the honey-bee ? Illinois. 



Answers.— I. It is very much better to 

 use full sheets of foundation. You can save 

 three-fourths or more of the cost of the 

 foundation by using narrow strips, but the 

 bees will build too much drone comb, and 

 in the end you will lose a good deal more 

 than you gain. Are you sure you are right 

 about the combs being '* too old and black ?" 

 If you leave it to the bees to decide, they 

 will choose old, black comb in preference 

 to new. It is hard to find comb too old and 

 black so long as it is straight worker-comb 



2. During fruit-bloom is a good time, unless 

 you let the bees swarm first. 



3. No queen or drone trap is needed in 

 transferring. Beside your smoker and hive- 

 tool you need only a brush to brush the bees 

 off tfie comb. 



4. They will be likely to swarm at the 

 usual swarming time, just as if you had not 

 transferred them. 



Yes, it may be full better to let them 

 swarm first. Then you can hive the swarm 

 in the new hive on the old stand, set the old 

 hive beside it. and three weeks later brush 

 the bees off the old combs into the new hive- 



5. Destroying queen-cells may delay 

 swarming, and in some cases prevent it. but 

 generally the bees swarm sooner or later in 

 spite of your killing cells. But if your 

 queen should be killed, or die of old age. 

 and you should persistently kill all queen- 

 cells, then your colony would go up the 

 spout. 



6. The larva of the beemoth is white, or 

 grayish white. No danger of your mistaking 

 it for a bee-larva. The latter is found in the 

 bottom of a cell, while the larva of the bee- 

 moth is in a silken gallery that runs along 

 the surface of the comb through many cells- 



Space Between Hives — Siiade— Entrance 



1. Last fall I bought six colonies of bees, 

 placed them on the south slope of a hill, on 

 the east side of a strip of timber, where 

 they get the shade about 2 p.m. Do they get 

 shade enough ? 



2. I placed my hives in a row. leaving 6- 

 inch spaces for packing. Will it be all right 

 to leave them that way forsummer ? 



3. Should the hives be perfectly level ? 



4. If painted, what color is best ? 



5. In using boughten .hives, should the size 

 of the bee-entrance be changed for summer 

 and winter ? Subscriber. 



Answers.— I. It isn't a matter of prime im- 

 portance. Your bees will probably dolwell 

 if in the shade all day long, and also if in the 

 sun all day. I care for shade more for my 

 own comfort when working at the hives than 

 I do for the comfort of the bees, 



2. So close together in a straight row. there 

 is danger that bees, and especially young 

 queens, will get into the wrong hives If you 

 don't want to make any greater change, you 

 can improve matters much by moving every 

 other hive. Move No 2 close to No. i— no 

 harm if the hives touch— move No 4 next to 

 No. 3. and No. 6 next to No 5- In actual prac- 

 tice this will be as good as making the hives 

 three times as far apart standing singly. 



3. Let them slant a little forward, but level 

 from side to side. 



4. White is as good as any other. 



5. In summer it is better to have the en 

 trance very much larger than is advisable 

 for outdoor wintering 



FILMS DEVELOPED 



All roll films developed for 10 

 cents. We return them the same 

 day. Everything in the KODAK 

 Line. Send for catalog. 



F. M. ALEXANDER 

 Atlantic, Iowa 



MURRY-HE PAYS THE EXPRESS 



If you live within the outer limits of the 6th postal zone (your postmaster will tell you 

 about that), order your pound packages of me. If you return the cages in one parcel and in 

 good condition I will refund the express charges you have paid. This applies only to 12 or 

 more packages to points in the U. S Special rates to points in Canada. Make your arrange- 

 ments so days in advance to insure prompt shipments. 

 Pound packages of beas 12 25 50 100 



i-lb pkg $16.00 $33.00 $ 6S.00 $127.00 



2 lb. pkg 20.50 58.50 116.00 230.00 



Safe arrival guaranteed within five days of Mathis, Tex. 

 If queens are wanted add price of queens wanted to above prices. 

 I have yet failed to find anything better than the strain of Three-banded Italians I have 

 been breeding. They have made good in all parts of America and many foreign countries. 

 Resistant to Isle of Wight disease in England, and European foulbrood and paralysis in 

 America. The best honey gatherers I can find; gentle to handle, requiring but little smoke 

 to control, and cap their honey white. 



There are Goldens and Goldens, but I have at last secured the real Golden Italians. 

 Prettiest bees I ever saw. and good honey-gatherers. Some colonies of my present strain 

 stored as much as 250 pounds of surplus honey the past season. Gentle to handle. 



Three-banded Italians and Goldens are bred in separate yards, so far distant as to 

 make cross mating improbable. Every queen guaranteed. I will cheerfully replace any of 

 my queens that prove to be mismated if returned to me. 



Queans 1 6 12 1 6 12 100 



Prices March 15th to May ist May ist to Nov. 15th 



Untested $1.00 J 5.50 $10.00 $.75 $4.00 S750 $60.00 



Tested 1.25 6.50 12.00 I.oo 5,50 10.00 



Select tested 2.00 10.00 18.00 1.50 8.00 1500 



Breeders 5.00 to 10.00 each, any time. 



Orders filled by return mail is the rule at this shop. 

 Decidedly the best way for the beginner to start with bees is with nuclei, consisting of 

 I. 2 or 3 combs of bees, brood and honey. With ordinary care they build up and store a 

 crop of honey the same year, if secured in the spring. Ship anywhere. Never lost one in 

 transit in my life. 



i-frame nucleus without queen. $1.50; 2-frame nucleus without queen. $2 50 

 3-frame nucleus without queen. $350 f. o. b. Mathis. Tex 

 Add price of queen wanted to above prices. Any number wanted at these prices. No 

 disease. Health certificate with every shipment of bees or queens. Satisfaction guaranteed 



H. Da MURRY, MATHIS, TEXAS 



