1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



207 



will hardly notice the small part that differs 

 from the blacks. 



2. Put on supers when you see the very 

 first blossom on the plant you expect your 

 first harvest from, which with you is prob- 

 ably white clover. 



Swarms— Caucasians — Beginning in Bee Business 



1. If bees are kept in one story hives all 

 summer, how many times will they swarm ? 



2. Are the jrrav Caucasians better for out- 

 door wintering? 



3 Will the gray Caucasians work better on 

 red clover than the Italians i' 



4. How can I get a good start in the bee 

 business? lowA. 



Answers. — I. If the hive is large enough, a 

 colony may not swarm at all; if small 

 enough, even as small as an Sframe hive, 

 with no additional room given, a colony may 

 swarm one to eight times, and possibly not 

 at all. 



2. Probably not. 



3. I don't think so. 



4. That depends. If you can buy full colo- 

 nies in your own neighborhood, that's your 

 best chance. If you send away, it's a ques- 

 tion between buying nuclei or bees by the 

 pound. With little or no experience, it 

 would be better to buy nuclei. 



American Foulbrood — Colonies Stealing Eggs 



1. Is there any way that you know of that 

 would be safe to use extracting combs 

 taken from colonies affected with American 

 foulbrood the same as European foulbrood ? 



2. Wliat is your plan for treating American 

 foulbrood ? 



3. Is it safe 'to treat colonies affected with 

 American foulbrood? 



4. Have queenless colonies ever been 

 known to steal eggs from other colonies to 

 rear a queen ? 



5. Do you know if queens are ever mated 

 with drones produced by laying workers ? 



Kansas. 

 Answers.— I. There would be a risk, and 

 I know of no special plan or treatment that 

 would lessen the risk. Yet if the disease is 

 rather common in the neighborhood it might 

 be worth while to try using such extracting 

 combs. 



2. 1 never treated but one case of Ameri- 

 can foulbrood. and that was by fire. I 

 burned up bees, combs, frames, everything 

 but the hive; I couldn't get that in the fur- 

 nace door. And that's the advisable plan 

 with only one or two diseased colonies. If 

 I had a number of cases I should use the 

 usual brushing plan. 



3. No. indeed. 



4. They have been said to do so; I don't 

 know whether it is correct or not. 



5. I don't know; I suppose it is possible, 

 but doubt its frequent occurrence. 



Transferring 



I hived a swarm on narrow starters last 

 year. They built combs in every direction 

 so that I cannot move a frame. I would like 

 to requeen. Will it be best to drum them 

 into an empty box and kill the queen ? 



Oklahoma. 



Answer —Perhaps it would be as well to 

 wait until they swarm, hive swarm in good 

 hive, and break up old colony 21 days later. 



Size of Hive for Wintering— When to Put On 

 Super 



1 Will the body of an 8 frame hive hold 

 sufficient food for a strongcolony to winter ? 



2 Should inner cover under lid be pu: on 

 in summer ? 



3. Should supers be put on when bees are 

 unpacked in spring? 



4. What causes water in honey at this 

 lime of year ? 



5 Can combs partly made or partly filled 

 in the fall be put back with supers in spring? 



Illinois. 



Answers— I. The body is large enough 

 to contain abundance of food, but often it 



does not contain enough. If the combs are 

 mostly filled with brood until late In the 

 season, there may be a shortage of stores. If 

 I should leave my 8 frame hives to them- 

 selves from fall to next harvest, I should 

 expect many of the colonies to starve. 



2. I don't know just what the arrangement 

 is, but at a guess would say it might be kept 

 on. 



1 No. indeed; in your locality supers 

 should not be given before the first clover- 

 bloom opens. 



4. Probably the condensation of vapor that 

 comes from the bees. 



5. If they are combs in sections, it is not 

 well to use them unless the bees cleaned 

 them out in the fall. Brood-combs may be 

 used all right, but if honey has been left 

 over winter in extracting combs the honey 

 stored in them will be affected by it. 



Royal Jelly Aster Honey 



1. What is royal jelly and what does it 

 look like ? 



2. What is Ester honey ? Iowa. 



Answers.— I. It is the food given by the 

 nurse-bees to the larvas in queen-cells. It 

 looks a little like thick milk; but what is 

 left in the cell after the young queen emer- 

 ges is more solid, looking more like jelly. 



2. I think I never saw mention of Ester 

 honey. Perhaps you mean aster honey, 

 which is gathered in the fall from asters, 

 being rather dark and strong in flavor. 



Miscellaneous 



1 What is the best method to use to find 

 the queen? 



2 Are the golden bees of the Italian breed 

 or are they of another race altogether ? 



3. What is the difference between the Car- 

 niolan and Caucasian bees ? 



4 Can artificial or Weed process of comb 

 be told apart from the original article wfien 

 placed side by side ? 



5. Of what breed are the leather-colored 

 bees ? 



6. If a person wishes to increase his colo- 

 nies, which way would be better, by swarm- 

 ing or by dividing ? 



7. Which is the better hive for this locality, 

 the single-walled hiveor the double-wailed ? 



S. What is the best food for bees, if they 

 have to be fed ? 



g. Will not the European war greatly inter- 

 fere with beekeeping in Europe ? 



10 What is the lowest price in history 

 that honey has sold for ? 



11. What is the highest price in history 

 that honey has sold for? 



12. Is swarming entirely useless, and is it 

 a waste of energy and time ? 



13 Will bees build the comb straight in 

 sections where comb foundation is not used? 



14. What breed of bees is the gentlest ? 



15. Is there any country where movable- 

 frame hives have never been introduced ? 



Illinois. 



Answers —I. There is no given rule. 

 Don't use much smoke, and go about it 

 quietly. If you stir them up so as to get the 

 bees to running, shut up the hive until an 

 hour later or until another day. Look on 

 the combs where the brood is. although 

 sometimes she may be elsewhere, even on 

 the bottom or sides. If you don't find her 

 after looking the combs over two or three 

 times, give it up until another time. 



2. They are Italians with more yellow than 

 the original Italians. 



i, Carniolans swarm more, and some 

 strains of Caucasians are gentler. 



4. I doubt if you or I could tell the differ- 

 ent kinds apart; the manufacturers might. 



5. Italians. 



6. That depends on circumstances. One 

 with not very much experience, who can be 

 on hand to watch for swarms may do best 

 to leave the matter of increase to the bees, 

 only insisting that there shall be no second 

 swarms. Those who can be with their bees 

 only part of the time should take increase 



into their own hands The experienced 

 may do either or both ways. 



7. All things considered, perhaps the sin- 

 gle-walled hive is better. 



8. Nothing equals good honey. Granulated 

 sugar, in syrup or candy, comes next. 



J. It has interfered greatly, although In 

 some parts the business is said to be going 

 on much as usual. 



10 I don't know. The lowest I have heard 

 of has been giving it away, although it is 

 possible a reward has been paid for taking it. 



11. I don't know. I have read of its being 

 sold for a dollar a pound or more. 



12. In its proper lime and place it is very 

 useful. For practical beekeepers it is 

 pretty generally worse than useless. 



13. No. 



14. Hard to say. Caucasians have had 

 that reputation, but some Caucasians have 

 been reported as vicious. 



15. Likely, but I don't know. 



Size of Tin Top Cover 



What size do you find or think most con- 

 venient for your M-inch dead air space, tin 

 top cover ? Washington. 



Answer.— Mine are just the width of the 

 top of the hive. Some are lust the length, 

 and some H inch longer. I think I like the 

 latter rather better, because less care is 

 needed in putting on the cover. 



Color of Breeds 



I What color are the Italian queens ? 

 What is the difference between the Italians 

 and blacks ? 



2. What is the use of having a division- 

 board in a colony ? 



3 What color are the queen cells just 

 after they are built, and what color are they 

 just before the virgin hatches ? Nehraska. 



Answers — i The color varies from a 

 bright yellow to the color of a black queen. 

 But the workers should not vary but each 

 have three yellow bands In general, Italians 

 differ from blacks in gathering more honey 

 and defending their combs better from the 

 depredations of the bee-moth. 



2, What is sometimes called a division- 

 board is really a dummy. It is used at the 

 sideof the hive so that it will be easier to 

 take out the frames after the dummy is 

 taken out. Some, however, prefer not to 

 have the dummy. 



3. When a queen cell is built it is likely to 

 be much the color of the brood-comb on 

 which it is built. If this be old and dark, 

 the cell will be rather dark, although never 

 so dark as a very old comb; while on a new 

 comb it will be light, growing a little darker 

 at the time the virgin emerges. 



Shook Swarming, Etc, 



1. Please tell how shook swarming is done, 

 and if you advise such swarming ? 



2. What do you think of this, to contract 

 a lo-frame hive to only six frames just before 

 the main honey flow and put dummies in 

 place of the frames \\'ill this force the bees 

 to go into the supers faster or will the 

 broodnest be too small for brood-rearing 

 and force the queen to go into the sections 

 and lay eggs ? 



3. If I have ico swarms this fall and only 

 want 50 hives in the cellar, should I kill 50 of 

 them and extract the honey from the combs, 

 or should I unite the swarms ? 



Wisconsin. 

 Answers.— I. Shakeswarming is advisable 

 in many cases, especially where it is not 

 feasible to be on hand to watch for natural 

 swarms. Toshake a swarm yousimply shake 

 or brush all or nearly all the bees from 

 all but one comb of brood, leaving in the old 

 hive the queen with all or nearly all the 

 bees, the one comb of brood, and filling the 

 hive with frames filled with foundation or 

 else with drawn combs. The disposal ypu 



