1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



245 



common single nails driven into the end- 

 bars the proper depth. 



10. B. K. KindiK, State Inspector, East 

 Lansing. Mich. 



Result of Put Up Plan— Disease 



1. A colony swarmed on April i. and was 

 treated on your "put up plan" the same 

 day. leavini; two frames of brood below. On 

 April 7 I look away those two frames of 

 brood. Kivinu them two others from my best 

 queen. April lo I " put down the queen." 

 placing the hive which had been below with 

 its two frames of brood and bees on a new 

 stand. The next morning 1 found wliere I 

 had " put down the queen" there had been a 

 general fiuht and more than a quart of bees 

 had already been killed. The weather was 

 cool and cloudy, probably there had been 

 no honey coming for several days Was this 

 the cause or was it because I wasthree days 

 late in putting down the aueen ? 



2. The last fetv days I have lost a great 

 many bees the ground for to or 15 feet from 

 the hives being thick with them crawling 

 around, apparently too weak to Hy. Their 

 appearace is normal as far as I can see. 'Ihe 

 abdomen might be a little enlarged, but not 

 very pronounced. There is no trembling or 

 nervousness, in fact the opposite. They 

 seem rather dopey and slow of movement, 

 like bees when the temperature gets low. 

 The fruit bloom is past by about two weeks, 

 so I hardly think they have been poisoned 

 by spray. What is the cause ? 



California. 



Answers.— I. This is new to me; never 

 had any trouble of the kind, although I 

 think I never left the queen up so long. 

 I hardly think the trouble would have oc- 

 curred from either the long time alone or 

 the lack of fora.fe. but it took the combina- 

 tion of both causes. 



2. I give it up. It looks rather more like 

 poisoning than anything else. 



finished sections, although possibly a little 

 more danger of trouble from the queen going 

 up. But I am not sure of the latter from 

 experience. 



TransferrinjE — Queens Miling^ 

 Bees 



Long Tongued 



Hives — Sections 



1. I have three hives of bees that wintered 

 in good shape, and 1 am rather in doubt as 

 to what style of hives to buy. Do you use 

 the Danzenbaker brood chamber and frames 

 or regular Hoffman hive-body? No doubt 

 the Hoffman frames are easiest to remove 

 from the hive. Would you advise me to use 

 the Protection hive or plain single-walled 

 hive and make the packing boxes instead 

 for them ? Tne difference in price of hives 

 will buy lumber for making packing boxes. 1 

 believe. 



2. Do the plain 4x5x1^ inch sections when 

 filled in good shape, weigh net 16 ounces? 

 Would you advise using the iM-inch section 

 for full 16 ounces net weight in honey ? Can 

 I get as good results from this section as 

 from 4'4X4'4Xi's inch beeway sections ? 



3. Would it be best to use an extracting 

 frime on each outside row of supers or will 

 this attract the queen up into the super ? 



Michigan. 



Answers.— I. Unless I am greatly mistaken 

 there is no Hoffman hive-body, although 

 Hoffman frames are used in dovetailed 

 hives, and a dovetailed hive is nothing but a 

 Langstroth hive with dovetailed corners. 

 The Hoffman frame has been so changed 

 that not much of the Hoffman is left to it. 

 It, again, is only one form of the Langstroth 

 frame. I use dovetailed hives with Miller 

 frames, and Miller frames are Langstroth 

 frames with common single nails for spacers. 

 You are right that the Hoffman frames as 

 now made are easier to remove than the 

 Danzenbaker, because the point of attach- 

 ment is less, and it is still less in the Miller 

 frame. 



Like enough you would be just as well 

 suited with the single walled hive. 



2. There is no size of section that can be 

 relied on to contain a net weight of 16 ounces 

 at all times. The seasons vary, and there 

 will be variation in colonies, and even in the 

 same colony in the same season all will not 

 be alike. After trying different kinds on a 

 considerable scale, f prefer the 4'»x4'*xi%. 

 In this I think I am not different from the 

 majority. 



3. If your supers are such that you can 

 use an extracting comb each side of the sec- 

 tions, there will be less trouble with un- 



1. If there is a colony of bees under the 

 weather-boards of a house and I wish to put 

 them in a hive, would Ihe queen go into the 

 hive if I use a Porter bee-escape ? 



2 If there is a colony of bees in a log or 

 box hive, would it be all right to tiut 

 a hiveon top of it and drive the queen with 

 someof the bees up into the hive and put a 

 queen excluder between until the brood be- 

 low is hatched to save the brood. 



3 My hives have about an inch space be- 

 tween the frames and cover. Would you 

 prefer blankets on top of the frames or not ? 



4 How far is a drone likely to come to 

 mate with a queen ? Will queens be likely 

 to meet a drone from a small apiary a mile 

 away ? 



5. What is the best thing to do with a col- 

 ony that is being robbed, if I wish to save it ? 



b. Would it be all right to kill all drones of 

 inferior colonies at all times ? 



7. Will the long-tongued bees do as well as 

 the common bees when there is no red 

 clover ? 



8. Where can I get long tongued Italian 

 queens ? 



'1. If I were in a great hurry would you an- 

 swer my questions by return mail if I send 

 about 15 cents for extra trouble ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. If the colony should swarm 

 the queen would go out through an escape, 

 but not at any other time unless smoke or 

 something of the kind were used strong 

 enough to drive all the bees out. [liven then 

 it would be doubtful.— Kditor.1 



2. Yes. but it will be a gain if you have in 

 the hive above a frame of brood, or at least 

 an old brood-comb. 



3. Yes. for with as much as one inch of 

 room the bees will be pretty sure to make 

 trouble building comb in the space if there 

 is nothing to prevent 



4. Likely thereis possibilityof mixing with 

 apiaries five miles apart, although the 

 chance is very little. Some think that 

 queens hardly go more than a half mile 

 away to mate. There would be considerable 

 chance of mixing with a small apiary a mile 

 away. 



5. Contract the entrance, pile up hay to 

 the top of the hive and keep il drenched 

 with water. Or take the hive down cellar 

 and return about dark on a succeeding day 



6. Yes. 



7. Yes. so far as I know. 



8. I am not sure that any are being offered 

 nowadays. Long tongued bees are not a 

 persistent race. 



g. No; if there were no other reason 

 against answering by mail, a sufficient one 

 is that in that case only one person would 

 be benefited, while in print many may 

 benefit. 



Beekeepers' Association— Price of Honey 



1. I have seen in the American Bee Journal 

 that It IS to the advantage of every bte- 

 keeper to join some bee association, to en- 

 able him to receive better prices for his 

 honey, and also to be posted on the market, 

 but as 1 am so far away from any such or- 

 ganization I would like to have advice, if 

 any. on what association to join ? 



2. Owing to the fact that everything is 

 going up in prices, what would you suggest 

 settling my price of honey at ? I have been 

 selling the same at 10 cents per pound. 



Arkansas. 



Answers— I. I am not certain where is 

 the beekeepers' association nearest you. but 

 as you are in the State of Arkansas it may 

 be that the Arkansas Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion might suit you. On page I6« of this 

 Journal for May you will see notice of its 

 meeting May 12 at Nickerson. Kan. 1 he sec- 

 retary is J. L. Pelham. but unfortunately I 

 cannot give his address.— [Mr. Pelham's ad- 

 dress in Hutchinson, Kan —Editor ] 



2. It is not easy to say what you should get 



for your honey without knowing anythlne 

 about what it is like, but on general prin- 

 ciples one would suppose there should 

 be an advance of at least three cents a 

 pound. Indeed. If you have been relailinc 

 to the consumer at 10 cents a pound, he 

 hardly ought to complain at is cents a pound. 



Bee* Killing a Hew Queen— Qneen-Cell* 



1. While perusing over some bee clippings. 

 I met with one stating that it is quite liable 

 that one may seem perfectly successlul 

 about the introduction of a queen, eggs are 

 laid. etc.. when, alter two or three weeks the 

 bees kill the queen, apparently after she 

 has done enough to enable them to rear a 

 queen of .their own. What do you think of 

 this ? fs there any way to prevent it ? 



2. Suppose a colony has a lot of queen- 

 cells of which quite a number are capped, 

 and if one removes every frame having any 

 cells, and leaves them but a frame of brood 

 or eggs and fills up the space with frames 

 of full foundation, would swarming be fore- 

 stalled? By being a close watcher as to 

 this, one might secure a lot of desirable 

 queen cells from any good colony. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— I. Yes, that sort of thing some- 

 times happens. I am glad to say it has not 

 been a frequent thing with me. and sorry to 

 say I know of no way to prevent it 



2. Yes. if you take away all but one brood, 

 all idea of swarming will be given up for the 

 time, generally for the season, cells or no 

 cells. You see it s practically shaking a 

 swarm. But in watching in this way for 

 mature cells, you must keep in mind that a 

 colony is likely to swarm as soon as the tirst 

 queen-cell is sealed. 



Foulbrood 



I. Are the bees of a young queen more apt 

 to stingthanihoseofanotdqueen? 



2 What time in the spring is foulbrood 

 most likely to appear ? 



3 Is there any way of getting rid of Ameri- 

 can foulbrood other than of destroying the 

 whole colony ? Tennessee. 



Answers— I. I don't believe there is any 

 difference. 



2 In cases where the disease was in the 

 hive the previous season, you may find the 

 signs in the brood about as soon as the 

 combs are well filled with brood. When it 

 appears in a colony for the first time, it may 

 appear at any time throughout the active 

 season. 



3. Oh. yes; the bees and the hive are gen- 

 erally saved; the combs are melted and the 

 wax saved, and some think it worth while to 

 save the frames. Indeed, total destruction 

 is seldom resorted to unless it be the first 

 attack, and only one or two colonies in the 

 apiary are affected. 



Poisonous Honey 



I have been told that bees gather nectar 

 from certain plan;s. which causes the honey 

 to be poisonous. Is this the case, and if so. 

 what are the plants ? New York. 



Answer —There is an ancient story about 

 an army of soldiers being poisoned with 

 honey, and there have been reports of a cer- 

 tain plant down South yielding poisonous 

 honey, but I don't know whether there's 

 anything in it. 



When to Put on Supers 



1. When is the best time to put on supers, 

 before swarming or after ? 



2. When the weather is warm the bees are 

 all over the front of the hive. What is the 

 cause? Missouri. 



Answers.— I. The time to put on supers is 

 a little before the bees are storing honey so 

 fast that there isn't room for it in the brood- 

 chamber. An old rule was to give supers as 

 soon as the bees begin to put bits of white 

 wax on the top-bars or upper parts of the 

 comb. It is better to act a little before that. 



