1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



279 



tivc except to tlic hc'os, l)Ut the 

 foliage is sufficient to rccoinineiul il 

 to those wishing climbing vines. Few 

 plants arc as hardy in our climate as 

 this. 



New York Honey Producers — The 



Western New \iirl< lloiuy I'rothic- 

 crs' Association will hold its annual 

 field meeting and basket picnic on 

 Saturday, Aug. 11, 1917, at the apiary 

 of J. Roy Lincoln, which is located on 

 the Saunders Settlement or Niagara 



h'alls-Lockpfirt road just outside of 

 the city line, or ten minutes' walk 

 from the north terminal of the Niag- 

 ara Falls, F^leventh Street trolley 

 line. 



There will In- clcninnslrations of 

 extracting with a power (jutlit and 

 addresses on the use of honey and 

 the various pliases of beekeeping. 



liring your basket lunch and your 

 friends, honey consumers as well as 

 beekeepers. A cordial welcome to all. 

 VvTLTJAM F. VOLLMFK, Sec'y. 



rounded over, looking like little bullets, 

 then a dronelaylnK queen Is present. If you 

 find some of the brood in worker cells sealed 

 flat and some of it rounding, that indicates 

 an old. failing queen, and if a large propor- 

 tion of the brood is shown to be drone-brood 

 by the rounding cappinifs. you may about as 

 well count the queen worthless and unite 

 the bees wilh others. 



2. Yes. but il will be better to set these 

 combs under or over a stroni; colony first to 

 uet the bees to clean them up. If too dirty 

 the combless bees may desert. 



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



Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo. IL-.. 



He does not answer bee-lieeDini: questions by mall. 



Evaporating Honey 



Last summer I extracted a quantity of 

 white clover honey from sealed combs. The 

 honey seemed to be of excellent quality. 

 but when I weighed it I foundthat it weighed 

 a scant II pounds to the gallon According 

 to my information it should weigh 12 pounds 

 to the gallon. Ought this honey to be evap 

 orated until it is of the required density be- 

 fore it is offered to the trade ? 



If it should be evaporated, what is the best 

 way of doing it ? Minnesota. 



Answer.— Honey as thin as 11 pounds to 

 the gallon, no matter how good the quality. 

 is in danger of souring, and having regard to 

 your reputation and future sales, it will not 

 be the wisest thing to put it on the market. 



It matters little how you evaporate it so 

 that you do not injure it by overheating. If 

 the quantity is not very large, you may set it 

 on the back of the stove, where it may be 

 heated through several days without ever 

 getting very hot. You may also set the vessel 

 containing the honey in another vessel con- 

 taining water, and then you can set it in a 

 hotter place. 



Transferring— Ripened Honey 



1. I caught a large swarm of bees and put 

 them in a box with a few frames in it. They 

 took very well to their new home and built 

 some beautiful combs from the cover down. 

 1 have ordered a hive from Dadants Would 

 you advise me to transfer my swarm to the 

 new hive or should 1 save the hive for an- 

 other swarm which I think will come from 

 this one ? I examined the comb they built 

 and saw the most of them were already 

 capped. I caught the swarm April 7. and 

 they certainly have worked wonders since 

 that time. 



2, What is meant by ' honey should not be 

 extracted when first harvested. Give it lime 

 to ripen." How long will it take to ripen 

 and how will I know when to take it out ? 



Louisiana. 



Answers — i. If the colony is likely to cast 

 a swarm this season, you may do as well to 

 leave the bees as they are and hive the 

 swarm in the new hive. Then in three 

 weeks you can break up the old hive. But if 

 it was a swarm of this year that you cap- 

 tured, it is not very likely they will swarm 

 before next year. If you have had some ex- 

 perience in transferring, it may be better to 

 transfer as soon as you can; otherwise it 

 may be better to wait until the colony 

 swarms next year. Something, however, 

 depends upon the frames, in which the 

 combs now are. If they are such that they 

 can be lifted out easily, the work of trans- 

 ferring would be made easier, making it 

 advisable for you to transfer at once. You 

 see it's a bit hard to advise what is best 



without knowing all the circumstances. 



2. When honey is first gathered it is very 

 thin, and unfit to be extracted. Gradually 

 it becomes thicker until it will weigh about 

 12 pounds to the gallon, when it is called 

 "ripe." When very ripe il strings out in 

 threads. When you have a little experience 

 you will know by sampling it whether it is 

 fit for extracting. In the meantime you are 

 pretty safe in saying that honey is " ripe " 

 when It is all sealed, and indeed there is 

 little risk In exlractlng it when three-fourths 

 sealed. 



Diarrhea 



I. I lost two colonies of bees last winter, 

 although they had plenty of honey. At the 

 entrance of the hive there were brown 

 specks, and when I smashed one of the 

 dead bees there was a brown substance that 

 came from it. What was the matter with 

 my bees? 



2 Will this hive with its comb and honey 

 be all right to use again ? Nebraska. 



Answers — i. The bees were apparently 

 affected with diarrhea, and the brown spots 

 at the entrance and the brown substance 

 you saw when you smashed a dead bee were 

 the same thing, that Is the contents of the 

 bees' bowels. The best cure for diarrhea is 

 for the bees to have a flight so that they 

 may have a chance to discharge the con- 

 tents of their Intestines. Of course, you are 

 dependent on the weather for that. Have 

 your colonies go into winter quarters 

 strong In bees and well supplied with good 

 honey, give them good protection, and you 

 will have done your share toward prevent- 

 ing an attack of diarrhea. 



2 Brush out the dead bees, scrape the filth 

 off the frames, and it will be all right to hive 

 a swarm into the hive. 



Queenless Colony- 



Pouml Packages Put on Old 

 Combs 



I How can a beginner tell In early spring 

 that a colony Is queenless ? 



2. We are getting bees (i-pound packages) 

 with queen shipped in from the extreme 

 Scuth We intend turning them on 10-frame 

 old combs which have plenty of honey, but 

 some of them are moldy Would this be all 

 right ? Iowa. 



Answers.— I You cannot tell until time 

 for the queen to begin laying; but that Is 

 quite early. Indeed, there Is sealed brood 

 In the hive as early as you would be likely 

 to want to look Into It. If you find this 

 brood Is sealed with flat cappings. you may 

 count that a good queen Is present. If you 

 find brood In worker-cells with cappings 



Pure Honey 



Some persons In my community are still 

 Ignorant on the honey question, and say it 

 looks too much like manufactured to be 

 pure A honey sign that I had printed runs 

 as follows: 



pure honev 

 Produced and sold here. 



I was told that they could have me ar- 

 rested for printing pure on it. What do you 

 say ? In my opinion they cannot. What Is 

 honev If It Isn't pure ' 



My apiary Is open to Inspection. My honey 

 is open to analysis. There is Jioo for any 

 one finding my honey not pure and sanitary, 

 and not made by the bees. What do you 

 say about this ? Illinois. 



Answer.— If you are selling the honey that 

 the bees gather from the flowers as pure 

 honey. It Is pure foolishness for any one to 

 say you can be put up for advertising it as 

 such, either in a newspaper or on a sign- 

 board. 



Taking Bees from a Bee Tree 



I am Inexperienced In keeping bees, but 

 have some bee trees on my place along the 

 Bellefourche river. There are bees in Cot- 

 tonwood trees near here. 



1. Can I take the worker-bees from a 

 tree with a bee-escape by placing a new 

 hive near by for them to enter ? 



2. If done in June will the young bees left 

 in the tree with the old queen build up an- 

 other colony ? 



3. How soon could I move the hive with the 

 bees to another place two miles away ? 



4. Please give the best method of taking 

 the bees where the trees can be cut. 



5. What Is the best method of taking the 

 bees If my method will not work ? I wish to 

 try and get a start of bees from these bee 

 trees. 



6. Does smoke destroy bees? Last sum- 

 mer. In a large cottonwood tree near by. 

 was what seemed to be a very strong colony 

 working well Later in the season I noticed 

 a snake curled up In the hole where the 

 bees had been, but they were all gone. The 

 bees from another large tree not far from 

 this one also disappeared. If the snake 

 took the bees would they leave any honev 

 in the tree? South Dakota. 



Answers.— I. You might succeeed. but you 

 would have only field bees, which are not 

 the very best for building up a colony ? 



2. Yes, If the colony Is at all strong It will 

 soon recover from the taking away of its 

 field force. 



3. You could move it just as soon as all the 

 field bees were trapped out. which would 

 probably be in two or three days. 



4. It Is a matter of gumption more than of 

 fixed rule. Cut down your tree so as to 

 smash the combs as little as possible; cut 

 off above and below where the bees are. and 

 then you have much the same as a colony in 

 a box-hive. 



5. I don't know enough to give you any sat- 

 isfactory way of getting the bees without 

 cutting the tree. If anv one does, he can 

 have the floor. [If the colony Is in a part of 

 the tree trunk where it can be easily 

 reached, you may drive them out by cutting 

 a good sired hole above the hollow where 

 the bees are and one below. Then drive 

 them out by using smoke at the lower hole 

 After that you may do as you like with the 

 combs. The driven bees will probably clus- 

 ter near by and you may hive them like a 

 swarm.— liDiTOR.] 



