388 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



2. I doubt if there is any way to liquify the 

 honey satisfactorily without melting the comb. 



Clover Honey 



You were asked in the last Bee Journal 

 about sweet clover honey and you answered 

 that you did not know much about it, so I am 

 sending you a section by mail and swear this 

 is pure white sweet clover honey, as I am lo- 

 cated where clover is heavy, and when it is in 

 bloom the bees seem to work on it altogether. 



reel, or should some other lubricant be ap- 

 plied? 



3. In the spring of the year I usually place 

 ove- each of my colonies a few combs with an 

 excluder over the brood-nest. Last June, when 

 very strong colonies would cast a swarm, there 

 woudl be from half a dozen to fifty or more 

 seemingly perfectly normal drone larvae in 

 these upper stories. How did the queen get 

 the eggs above the excluder? 



4. 1 had a poor queen in one colony. I 

 killed her and placed the brood over a strong 



A CHURrH BUILT OF H(.)NKY. GEO. F. BOWLRSUX BKLiLVLS IN IHL STRENGTH 

 OF ADVERTISING. HE BUILT THIS CHURCH, WHICH STANDS ON A FOUNDATION 

 16x20 INCHES FOR EXHIBITION PURPOSES, AND IT ACCOMPLISHED ITS PURPOSE, 



I had 175 stands spring count, and increased 

 to 260. I expect to harvest six tons of honey 

 or better. I am running for both comb and ex- 

 tracted. Tell us in your next Journal what 

 you think of sweet clover honey. 



WYOMING. 



Answer. — The sample received is unlike 

 what has been generally described as sweet- 

 clover honey, as it has no greenish tinge and 

 no vanilla flavor. Both honey and comb are 

 remarkable for whiteness; indeed, in that re- 

 spect it seems the most beautiful I ever saw. 

 Whether it be genuine sweet clover or not, 

 anyone who gets a crop of such beautiful 

 honey is to be congratulated. 



colony with a young and very .vigorous queen, 

 with excluder between; about a week or ten 

 days later I exapiined this brood and was as- 

 tonished to find a queen-cell with a freshly-laid 

 egg in it. How did this get above when there 

 was an excluder between the two hive-bodies? 

 Did you ever have a similar experience? 



5. I follow your plan when a swarm issues, 

 removing the brood and preparing a hive so 

 the swarm upon returning will occupy the orig- 

 inal stand and I usually expect to find a 

 young queen laying within about three weeks 

 in the removed brood. This past season i 

 found laying workers had begun their work 

 prior to the time when I expected a laying 

 queen. This happened in three cases. Is this 

 unusual ? Did you ever have similar experi- 

 ence? 



6. In 1916 I had considerable difficulty in 

 getting young queens to mate and return to the 

 colony safely. I was informed by a beekeeper 

 that this was the result of following the Miller 

 plan of hiving the swarm on the old stand and 

 removing the brood. He says this plan results 

 in queens of weakened vitality on account of 

 drawing the field bees to the swarm. Inasmuch 

 as I have some of the most vigorous queens 

 and consequently some of the strongest colo- 

 nies in this locality, I, of course, do not 

 agree with him. What do you think about ii: 



INDIANA. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know, but I should 

 expect it might settle clear if merely melted 

 and allowed to remain liquid for a considerable 

 time, so as to have time to settle. About such 

 things the Dadants know more in a minute 

 than I do in a day, and they may have some- 

 thing to say. 



(When fastening foundation in sections the 

 sheet should be just allowed to touch the hoi 

 plate and slip off onto the section, without any 

 loss of wax. Perhaps a few drops would be 

 lost in the course of an hour. If beeswax is 

 allowed to get overheated on a hot plate, it is 

 burnt more or less, and it would be very diffi- 

 cult to give it back a good color. — C. P. D.) 



2. Where honey touches, no other lubricant 

 is needed. 



(This is absolutely correct. But when yOu 

 want to use your extractor again, after having 

 used honey on it as a lubricant, you will find 

 that it has gummed the bearings so as to make 

 it almost impossible to turn the crank, espe- 

 cially if it has stood a long time. A little hot 

 water will dissolve this "gum" without effort. — 

 C. P. D.) 



3. I don' t know. Could it be that the work- 

 ers carried up the eggs? 



4. I have had queen-cells reared in combs 

 that were given empty over an excluder — I 

 think two or three cases — and I don't know 

 how to acc-unt for it unless the workers car- 

 ried up the eggs. 



5. I never had a like experience, I think, 

 and I think it is very unusual. 



6. The first queen-cell is sealed before the 



Clearing Wax — Queen Introduction 



1. When fastening foundation in sections, a 

 certain portion of the wax runs off the hot 

 plate and becomes badlv smoked and discol- 

 ored. Do you know of any plan by which this 

 wax could be freed from this objectionable 

 color? 



2. When extracting, will the flowing honey 

 fiufiiciently lubripatO t^e lower bearing of the 



APIARY AND HONEY HOUSE OF GEO. JF. BOVVERSOX AT PORTLAND, INDIANA. 



