American Me Jonrnal 



IMay, 1910. 



pass them by for once. Writers often 

 entertain views that are quite erroneous. 

 The greatest fallacies have always had 

 able writers to defend them. I have 

 lost a great deal by following the writ- 

 ers of bee text-books. We bee-keep- 

 ers have followed too ardently after 

 writers who had an axe to grind, or 

 they were too theoretical. Anyway, 

 let us get out of the rut. Text-books 

 are seldom original. They follow ruts. 

 There are a number of other points 

 that I might mention, but they are not 

 absolutely essential, and many bee- 

 keepers cannot afford to make radical 

 changes just now. One of these points 

 is non-propolizable hives. Such hives 

 are regularly advertised in Europe, and 

 they are quite within the range of prac- 

 tical bee-keeping. /« matiy l/iirti^'s ice 

 are behind Europe. Our hive-roofs, or 

 covers, also bottom-boards, are poor 

 affairs. Their only merit is cheapness. 

 I often think the great impro-rementx 

 we have made on the original Lang- 

 stroth were in the nature of steps back- 



ward towards the plain box-hive. 



Personally, I prefer a broad, shallow 

 hive which gives much room for sec- 

 tions, so that when a super is well filled 

 it will give 45 to -tO filled sections. That 

 is not quite essential, but it seems to me 

 bees notice a super so placed much 

 more readily than one which stands on 

 top of a tall-shaped hive. I like to put 

 that vacancy as near the brood as pos- 

 sible, so as to check the swarming 

 fever. Shade also has something to do 

 with this matter. Bees hived in a tub 

 are not likely to swarm, if shaded. Put 

 the bare tub out in the sun and they 

 will swarm with the tub half-filled with 

 combs. 



It is my opinion we can control 

 swarming so well that not more than 2 

 percent will swarm, and that, too, with- 

 out any elaborate arrangements for 

 controlling the same. The main thing 

 to remember is to fashion your comb- 

 honey hives so as to resemble hives 

 arranged for extracted honey. 



San Diego, Cal. 



Dr. Miller's Question-Box 



Send Questions eitliur to the office of tht; .Vmt-iican Bee Journal or direct to 



Dk. C. C. Miller. Makengo. III. 



He does NOT answer bee-keeping Questions by mail. 



Best Comb-Honey Super and Hive 



1. Wliat kind of super is the best to use for 

 comb honey, and what are its advantages? 



2. Wliat liive do you think is best for comb 

 honey? West Virginia. 



Answers.— I. Personally. I prefer the T- 

 super to any other. It is simple, costs little, 

 and those who use it correctly have good re- 

 sults with it. 



2. I doubt if there is anything better than 

 the Langstroth hive, the commonest form of 

 which is called the dovetail hive. The lu- 

 frame size is best unless one gives much at- 

 tention to the business. 



Alsike Clover in Kentucky 



Will alsike clover make bee-pasturage in 

 this .State Kentucky)? A very small amount 

 lias been sown in this country until the last 

 year or so. white clover being the principal 

 source of honey. Kentlcky. 



Answer.— I think alsike may be counted 

 on as a good honey-plant wherever white or 

 red clover does well. 



Kinds of Bees 



What kind of bee is each of the ones I 

 have enclosed herewith: The queen, i; the 

 bright striped bee. 2; the glossy looking one. 

 3: the common colored bee. 4? 



California. 



Answer.— You cannot tell by looking at a 

 single bee what sort df a colony it belongs to. 

 It is possible that all 4 specimens belong to 

 the same colony of hybrids, a cross between 

 blacks and Italians. For such a colony often 

 has some bees that have 3 yellow bands, the 

 same as pure Italians; some with no yellow, 

 and some between. One of the workers 

 seems to have 3 bands, as nearly as one can 

 tell from a dried-up dead bee. and it may be- 

 long to a pure colony or to a hybrid. One of 

 the workers may be pure l)lack. or it may be 

 hybrid, 'the queen may be almost anything; 

 for one judges from worKers. not from 

 queens. 



Cork-Chips for Water-Floats 



What size of cork-chips do you use in 

 water to keep bees from getting drowned? 

 Also, about how thick is the layer of corks 

 on top of the water? I am trying to get cork- 

 chips here. I can get granulated cork, of 

 wiiich I have samples Nos. 2, 3, and 4. 



Watering bees in this locality is quite an 

 item. My 7? colonies get away with as high 



as 60 gallons per day. I have to haul it all. I 

 have been using large troughs tilled with 

 brickbats, but the bats take up almost all of 

 the space. I also tried second-hand corks 

 (cut them up), but in a few days the water 

 \vould be foul; mostly wine-corks. I am 

 sending samples of cork-chips. Should they 

 be finer or coarser, etc.? California. 



Answer.— I don't believe it makes so very 

 much difference as to the size of the cork- 

 chips, although I suppose the finest chips 

 will lose their buoyancy soonest. Neither 

 does it matter greatly as to the depth of the 

 layer, only so it be not so thin that the bees 

 will sink down into the water, nor so thick 

 that they cannot reach the water. The chips 

 I have been using are those which the gro- 

 cers receive as packing in kegs of grapes 

 that come in winter, or at least very late in 

 the fall. The chips are of various diam- 

 eters, from very fine ones up to those that 

 are !s inch or more in diameter. A layer 

 about H inch deep is first used, and more 

 added later as they become soaked. The 

 idea is to have enough chips so that the top 

 surface will be a little out of the water. 

 Although I never tried that size. I suspect 

 that the coarsest you send (something like 14 

 inch in diameter) would be ideal. After 

 giving cork-chips a fair trial, if you find 

 they're not great, please send me a letter 

 " blowing me up," and I'll publicly apologize. 



Getting Increase Using Old Combs 



1. Nearly all the bees in this part of the 

 country were lost during the winter. What 

 is the best way to increase? 



2. I have considerable honey in hives 

 where the bees died. Some is not capped, 

 and is a little sour. What is best to do with 

 it? Would it make vinegar? If so, what is 

 the best way to make it? Where the honey 

 is capped it seems to be all right. 



South D.^kota. 



Answers.— I. I don't know. It depends 

 upon circumstances, and especially upon 

 your knowledge. If von have no bee-book, 

 and very little knowledge of bees, very 

 likely there is nothing better than to let the 

 bees swarm naturally, hiving the swarms on 

 the combs left empty by the bees that died. 

 If vou have studied a good bee-book thor- 

 oughly, so as to have a pretty thorough 

 knowledge of general principles, you will 

 likely be able to tell better than any one 

 else what is the best way for you. If you 

 have no such book, it will pay jou big in the 

 present case to get one. ' Korty Years 

 Among the Bees " is perhaps more full upon 

 the subject of artificial increase than any 

 other book, but i can hardly recommend it 



as the first and only book for a beginner. In 

 any case, those empty combs ought to be 

 quite a help to you, and if you have not 

 already done so, you ought to clean out the 

 dead bees and keep the combs in good con- 

 dition till they can be used. It will be a 

 good plan to put one or two stories of these 

 combs under each colony, and then when 

 given to swarms they will be readily ac- 

 cepted. But this may delay swarming, if 

 you depend upon natural swarming. At a 

 venture, I may suggest that if you are famil- 

 iar with it. the nucleus plan of increase is a 

 pretty good one. 



2. If the honey is only a little sour, it may 

 be given to the bees, one frame at a time. It 

 may also be used as you suggest, for vine- 

 gar, and you will find full instructions as to 

 this in the very excellent articles by C. P. 

 Dadant in late numbers of the American 

 Bee Journal. He knows ever so much more 

 than I about making vinegar. 



Labeling Honey 



1. A friend of mine contends that it is 

 necessary for me to place my name on every 

 section of honey I sell in the State. Is this 

 true? 



2. What is necessary if I ship out of the 

 State? 



3. Would the comb foundation I put in 

 sections prevent me from labeling it 'Pure 

 honey gathered from the nectar of flowers 

 by bees?" Illinois. 



Answers.— I. Your friend is entirely mis- 

 taken. There is nothing obliging you to put 

 your name or anything else on your sections. 



2. All the same whether you ship out of the 

 State or sell in the State, as the pure-food 

 laws of the State are about the same as the 

 Federal laws. 



3. The foundation makes no difference. 

 It's beeswax, just the same as when no foun- 

 dation is used. 



Doubling Up Swarms 



1. I would like to know the best way to 

 double swarms up. If they both come out 

 the same day, or a day or two apart, should 

 I put the old colony on top of the new 

 swarm? Should I take the bottom out of the 

 top hive, or how can I get them together? 



2. If a swarm comes forth, and you don't 

 see what hive it comes from, is there any 

 way to tell what hive it comes from? 



New York, 



Answers.— I. If they are only a day or two 

 apart, the easiest way is to hive the second 

 one in the same hive as the first, just as if 

 the hive were empty. But both queens 

 must be laying queens, or else both virgins, 

 for 2 swarms will not unite kindly if one has 

 a laying queen and the other a virgin. 



2. Take a bunch of the bees away from 

 the swarm, dredge them with flour, and 

 watch to which hive they fly back. Of 

 course, you may also be able to make a good 

 guess by looking into the hives and finding 

 one which has a scarcity of bees. 



Ten-Frame 

 Honey 



Hive for Winter — Feeding Section 

 -Getting Extra Frames tor Spring 

 Feeding 



1. My bees wintered well, but I found 2 

 colonies very light. One was in an 8-frame 

 Wisconsin style, and one in a g-frame Acme. 

 This year I am going to use the lo-frame 

 dovetailed hive. Do you think they will 

 winter better if we have a good year? 



2. I fed these colonies by placing a siiper 

 on each, and put in ihree i-pound sections 

 of honey, and repeated when empty; one 

 colony does not use any more of the honey 

 given. Was that way of feeding all right, as 

 I didn't have any honey? Why does that 

 colony refuse to take the honey given? 



3. Do you look into each hive in the spring 

 to see if the bees have plenty of honey, or 

 clean out the moth-worm? In looking into 

 the hive and raising the combs, would it be 

 apt to start robbing? When is the best time 

 to do this work? 



4. The fruit-trees are starting to bloom, 

 the weather is fine, and bees are carrying 

 lots of pollen. Do you think there is much 

 danger of starvation when conditions are 

 such as these? Do bees use pollen for food? 



5. How do you get extra frames of comb 

 honey to be used in the spring, if needed? 



Iowa. 



Answers.— I. The change of hives will 

 probably make very little difference in their 

 wintering. 



2. It is possible that the colony was weak 

 and the weather too cold for the bees to get 



