American Bee Joarnaj] 



H thick seems to show that 17!-*' would be 

 enough. Unfortunately some of my supers 

 are a little more than 17M. not being made as 

 accurately as they should have been, al- 

 though made at a regular hive-factory. No 

 ereat harm comes from a loose fit if it were 

 not that it allows the sections to drop down 

 at one end. 



2. I don't think all producersof bulk honey 

 use frames of the same depth, and it is prob- 

 ably not very important as to the depth. 

 Those who. like Mr. Scholl. use brood- 

 frames prefer, I think, to have the surplus- 

 frames of the same depth as brood frames. 

 I don t know, but I should suppose, that any 

 one who makes frames any shallower than 

 the regular Langstroth {qMi would prefer 

 them still shallower than yours, which are 

 7% inches deep, outside measure, which is 

 only i» of an inch shallower than the Lang- 

 stroth frame. Wouldn't 6 inches be deep 

 enough for you ? That would leave the 

 honey-comb 5 inches deep with top and bot- 

 tom-bars Ji inch thick. But don t you think 

 a bottom-bar ^4 inch thick is unecessarily 

 strong ? Most people would be satisfied with 

 % inch. ^^^^^ 



Queen-Rearing and Swartti-Prevention 



1. What method of larvce trausferrence do 

 you use in queen-rearing? Do you think 

 that of transferring cocoons superior to dry 

 cell and jelly ? 



2. Do you ever raise the back of the inner 

 cover on hives for summer ventilation ? 



3. Would a good method of requeening and 

 swarm prevention be to take the queen from 

 the colony making preparations, and after 

 they start cells to graft larvse from the 

 breeder in their cells after destroying the 

 inmate of the cell ? 



4. What is the best method of transferring 

 bees from a box ? Illinois. 



Answers.— I. I don't use either way. 

 Formerly I used both ways, and preferred 

 transferring cocoons. 



2. I have no inner cover, and I don't raise 

 the cover for ventilation. But I do what is 

 equivalent to it: I let the super come far 

 enough forward to allow a space of '4 inch 

 for ventilation. This very often through the 

 hot weather. It has its objections when 

 working for comb honey, but the advantages 

 are greater. It has not the same objection 

 for extracting work. 



3. Inexperienced hands the plan ought to 

 work well. 



4. Let the colony in the box-hive swarm, 

 and 3 weeks later, when all worker-brood 

 has emerged, break up the hive and melt 

 the combs, adding the bees to the swarm. 



May Not Be Foul Brooil — Treatment 



How far am I off ? They say what people 

 don't know don't hurt them, but what I 

 don't know at the present time about Euro- 

 pean foul brood hurts me beyond compare. 

 First I will try to describe the looks of the 

 brood I suspect of being diseased. Brood in 

 the larval state, probably one in 25, seems to 

 be shriveled, and does not have that clear, 

 white, transparent or watery appearance. 

 Also, the brood in the pupal state should 

 always be capped (as I suppose), but it is 

 not capped, but I can see those purple eyes 

 through a small hole left not sealed, which 

 looks as though they had started their work 

 but had not finished it. But still they seem 

 to be alive; at least, they move their anten- 

 nae or feelers, and the mandible, or jaw. 

 although some would not move; they were 

 all intact, firm, and of one color. Still I am 

 satisfied that some of this brood in the larval 

 state is dead. This has come suddenly to 

 me, and I suppose with close attention I can 

 decide whether this is European foul brood 

 or not. But 1 would like your opinion. The 

 above conditions exist in about 7 colonies 

 out of go. 



The main object with me is to get your 

 udgmenton the following treatment that I 

 lave been studying over for the last few 

 days. 



First, fill a super with chunk-honey frames, 

 drawn combs, or foundation. Go to the dis- 

 eased colony, remove it from its stand, put 

 said super on the stand in the place of the 

 old hive, shake the same as a shook swarm; 



fiut another super on top of this one the fol- 

 owing day. with an excluder between 

 (chunk-honey super preferred). Now re- 

 turning to the old body I will say, set it by 

 the side of said ^^per, and handle on Atchley 

 plan. Of course. I don't expect to follow 

 that plan to a finish, but I will leave enough 

 bees in the body to protect it until the 21 

 days have expired, then I will shake them 

 and remove the body for 4 days, return it to 



i,^ 



Its own original stand latter removing super; 

 return the bees to it and hatched brood in 

 the super the same as done in the body. My 

 idea IS to get some honey and at the same time 

 cure the disease. Yes, I can almost see you 

 smile when you think of those big bunches 

 of pollen I will have in that upper super, 

 biit the chunk-honey man gets very handy 

 witli the knife, you know. Yes. again, I will 

 not have a glutted brood-chamber with all 

 young queens, with a chance for a record 

 breaker the following year, that is true. I 

 will also add that I don't expect to make 

 honey or money without a big lot of work. 

 But do you think it will cure? and is "the 

 game worth the candle?" Oregon. 



Answer. -From your description I have 

 some doubt whether your bees have Euro- 

 pean foul brood. Send a sample of the dis- 

 eased brood to Dr. E. F. Phillips. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Washington, D. C, and 

 you will get positive information. If you 

 write him in advance he will send you a 

 package and frank, so postage will cost you 

 nothing. 



I don't know whether your plan will cure, 

 but It doesn't seem to be giving the best 

 chance for a cure. If I understand correctly, 

 you are expecting the bees to clean out the 

 combs, and are leaving only a few bees with 

 the combs to do the cleaning. A weak, dis- 

 couraged lot of bees can not be expected to 

 be very energetic about cleaning up. If you 

 want to save the combs and also get a crop 

 of honey, why don't you try the Alexander 

 plan, or a modification of it ? First, see that 

 the colony is strone. or make it so. Remove 

 the queen. Ten days later destroy all 

 queen-cells and give the colony a virgin 

 queen of pure Italian stock, or at least of 

 vigorous stock. But perhaps there is no 

 foul brood among your bees, and by the time 

 this is in print all the bad symptoms will 

 have disappeared, in which case they will 

 not need any treatment. 



Relative Merits of Bees 



1. What are the relative merits of Golden 

 Italians, 3-banded Italians, Caucasians, and 

 Carniolans, for this region? 



2. Having 3-banded Italians, could Cau- 

 casian queens be introduced? and would 

 they mix with my present strain ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. Answering in a general way, 

 I should say that the 3-banded Italians were 

 likely to take the lead for good results. 

 Either of the others has its admirers who 

 find it superior to the 3-banded Italians, but 

 others give different testimony. Perhaps 

 this may be because of difference in indi- 

 vidual colonies. At any rate, the great ma- 

 jority. I think, consider the 3-banded Ital- 

 ians the ones to tie to. 



2. A Caucasian queen could be introduced 

 into a colony of Italians, and there could 

 hardly be said to be mixing in that colony, 

 for in less than 2 months there would be 

 nothing but Caucasians in the hive. But 

 there would be mixing afterward, for the 

 next young queen reared in the Caucasian 

 colony would be likely to meet an Italian 

 drone. Also. Italian virgins in other colonies 

 might meet Caucasian drones. 



Questions by a Beginner 



1. 1 purdiased a 3-frame nucleus this 

 spring, receiving it May 5. I have been feed- 

 ing them ever since I got them. Do you 

 think they will be strong enough in about 4 

 weeks to store any surplus honey, the flow 

 beginning about June 5 ? 



2. Would you think that a 3-frame nucleus 

 would be strong enough colony since May 5 

 so I could take another 3 frames of brood 

 and bees out of the colony about July 15 and 

 start another colony? Of course. I would 

 have to buy a queen, and get them strong 

 enough for the winter. 



3. What is a division-board in a hive for? 

 How is it used, and where would you place 

 it to get the best fcsults ? 



4. How can you tell a queen from the rest 

 of the bees ? Mine are all Italians. 



5. I have seen more or less in the American 

 Bee Journal about using 2-story hives. How 

 would this work: Place a hive minus the 

 bottom on top of another hive, and let the 

 queen and bees enter the same as the lower; 

 let them breed in the upper story, and use 

 the lower for stores; that is. do it in the fall 

 of the year ? Would you have to leave 

 this upper story on all the time, or could [ 

 take it off in the spring? Would such a col- 

 ony store more honey than in a single story ? 

 Which is best? I am a beginner in the bee- 

 line. I had 4 colonies last year and they all 



died last winter. So I started fresh again 

 this spring with a 3-frame nucleus. I will let 

 you know what luck I have had, some time 

 t n IS 1311. 



I have been getting the American Bee 

 Journal for 6 months, and I am well pleased 

 with it. If I live long enough I may be a bee- 

 keeper some day. Illinois 



Answers,— I. Quite likely they may. Yet 

 there is nothing certain about it. Something 

 depends upon the strength of the nucleus 

 tor all 3-frame nuclei are not equal in 

 strength. If strong, in as good a season as 

 this promises to be, they ought to yield a 

 a good surplus. 



2. Yes, if of good strength, and the season 

 good. 



3. A division-board may be used to sep- 

 arate a hive in 2 parts, either to contain 2 

 colonies or 2 nuclei, or to make the room 

 smaller for the one colony in the hive. 

 Division-boards are not used a great deal 

 In many apiaries none is used. Dummies 

 are much used, and these are often incor- 

 rectly called djvision-boards. A dummy is a 

 board, generally thin, of the same size as a 

 brood-frame, and having a top-bar. Almost 

 invariably an 8-frame hive contains a dum- 

 my. The 8 frames do not quite fill the hive 

 and the dummy is put in atone side to fill 

 out the vacant space. It is easier to lift out 

 the dummy and then lift out a frame than it 

 would be to lift out a frame if the frames 

 filled the whole space. I'en-frame hives are 

 generally made so they need no dummy I 

 don t know why. 



4. Look for a bee longer than the rest, and 

 with wings that look too short for the length 

 of Its abdomen. You'll not be likely to miss 

 It the first time you see it. 



5. It wouldn't work the way you seem to 

 expect. Bees like to have their stores above 

 their brood, and if you gave them an upper 

 story they would use that and not the lower 

 one for stores. Whether it would be a good 

 thing to have 2 stories depends upon a good 

 many things— too long a story to go into here 



I- rom some things you say 1 suspect you 

 have no bee-book. It will be money in your 

 pocket to have one. It might save the cost 

 of the book several times over just in the 

 matter of wintering alone. 



Keeping Ants Out of Hives — Oipping Qoeens 



1. What is good to keep ants out of bee- 

 hives ? We are bothered with them so 

 much. We shake them off every day, but 

 they don't seem to stay out. Will it hurt the 

 bees ? 



2. We had a colony that did not have a 

 queen in the spring, and the rest had. When 

 I looked for the queen the next day in the 

 hive which stood near that one, I found the 

 queen had walked over in the queenless 

 hive. Did you ever hear of anything like 

 that ? 



3. Is it best to clip the queen's wings ? 



Wisconsin. 

 Answers.— L Generally, the kind of ants 

 that trouble bees in your part of the coun- 

 try do no serious harm. More than anything 

 else, they like to make their nests over the 

 hive because it is warm there. The bees 

 will drive them out themselves, if the bees 

 can get at them. The prevention is to have 

 no place where the bees can not get it ants 

 can get there. If there is a quilt over the 

 frames that closes down so no bee can get 

 above the quilt, and then a cover over that 

 with a crack big enough for the ants to 

 crawl through, that makes the nicest kind of 

 a warm shelter for the ants. Some keep ants 

 out by having legs to the stands, the foot of 

 each leg standing in a little dish containing 

 water or some offensive substance the ants 

 will not crawl through. 



2. I'm not sure I ever knew anything ex- 

 actly like it. 



3. I wouldn't like to keep bees without 

 having the queens' wings clipped, and I 

 think most bee-keepers are of the same 

 mind. 



A Beginner Asia Some Questions 



1. I use foundation starters in all of my 

 new hives. Would you advise the use of a 

 bee-feeder inside of a hive filled with syrup 

 where a new swarm of bees is to be put? 

 and do you think this will bait the bees so 

 that they will not leave the hive, which they 

 sometimes do ? 



2. They say if a swarm of bees goes south- 

 west and stops, and you hive them, they will 

 stay; but if they go southeast and stop, and 

 you hive them, they will not stay. What is 

 your opinion ? or give the reason why ? 



3. Will bees go in old hives as well as new 

 ones when they have become damp inside 



