July, 1910. 



227 



American Hee Journal 



»^^^ I 



Dr. Miller's Question-Box 



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

 Dr. C. C Miller. Makkx<;o. III. 



He docs NOT answer bee-l<ecpiii? questions by mail. 



16. Not so well as in the flow; but with 

 feeding you may succeed. 



17. I don't know that the cell-cups would 

 make any difference. 



Sowing Buckwheat in Corn 



Would it be protitabie. at the last eultiva- 

 tion of corn about July 10 to 15!. to sow buck 

 wheat in the corn for bee-pasture? Have 

 any of the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal ever tried it ? If so. what were the 

 results? Illinois. 



Answer.— I've had no experience in the 

 case, and will leave the question open for 

 others to answer. I know that heartsease 

 Erowine anions corn is of value, and it seems 

 buckwheat might be. If you make the ex- 

 periment please report. But remember that 

 buckwheat is not always a sure yielder. any- 

 way. 



Perhaps Bee-Paralysis 



Two of my colonies are killing what seems 

 to be old bees. They turn black, and they 

 drive them out. The brood seems to be all 

 riffht. I had one colony affected the same 

 way last year that became all right. I would 

 like to know the cause and cure, if any? I 

 have over 100 colonies, but never saw any- 

 thing like it before. Missouri. 



Answer.— The probability is that it is a 

 case of bee-paralysis. The bees are black 

 and shiny from losing their plumage. They 

 come out of the hive and jump around on the 

 ground, generally with bodies somewhat dis- 

 tended, and there is a peculiar trembling 

 motion of the wings. The sound bees ap- 

 pear to pester and drive the sick ones. As 

 far north as you are. it is doubtful if you 

 need pay any attention to it. I've had sev- 

 eral cases of the disease, and never did any- 

 thing for it. and the disease disappeared of 

 itself. Far enough south it becomes a ter- 

 ror, and although many cures have been 

 offered they generally fail to effect a cure. 

 O. O. Poppleton says he cures by sprinklfng 

 sulphur over bees and comb. 



Too Many Drones 



I enclose a sample of dead bees. Our bees 

 ;we have only one colony have not swarmed 

 since we got them. 3 years ago. This spring 

 the colony seemed strong, but a couple of 

 weeks ago the bees began to carry out dead, 

 half-grown young bees in great numbers, 

 and lately they have been killing each other 

 without apparent cause. Can you give a 

 reason or a remedy ? California. 



Answer.— The dead bees are drones 

 mostly. The yield of honey ceased, the bees 

 superseded their old queen with a young 

 one. or there was some other reason why 

 the bees did not desire to support a lot of 

 useless consumers, and so they drove out 

 the drones and dragged out the drone- 

 brood. There is nothing unusual about it. 

 and nothing for you to do in the case, unless 

 it be to avoid having so many drones in the 

 future; for I suspect that you have an unde- 

 sirable number of drones in the hive. The 

 remedy is to allow only worker-comb in the 

 hive. When bees are filling the hive with 

 comb, allow nothing but frames filled with 

 full sheets of worker foundation. In the case 

 of a hive already filled with comb that con- 

 tains a good deal of drone-comb, cut out the 

 drone-comb and fill the vacancies with 



Eatches of worker-comb, cutting up. if need 

 e. a frame of worker-comb to supply the 

 patches. 



Swarming — Removing Honey 



1. How do bees act before they swarm ? 



2. I would like to know how late in the fall 

 to take off surplus honey, so as to let the 

 bees have time to get their winter stores 

 ready? Minnesota. 



Answers.— I. In some cases they hangout 

 in a great cluster on the front of the hive 

 for a day or more before swarming. But 

 this is no very reliable sign, for they may 

 swarm without hanging out at all. The surer 

 way to tell is to look in the hive for queen- 

 cells. A number of these are always built 

 before swarming, and about the time the 

 first one is sealed you may expect a prime 

 swarm to issue, unless weather delays. The 



queen-cell is sealed about 3 days after the 

 egg is put in the cell. If there is any after- 

 swarming, you may expect the second 

 swarm a week or two after the primeswarm. 

 and if it does not issue within 16 days after 

 the prime swarm >'OU needn't watch any 

 longer. A third swarm may issue about two 

 days after the second swarm. 



2. Generally the bees will look out for 

 their winter stores and have enough in the 

 brood-chamber without waiting for you to 

 take off supers. Take supers off as soon as 

 How ceases, without paying any attention to 

 stores in brood-chamber. But always have 

 on hand extra frames of sealed honey to 

 give to any colony that may be needy, 

 although generally there will be no need of 

 them until the following spring. 



A Beginner's Questions 



1. Could I make a nucleus hive for about 10 

 or 15 2-comb nuclei, with bee-tight partitions, 

 with one entrance at the back, then the next 

 one at the front ? 



2. W^ould wire-cloth be better for the par- 

 tition than thin boards ? 



3. On an average, how long will it take a 

 queen to fill one of these 2-comb nucleus 

 hives with eggs ? 



4. How many of these 2-comb nuclei will 

 one strong colony take care of with brood 

 and larvs ? 



5. How early could I start them ? 



6. How long does it take for a larva to be 

 capped over after the egg is laid ? 



7. Why couldn't there be made an incuba- 

 tor to keep the brood warm after it is 

 capped over ? 



8. Could a beginner use the cell-cup plan 

 of queen-rearing with success ? 



0. Which would be the best. Root's queen- 

 rearing outfit or swarms ? 



10. How can I get my queens mated with- 

 out putting them into a colony. 



11. How could I best keep a large number 

 of queens over the winter with only a few 

 colonies ? 



12. About how many queen-cells does a 

 colony generally start on a prepared frame 

 like you mention in " Forty Years Among tlie 

 Bees?" 



13. If I have some pure drones, how could I 

 get queens mated with them? 



14. How long does it generally take a col- 

 ony to fill a body of 8 frames with sugar 

 syrup for feeding, using comb foundation ? 



15. Will they fill these bodies before the 

 honey-flow without injuring the colony ? 



16. Could I rear queens after the flow all 

 right? 



17. Could I do it with the cell-cups ? 



Nebraska. 



.-Answers.— I. Yes; but there would be 

 danger of queens entering the wrong en- 

 trances. 



2. Wire-cloth would be bad. 



3. Perhaps a week. 



4. If you mean that no queens are to lay in 

 the nuclei, anywhere from 4 to 20. according 

 to how strong you want the nuclei. 



5. As soon as clover yields. 



6. About 8 days. 



7. Lamp nurseries have been in use for 

 years: but not so much now, perhaps, as 

 formerly. 



8. He would probably make more or less 

 failures. It's something of a trade to be 

 learned. 



Q. The beginner would probably get more 

 good queens from swarms. 



10. Put them into nuclei. 



11. In a suitable cellar you might keep 

 them in nuclei. 



12. Anywhere from 10 to 30. 



13. Take them to some place i]6 miles dis- 

 tant from other bees. Possibly you might 

 succeed by putting in the cellar thehive con- 

 taining the young queens and drones, taking 

 it out as soon as other drones have stopped 

 flying, and then feeding so as to induce 

 flight. Mr. Aspinwall has had some success 

 by clipping the wings of his virgins just a 

 little, so they would not fly far from home. 



14. I don't know. Perhaps a week. 



15. Depends. Feeding so much very early, 

 especially in bad weather, might do much 

 harm. With everything favorable it might 

 in some cases do good. 



Locating lor Bee-Keeping 



1 have had bees two years. I was led to 

 begin by reading 'A B C of Bee Culture." 

 Langstroth's " Hive and Honey-Bee." Cook's 

 'Manual of the Apiary," andQuinby's " New 

 Bee-Keeping. " all of wliich so interested me 

 that I took up bee-keeping as a sort of pas- 

 time for the years that may be left to me. I 

 am now 58 years old. Two years ago I got 

 one colony in May, and by winter increased 

 to 5 colonies, which wintered well. Last 

 year I increased from s to 10 colonies. I was 

 called from home during September when I 

 should have been feeding for winter. A 

 neighbor's horse broke in and upset 12 hives, 

 killing 2 of my queens. Rain had set in be- 

 fore I fed for w-inter. I fed by laying combs 

 on their side, and filling from a dipper with 

 perforated bottom. I fed 200 pounds of 

 sugar in this way. The bees never trans- 

 ferred all the sugar, and the hives were 

 damp as a result. From the middle of Octo- 

 ber to May I it rained almost constantly, 

 with occasional sharp frosts. It was a most 

 unusual winter. My bees were all dead in 

 the spring. Nearly every bee-keeper here 

 lost heavily. I have decided that this is not 

 a good country for bees. Both years I win- 

 tered the bees on the summer stands. I 

 want to go to a new and favorable location 

 for bee-keeping. I have decided to choose 

 between Southern California and Northern 

 Washington, if the latter is suitable for bee- 

 keeping, it being for other reasons prefer- 

 able. Can you tell me if Washington is anv 

 good as a bee-country, or direct me to any 

 one who knows from actual experience how- 

 bees do there ? British Columbia. 



Answer.— I have no positive knowledge as 

 to how the two places compare, but have an 

 impression that there mav not be so much 

 difference but what other things might make 

 Washington the place for you to choose. I 

 leave the question open for any one who 

 knows more than I do about Washington 



Why Did the Bees Swarm ? 



Colony No. is was examined on June 10. 

 and the queen-cells destroyed, although 

 there were no eggs in any of them. Then on 

 the i8th they swarmed, with only es^ers in the 

 queen-cells. What caused them to swarm 

 so previously ? Weather was warm, being 

 02 degrees Fahr. in the shade during the 

 warmest part of the day. The hive was the 

 only 8-frame; we have regular Langstroth 

 frames, painted red. but was shaded, well 

 shaded, too. and some of the other hives had 

 no shade. We use a cover of the Colorado 

 style. Iowa. 



Answer,— I don't know. The smaller size 

 of the hive would have something to do with 

 it. and so might the heat. The disposition 

 of the bees may have figured in the case: 

 some bees are much more inclined to swarm 

 than others. 



Cleaning Up Unfinished Sections 



I would like to learn of a good plan to 

 clean up sections that are unfinished in the 

 fall of the year. That is, I extract all un- 

 finished, but there is more or less honey left 

 in the combs after extracting. When these 

 boxes are stored away or put in supers it 

 leaks down and drips all over, and makes a 

 sticky and dauby mess. I have thought of 

 tiering up supers 12 or 15 high, and let the 

 bees rob out, but as my yard is close to the 

 house and buildings, I do not like to doit, 

 and I don't know which is the better wav. 

 I have at present 105 colonies, and expect to 

 increase to 175 this season. I had about 2000 

 of these sections, and am using them for 

 baits, and find them excellent in starting the 

 bees to work in the supers. New York. 



Answer —I have had much experience in 

 getting the bees to clean up sections in the 

 fall, and have found no better way than to 

 let the bees rob them out. If j-ou pile them 

 up. as you suggest, allow an entrance large 

 enough for a single bee for each 3 or 6 supers. 

 If the bees can get at them more freely, they 

 tear the combs to pieces. With a sufficiently 

 large number to be cleaned out. say some- 

 thing like a super for each colony, you may 

 go to the other extreme and spread them all 

 out so as to let the bees have free access to 

 the whole business at once. I spread the 

 supers about in my shop cellar, and when all 

 are ready I open the door and invite the 



