December, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



Dr. Miller's Question-Box 



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



Dr. C. C. Miller, Makknco, III. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Size of Winter Hive-Entrance 



How large should the hi\e-entrance be in 

 winter ? Does it make any particular differ- 

 ence whether it is in the center or at one 

 corner of the hive ? Illinois. 



Answer.— In the cellar the larger the en- 

 trance the better; at least as large as in 

 summer, and better if larger. But you no 

 doubt winter your bees outdoors, in which 

 case you need an entrance H inch deep, and 

 an inch wide for every frame covered with 

 bees. That would make it 5 inches wide for 

 a colony strong enough to cover 5 frames, 

 and 4 inches wide for colony having bees on 

 4 frames, if you think it advisable to winter 

 so weak a colony. 



Granulation of Honey 



I would like to know why some honey 

 granulates sooner than others, and some not 

 at all. California. 



Answer.— Temperature and other condi- 

 tlbns make a diiTerence. but I don't suppose 

 you refer to that, but to the fact that under 

 exactly the same conditions one kind of 

 honey will granulate sooner than another. 

 It depends upon the plant from whicn the 

 honey is obtained, but that doesn't answer 

 the question, and I don't know why honey 

 from one plant granulates sooner than that 

 from another. Possibly some scientists can 

 tell us. 



Honey from Foul-Broody Colonies 



What can be done with honey from colo- 

 nies having American foul-brood ? I found 

 : among some that I bought. My bees were 

 doing well enough drawing out foundation, 

 and for that reason I would not endanger 

 the rest. (I am a beginner.) Otherwise they 

 seemed to be in fine shape, so I closed them 

 up the evening I found it out, and poured in 

 some bisulphide of carbon, and It has not 

 spread. Subscriber. 



Answer.— The honey from foul-broody 

 colonies is all right to use on the table, but 

 it must not be fed to bees unless first boiled 

 enough to destroy all germs that may convey 

 the disease. It will not do to let the honey 

 be full strength when boiling, for then the 

 outer part may burn while the inner part is 

 not hot enough to destroy spores. Take as 

 much water as you have honey, heat the 

 water and then pour in the honey, and let it 

 boil for 3 hours. 



Introducing Queen and Requeening 



1. About Oct. 19, I received 6 untested 

 Queens, and succeeded in introducing 5 of 

 them safely, but the Oth was killed, and that 

 colony began to build queen-cells. The 

 queens were used to requeen 6 colonies that 

 had old queens. What is the best way to re- 

 queen ? 



2. Are the fall months the best time to re- 

 queen? Pennsylvania. 



Anwers. I.— Yourquestion is so broad that 

 it can hardly be answered without writing a 

 whole book. I suspect, however, that you 

 mean to ask for the best way /o inirodiice a 

 queen. Even then the question is too broad. 

 A queen in a nucleus in one's own yard is a 

 different thing from one received by mail. A 

 queen that costs 5 or 10 dollars is a different 

 thing from one that costs only a dollar. But 

 I'll try to guess what may hit your case. 



It may be that you have in mind a very 

 valuable queen. In that case I would take 

 no chances, but proceed in a way that is en- 

 tirely safe. Have ready 3 or more frames of 

 scaled brood, much of it just hatching or 

 about to hatch. Brush every bee from these 

 frames and put them in a hive, putting with 

 them combs containing some honey, and a 

 comb in which you have sprinkled some 

 water. .Shut the hive up bee-tight. Keep it 

 in a warm place where the temperature 

 never eoes below 70 or 80 degrees. Or, you 

 may set the hive over a strong colony with 

 wire-screen between the two stories, so that 

 the heat may ascend but nobees g:et up from 

 below. In .s days set your hive on a new 

 stand, giving an entrance only large enough 



for one bee at a time, enlarging the entrance 

 afterward as needed. 



The other safest guess is that you have re- 

 ceived by mail a queen for which you have 

 paid about a dollar. In that case, likely the 

 iDest way is to follow the instructions that 

 accompany the queen. You will take some 

 chances in that, for there will be some fail- 

 ures in almost any way of introducing 

 queens. If you don't want to take any 

 chances, then follow the plan given for the 

 more valuable queen. 



Now if I have not made the right guess as 

 to the part of your question you want an- 

 swered, please come again, specifying a lit- 

 tle more particularly. 



2. All things considered, probably they 

 are. although circumstances alter cases. 



Dimensions of 8 -Frame Hive 



I. What are the dimensions of an 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive and super? Also the 

 frames? Massachusetts. 



Answer.— .Some of the dimensions of the 

 8-franie hive have varied from time to time, 

 but I'll give you what I think will generally 

 be found today : 



Length, inside measure. 18K inches; width, 

 12W; depth. Q^-s; but as the driest lumber 

 you are likely to get will shrink somewhat, 

 it is better to make the depth gSi. The super 

 has the same length and width as the hive. 

 Its depth depends upon what it contains. If 

 it is an extracting-super, it will be the same 

 as the hive-body, provided the frames are to 

 be the same as those in the brood-chamber. 

 In any ca?e the depth of the extracting- 

 super will be ^4 inch more than the depth of 

 the frame to be used in it. allowance to be 

 made for shrinkage if there is to be any 

 shrinkage The depth of the section-super 

 must be such that there shall be Jj-inch 

 space left at the top of the super. 



The frame is 17-^8 by Q'i. outside measure. 

 Width of top-bar varies from iH down to fi; 

 and the same may be said of end-bars and 

 bottom-bar. Some have the same width as 

 the top-bar. and some have them narrower. 

 In any case, the frames are generally spaced 

 so that the distance from center to center 

 shall be i^a; although some prefer i'?. With 

 the spacing \H, there is plenty of room for 

 a thin dummy or follower beside the frames. 



Questions by a Beginner 



1. How can I tell if the bees are short of 

 stores ? 



2. There are a great many dead bees in 

 front of one hive. What is the cause of it ? 



3. The live ones are very lively, and of a 

 bright yellow color with 3 stripes across the 

 tail ? What kind of bees would you judge 

 them to be ? 



4. How can I tell if moths are doing harm ? 

 =;, Can old. mothy hives be cleaned so that 



they will be fit for the bees again? If so, 

 how is the best way to clean them ? 



6. Can I put my bees in clean hives now, or 

 would it be any benefit to change them ? 



7. Do dones ever appear on the outside of 

 the hive? If so, how can I tell them from 

 the other bees ? 



8. Where would I be most likely to find the 

 queen ? 



0. How long is the breeding season, and 

 when does it begin ? 



10. Should my hives be covered up during 

 winter? Missouri. 



Answers.— I. One way is to look in the 

 hives. So long as you see sealed honey at 

 the upper part of the combs, the bees are 

 not in immediate danger of starvation. If 

 they have the equivalent of 4 combs filled 

 with honey, they will have enough for win- 

 ter. You may also tell by weighing. If the 

 hive, bees and all. weighs 40 pounds more 

 than the same kind of a hive with no bees 

 and empty combs, you may count they will 

 winter throug.i. 



2. I don't know. It is possible that a stray 

 swarm attempted to enter and part or all of 

 its bees were killed. 



3. Probably Italians. 



4. You may generally count that moths are 

 doing no great harm so long as a colony is 



very strong. At this time of year you need 

 not pay any attention to them, but when 

 warm weather comes next year, if you sus- 

 pect moths, you can lift out the frames and 

 see whether they have built their silken 

 galleries on the surface of the comb. 



5. Yes. all you need to do is to scrape the 

 hives clean. 



6. Better let them alone until they fly 

 freely next year. 



7. Yes, during the working season you may 

 see them flying out almost any good day 

 some time during the middle of the day. 

 You can tell them by their larger size. If 

 you want to make sure, catch one. and if 

 it doesn't sting you it's likely a drone. 



8. Ttie queen may be in any part of the 

 hive; but is generally found on the brood. 



Q. If bees are cellared, there will be little 

 or no breeding until they are taken out. The 

 queen begins to lay sooner if bees are win- 

 tered outdoors, often as early as February 

 and sometimes even in January, in theNorth. 

 and earlier in the South. She may stop lay- 

 ing in October or September, and some- 

 times as early as August. 



10. Yes; especially on top. 



Keeping Bees from Spotting Clothes 



I have kept about 8 colonies of bees in the 

 city with good success for 5 years. Although 

 my neighbors are only about 30 feet away 

 from the bee-house, they have never been 

 stung. But I have had trouble every spring 

 when the bees take the cleansing flight, and 

 spot the neighbor's wash. Now I would like 

 to ask how to avoid this. I keep the hives 

 in a bee-tight house. 1 have tried to close 

 the entrance with screen on wash-day, but 

 that killed many bees on a warm day. I also 

 tried the way described in "ABC&XYZ 

 of Bee-Culture," page 65, but it did not work. 

 Now- I have planned to build another house 

 out of wire-screen in front of the entrances 

 to the hives, with a movable front, have the 

 front closed on the critical day, and open on 

 all other days. Would the bees cleanse 

 themselves in the screen-house ? If so. how 

 big should it be ? Wisconsin. 



Answer.— No doubt the scheme will work 

 if the screen house is large enough. How 

 small an enclosure will do is only a matter 

 of guessing. Fifty feet each way would 

 probably work nearly as well as to have 

 everything entirely open, but such a size as 

 that is of course out of the question. It is pos- 

 sible that to feet each way would work pretty 

 well. Even with the chance to fly only 3 or 

 4 feet away from the entrance the bees 

 might not suffer much, and of course the 

 more room the better. But. mind you. this 

 is only guessing. 



Slope of Hives — Hive-Ventilation — Wintering Bees 



1. How much should a hive slope forward, 

 I or 2 inches ? 



2. How is the best way to ventilate hives in 

 winter? 



3. Is there any danger of bees smothering 

 in winter ? 



4. Is it all right to leave the honey-board 

 on in winter, taking out about 4 inches 

 through the center o\-er the brood-frames, 

 and leaving on one super hlled with cloth 

 and excelsior, then putting on the winter- 

 case? Illinois. 



Answers.— I. It is not a matter of great 

 importance as to the exact pitch; either 

 will do. 



2. In the cellar it matters little how, pro- 

 vided there be enough ventilation, and there 

 is no danger of having too much. Formerly, 

 with box-nives. a good plan was to turn the 

 hive upside down, with no covering over it. 

 That left it all open above and all closed be- 

 low. Of course, no sort of hive-ventilation 

 will avail if the air in the cellar be impure. 



For outdoor wintering, the entrance may 

 be ^ by 6 inches for a strong colony, and 

 less for a weak one; besides this opening at 

 the entrance, some cover with some sort of 

 packing thatallows a little air slowly to pass 

 upward. Others leave the cover sealed 

 down as the bees left it in summer and fall. 

 But in this case the top must be warmly 

 covered. 



3. The entrance may be filled up by wet 

 snow which freezes, closing the entrance 

 entirely, when there is danger of smothering. 



4. It would be likely to work all right. 



Getting Empty Combs for Swarms, Etc. 



I. This year I have been running for ex- 

 tracted honey so as to get empty combs for 

 swarms next summer. Would you use such 

 combs, or would you use foundation in the 



