July, i9ir,. 



245 



American ^ee Journal 



new queen in June or July. Early in sprinir 

 is about the worst time. A nueen reared 

 too early is not a good queen, and it will 

 cost more for a queen then than later. 



APIARY OF OVER 50 COLONIES OF F. H. MINOR, OF PERRY. N. Y. 

 His assistant in the foreground. 



knife made very sharp. Some clip the wings 

 with a pair of scissors while the queen is on 

 the comb. Perhaps the majority hold the 

 queen by the thora.^ (never by the abdomen 

 or soft part), while the two wings of one side 

 are cut off with a pair of scissors. 



2. As a rule each bee will return to its own 

 hive. In a large apiary, however.it some- 

 times happens that there will be some mix- 

 ing, part or all of the bees of a swarm being 

 attracted by the noise of a returning swarm 

 that had previously issued. 



3 It is best to leave the old hive standing 

 close by the swarm on the old stand for a 

 week, because, as explained many times in 

 this department, if the old hive is left there 

 for a week and then removed to a new place 

 thtre will be no afterswarm. 



4. You can pick out each ball, put it in a 

 hive, and then distribute to each ball its 

 proportion of bees; for a queen is not likely 

 to be injured in a ball until you have time 

 to make the distribution 



;. Yes: a ?8-inch bottom starter, and the 

 top-starter coming down within about 'A- 

 inch of the bottom-starter. 



6. When a super is something like half 

 tilled, and the prospect is good for a con- 

 tinuous yield, put a new super under. You 

 may at the same time put an empty super on 

 lop, ready to be put next to the hive at the 

 next shift. 



Swarms Leaving Hive- Requeening 



I. It seems that after swarms have been in 

 a hive from tour to hve years they will leave, 

 and « hen they go you cannot settle them 

 I hey seem bound to go. If you examine one 

 of these hives they will contain f. om 40 to so 

 pounds of honey. The bees are in modern 

 hives Wtiat is the reason of this? Is it 

 because they are crowded ? I know of one 

 man who has lost at least 12 colonies this 

 year 



2 When is the best time of year to re- 

 queen f Oregon. 



Answers — i. I cannot explain why it 

 seems so. but I can tell you that it seems 

 wrong. After a colony has been in a hive 

 four or live years it is no more likely to 

 leave than in the first year, if as likely. 



Neither is a hive gradually tilled up with 

 honey. If too much should happen to be in 

 it one year, next year it is just as likely to 

 have too little. All this under proper man 

 agement. If too little super-room is given, 

 the brood-chamber may be crowded, and 

 this may increase from year to year, and 

 this might or might not tend toward swarm- 

 ing. The remedy, of course, is to give plenty 

 of super-room. But if a colony swarms be - 

 cause of too much honey in the brood-cham- 

 ber, the swarm is no more likely to go off 

 than any other swarm. 



2 Taken all in all there is probably no bet- 

 ter time to requeen than toward the close of 

 the honey harvest. But it will be a gain in 

 your case not to wait so long, but to get your 



Non-Swarming— Requeening Swarming 



1. Will a strong colony of bees that has 

 never swarmed make as good comb honey 

 as one that has swarmed? Will they work 

 in the supers ? 



2 Is it bsst to put a swarm on the old 

 stand ? 



3. Where would you put the old hive ? 



4. Do you think I need to requeen the 

 colonies this fall that I requeened last sum- 

 mer? If they aregood this spring, will they 

 be good the spring of 1916 ? 



5. What time of the year is best to re- 

 queen ? 



6. What time of the day do the the first 

 swarms fly out ? 



7. Will a swarm fly out before a queen-cell 

 is sealed ? Iowa. 



Answers.— I. As a rule, the more swarm- 

 ing the less honey. I always get my largest 

 yields from colonies that have no thought of 

 swarming. 



2. Yes. unless you want afterwarms. 



3. The old hive should be put close beside 

 the hive containing the swarm, and a week 

 later moved to any new place you like. 10 

 feet or more away. 



4. No need to requeen if the queens are 

 good. 



5. Depends somewhat upon circumstances. 

 At the close of harvest is a good time, but if 

 a poor queen is in a hive in the spring, bet- 

 ter wait until fall. I dou't requeen at all 

 unless a queen is poor. 



6. Generally from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m . but 

 sometimes earlier and later. If a morning 

 is very hot. a swarm may come out early. If 

 the day should be rainy, and clear off rather 

 late in the afternoon, a swarm may come 

 out then. 



7. Sometimes: but generally not. 



Uniting — Porticoes — Wintering 



1. In uniting two colonies, how many 

 thicknesses of newspaper would you put 

 between them, and would you keep the top 

 one confined until they gnawed their way 

 through ? 



2. What hivedo you prefer, one with porch 

 or one without, and why ? 



3 In wintering bees outdoors, when a 



A SWARM OF BEES JUSTi BEING HIVED BY MR- MINOR 



