American ^ge Journal j 



January 



now on you each year pick out one or 

 two breeders, holding them in abeyance 

 as long as the older breeder lives, and 

 letting the young queens mate in the 

 yard. Your efforts are confined to 

 marking the best as possible breeders, 

 and weeding out the poor and mis- 

 mated. 



How far haye you progressed ? In 

 one sense a great way, in another sense 

 probably not at all. You have your api- 

 ary stocked with bees all of one strain, 

 and this means more uniform work of 

 the colonies, ease in determining inter- 

 nal conditions by e.xternal appearances, 

 and generally in facilitating all work 

 about the bees. But from the view- 

 point of the breeder, we have merely 

 got a fairly pure strain, and by regular 

 weeding out of the inferior members, 

 we keep it up to a good average. But 

 above that it is known we can not go 

 by that process. To advance, we must 

 find a true sport, or, more properly 

 called, a mutation. Scientists now be- 

 lieve that mutations are constantly oc- 

 curring, but only rarely to so marked a 

 degree as to be readily noticeable or of 

 value to mankind. 



A sport or mutation is a definite 

 change which perpetuates itself in the 

 offspring, and once found and isolated, 

 it forms a distinct strain or variety. 



Mutations may be useful or not to you, 

 but if you are to raise your bees above 

 the average you have established, you 

 must find a favorable sport. All marked 

 variations are not sports; that is, will 

 not perpetuate themselves, hence when 

 you think you have found one do not 

 hasten to stock your whole apiary 

 with it, but try it out by rearing a few 

 queens and see if their workers show 

 the traits regardless of how the queens 

 are mated. If the sport is true, the 

 chances are that it will manifest itself; 

 but to make sure, proceed with the 

 breeding as I have described, but do 

 the work far enough from other bees 

 so that you can be pretty sure to get 

 some riglit matings. If, then, you find 

 you have a true and valuable sport, re- 

 queen tlie apiary with it, and proceed 

 as before. 



Do not worry about inbreeding — if 

 you follow the instructions above set 

 forth, it will never trouble you. Stick 

 to the strain you have selected, and do 

 not cause yourself loss and endless 

 trouble by constantly running in new 

 blood. 



The more colonies you have to select 

 from, the greater your chance to find a 

 sport, and also the more keenly you 

 must watch. 



Providence, R. I. 



(Concluded next month.) 



Dr. Millers ^ Answers^ 



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



Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo, III. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Why a Queen's Bees Vary In Color 



Last summer I reared 5 golden Italian 

 •queens. After they were mated I introduced 

 tjiem to full colonies. The young of each of 

 these queens vary greatly in color. About 2 

 percent are dark bees with no yellow bands. 

 The rest are fine 3 banded yellow bees. 

 There are none with one or two bands. My 

 ■other bees are all sbanded Italians. I have 

 ^een both kinds hatch on the same comb. 

 Will you please explain why this should be ? 

 I have also had this happen with a tested 

 ■queen which I bought in ipio. 



Pennsylvania. 



ANSWER.-There is the barest possibility 

 that among the progeny of a pure queen 

 there might be a few dark bees as sports; 

 but the great probability is that there was a 

 little black blood in the drones with which 

 the queens were mated. 



Painting Bee-Hives 



Please advise me relative to the painting 

 of hives with the bees in them, and at what 

 period of the year is it best to do the work ? 

 I should also like to know whether or not 

 standard paints are all right to use. 



New York. 



Answer.— You can paint a hive with bees 

 in it at any time when you can paint the out- 

 side of a house, and can use any paint 

 proper for the same purpose, with the ex- 

 ception of the part at the entrance where 

 the bees alight. If you put enough drier in 

 the paint used th^re. and paint in the eve- 

 ning after the bees stop flying, it will be dry 

 enough next morning so the bees will not 

 slick in it. 



Winter-Cases— Mason-Jar Feeders 



I. 1 am planning to build winter-cases, 

 24Xi6 inches, each to hold 2 colonies. I also 

 intend to leave the cases around the hives 

 in the summer as a protection from heat. 

 Will the bees become confused and enter 



the wrong hive, or will queens returning 

 from their mating-trip be liable to enter the 

 wrong hive ? 



2. Will the zinc top on a Mason jar taint or 

 poison the syrup when used for feeding ? I 

 have been in the habit of breaking the por- 

 celain out and punching holes in the covers. 



3. Is not the above style of winter-case 

 with 2inch packing on the sides and 14 

 inches on top. better than a double-walled 

 hive? I am going to make them in two 

 parts, upper and lower. Ohio. 



Answers.— I. I suppose your idea is that 

 bees or queens may be confused by having 

 the two entrances in what seems to them 

 the same building. I don't think there will 

 be any trouble in that way. I have used 

 double hives with entrances not 6 inches 

 apart, and I don't think there was any more 

 trouble than with separate hives. 



2. I don't know for certain about it; but I 

 ttiink there is danger from the zinc, espe- 

 cially if the feed should stand in contact 

 with It for any considerable time. 



Knowing Foul Brood— Removing Supers^Feedlng 

 Bees 



1. How may I know foul brood? 



2. Is it proper to take off the supers in the 

 fall of the year ? 



3. Howls the best wav to feed bees? I 

 have used the Miller feeder, and the pan 

 with excelsior, as recommended by Dr. Phil- 

 lips, but I have had very poor success, as 

 the robber-bees kill out the colony and eat 

 up the feed. Arkansas. 



Answers.— L If it is American foul brood 

 there will be a disagreeable odor present. 

 and the most distinct characteristic is that 

 if you thrust a toothpick into the rotten 

 larvae and draw it out. it will stretch out in a 

 string an inch or more before it breaks. If 

 it is Kuropean foul brood, the unsealed lar- 

 l;u. instead of being pearly while, will be 

 quite yellowish. 



2. In your latitude (36 degrees) it will prob- 



ably do no harm to leave extracting-supers 

 on the hive over winter. But it will not do 

 to leave section-supers on the hive over 

 winter in any climate, because the comb in 

 the sections will be spoiled. Neither should 

 the sections be left on until fall, unless the 

 honey-flow continues until then. Just as 

 soon as the bees stop storing in the sections 

 they should be taken off. 



3. The plans you have tried are both good. 

 I have fed tons of feed with Miller feeders 

 without any robbing. There is no chance 

 for robbers to get at the feed without enter- 

 ing the hive entrance and going up to the 

 feeder through the colony, and a strong col- 

 ony would never allow that. I don't under- 

 stand how you could have had robbing un- 

 less it was with a colony too weak to defend 

 itself. With a weak colony it might be safer 

 to put the feeder on the hive after flight has 

 ceased in the evening, and then to take it off 

 before flight in the morning. It might be 

 still better to use the feeder only on strong 

 colonies, and take from these strong colo- 

 nies combs already filled to give to the weak 

 ones. 



Nucleus HIve^Thlckness of Blvislon-Boards — 

 Brood for Making Increase 



1. If using lo-frame hives would you rec- 

 ommend more than one frame in the middle 

 compartment of the nucleus hive described 

 in " Forty Years." page 244? 



2. What is the thickness of division-boards? 

 Would three-sixteenths inch be better than 

 thicker? 



2. Is open or sealed brood taken from the 

 feeder colonies, in the plan for increase in 

 " Forty Years." page 254 ? 



4 Are there any changes in the plan to 

 recommend? New Jersey. 



Answers.— I. I don't know for sure, but I 

 think I would prefer 2 frames. 



2. The thickness I have used, as given in 

 " Forty Years." is five-sixteenths. Possibly 

 three-sixteenths might be better. as it would 

 allow the nuclei to be closer to each other 

 for warmth. 



It is only fair to say that lately I do not 

 make so much use of these nucleus hives. It 

 is rather more convenient to use a full-size 

 hive for a nucleus, for so often I want to 

 build up the nucleus into a full colony. But 

 it takes fewer bees in a hive with more than 

 one nucleus, as the nuclei have the benefit 

 of each other's heat. 



3. Both, as you will almost always find 

 both sealed and unsealed brood in the same 

 frame. But preference is given to the 

 frames containing most sealed brood, as be- 

 ing best able to take care of itself. 



4. I don't know that I have any changes to 

 recommend. 



Brood-Frames and Fastening Foundation in Tliem 



I have your " Fifty Years .■\mong the Bees." 

 and having just read what you say about 

 frames, on pages 83 to 86. I am moved to stop 

 short and write you some thoughts of my 

 own. in the hope of getting some help from 

 you. 



1. My plan is to have each piece of the en- 

 tire frame in two parts, the same as you 

 have the bottom-bar. Then nail them to- 

 gether with foundation between, after hav- 

 ing the two parts nailed separately, and the 

 nails started in the end-bars for fastening 

 the two parts together, and driven through 

 far enough to run the wires around the pro- 

 jecting points. Then lay the foundation on 

 over the wires, frame and all. then lay the 

 other part of the frame on and tap it with a 

 hammer to start the points of nails from be- 

 low up into the end-bars, then turn over and 

 imbed the wires and finish nailing the two 

 parts together. 



This would save fussing with wedges, hot 

 wax, etc.. and save some time wiring frames, 

 as it is easier to run wire around n 'il-points 

 than to run it through small holes. Then the 

 same nails you use for spacers would help 

 hold the two parts together. What do you 

 think of the plan ? 



I have never used splints, but found no 

 fault with wires so far. Neither have I used 

 nail-spacers, but I am using both wood and 

 metal-spaced frames, and I like the wood 

 decidedly the best. 



2. I used long top-bars last year; this year 

 I bought nothing but short top-bars, and end- 

 spacing staples. Have trimmed the long 

 top-bars to a point at the end. and find that 

 I can handle them just as well, and they will 

 stand a gre.Tter angle in the hive without 

 dropiiing in than the ones with the shorter 

 top-bars. I believe if they were made with 

 the long point, at the factory. I would prefer 

 tliem. as it would save driving the staple. 



3. Likewise I think the bottom-board 



