54 



r'^m^^=^i 



Ft-Unuiry. Mi- 



[M^rican ^ac Joarnal 



■^hapc of the hive, and still more if there 

 lie a difference in color. Yet they go by 

 Inaction mostly, as you will see if you take 

 away their hive, leaving nothing in its 

 place, for they will for a considerable time 

 l1y in front of the vacant place before 

 they turn aside to any other hive. So al- 

 though it may trouble the bees to have 

 a hive of different appearance given 

 them thev will in a little time become 

 reconciled' to it. M the same time the 

 more the front of the hive looks like the 

 old one the better. 



Reversing Alexander Plan of 

 Dividing. 



1. Referring to the .Alexander metlioi. 

 ■of preparing colonies for division, by plac- 

 ing the older brood above an excluder un- 

 til sealed, and the queen with open brood 

 below upon "the bottom. I would like to 

 <livide as early as there is sufficient brood, 

 and for that' reason would like to know 

 if the process might not successfully be 

 reversed, the ciueen being placed abov? 

 tlie excluder, and the brood for sealini/ 

 below, and thus avoid desertion of the 

 queen hy reason of unexpected cold, which 

 has been reported bv one observer. 



.'. How soon, with respect to the quan- 

 tity of brood in the hive, would you con- 

 sider it wise to make such division.-' 



VIRGIN1.^. 



.\NSwnR — Yes. the queen may be put 

 above the excluder, leaving the brood be- 

 low, although you will probably not like 

 it ()uite so well, for the natural thing is 

 for 'bees to work downward with the 

 lirood. 



2. It is doubtful if the plan can be 

 most successfully carried before the brood 

 reaches its maximum, or nearly that, say 6 

 frames of brood. You say that in one 

 case the queen in the lower story was de- 

 serted by the bees on account of the cold. 

 It's dollars to doughnuts that in that case 

 the operator was in too nvuch of a hurry, 

 and the colony was not yet strong enough 

 for division. If the colony is sufficiently 

 slrong, there is little danger that the queen 

 will be deserted in the lower story. But 

 you can make sure that the queen wi!/ 

 not be deserted by leaving one frame of 

 brood below. Just by way of a special 

 favor, Vm willing you should try dividing 

 line colony very early, but the rest you 

 would belter lei alone till about the time 

 bees swarm naturally. Make haste slowly- 



Queen Questions, Etc. 



1. Will a virgin queen-bee sting a per- 

 son while handling her? 



2. Will a queen-bee die after stinging 

 another queen to death in a hive? Or 

 docs a queen never lose its sting while 

 stinging other t[ueens? 



.3. Does a t|ueen die soon after she 

 loses her sting? 



4. Are bees that have more bands bet- 

 than those that have less? 



5. Are there any 6-banded bees? Or 

 are there bees that have still more than 6? 



6. Please tell me some of the advan- 

 tages that bees with more bands have 

 over those with less, and vicc-vcrsaT 



7. W'hat is the color of European foul 

 brood? 



o. How can you tell the difference be- 

 tween the two? My bees never had it 

 so I don't know what it is. 



8. What is the color of American foul- 

 brood ? 



10. Isn't a metal-spaced frame better 

 than a staple-spaced frame, in case you 

 move bees once in a while ? 



11. Will an Alexander feeder fit under 

 a double-walled hive just as well as un- 

 <dcr a single-walled hive? 



Answers — 1. No. 



2. In a royal combat, the one queen is 

 killed while the other does not lose her 

 sting and is entirely uninjured. 



3. I don't know ; I never had a queen 

 lose her sting. 



4. Yes. and no. Bees with more than 

 two bands are better than those with 2 

 or less. Some think that bees with more 

 than 3 bands are better than those with 

 only 3. while a large number prefer those 

 with 3 bands. ' 



5. I've never heard of more than 5. 



6. I don't know enough to tell all that. 

 There is the advantage of looks, for the 

 more bands the more beauly. In the pure 

 Italian stock, as imported 'from Italy, 

 the workers each have 3 bands. Some of 

 those bred in this country with more than 

 3 bands are said to be better bees, while 

 others say they are not so good. 



7. The unsealed larva, instead of being 

 pearly white as in a stale of health, is of a 

 distinctly yellow tinge, becoming darker 

 as it dries, until very dark brown or black. 



S. The dead larva is coffee-colored. 



9. The most striking di (Terence is in 

 the matter of stringiness. Thrust a tooth- 

 pick into a larva with American foul 

 brood, and as you draw it out it will form 

 a string an inch or more long, while in 

 a case of European foul brood it will 

 string out half an inch or less, perhaps 

 not at all. 



10. Some prefer one. some the other. 

 I prefer a heavy galvanized shingle-nail 

 to either. 



11. I don't know from experience, but 

 if 1 am not mistaken the feeder will go 

 with either. 



Putting on Comb-Honey Supers — 

 Glass Hives — Miller Feeders — 

 Growing Basswood — Work- 

 ing with Bees. 



T. Is it just as good to put comb- 

 honey supers tilled with super foundation 

 on a colony 3 or 4 weeks before the 

 honey-Bow? If not, why? 



2. Has any one ever tried to introduce 

 any of the famous California sage in the 

 Eastern States? If so, with what results ? 



3. I have been intensely interested in 

 glass observation hives, but have never 

 tried any yet. I would think that in a 

 one-frame small enclosure, the bees woidd 

 be inclined to swarm. How can a person 

 keep them from it? 



4. Does honey gathered from fruit- 

 blossoms that have been sprayed, kill the 

 old bees or the brood? 



5. I have 2 Miller feeders, and I fed 

 my bees some in them last fall, but I 

 didn't get very satisfactory results. I 

 made .syrup, two parts sugar and one 

 water, and filled the feeders half full and 

 placed them on strong colonies ; they 

 were 4 or 5 days in removing it, and it 

 took colonies of medium strength 8 or 10 

 days to remove half a feeder full ; there 

 were plenty of empty combs to store it 

 in. and several of ihe bees drowned in 

 the feed, especially when I would refill 

 them. 



6. I would like to set out some bass- 

 wood trees in the spring. There are but 

 a few basswood trees around here, and 

 I have never noticed any sm.all sprouts 

 Could I propagate them from dormant 

 cuttings made in the spring, or from seeds 

 that have hung on the trees or laid on 

 the ground all winter? 



7. I would like to work for a month 

 or so with some apiarist in the busy sea- 

 son in the spring. I should prefer to 

 work in Ohio. Pennsylv.ania. Kentucky, or 

 other adjoining States, and with an api- 

 arist that produces comb honey. I am 

 16 years old, and think I can do a man's 

 work in heavy work, I have kept a few 

 bees since I was 12 years old. but haven't 



had much experience with them, for I 

 have never handled them much. Do you 

 know where I could secure such a place? 

 West Virginia. 



.\xswEKS. — I. Decidedly not. As long 

 as 3 or 4 weeks before the honey-flow 

 there is pretty cool weather, and espe- 

 cially cool nights. Putting on a super at 

 that time would cool oft' the hive and 

 hinder brood-rearing. It is well, how- 

 ever, to put supers on about 10 days 

 before ihe harvest, for then the weather 

 is not so cool, and the harm done by 

 cooling oft the hives will be overbalanced 

 by the advantage of having the bees be- 

 come familiar with the ujiper story and 

 having it there in readiness to be used 

 just as soon as needed. As you are 

 probably in a white-clover region, you 

 will do well to put on supers as soon as 

 you see the very first white-clover blos- 

 som. 



2. Quite likely some one has tried it. 

 but not successfully, or else it would have 

 been reported. 



3. I think there is not generally much 

 trouble in that direction. If you should 

 anticipate danger, extract some of the 

 honey from the comb, and if that does not 

 seem to give the queen room enough, ex- 

 change the comb for one nearly or quite 

 empty. 



4. Both. 



5. Likely it was somewhat late. Bees 

 make slow work on feeders when the 

 weather is cool. Y'ou can help matters 

 by giving tlie syrup pretty hot. Bees dy- 

 ing in the feeder is something unusual. 

 1 don't know why it should happen. 



6. Basswoods are difficult of propaga- 

 tion. I don't know how you would suc- 

 ceed with cuttings, but with the same 

 advantages that florists give cuttings in 

 greenhouses, you might come out all right. 

 Thousands of seedlings come up for me 

 each spring from seeds that have lain in 

 the ground over winter, but for some 

 reason that I don't know they always 

 disappear before fall or the next spring. 



7. I don't know of such a place, but 

 a small advertisement in this journal 

 would likely give you the information. 



A Beginner's Questions. 



I am wintering 12 culimies of bees out- 

 ?^ide this year, in singlc-w\alled hives. I 

 removed the air-tight oil-cloths last No- 

 vember, and replaced them with coarse 

 sack-cloths, filling the upper story with 

 dry wheat->straw. also dry wheat-straw 

 i.nd oats covered the hives, on all side^ 

 except the front. The water-tight cover! 

 are over all. 1 feel that is right, as I 

 read the Langstroth book. 



1. Shoidd the coarse sack-cloth be 

 removed and replaced with oil-cloth next 

 .March, or is it better to keep on the 

 coarse sack-cloth till May? 



2. Can I feed water to bees without 

 sweet foods next March ? 



3. Why is rye-flour put into the hivo 

 in March? 



4. Where can I put rye-flour into bee- 

 hives? 



5. Which do you like to keep better, 

 a two-story colony, or a one-story? 



(•>. Has a two-story colony always two 

 queens — one in the upper chamber, and 

 ihe other queen in the bottom? 



7. I put a heavy canvas over the bee- 

 entrances for sheltering from cold winds. 

 Is it right? When warm days come I 

 oi>cn the canvas. Should 1 put the canvas 

 over Ihe entrances in cold weather? 



%. 1 want 2 queens in a two-story col- 

 • ny. Should I put a honey-board be- 

 tween the two stories? 



q. Do you remove drone-cells in 

 April ' 



