March, 1912. 



American Hee Jonrnalj 



likely. Bees rarely build post-constructed, 

 or emergency, cells over eggs. They pre- 

 fer larva; to eggs, and as there are larvae 

 in the combs of brood on each side of the 

 foundation-frame, those larvae would be 

 what they would use if they should start 

 cells right off. However, they are not 

 likely in any case to start cells so soon 

 over the excluder, so long as there is a 

 laying queen under it. I don't know for 

 certain what is the average, but so nearly 

 as I can remember I think they will be 

 spry enough if they start cells in 3 or ^ 

 days. 



Before we get any farther, however, it 

 may be welU to mention that there is a 

 good deal of danger that you will be dis- 

 appointed as to the number of cells 

 started. A good laying queen is below 

 the e.tcluder, and the bees are in no great 

 panic about getting the cells started, and 

 what's more, they are not greatly im- 

 pressed with the need of starting a large 

 number. So there may be only one or 

 two started, and that would hardly suit 

 your purpose. 



Suppose, however, there is no hitch in 

 the program, and that the queen begins 

 to lay in the foundation within a minute 

 after it is put in the hive, and the bees 

 start cells within a minute after it is put 

 over the excluder. In that case you would 

 not have virgins emerging from their cells 

 June 15, as you figure, but June 16 at the 

 very earliest, for 15 days is as short a 

 time as you can count on from the laying 

 of the egg to the emerging of the virgin. 

 With all the chances for delay, June 20 

 might come nearer the mark. "This matter 

 of delay, however, is not a thing of vital 

 moment, but the probability of a small 

 number of cells and the possibility of 

 none at all may be serious. On the 

 whole, you will do well to put that frame 

 of foundation with its eggs into the cen- 

 ter of a strong, colony from which you 

 have removed the queen, and then you 

 will come pretty close to the plan given 

 in "Fifty '^ears Among the Bees," which 

 plan I have followed with great satisfac- 

 tion. 



You will now shake a swarm, kill the 

 queen, and in the evening run in a vir- 

 gin. If the virgin be young enough, she 

 will not be ;nolested, but the loss of the 

 laj-ing queen when there is not as yet 

 very much done in the way of starting a 

 brood-nest will have a discouraging effect 

 on the bees, and may cause an unpleas- 

 antly large number of colonies to desert 

 their hives. 



Some of the virgins will be lost on their 

 wedding flight, but even if there be no 

 such loss, it will be 8 to 16 days before 

 they will be laying, meaning the loss of 

 just so much in the strength of the col- 

 ony which may mean a serious loss in 

 the honey-crop. 



If you wait till later you can still rear 

 your queens without interfering with tie 

 honey-crop, unless the harvest should be 

 very late. 



5. The virgins may be all right with- 

 out any bees, but the loss of brood is to 

 be considered, and if a cold night sbouiu 

 come it may be very hea\-y. Even with 

 good weather it is better to leave enough 

 bees to feed and keep warm the young 

 brood. 



6. Better have the frame of brood. 

 Without it there will likely be cases of 

 desertion. But some think it better to 

 take out the frame of brood after 3 or 4 

 days. 



Bees Robbing Weak Colony. 



When a person goes into his apiary 

 and finds bees robbing out a weak colony, 

 what is the best thing to do? I just 



found the bees robbing out a weak colony, 

 and I did not know what to do. 



Arizona. 



Answer. — Just what is best to do de- 

 pends upon how weak the colony is, what 

 kind of a queen it has, etc. If it has a 

 good queen, and has frames enough to 

 cover 3 or more frames of brood, then it 

 is worth while to make efforts to save it. 

 If the robbing has been going on only a 

 little while, it takes less efforts to stop 

 it than after it is well under way. Closing 

 the entrance so as to leave room for only 

 one bee to pass at a time may be enough. 

 Painting carbolic acid about the entrance 

 will help. Indeed, enough carbolic at the 

 entrance will stop a pretty bad case, but 

 the carbolic must be renewed as often as 

 it loses its strength. A pretty good plan 

 is to pile hay or straw in front of the 

 hive and a little hay at each side, making 

 it as high as the top of the brood-chamber, 

 and then keeping it well drenched with 

 water. Perhaps better than either of 

 these is to take the hive down cellar, keep- 

 ing it dark, and leaving it there two or 

 three days. But when you take the hive 

 from its stand, be sure to put in its place 

 an empty hive similar in appearance to 

 the one removed. Unless you do this, as 

 soon as the robbers find a vacancy where 

 their prey was, they will think they have 

 made a mistake as to the hive, and will 

 pitch into one of more of the neighbor 

 ing hives. If they find an empty hiv« 

 in the old place, they will think it has 

 been all robbed out and will give it up. 



In probably the majority of cases, un- 

 less the robbing has been started by some 

 foolishness on the part of the bee-keeper, 

 there is something wrong with the queen 

 and the colony is not worth saving. In 

 that case it is best to do nothing. Let the 

 robbers go on and clean out the hive, 

 and when they are done they will quit, 

 whereas if you meddle in any way there 

 may be some danger that it will start 

 the robbers at some neighboring colony. 



Plans for the Prevention of Swarming 



What are the Alley and the Swarthmore 

 plans to prevent swarming? California. 



Answer.— I don't know. It there is any 

 special plan of swarm-prevention called the 

 " Alley plan " or the "Swarthmore." I do not 

 remember to have seen it. 



Getting Brood -Combs Drawn Out 



How and when is best to have brood- 

 combs drawn out. or made from full sheets 

 of comb foundation ? Kansas. 



Answer.— Give such frames of foundation 

 any time when bees are gathering more than 

 enough honey for their daily needs, if you 

 think they will not stop gathering before 

 they have time to finish the combs. Of 

 course, thafsas much as to say that the very 

 best time is at the beginning of a harvest 

 that you have good reason to expect will 

 last two weeks or more. A strong colony, of 

 course, will need less time than a weak one. 



Sweet Clover — Cleome— Rape — Minnesota Bee- 

 Country 



1. How far north and south will sweet 

 clover thrive and do well ? Would it do well 

 in cut-over timber lands ? 



2. Where can the seed of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Bee-Plant [CUorne iiiteeri/otiii\, i\\^t Da- 

 dant in " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping " re- 

 fers to. be secured? Would it be a good 

 thing to plant here ? 



3. Has rape any honey-value to make it 

 worth planting for bees alone? When 

 should it be planted to yield the most honey? 



4. What kind of a bee-country is northern 

 Minnesota going to be where it has been 

 logged off ? Does it offer any better possi- 

 bilities to the bee-keeper than the Ozark 

 country of Arkansas ? Iowa. 



Answers —I. I suppose if sweet clover 

 may be considered as having any native 



place it is Bokhara, in Asia, about 40 de 

 grees north of the equator. .•\t any rate.it 

 is called "Bokhara clover." and years ago 

 that was the chief name for it. According 

 to that, one would suppose that it would be 

 at its best on the parallel of 40. which runs 

 centrally through Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. 

 LItah. and Nevada. But it does not seem to 

 be very limited as to its habitat. I think it 

 succeeds about as far north as bees are gen- 

 erally kept. Mrs. Lucinda Harrison failed 

 to make it grow in Florida, but I have an im- 

 pression that it succeeds as far south as 

 Florida, in Texas. It ought to do well in 

 cut-over timber-lands. 



2. Leading seedsmen should have it, or be 

 able to get it for you. 



1. Rape is a fine honey-plant, but neither 

 that or any other plant will pay to sow for 

 honey alone, unless it be on waste land 

 where it will take care of itself. Spring is 

 probably as good a time as any to sow rape. 



4. It ought to be good. I don't know how it 

 will compare with the Ozark country of 

 Arkansas. 



Caging Queens and Making Increase 



1. In"ABCof Bee Culture." Mr. Somer- 

 ford says in speaking of increase, page 310, 

 to " cage queens in all your fancy stock." 

 release explain. 



2. Can you cage a queen and put her in a 

 colony having a laying queen ? If so. how 

 long can she be kept there ? California. 



Answers. — I. He says. "Remove the 

 queens or cage them in all your fancy stock." 

 That is. remove or cage them in tliose colo- 

 nies you want to start queen-cells, since a 

 queenless colony will be sure to start cells. 

 It is well to understand, however, that a col- 

 ony with its queen caged is not so certain to 

 start cells as one which has no queen in the 

 hive, nor is it likely to start so many cells. 



2. Yes. and she may remain weeks, or she 

 may be dead in a few days. She will be more 

 sure to remain in safety if the cage is pro- 

 visioned than if she has to depend upon the 

 bees to feed her. 



Preventing Swarming — Half-Dead Bees 



1. If I put on the supers before the bees 

 swarm, will that keep them from swarming? 



2. Some of my colonies are now {Feb. 81 

 carrying out quite a few bees about half 

 dead. What do you think is the cause of it ? 



Texas. 



Answers.— 1. Sometimes it will; gener- 

 ally it will not. Givingplenty of room is one 

 of the things that helps to prevent swarm- 

 ing, but it is only a help, and not a reliable 

 preventive. 



2. It may be that the larva; of the wax-moth, 

 or " wax-worms." as they are called, have 

 made their galleries along the cappings of 

 the sealed brood, mutilating the young bees 

 in the cells, which are tnen dragged out by 

 their older sisters. 



Feeding Thin Syrup 



1. How thin a sugar syrup may be fed to 

 bees without danger of spoiling after taking 

 into the hive ? 



2. Is there any ingredient that may be put 

 into the syrup to obviate the difficulty ? and 

 are there conditions as to weather, or other- 

 wise, affecting the matter ? 'Virginia. 



Answers.— I. Early in the season, when 

 bees are flying daily, it will do no harm to 

 feed them syrup just as thin as they will 

 take it, say one part sugar to 10 of water. 

 And the same is true until fairly late in the 

 season. As the weather begins to be cool 

 toward fall, the syrup must be given thicker 

 and thicker, lest the bees do not have time 

 to evaporate it sufficiently, and as late as 

 November it will not be well to feed a thin- 

 ner syrup than 2 parts sugar to one of water, 

 and 2j^ of sugar to one of water is still better. 



2. The weather does not make very much 

 difference, although the drier the weather 

 the less danger of too much water. But I 

 don't know of anything that you could put 

 into the syrup to counteract the effect of 

 too much water, unless it would be a sheet 

 of blotting paper, and I'm afraid that would 

 hardly answer. 



Cleansing Beeswax — Comb and Extracted in Same 

 Super 



1. 1 have about 40 pounds of beeswax which 

 I rendered from old combs that I intend 

 sending to the factory to be worked into 

 foundation. The cakes are dirty. How can 

 I remelt and clean the wax ? 



2. Can I use shallow extracting frames in 



