376 



American Hee Journal 



December, 1912. 



one-fourtli cupful of iioney. Boil until 

 a ball will form in water, and then beat 

 the stiff white of an egg into it. Add 

 one cupful of chopped canned pine- 



apple, and drop on oiled paper when it 

 becomes firm. Press a black walnut- 

 meat on each drop. — Womafi's Home 

 Companion. 



work. I very mucli doubt if it is desirable 

 to save the bees the work of carrying the 

 honey from the lower story to tlie upper. 

 That carrying is very likely a part of the 

 process of ripening the honey. 



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. 



What Becomes of the Drone? 



The October number of the American 

 Bee Journal has just reached us. and the 

 writer has read the article entitled. "What 

 Becomes of the Drones ?" 



This is a question that is most opportune, 

 for I have never heard any explanation 

 other than that the worker stung the 

 drone so that it might die when the season 

 for gathering honey had come t» a close; 

 but your reasoning appeals to my sense of 

 Nature's method of disposing of them by a 

 less radical method, viz.. the refusal of the 

 workers to longer feed them the kind of 

 food which they are able to assimilate or 

 subsist upon. Naturally, starvation would 

 be the result. 



Not being a practical bee-keeper. I am at 

 liberty to ask any kind of an irrelevant 

 question. May they not be like the Japa- 

 nese soldier who has served up to the time 

 that his usefulness ceases and he commits 

 hara-kiri ?j Illinois. 



Answer.— The answer to your question 

 depends somewhat upon the meaning at- 

 tached to the word " may." when you ask. 

 "May they not be like the Japanese sol- 

 dier?" It may be used to ask permission, 

 as when a little chap in school I asked. 

 "May I go out?'* If used in that sense. I 

 must answer decidedly ' No." I can never 

 give my consent to have a drone commit 

 hara-kiri, and if ever any drone does such a 

 thing I want it distinctly understood that it 

 is entirely without my consent and advice, 

 and I am in no way responsible for it. 



But the word " may" may also have refer- 

 ence to the possibility of a thing. If used in 

 that sense I must still answer "No." 



Firstly, because most of the denizens of 

 the hive are of the gentler sex. and the 

 drone is too much of a gentleman to rip open 

 his bowels in the presence of so many ladies. 



Secondly, because he cannot rip without a 

 ripper, and he has no ripper. 



Bees and Strawberries — How to Get Started 

 With Bees 



1. What do bees really do for strawber- 

 ries: just the same as on apples ? 



2. How is the best way to get started in 

 early spring, by buying two or three nuclei 

 or a pound of bees, and then later buy a 

 good breeder of some reliable bee-keeper 

 and requeen ? 



3. How long would it take to build up 

 a nucleus to a good colony ? Indiana, 



.■\NswKRs. — I. In some respects the work 

 of bees on strawberry blossoms is the same 

 as on apple blossoms; in some respects dif- 

 ferent. Apple blossoms are perfect; that 

 is. each blossom has both stamens and pis- 

 tils. Yet the stamens and i)istils do not ma- 

 ture at the same time. Some varieties of 

 strawberries have perfect blossoms, same 

 as apples. If you should plant a whole 

 acre with a single variety of this kind, and 

 no other kind near, you would get a crop. 

 Some varieties of strawberries havestami- 

 natc, or male, blossoms. Under no circum- 

 stances will a blossom having only stamens 

 produce fruit. Some varieties are pistillate. 

 or female. Plant an acre of these, with no 

 other variety near, and you will have no 

 fruit- But if every fourth or fifth row can 

 be staminate or perfect the iiistillalcvarie- 

 ties bear fine crops. But there miistbe in- 

 sects to carrv the pollen from the male to 

 the female blossoms, and the bee leads all 

 inlthls respect. Yet I must confess that 

 generally I have not seen bees working on 

 strawberry blossoms. Probably it isn't nec- 



essary for them to work on them every day 

 to produce a crop. 



2. It is hardly practicable for you to get 

 started very early in the spring unless you 

 can buy full colonies near at hand Indeed. 

 on the whole that is probably the best way, 

 and afterward you can change the blood if it 

 does not suit you. If you have to send off a 

 distance, then the nucleus, or bees by the 

 pound may be best. But instead of getting 

 a nucleus and afterward getting a breeder 

 to introduce to the nucleus, the safer way 

 would be to get the breeder with the nu- 

 cleus. 



■\. Under favorable circumstances a 3- 

 frame nucleus may be a full colony within a 

 month or six weeks. 



Constructing Hives so the Honey Will Not Need 

 to be Transported to the Upper Story 



What do you think of a hive constructed 

 something like this: Let the upper and 

 lower half of the hive be separated by a 

 solid board with only a small opening be- 

 tween the two. The entrance will be in the 

 lowest corner of the upper half. Now the 

 upper half will be brood-chamber until the 

 queen finally goes down into the brood- 

 chamber. Thus the upper half will contain 

 the honey, which will not have to be moved 

 up by the bees, as is usually the case in an 

 ordinary hive. If necessary, an excluder 

 can keep the queen in the lower story after 

 she has once entered it. Germany. 



Answer.— Every now and then someone 

 has conceived something of this kind with 

 the idea that it will save work for the bees 

 if they are allowed to go straight to the sur- 

 plus chamber when they come from the 

 field. But it does not work out in practice, 

 as you will probably find i( you try it; and I 

 should advise you not to try it on more than 

 a single colony. The pollen would most 

 likely be stored in the ui)per chamber, and 

 then laboriously carried down as needed 

 by the nurses, making a great deal of extra 



Maples as a Source of Honey— What Strain of 

 Bees Winter Best? 



1. What do you think of a locality from 

 1000 to 2000 feet above sea level where there 

 is a large quantity of maple sugar produced 

 every year. Would you consider it a good 

 locality for bee-keeping? 



2. Do you preferqueens of northern breed- 

 ing to those from the South? Are queens 

 from the State of Louisiana, or from any 

 other part of the South, considered poor 

 wintering stock ? 



What is the use of getting queens from the 

 South to make up winter losses if they win- 

 ter poorly here in theNorth ? New York. 



Answers.— I. The maple is a valuable 

 honey-tree, It comes early, however, and 

 the honey secured from it is mostly used in 

 brood-rearing. The field-force is not yet 

 strong enough to gather much more than 

 will supply the daily needs of the colony. 

 So while it is of value in securing a strong 

 force of bees, the question whether the 

 locality is a good one depends upon what 

 comes later. If there are plenty of later 

 sources the maple will be a great help; if 

 nothingcomes after, there is little prospect 

 of surplus. 



2. There is very little complaint of queens 

 shipped from the South being unable to 

 stand rigorous winters in the North. In 

 fact, most northern bee-keepers buy south- 

 ern queens, owing to the fact that they can 

 be gotten earlier from the South. 



Making Increase 



I intend to buy queens in the spring, from 

 May 25 to June 15. and intend to increase 

 by taking a frame or two from the old hive 

 with old queen, and place the same in a new 

 hive on the old stand. I will fill the hive 

 with frames with full sheets of foundation. 



Now the old hive on a new stand will be 

 queenless. To this I will introduce a queen. 

 That queen should be readily accepted, as 

 all the old bees will have returned to their 

 original queen on theold stand. 



Do you advise this method of increase ? If 

 not, please give your wav of doing it. 



New York. 



Answer.— Your plan will work all right. 



What Causes Wingless Bees ? 



1. What resinous substance is used on 

 cement-coated nails? 



2. Some young bees of most of my colonies 

 were born without wings about July of this 

 year The hives had been raised a little for 

 ventilation. Do you think they became 



One uf Jesse H. Roberts' Winter Sheds at Wai^jI.ka. III.- Mr. Roberts c>n ywv. Left 



