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(i L E A N T N G S IN BEE V V I- TORE 



Ai'RiL. 19:0 



probable that another virgin is present. 

 'There are often several queens in a cluster. 

 If only one were present, the swarm would 

 in a short time leave the limb. They might 

 cluster for a while, but would eventually re- 

 turn to their hives. (3) Copper wire may be 

 used instead of tinned wire for wiring 

 frames of foundation; but it stretches a lit- 

 tle more readily than the ordinary wire, and 

 is, therefore, harder to keep tight. Also, if 

 the wire is to be imbedded by means of elec- 

 tricity, it takes more current to imbed the 

 copper wire owing to the higher conductivi- 

 ty of copper over iron. 



Question. — I have been working for the State as 

 apiary inspector, and my experience is that in every 

 case where there is an apiary that has been well 

 supplied with salt around the front of the hive to 

 prevent what is commonly called ants there is no 

 foul brood. I know of different apiaries that aro 

 located very close to foul brood, yet where there is 

 salt placed in damp places there is no foul brood. 

 I have never had foul brood in my apiary, and I 

 always use salt for the bees to work on. I am sure 

 salt is a preventive. L. D. Sharp. 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — We have known of others who 

 held a similar view, yet our own experience 

 has not borne this out. We use salt in front 

 of our entrances in order to keep down the 

 grass. Some years we have no foul brood, 

 other y.ears two or three cases may appear, 

 quite regardless of the presence of salt. In 

 this one apiary to which we refer there is 

 no question as to how the bees contract the 

 disease, since we have a kind neighbor who 

 keeps us from time to time supplied with 

 this disease. We can not see that salt has 

 any effect on foul brood, either as a cure or 

 as a preventive. 



Question. — -It will be impossible for the next year 

 or two to visit my bees more than twice a year. 

 They are in 12-frame hives. When I packed last 

 fall they had plenty of stores for an ordinary win- 

 ter. What I am worrying about now is that this 

 exceptionally warm winter will start brood-rearing 

 early, and so make them run out of stores before 

 fruit bloom, and still I am afraid to u'npack before 

 fruit bloom for feiar of chilling, especially as it will 

 be necessary at that time to give empty supers. 



Massachusetts. Oscar B. Perkins. 



Answer. — How splendid it would be if 

 bees could be as easily taken care of. Yet 

 we do not consider it possible to take good 

 care of colonies by opening the hives only 

 twice a year. The problem that now con- 

 fronts you is similar to many that will fol- 

 low if you find it necessary to give your 

 colonies such scant attention. If they now 

 need stores it would, of course, be disastrous 

 not to feed them, and yet it is quite evident 

 that it would not be safe, at this time, to 

 give them all the surplus room they may 

 need thruout the summer. If not able to 

 visit the bees oftener, we wonder if it would 

 not be possible for you to get some one in 

 the immediate neighborhood to give the su- 

 pers when needed. In most cases those who 

 have tried managing their bees with less 

 work than is usually considered necessary 

 have hired some one near the apiary to do 

 certain things at the necessary time. In 

 this way only, and only in localities free 



from disease, do we think it possible that 

 you can make a success of let-alone bee- 

 keeping. 



Question. — Can I start a colony of bees with a 

 two-pound' package on just frames with foundation? 

 If not, what is the smallest amount of empty combs 

 I can usei? .T. D. Dietrich. 



Michigan. 



Answer. — These nuclei could be given 

 frames of foundation, altho combs are great- 

 ly to be preferred. We advise giving at 

 least one comb to each nucleus if sufficient 

 combs can be obtained. It will, of course, 

 be necessary to feed a cup of syrup daily 

 for a month or more, according to the direc- 

 tions that accompany the packages. 



Question. — I should like to know the value per 

 year to bee culture of a hundred fine basswood trees. 

 They were grown in an open wood with ample room, 

 and are very wide-spreading. The owner is con- 

 templating clearing them up, but the wife wishes to 

 preserve them for sentimental reasons. If they are 

 of sufficient value as bee-forage, the husband might 

 be induced to save them. Mrs. Charles Dean. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — We can give no exact statement 

 as to the number of pounds of honey those 

 trees would yield. But here at Medina one 

 year, when conditions of heat and humidity 

 were just right, we had an average of over 

 14 pounds of basswood honey per day for 

 three days; and there is on record a colony 

 in New York that for ten days stored an 

 average of over 30 lbs. per day from bass- 

 wood alone. As a general thing one would 

 expect much less honey than this from bass- 

 wood, and yet we assure you that 100 bass- 

 wood trees would be a valuable asset for 

 any beekeeper. 



Question. — One of the local stores recently had 

 some comb honey on sale in square lx)xes which 

 were spotlessly clean but did not have the appear- 

 ance of having been scraped. I use the Danzen- 

 baker sections, but find they need considerable 

 scraping, and even then the stains are not entirely 

 removed. Can you suggest how I may eliminate my 

 trouble? .Julius C. Bechtel. 



New York. 



Answer. — Some strains are more liable to 

 propolizo the sections than others. Possibly 

 by requeening you could improve this con- 

 dition. Aside from this we know of no way 

 to keep the sections cleaner other than to 

 keep very strong colonies, leaving them 

 rather crowded for room, so that the sec- 

 tions may be finished as fast as possible, 

 and removed as soon as the cells are com- 

 pletely' capped. Of course, if sections are 

 left on the hive for any length of time they 

 soon become soiled and injured in appear- 

 ance; and, if too many supers are given at 

 one time, it takes the colony too long to 

 complete their work, and the sections be- 

 come travel-stained. 



ANSWERS BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Questions.- — (1) To every quarter section of land 

 we have about 20 acres of pasture with a light crop 

 of white clover, about 5 acres alsike. about the same 

 amount of red clover, also some of the clovers scat- 

 tered along roads and fences. In the spring we 

 have lots of dandelion, a few locusts, and about 15 

 apple trees to each farm. In thei fall we have 

 goldenrod and asters scattered along the fences, and 



