324 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1919 



make would be to place inside the hive 

 an old dark comb. The darker the comb, the 

 better. 



Question. — Are the golden Italian bees as good 

 as the three-banded in regard to hardiness, honey- 

 gathering qualities, proliticness, and gentleness ? 



Kansas. H. W. Behrens. 



Answer.-^We do not think that the golden 

 and three-banded Italians differ noticeably 

 in prolificness. However, since the goldens 

 have been bred solely for color, some strains 

 are not as good honey-gatherers, nor are 

 they as hardy. In gentleness they vary con- 

 siderably, some being quite as gentle as the 

 three-banded. 



Question. — I know nothing about practical bee- 

 keeping, but am anxious to learn. Would it be too 

 great a risk to start with 12 or 15 colonies this 

 spring? Miss Clara S. Lacke. 



Michigan. 



Answer. — For one inexperienced in bee- 

 keeping, to start with 12 or 15 colonies 

 would be rather risky. We would not advise 

 starting with more than four or five at most, 

 and then gradually, as experience is gained, 

 the number can be increased. 



Question. — Each year about this time I am 

 troubled very much by bees robbing — not my own 

 bees, but outside bees coming in. I saw an article 

 in a magazine a short time ago wherein the owner 

 stated that he gave his bees a drug of some kind 

 in order to induce the bees to rob. I feel that this 

 might possibly be the case, if it can be done. Is it 

 possible to do this ? If so, is there any way by 

 which I can prevent this robbing ? 



Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Stine. 



Answer. — Bees do not need any drugs to 

 induce them to rob. Any warm day, when 

 sweets are left exposed so that the bees 

 have easy access, they soon get a taste of 

 the sweet, and other bees notice the unusual 

 activity and soon join them, and in a little 

 while a regular uproar is in progress. If 

 no other sweets are left exposed, and no hon- 

 ey is to be found in the field, sometimes 

 bees will begin stealing from weak colonies 

 whose entrances have not been properly con- 

 tracted. If this is not stopped they will re- 

 move every bit of honey from the combs of 

 the weak colonies. In most cases suitable 

 precautions on the part of the beekeeper 

 himself will prevent robbing. 



Question. — Will a colony of bees swarm if a 

 queene.Kcluder is put between the bottom-board and 

 the brood-chamber ? What good or harm will it do ? 



New York. John Stoeber. 



Answer. — We have sometimes known of 

 beekeepers, who had not clipped their 

 queens, using a queen-excluder between the 

 bottom-board and the brood-chamber in or- 

 der to prevent swarms from leaving. Of 

 course this would not prevent a swarm from 

 issuing, but would keep the queen from leav- 

 ing, and the bees would, therefore, return. 

 The plan is not to be recommended, for the 

 excluder is a hindrance to the bees return- 

 ing with loads of honey and pollen. More 

 than this, it interferes to quite an extent 

 with the ventilation of the hive on hot days. 



ANSWERED BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Questions. — (1) How may a beginner tell when 

 queen-cells have been accepted by the queenless 



colony to which they have been given, so that he 

 can know when to give them to an upper story of 

 a strong colony? (2) What is the best way to build 

 a colony up to a good full-strength colony for comb- 

 honey production in the spring? 



New York. Garold T. Pettys. 



Answers. — (1) Look at the cell a day or 

 two after it has been given. If it is not 

 cleaned out dry, you may know it is accept- 

 ed. You will have further confirmation of 

 this in the fact that the larva is visibly 

 larger than when you gave it. (2) If you 

 have only one colony, with abundant stores 

 in the hive, the hive well protected, and at 

 least a little honey coming in from the 

 fields, there is nothing for you to do but to 

 let them alone and be thankful. Any med- 

 dling on your part will be as likely to do 

 harm as good. You may have heard of 

 stimulative feeding, and have an idea if you 

 feed just right you can get a colony to build 

 up twice as fast. Forget it. If there is a 

 lack of stores in the hive, of course you 

 must feed. If there is an utter dearth in 

 the fields, so that nothing can be had for 

 many days in succession, then brood-rearing 

 may cease unless you feed at least a little. 

 But that is not likely to happen in many 

 places, and probably never occurs in your lo- 

 cality. With plenty of honey in the hive, if 

 your queen is worth her salt she will lay all 

 the eggs the bees can cover, and how could 

 feeding help? If, however, you have a num- 

 ber of colonies, some strong and some weak, 

 there 's a good deal you can do to get all of 

 the colonies in good condition for the har- 

 vest. The matter is very fully given in my 

 l:>ook, "Fifty Years Among the Bees"; and, 

 if you don 't mind my being a book agent 

 for a few minutes, I would advise you to 

 get the book, believing you would get the 

 worth of your money in that one thing. I 

 can not go fully into details here, but will 

 try to give you the gist of it. When you 

 find that some of your colonies have each 

 five frames or more well filled with brood, 

 take from each hive one or more frames of 

 brood, choosing those that have the most 

 sealed brood, but be sure to leave in each 

 hive at least four frames of brood. Now as 

 to the disposal of these frames of brood, 

 which you have taken with adhering bees, 

 being careful not to get the queen. You may 

 think the weakest colonies are the neediest, 

 and you should help them first. Don't do it. 

 Help first the strongest of those that need 

 help, the ones that have three frames of 

 brood. When these are supplied, then help 

 those with two brood, leaving those with 

 one brood to be helped after all the others. 

 It may be that you can help not more than 

 one or two the first time going over. Be 

 patient; wait ten days or so and go at it 

 again, continuing at intervals of ten daj^s, 

 always keeping in mind these two things: 

 never reduce any colony to less than four 

 brood, and always help first the strongest of 

 those needing help. Before you are thru 

 you may find that some of those you first 

 helped are in their turn ready to be helpers. 



