GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



C 



lona 



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386 



QUESTIONS. — 

 (1) Would a 

 prime swarm 

 coming from 

 a diseased colony 

 carry foul brood 

 with it? (2) If 

 near swarming 

 time I take a frame 

 of brood from a 

 clean colony, place 



it in a clean hive, and then set this hive on a stand 

 in place of a diseased colony, and move the dis- 

 eased colony a few rods away, would the field bees 

 that return to the old stand carry the disease? I 

 would, of course, contract the entrance of the dis- 

 eased colony, and in a day or two do away with 

 them. Glenn Ladd. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers.^ — (1) If the swarm is hived in a 

 hive containing only foundation, the bees 

 would not be apt to become diseased; but, if 

 hived on frames of comb, infected honey 

 might be stored right in those cells, and thus 

 the disease be continued. (2) If none but 

 bees from the field entered, there would be 

 no chance for spreading the disease; but in 

 this method you have suggested, there would 

 be a chance that when the diseased colony 

 was moved away some of the bees might 

 gorge themselves with honey and fly to the 

 old location, where they would store a part 

 of the infected honey in the cells of the 

 frame of brood you gave them. This would, 

 of course, give the colony foul brood. More 

 than this, with your plan much valuable 

 brood would be wasted. 



Questions. — (1) When buying bees and queen, 

 how is the queen sent — in with the bees or alone ? 

 (2) If I buy black bees will it be necessary for me 

 to kill the black queen before introducing an Ital- 

 ia nV Mike Leash. 

 Ohio. 



Answers. — (1) When a queen is ordered to 

 be sent in the same shipment with bees, she 

 may be introduced before shipping, may be 

 sent in a cage by herself, or the cage may 

 be placed in the package with the bees, so 

 that she may be introduced en route. The 

 last is probably as good a plan as any. Most 

 queen-breeders would probably send in this 

 way if requested. (2) Yes; and if introduc- 

 ed by the cage method the new queen may 

 be given at the time of removing the old 

 one. 



Questions. — ^(1) How long will good ripe honey 

 remain in cans without spoiling? (2) In answer- 

 ing the questions on page 42, January, 1919, about 

 swarm control, you said it is best to leave field 

 bees with the queen in the lower part of the hive. 

 Why do young bees, when left with the queen, 

 cause the starting of queen-cells in the lower hive 

 body ? Chas. C. Mackay. 



Long Island. 



Answers. — (1) If honey is sufficiently ri- 

 pened it may be kept for years without de- 

 terioration. (2) After a colony has started 

 preparations for swarming, the nurse bees 

 produce the milky food with which the lar- 

 vae are fed. These should, therefore, be in 

 the upper story with the brood. Part of the 

 food that they produce will be given to the 

 young worker and drone larvffi, and part will 

 probably be used as royal jelly in the queen- 



GLEANED by ASKING 



Fowls 



1=1 



1 



.Tune, 1919 



cells, and this 

 upper body is 

 exactly where 

 we want the 

 queen-cells. Now, 

 down in the 

 lower story 

 there will be 

 only field bees, 

 and consequent- 

 ly there will be little danger of queen-cells 

 being started, for there will be no nurse 

 l)ees to supply the food required for raising 

 queens. 



Question. — When I put on a super should I re- 

 move the inner cover from the hive body, or is the 

 hole in the cover sufficient for the bees to go from 

 the hive up into the super ? W. H. Goodwin. 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — Before placing the super over 

 the brood-chamber the inner cover should 

 be removed. If the super is an extracting- 

 super, then between the super and brood- 

 chamber there should be inserted a queen- 

 excluder. If the super is a comb-honey su- 

 per, containing sections of foundation, it 

 ma.y be placed directly over the brood-cham- 

 ber, with nothing intervening. Over the top 

 of either the comb or the extracting-super 

 should be placed the inner cover, just re- 

 moved, and there should be a piece of thin 

 board nailed over the hole in the cover. 

 Over this should be placed the outer cover. 

 Question. — In the January Gleanings we read 

 that combs of candied honey may be removed from 

 tlie hive, uncapped, dipped in hot water, and re- 

 turned to the hives wet, thus saving honey that 

 would othea-wise be wasted. Will not hot water 

 spoil the comb ? John Stahlman. 



Sweden. 



Answer. — That water was only "warm" 

 when it left our desk; but it has passed thru 

 the hands of the printer 's devil since and 

 became "hot." 



Question. — Does the double-walled Buckeye hive 

 need much protection from the sun during hot 

 weather ? Do you have to bore holes in the sides of 

 the hive to keep it cool? Lindsley Washburn. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — The double-walled Buckeye hive 

 is much warmer in winter and cooler in 

 summer than the single-walled hive. No 

 holes are necessary in the side walls of the 

 hive in order to keep it cool. However, any 

 hive, whether double or single walled, may 

 need special ventilation during hot weather. 

 See "Ventilation," under "Talks to Be- 

 ginners. ' ' 



Questions. — (1) Suppose one puts a weak queen- 

 less colony above a strong one with a queen-ex- 

 cluder between. Will the weak colony with the 

 help of the strong one rear themselves a queen? If 

 so, will the colony below the excluder swarm? (2) 

 When a queen is raised in an upper story, haw can 

 she get out to be mated? A. B. Wing. 



Florida. 



Answers. — (1) One could not be certain 

 that the upper queenless colony would build 

 queen-cells. If this plan were applied at 

 swarming time the upper colony would be 

 quite likely to build good queen-cells, and 

 swarm. (2) A young queen can not be mated 

 from an upper story unless an entrance is 



