58 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 22, 1903. 



through life, providing it's so. And, in good sooth, the 

 other, in case it's so, is much more important for us than 

 if it looked reasonable. Reasonableness can probably be 

 found later on, if the fact is assuredly just as claimed. Is a 

 queen like a rocket ? A rocket held down for a very short 

 time is going to fly lower on account of it. Page 776. 



EMPTYING HALF-FILLBD SECTIONS. 



The experience of Edwin Bevins is that with a super 

 bottomed with burlap in such a way that the bees can only 

 get through a hole at one end, they empty half-filled sec- 

 tions pretty promptly. Wonder how often this will fail. 

 Suspect that sometimes a weak colony will vote that the 

 chamber is a little cool, and they can just as well bring 

 down the honey some other day. Page 781. 



^Ifi^Jfi^^itmJfi^jamJIMt 



Questions and Answers. \ 



CONDUCTED BT 



DR. O. O. laiLLER, Mareago, HI, 



(The QuestlonB may be mailed to the Bee Jonrnal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editok.1 



Sweet Clover. 



1. How many pounds of sweet clover seed does it take 

 to sow an acre ? 



2. Will it grow on new land very roughly plowed ? 



3. Which is the better honey-producer, the white or the 

 yellow ? Michigan. 



Answers. — 1. Sow the same amount of seed that is 

 generally sown of red clover in your neighborhood. Half 

 as much will do if seed is scarce and land plenty. But if 

 you want sweet clover to bloom every year on the same 

 land, you must sow two years in succession, for it is a bien- 

 nial. 



2. Yes, and it will grow on land not plowed at all, if 

 the seed be tramped in by stock. 



3. I don't know. Some claim that yellow is better than 

 the white, but the white is better known. It would be a 

 good plan to try both. 



Shaken Swarms and Other Old Ideas. 



How new that shaken swarm idea is ! C. J. H. 

 Graven horst gave it more than 30 years ago. Then read 

 J. H. Nellis' catalogs, and the half-Langstroth frames and 

 half-cases way back in the seventies ; also in The Exchange. 

 The Gravenhorst swept swarms is an old and well-tried sat- 

 isfactory practice. I have known of its use 26 or 28 years. 

 Mr. Heddon got lots of his work from the Nellis half-cases. 



The old-timers are not all dead yet. Some remember 

 the past use. Connecticut. 



Answer. — Yes, forced or shaken swarms are much older 

 than many suppose. The plan is so much in accord with 

 natural swarming, being merely a way of anticipating it, 

 that it is quite the natural thing that one should think of 

 operating by it, and so it comes to pass that probably a 

 good many in different quarters conceived of it independ- 

 ently of each other. 



Some Cross Italian Bees. 



that you have been unfortunate in getting a colony excep- 

 tionally cross. It is also possible that another season you 

 may find them more gentle. The past season was in your 

 locality one to give cause for ill-nature in almost any colony 

 — cool nights with heavy dews and little storing. 



Oregon and Washington for Bee-keeping. 



Please give what information you can about Oregon 

 and Washington in regard to apiculture. What is the main 

 source for honey ? How does that country compare with 

 Minnesota for bees ? What about climate and soil ? 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — These questions are too much for me, and I 

 am not sure just where is the best place to apply for infor- 

 mation — possibly by addressing Hon: James Wilson, Secre- 

 taryof Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



My bees needed shaking this year, they did not swarm 

 or work, either. I bought 6 colonies in box-hives last win- 

 ter, and transferred them to Heddon hives. They were 

 blacks, and tartars at that, and I had a job, too. I thought 

 from all I had read that if I put in Italian queens their 

 brood would be gentle, but I was mistaken. They are as 

 pretty as can be, but are just as cross as the blacks were. I 

 dare not take a friend in the garden where they are, as they 

 dispute possession, every time. Why is this ? 



South Carowna. 



Answer. — Italians as a whole are gentler than blacks, 

 yet they are not all alike, and sometimes a colony of Ital- 

 ians is anything but remarkable for good-nature. It may be 



When to Transfer Bees. 



I began the bee-business about four months ago. I 

 bought 33 colonies of bees, and find the ones in large hives 

 in better shape than those in the small hives. I have taken 

 as high as 40 pounds of white honey from one hive, and only 

 cut off the hive 6 or 8 inches to put on a super in the spring. 

 I have about 12 colonies to transfer. When would be the 

 best time to transfer them ? Tennessee. 



Answer. — The usual time for transferring is in fruit- 

 bloom, although there is an increasing disposition to defer 

 it till three weeks after the casting of a prime swarm. 



Were They Prime Swarms. 



I had a swarm of bees issue from the parent hive July 

 13, and hived them on 10 drawn combs, on the old stand, 

 moving the hive from which they swarmed some distance. 

 On July 14 they swarmed out of the hive ; I put them in 

 again, and then took a comb of unsealed larva; and put in 

 the hive, and put them back again. This time they stayed 

 and went to building queen-cells. I tore the queen-cells 

 down, and they built them up again, and on August 4 they 

 swarmed again with the old queen clipped. Were they both 

 prime swarms ? Nebraska. 



Answer. — I don't know. A swarm issuing with a lay- 

 ing queen is usually entitled to the name of " prime swarm," 

 and when such a swarm sends out a swarm the same season, 

 the latter is called a virgin swarm. It looks as if there was 

 something abnormal in the case you mention, the second 

 issue being by dissatisfaction of the bees with their queen, 

 and I don't know enough to say positively as to the proper 

 nomenclature. 



Extracting Honey — Comb vs. Extracted. 



I see in a catalog that the Cowan Extractor, No. 15^ is 

 made for the Langstroth frame, of which the top-bar is 17 >^ 

 inches long, 9's inches deep. 



1. Can I extract a frame that is not so long ? 



2. Or from frames not so deep as the Langstroth ? 



3. Is there more profit in producing extracted than 

 comb honey ? Oregon. 



Answers. — 1 and 2. Yes, a shorter or shallower frame 

 can be extracted in such an extractor all right. 



3. I don't know. In some places one kind, in other 

 places the other kind is the more profitable. The kind of 

 honey may have something to do with it. The man may 

 have a good deal to do with it, There are many bee-keep- 

 ers who work for extracted honey exclusively, and they 

 probably think that under all the circumstances there is 

 more profit in that kind of honey for them. The same may 

 be said of comb honey. It is possible that no man living 

 can tell which would be better for you without actually try- 

 ing the two side by side. 



Average Income per Colony— Book for An\ateurs- 

 Worms in Colonies. 



upon your reply to the following question will depend 



whether I follow bee-culture as a business, or for pleasure : 



1. What is the enclosed sage ? Is it a honey-producer? 



