186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 19, 1903. 



harm it j'ou build it up three or four stories high. After you have 

 built it up strong, let it stand a weel! or more, so there shall be no 

 very young brood in the hive except from the choice iiueen. Then 

 take three or more frames of brood with the queen and adhering bees 

 and put them in a hive on a new stand. A week later you will find in 

 the queenless colony a lot of sealed queen-cells. You can now take 

 from this hive a frame of brood and bees and proceed with the plan 

 you proposed, although it may be better to use two frames of brood 

 for each nucleus. Let each one have two or more sealed cells, so that 

 they may select the best, and see that the cells are centrally located so 

 there is no danger of their being chilled. 



4. Yes. 



5. I don't know of any quick and easy way. It you give to the 

 bees a comb or combs in which you are sure there are no ffggs, the 

 comb being in good condition for the queen to occupy, you will find 

 eggs present within 10 minutes or so, it the queen is there. It you 

 are experienced, you can also tell by the acitons of the bees whether 

 the queen is present or not. If no queen is with them they will be- 

 come very uneasy in the course of 10 or 15 minutes. 



6. No, if no Ijees are left, a cool night would result in chilled 

 brood, and much of the brood would starve before the hatching bees 

 would feed them. Besides, the hive would be a good mark for robbers. 



7. You may do so if you leave in the hive (or return to it) enough 

 bees to take good care of the brood. That is, you can drum them, 

 but not shake them. 



8 and 9. You can't shake bees out of a hive unless .vou can lift out 

 the frames separately. But you can drum them out, and they will fill 

 up while being drummed, or you can wait two or three minutes for 

 them to flu up after you have drummed perhaps five minutes, and 

 then you can go on drnmming. 



10. Pound on the hive with your fists or with two sticks. 



Basswood Trees. 



Where can I get basswnod trees or seed to start trees 1 How is a 

 good way to start a few trees i and what kind of soil is the best for 

 them ? Illinois. 



Answer. — Any nurseryman can get them for you, and sometimes 

 they are advertised in bee-papers. Any soil in your State that will 

 grow other trees will probably do. It is a ditlicult thing, I believe, to 

 grow them from seed, and a common way to get a start is to dig up 

 the yoting plants where they have started in the woods. 



Catnip and Sweet Clover— Moving Bees. 



1. What is the best time of year to sow catnip and sweet clover 

 seed in Kentucky, where it has to be sown on waste land and public 

 highways, and depend on it being trampled in by stock. 



2. Should they be sown in firm or loose soil. 



3. Will catnip sown now, or in the spring, afford bee-pasture next 

 season ? Of course, I know the clover will not. 



4. What is best, or will any bee-plant grow in the mountains ? 

 Near me are thousands of acres of what we call " knob-land," most of 

 the timber has been cut oil, leaving the ground pretty thickly covered 

 with small growth of briars and brushes. Now what I want to know 

 is, whether I can afford to spend a few dollars throwing seed on this 

 waste brush-land. Of course, it will have to be sown down among 

 the leaves to sprout it. Please advise me. 



5. As per advice la the Bee Journal a few issues ago, I moved 

 from their summer stands 2 weak colonies of Italians (the rest of my 



bees being black) to a place some 50 feet distant, and protected from 

 the north and east winds. The weather has been bad, and bees have 

 not Mown since I moved them 4 weeks ago, until day before yesterday, 

 and 1 found that many of my pretty Italians had gone back to the old 

 stand, and findingit gone, had entered the nearest hives and were be- 

 inj; killed. It's a lesson learned, however. But is there any way to 

 prevent this ? I shall have to move them from where they are now, 

 back on the summer stand after winter is over, and I dislike losing 

 any of them, for I want to Italianize my entire stock from these two 

 colonies. Can you suggest how to move them, or what to do to cause 

 them to return to the hive to which they belong ? Kentucky. 



Answers.— 1. Any time from the time seed is ripe in the tall till 

 vegetation starts in the spring. Of course it will not be well to be too 

 late in the spring, and at least tor sweet clover it will be all the better 

 to have the seed tramped in quite early in the fall. But you will 

 hardly find the catnip seed succeed as well as the sweet clover when 

 subjected to constant tramping. Catnip does better with some kind 

 of protection, as in fence-corners and hedgerows. 



2. Sweet clover seems to do best in very firm soil. I hardly think 

 it is the same with catnip. 



3. Catnip is a perennial, continuing permanently when once 

 started. I think you can not count on bloom the first season, and I 

 thiuk it will increase in size and strength after the second year. 



4. I should be very hopeful as to sweet clover, trying catnip on a 

 less extensive scale. 



5. Shut the bees in the hive before moving them, keeping them im- 

 prisoned a longer or shorter time according to the weather. It you 

 leave them till the weather is quite warm, then a shorter time of con- 

 finement will do, for it confined too long they may smother. Even 

 when it is quite warm, if you close the hive after they stop fiying in 

 the evening or before they fly out in the morning, there will be little 

 danger of any harm from conflning them till the middle of the day. 

 You can move them any time while confined in the hive, perhaps all 

 the better toward the close of their confinement, handling them rather 

 roughly in moving, and pounding on the hive before opening. As 

 an additional precaution j-ou might set up a board before the entrance 

 of each hive, so that the minute a bee leaves the entrance it will bump 

 its head against the board and have its attention called to the change 

 in surroundings. 



Slmmins' Forced Swarms. 



Please inform me what Slmmins means by giving the brood-combs 

 removed to the " other hive deprived of part of its poplation." Does 

 he mean in a second story, for there would be no room in the first if 

 only one-halt of the bees were taken away ? Or does he mean to take 

 halt the bees, with i/w curnbti, from the second colony ? 



And does he mean in the first colony to fill up with as many 

 comb-guides as theie are brood-combs removed ? 



A neighbor loaned me a copy of the American Bee Journal, and 

 the account of " Slmmins' Forced Swarms" interested me. 



New Jersey. 



Answer. — The first colony has all but one or two combs of brood 

 taken from it, retaining all its own bees, and receiving halt the bees 

 of the second colony. Frames with starters take the place of the 

 removed brood-combs. The second colony has half ot its bees taken, 

 but none ot its brood, and it gets all the brood taken from the first 

 colony. Ot course, it must have a second story to receive the brood, 

 and it will need one or two extra frames to fill up. This refers to what 

 is said on page 67. 



23 Colonies Bees For Sale. 



All in dovetail LangstrotU hives, wired frames 

 with full sheets foundation, 2 supers on each 

 hive, with modern super furniture; ZH empty 

 hives, brood-chamber with full straigrht combs 

 on wired frames, combs in good condition; 2 

 furnished supers oa each hive; lot of other bee- 

 keepers' supplies, wax-extractor, etc. 



12A2t FRANKLIN MOORE, Bailey vllle. III. 



Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writins 



Paw Paws. 



r Delicious as bananas or muskmellons. Trees 

 beautiful on lawn or g-arden. Prolific bearers. 

 Seed, per package, 10 cents, postpaid. 

 Address and benefit, 



ROCKY BEACH ORPHANAGE 



LANSING. MICH. 

 Please mention Bee Journal when "writing 



A Grand Apple-Tree Opportunity. 



We trust our readers are iivnilint: tbi'iiiselves in 

 large numbers ot the Special Apple-'l'rei' Sale of the 

 Harrison Nurseries, it always pays in buy from the 

 Harrison people. A special rare opportunity ' 

 fered in Their sale ot" tuls 

 out an immense stock <_ 

 rooted trees of all Roof! vi 

 show the superiority uf 

 duce. Every shipment kih-? i. u iii p:i<ki il in a supe- 

 rinr manner and is uuaranti'L'd u, ;m i iv sately any 

 where in the country. Write I'nr iheir sin.'cial api)le- 

 tree list, and send in your order If you have not al- 

 ready done so. Address them, llanisoii Nurseries- 

 "'""""'■ ■ ti the American 



Tney i 

 , hualthy, strong- 



FROM MANY FIELDS | 



Methods of Rearing Queens. 



Our first instructions given by M. (iuinljy 

 were very economical. He said just as good 

 queens could be reared in full colonies. Hav- 

 ing full confidence in this veteran in bee-keep- 

 ing, I followed his directions, but from lack 

 of experience I was not as successful as I 

 might have been. So I concluded to try a 

 larger comb, 5x8 inches. These were more 

 successful, and having had more experience, 

 I succeeded in rearing some fairly good 

 queens which were used to Italianize som 

 colonies ot common bees, 

 houey-flow ceased, these sm 

 became destitute of honey, ;; 

 and fed would swarm out 

 queens were old enough t 

 These small hives do not hold bees enough to 

 keep the temperature at I he proper degree, 

 and the queens may suffei- from cold if a few 

 rainy days come. 



At the present time quei-iis-oells are started 

 in full, strong colonies, anl no combs are 



But when the 



all colonies soon 



mdif not watched 



about the time 



lay, or before. 



POVLTRY PAYS 



when the hena lay. Keep them 

 laying. For hatching and broud- 

 ing use the best reasonable priced 

 Incubators and Brooders ^ built 

 upon honor, sold upon guarantee. 



THE ORMAS ' 



I.. A. Banta. Llffonler, Indians 



46A20t Please mention the Bee Journal. 



HIGiilNSVILLE BEE-SUPPLIES. 

 We have received a car-load of these unique 

 supplies. These goods are equal to if not the 

 best on the market. Give us a trial order. We 

 are also agents for the Progressive Bee- 

 Keeper, price, 50 cents per year. Send your 

 orders and subscriptions to us. We sell at fac- 

 tory prices. W. I>. FULTON, 

 Catalog Free. c;arden City, Kan. 



$300,000,000.00 A YEAR 



and you may hav^' part of it If you work 

 for us. Uncle Saiii'B pfoultry product paj'S 

 that sum. Send lOe for Bamples and partie- 

 ularH. We furuipli capital to start you in 



business. Draptr Publishing Co..Clilcago,IU. 



BASSWOOD TREES. 



One to two feet 25 for $1.C0; 100 for $3.00 



Two to three feet 25 for 1.25; 100 for 4.0O 



Three to four feet 25 for 1.50; 100 for 5.00 



12A3t a. W. PETRIE, Fairmont, Minn. 



