March 26, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



201 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. miLLER, Mareafro, 111. 



(The QaeBtlons 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 mall. — Editor. 1 



Camiolan Bees-tiettlns Increase. 



1. Will Carniolan bees protect the hive, or colony, from wax- 

 moths as well as the Italians i 



2. Could I put a hive-body on eaah colony of bees, and when there 

 is a large amount of bees, take off the top hive and move the old one, 

 setting the top hive on the old stand, and introduce a queen safely, 

 providing I have a honey-board between the two hives ? I wish to in- 

 crease the size of my apiary, and expect to buy several queens this 

 spring, but do not know which breed would meet my requirements. 

 The wax-inoths are the worst thing we have to contend with. 



Arkansas. 

 Answeks. — 1. I don't know. Will someone please tell us ; The 

 Italians have great reputation in this regard. 



2. Yes, but it might not prove the most satisfactory plan. 



Putting Bees Out of the Cellar Early. 



1. What will be the probable result it I put my bees out of the 

 cellar, on the summer stands, a little too early ? Will they not, when 

 coming from the cellar, stand a little severe weather or freezing as 

 well as bees that are out at the same time and have not been housed i 



2. Did you mean to say that bees may be safely put out-of-doors 

 when the buds on soft-maple begin to swell, or the sap run ? 



The days are warm, and my bees are getting restless. Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. They will be likely to fly out when too cold, many 

 bees being thus lost. I don't know that I can give you a satisfactory 

 reason for it, but I don't believe a colony brought out of the cellar will 

 stand severe March weather as well as one that has been out all win- 

 ter. 



3. No, if the soft-maple is to be taken as a guide, wait till it is out 

 in full bloom. 



Introducing aueens. 



I bought an Italian queen last August, introduced her on the day 

 of arrival. She was accepted all right, and assumed her duties at once. 

 About two weeks afterward I was surprised to see young Italian work- 

 ers about the entrance of the hive. 



Why should a colony be left queenless 24 hours after removing 

 the "old" queen, before introducing the "new "' one ? I have not 

 handled many, but what few I have, have all been introduced just one 

 hour after removing the old queen, and every one accepted. All that I 

 introduced was in August or the first of September. Perhaps it would 

 not work earlier in the season. 



Yesterday (Feb. 20) was a warm, spring-like day. When near my 

 bouse at noon, on the way to dinner, I could hear the humming of the 

 bees, and on going out to the bee-yard it seemed as if there were a 

 couple of swarms in the air. They were having a great flight. 



I have y colonies in the cellar ; they never did so well and kept so 

 quiet as this year, to date. Illinois. 



Answer. — A colony of bees with a satisfactory queen will never 

 accept another kindly within an hour of the removal of their iiwn 

 queen, and they are left queenless 24 hours or more, so that becoming 

 copscious of their queenlessness they may be ready to accept any queen 

 given them. You say you introduced them successfully within an 

 hour of the removal of the old queen, but I feel pretty sure that they 

 were caged, and the real introduction came hours afterward when the 

 candy was eaten out and bees and queen had an opportunity to shake 

 hands. Whether it is best to put the caged queen in the hive at the 

 time of removing the old queen or some time later is a mooted ques- 

 tion. 



Feeding in the Cellar— Foul Brood 



Etc. 



-Extracting-Frames, 



1. When bees are fed in the cellar at a temperature of about 40 

 or 45 degrees, will the queen go to laying and hatching brood ; 



2. Which is the best food for bees when they run short of stori"^ in 

 the winter, candy or syrup '. 



3. What are the chief causes of foul brood ; I have never heard of 

 a case in this section. 



4. My hives are all S-frame Langstroth hives. Would 10-framcs 

 be better, where the bees are confined to the cellar for five months : 



.5. I notice some give their bees Hights during the winter. I sic no 

 way of doing it here, where the ground is covered with snow.") monihs. 



e. Will it be necessary to wire foundation in shallow extractin-j;- 

 frames to be used in a Cowan extractor ? 



tor! 



Can 3 shallow frames be put in one basket of a Cowan extrac- 



S. How much more honey should a good colony store by placing 

 shallow extracting-frames with foundation, and extracting the same 

 whenever filled, where the colony would store 50 pounds of comb 

 honey * 



0. Would it be wise to have Italians, red clover bees and Car- 

 niolans all in the same yard, and let them mix with each other ? 



New York. 



Answers. — 1. Hardly, unless the feeding be kept up regularly for 

 some time. 



2. Candy. 



3. The chief and the only cause is the presence of a microbe, 

 B'lclUus (i/rei, and the disease is generally conveyed to a healthy col- 

 ony by means of honey from a diseased colony. A drop of infected 

 honey no larger than a pin-head is enough to start the destruction of 

 an entire apiary. 



4. That depends. It would take less care on your part to prevent 

 starving if you should change to the larger hives. 



5. I think if you watch closely you will find that there is no place 

 in the State of New York, probably, where there will not be at least 

 one day warm enough for bees to fly before time to take them out for 

 good. 



6. They will at least be better for it. 



7. Yes, if the frames are small enough, although it may not be 

 the most convenient. 



8. I don't know. The answer has been given all the way from 

 nothing to two or three times as much, there being a great variation 

 under different circumstances. 



9. Yes, if you do not care about keeping either kind pure. 



The Nucleus Method of Increase. 



I am desirous of increasing my bees as much as possible. We 

 have honey coming in during fruit-bloom, and a little during dande- 

 lion bloom, but after that not much until alfalfa and sweet clover, 

 which commences the latter part of June and continues until the last 

 of August or first part of September, then the honey comes in slowly. 



We cut alfalfa three times. The first and second crops hav^ 

 plenty of time to bloom, and there is often quite a lot of bloom on th" 

 third crop. . 



1. Will it pay me to make nuclei and feed them between fruit- 

 bloom and alfalfa (last week in June), to build them up, when honey 

 is worth 5'. J cents per pound '. or will it pay the best to sell the honey 

 at that price ? 



2. Can I increase fast by taking strong colonies and brush or 

 shake the bees on foundation or starters in a new hive on the old 

 stand, leaving the brood in the old hive in a new location, and give 

 them a capped queen-cell, when enough bees have hatched from the 

 combs, and feeding both with honey until the honey-flow is good in 

 the field ? Will this plan work, and pay? 



I rear queens according to Doolittle's cell-cup plan. Utah. 



Answers. — 1. So long as you want the increase, better feed the 

 nuclei. 



2. The plan is not good for rapid increase. You can beat it with 

 the nucleus plan. 



Shaken Swarms. 



In using the shaken-swarms process, how will it do to shake all 

 the bees and queen of one colony, and nearly all the bees of another 

 colony, into an empty hive, putting the two old hives together, one on 

 top of the other, with one of the queens and just enough bees to care 

 for the brood, in a new location ! Will the colony having the brood 

 be likely to cast a swarm ; How would you work them, when the 

 brood hatches confine them to one brood-nest, and put on a super ! I 

 want combhonev, and no increase. Would this plan work well * 



Ohio. 



Answer. — Somewhat the same plan as you propose is in use across 

 the water. S. Simmins, of England, practices the plan given on page 

 67 of this journal. In Germany it is the practice of some to take all 

 the brood from a shaken swarm and put it over another strong colony. 

 Either of these plans leaves you with the same number of colonies. 

 The Germans (and it was from Germany that the shaken-swarm plan 

 came) say that when you put this force of brood over a strong colony, 

 the colony thus strenghtened by so much brood will not swarm. Evi- 

 dently, however, the colony would not be in the best condition right 

 away for comb honey. 



But why do you want to put one of the hives in a new location ? 

 and would you leave nothing on the old location ; That wouldn't work, 

 for you of course know that the field-bees would go back to their old 

 location. Very likely, however, the two colonies you mean to operate 

 upon are standing close together on the same stand, and then you 

 would be all right. A little care must be taken not to leave too few 

 bees on the same stand, for in a day or two all of its field-bees will 

 have deserted it for the old stand, and it will be still weaker than you 

 left it. 



The colony with the brood will not be likely to swarm unless j-ou 

 take away some of its brood-combs. 



Yes, the colony with the brood could be set to work on sections 

 byreducing to one story. Neither would it be necessary to wait till 

 the brood hatches (about three weeks i. but perhaps in about ten days 

 you could take away one story, leiivitig the combs with most sealed 

 brood. There would probably be soiiu- danger of this colony swarming. 



You express surprise that you find in " Forty Years Among the 



