July 23, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



473 



land is under cultivation. There are acres of strawberri..'s, 

 but they bloom so early. I don't know whether they are of 

 much value or not. 



7. What color is strawberry honey ? 



Locust and holly bloom in May, but my bees did not 

 notice the locust, though bumble-bees were lively around 

 it, but mine were equally as — I was going to say, boister- 

 ous, but hardly — around the tiny little holly blossoms. 



. 8. Do you suppose my bees did not notice the locust 

 because of white clover and other preferred blooms ? 



I have killed numbers of those little pests — the bee-mar- 

 tins. I have an idea they have a special taste for virgin 

 queens, since I've lost several. Spare them for the sake of 

 keeping away hawks ? not I. I prefer to use that same 

 shot-gun on the hawks. 



I take the Bee Journal and have Dr. Miller's new book, 

 both of which I thoroughly enjoy, and don't feel that I can 

 do without. My ! when I get started on bees it's hard to 

 stop. '" So it seems," I hear everybody say. 



Mrs. C. D. Mears. 



Princess Anne Co., Va., May 26. 



Answers. — 1. Probably there is not much difference. 



2. If all the combs are well covered with bees it will be 

 all right, but be sure they have plenty of bees. Remember 

 some of them will go back to the parent colony. 



3. It will probably make very little difference. 



4. Generally not, unless very early. 



5. Most likely the eight or ten frame dovetailed. 



6. The packing may have made some difference, but 

 this has been an unusually early season in general. 



7. I don't know, and I doubt if any one else knows. 



8. Very likely. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 





Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Sumac as a Nectar-Yielder— Distance Bees Gather. 



1. There is a bush that grows in this county known by 

 the common name of sumac. It grows very abundantly in 

 this section. There are two kinds of it, the red and the 

 white. It is in bloom now, and the bees are working on it. 

 It does not grow in the bottoms, but there is lots of it on the 

 hills. What is the correct name for it ? 



2. Is there much honey in it ? If so, is it of good qual- 

 ity ? 



3. My apiary is I's miles from the Red River bottom — 

 a bottom about 8 miles wide, containing a very dense forest. 

 It is about 5 miles to the river where there is a very exten- 

 sive agricultural business carried on. I can see my bees go- 

 ing to the bottoms. How far do you think they will go in 

 the bottoms ? Arkansas. 



Answers. — 1. Probably the plant is sumac. 1 



2. I don't know anything about sumac honey. 



3. Bees have been known to go as much as 7 miles, 'but 

 probably not with profit more than 2 or 3. 



A Swarm with aueen-Cells-White Clover Disappearing. 



1. Five days ago I hived a moderately large swarm in a 

 hive of usual size. The bees went right to work and have 

 seemed perfectly contented from the first. Yesterday, five 

 days after swarming, I opened the hive, found comb-build- 

 ing advancing nicely, some honey, and an abundance of 

 eggs. The surprise that awaited me was the discovery of 

 six queen-cells, all about half completed, and each contain- 

 ing an egg, or a larva with royal jelly. How do you account 

 for queen-cells so soon after hiving ? 



2. Why does white clover disappear so completely after 

 one year of luxuriant bloom ? A vacant lot near my home 

 last summer was a perfect snowbank of clover blossoms. 

 The lot has not been plowed nor disturbed in anyway what- 

 ever. But this summer it is impossible to discover a soli- 

 tary clover plant. The entire lot has grown up to plantain. 

 What is the reason for this ? Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — 1. Very likely most bee-keepers would be, 

 like you, surprised to find queen-cells so soon after the hiv- 



ing of a swarm. Yet I doubt its being anything so very 

 unusual. Remember that when left to themselves the bees 

 will supersede a queen when she becomes old enough, and 

 that supersedure will generally take place toward the close 

 of the honey harvest. The queen has been doing her heav- 

 iest laying up to the time of swarming, and why should 

 supersedure not take place immediately after swarming as 

 well as later ? 



2. I don't know. Perhaps it winter-killed. Who can 

 give a better answer ? 



Two Pound Sections— Coverless Colony Rained On. 



1. A friend gave me some two-pound sections with 

 supers. Are they all right for family use ? I never saw 

 any on the market and I can't remember ever seeing a two- 

 pound cake of honey on the table. 



2. The colony I started with this spring seemed good 

 and strong, but during a heavy rain-storm the last of May 

 the hive was uncovered. Would you think that the young 

 brood would be chilled and thus destroyed by exposure ? I 

 found a few dead bees outside the next day. I put a super 

 on during fruit-bloom, but they did nothing on it but filled 

 it with bees. They are now storing some clover honey. 



3. How would you remove a colony of bees from under 

 the siding of a house ? 



4. I have found a bee-tree, and the owner of the tree 

 objects to my cutting it. How would you get the bees out ? 



Subscriber. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, they are just as nice in every way 

 as the smaller sections except as to matter of size. Form- 

 erly they were somewhat common on the market, but when 

 the pound sections appeared the larger could only be sold 

 at a lower price. 



2. It is not likely that the brood was injured in the 

 least. The bees pack themselves over it so as to make a 

 " shingling " that will shed all rain from the brood. Still, 

 it is not likely that a cold bath does the bees any great 

 good. 



3. Cut away the boarding so as to expose the combs, 

 using the necessary smoke ; cut out the combs and transfer 

 them as directed in your book for transferring, arrange so 

 as to have the hive close up where the bees were, and allow 

 the bees all to settle on the combs, perhaps keeping the hive 

 uncovered for that purpose. Toward the close of the day 

 see that no bees have gone back to the old place, driving 

 them out with smoke. When all have ceased flying in the 

 evening, take the bees into a dark cellar and keep them 

 there for two or three days, then set them on the stand 

 where they are to remain. 



4. Just what the law is with you I don't know, but if 

 you do the work of taking down the tree and getting the 

 honey you ought to be allowed at least half of it. The 

 combs can be fastened in frames as in regular transferring. 

 The work can be done almost any time during warm 

 weather. If only the honey is to be secured, wait till the 

 harvest is over. 



Keeping Swarming Colonies Strong-Lsing Queen-Ex- 

 cluders. 



I am a beginner in bee-keeping and a subscriber to the 

 American Bee Journal. The questions and answers have 

 been a great help to me, but there are one or two that I 

 would like to ask that I don't believe I have ever seen 

 printed. 



In the fall of 1901 I bought a colony of black bees in 

 an 8-frame Langstroth hive. They were strong, and win- 

 tered nicely, and the 14th of the next May sent out a large 

 swarm. I hived them as soon as clover began to blossom. 



1. How can they be kept strong when they are swarm- 

 ing all the time ? 



2. I am greatly interested in the business, and wish to 

 run for comb honey. Is it well to have them swarm so 

 much ? (I want the honey more than the increase:) If it is 

 not well to have them swarm so much, what can I do to pre- 

 vent it ? 



3. Is it as well to have queen-excluding zinc over the 

 brood- frames ? If so, where can I get it, and what would 

 be the price ? M.mne. 



Answers.— 1. One way that is a good deal of trouble, 

 although perhaps the surest way for one not very experi- 

 enced, is to return each swarm that comes out. When a 

 swarm issues take the cluster and dump it down in front of 

 the hive from which it issued, letting the bees run back into 



