538 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 20, 190?. 



our own sense of smell quickly tells us, and absorption of 

 ejected poison at least don't do her any particular good. 

 Better we say a balled queen dies from a variety of causes — 

 not usually a sting, but sometimes. Page 414. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 



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

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



Italianizing in Louisiana. 



1. When is the best time to Italianize bees in Louisi- 

 ana? 



2. How many queens would it take for 80 colonies to be 

 Italianized by the next honey season ? 



3. Is there anything more modern upon the subject of 

 rearing queens and Italianizing than the principles laid 

 down in your text-book ? If so, what is it ? 



Louisiana. 

 Answers. — 1. If you have no mishaps in introducing it 

 does not make so very much difference when it is done. 

 There is less danger of failure in introducing right in the 

 harvest-time, but less interference with storing by introduc- 

 ing later in the season. 



2. Possibly 85 or 90 to make a sure thing of it, if you 

 have some losses in introducing. But you probably con- 

 template rearing queens, and in that case a single queen to 

 rear from would do as well as more. Whether you can 

 make a success of it in that way depends somewhat upon 

 your season. With a good fall flow and vigorous action 

 it ought not to be a very hard thing. Even if you have no 

 fall flow, feeding will to some extent take its place. 



3. There is perhaps nothing later than what you may 

 find in " Forty Years Among the Bees," at least it is the 

 latest of my knowledge and practice, yet that is limited only 

 to my own practice. The excellent work of G. M. Doolittle 

 on queen-rearing goes into the whole subject most fully. 

 Nothing better can be found in print. 



Honey Extracted When Two-Thirds Capped. 



Owing to the lack of supplies I extracted some honey 

 when about two-thirds capped. Will it do to sell it that 

 ■^ay ? Illinois. 



Answer.— If the honey is very thin, it is better to sell 

 it in that condition, but the mere fact that a third of it is 

 still uncapped does not condemn it. If it is good, thick 

 honey it does not matter that it was partly unsealed. If 

 thin, it may be brought to a better consistency by letting it 

 stand uncovered where it will be heated to 100 degrees or 125 

 degrees. 



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Bee-Keeplns In Arkansas. 



On page 473, "Pennsylvania" says he had a colony that 

 had cells started in 5 days. I had a colony that cast a 

 swarm in 14 days after being hived, and left' the parent 

 hive in good condition. 



1. I have a small apiary that I run in connection with 

 a farm. I live about 1'+ miles from the Little Missouri 

 river. Do you think the distance cuts much figure with the 

 crop ? 



2. I have 28 colonies and 6 nuclei. Holly, linn, rattan, 

 and various other plants and vines grow around that secrete 

 nectar. Do you think it would pay better to increase the 

 bees and put them near the bottom-land, or run a small 

 yard with the farm out here in the hills ? We have black- 

 gum, rattan, blackberry, prickly ash, cotton, and sumac, 

 all of them producing lots of honey. Do you think it would 

 pay to neglect an ordinary farm to move the bees nearer to 

 the bottom ? . Arkansas. 



Answers.— 1. Yes, distance cuts quite an important fig- 

 ure in many cases. But it is likely that a distance of 1 ■+ 

 miles is so little for the bees that there would be little gain 

 in moving nearer. 



2. I don't know, but I think it well to stick to the farm. 



at least until the bee-business grew sufficiently to afford a 

 good living. You might not find 100 colonies succeed so 

 well as 28, and you might not find as much advantage as 

 you expect from changing your location. 



Moving Bees in a Car- Yellow Sweet Clover Honey. 



1. Would it be safe to move bees in a closed car with 

 household goods, they to be covered with wire-netting only ? 

 The car would be a week on the road. 



2. Is honey from yellow sweet clover darker in color 

 than that from white sweet clover ? Ontario. 



Answers. — 1. Something would depend on the weather. 

 If not very hot, and the whole top of the hive is covered with 

 wire-netting, and the bees are supplied with water by 

 sponge or otherwise, they ought to get through all right. 



2. I don't know, but I think the color is the same. 



Untested Queen Questions— Bees Gnawing Foundation. 



I have been trying to follow modern methods since last 

 spring, and have this season been fairly successful. But 

 the more I learn about bees the less I seem to understand 

 about them, therefore I will venture to ask the ioUowing 

 questions : 



1. Are the " Standard Bred Queens " sent out by Editor 

 York as premiums pure Italian ? 



2. Are they fertilized or virgin ? 



3. Is there any danger of getting foul brood with 

 them as a free gift ? 



4. How soon should I be able to find eggs laid by one of 

 those queens? I got one and introduced her Aug. 1, and 

 found her all right this morning, Aug. 4. 



5. Why do my bees gnaw some of the foundation out of 

 the frames (both starters as well as full frame) and then 

 build up again, but too much drone-comb ? Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. [Yes. — Editor.] 



2. They are fertilized and already laying. 



3. [No.— Editor.] 



4. Sometimes within 24 hours after she is out of her 

 cage, sometimes not for a week. The same is true of any 

 queen introduced, even if she has not been through the 

 mail. 



5. I don't know. Possibly pure mischief when no honey 

 is coming in. 



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Late Introduction of Queens— Swarms Returning. 



The honey-flow has been over here a long time, since 

 about May 15. 



1. Can I make any forced swarms at this time, or must 

 I wait until spring ? 



2. Can I introduce new queens yet ? and how will I have 

 to proceed ? 



3. I have one colony of bees which swarmed about 6 or 

 7 times, and the swarm went back to the old hive every 

 time immediately after hiving in a new hive on starters. I 

 also gave new comb for brood, and did every other way I 

 could think of. What was the matter with it ? 



Louisiana. 



Answers. — 1. You can, but not so successfully as when 

 there is a flow of honey. You will have to feed, and it will 

 be necessary to keep a very sharp lookout or you will start 

 a bad case of robbing. 



2. Yes, you can introduce queens any time so long as 

 the weather is warm. The proceeding is the same as at any 

 other time, but introducing is not always so successful in a 

 dearth as when honey is coming in freely. 



3. The queen may have had defective wings so that she 

 could not go with the swarm ; then when the bees found 

 there was no queen with them they would return to the old 

 hive. 



< » »■ 



Foundation Starters or Full Sheets- Gathering from 



Corn-Tassels— Too Strong Colonies-Rearing 



Queens 



1. In using foundation starters, if you cannot use full 

 sheets would you use wide or narrow starters ? 



2. What do bees gather from coru-tassels ? I see them 

 working on them. 



3. Can a colony of bees get too strong ? By this, I mean 

 can they be strengthened up to such an extent that they 



