Sept. 3, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



569 



that it will gather almost nothing, and there may be a con- 

 tinuous flood of honey during the entire span of its life. 



Although the question is of such character as not to 

 admit of an absolute answer, there is no law against mak- 

 ing some approximation at an estimate. Suppose a colony 

 to have 30 000 fielders at a time when the honey stored and 

 consumed during 26 days amounts to 60 pounds. Dividing 

 that amount among the 30,000 gives about a thirtieth of an 

 ounce for each. That is, it would be the life-work of 30 

 bees to gather an ounce of honey, and the gathering of a 

 pound section would wear out the lives of SCO bees. Taking 

 the whole season through, that is probably much above the 

 average, and in very exceptional yields it might be doubled 

 or trebled. 



Spring Demand for Bees-Preventing Increase— Piping 

 of Queens. 



1. Is there any demand for bees for shipment in the 

 spring ? I would advertise through the American Bee Jour- 

 nal at the proper time. 



2. Please give one or more plans to prevent increase. 

 My practice has been to clip queens' wings, and. when they 

 swarm, remove the hive to one side and place an empty one 

 in its place, and when the swarm returns let the queen run 

 in with them ; then in eight days (or when I hear the young 

 queen piping) destroy all queen-cells. 



3. Hosv would it do to hive them in a temporary hive, 

 then kill the old queen and immediately go through the 

 hive and destroy all queen-cells but one, then run the swarm 

 back to their original place ? Would they then be likely to 

 swarm again ? 



4. At that stage the queen-cells have not progressed 

 very far. Would they be likely to start others from eggs or 

 larva; ? 



5. Does a young queen always pipe before a swarm 

 issues ? Mrs. Tupper said she never knew a swarm to issue 

 that she did not hear the young queens piping. Iowa. 



Answers — 1. There is usually demand, and sometimes 

 very great demand, for bees in spring. 



2. If you don't care for the labor of hiving, here's a 

 plan that will leave you with absolutely no increase : Simply 

 return every swarm that issues. You might have to return 

 the swarm once or more before the dispatching of the old 

 queen, and then one or several times before the issuing of 

 the last queen from its cell. After that there would be no 

 more trouble. You can vary from that in a way that will 

 probably suit you better. When you find sealed cells, re- 

 move or kill the old queen, or else wait for the first swarm, 

 return it. and kill the old queen. Then wait till you hear 

 piping, and destroy all cells. 



3. That would do, only it isn't always safe to depend 

 upon one cell. Sometimes a cell does not contain a good 

 queen. Better wait till the first young queen issues. You 

 may as well save the trouble of hiving in a temporary hive 

 by returning at once to the old hive. 



4. Yes, but there would be no advantage in it. 



5. You may safely count on the piping. 



Feeding Bees— Rearing Queens— Queenless Bees. 



1. On page 335, Edwin Bevins says that he feeds granu- 

 lated sugar and water with the pepper-box feeder. Will not 

 the food run too fast ? I cannot feed sugar and water with 

 the pepper-box on that account. How does he do it ? 



2. When you wish the bees to replenish the brood-cham- 

 ber, how do you feed, and where do you place the food ? 



3. Should you desire the bees to carry the food to the 

 supers, where do you place it ? 



4. Should you have an extra brood-chamber on that you 

 wanted emptied so as to preserve the combs for next season, 

 how would you get the bees to empty them ? 



5. What do the bees do with the honey they fill up on 

 when disturbed? and what do they do with it when they 

 rob ? 



6. Are they not compelled to disgorge themselves before 

 they could or would go out foraging again 7 



7. What is the appearance of brood sufficiently young to 

 give to a queenless colony to rear a queen from ? and what 

 is the limit of age ? 



8. When you find little patches of brood deposited here 

 and there in the combs, what does it indicate? 



9. Did you ever see a case where the combs had no 

 brood, but it was in the first super above the brood-chamber 

 (at the present date, July 23rd) ? 



10. Why do bees allow queen-cells to remain on their 

 combs when they have already a laying queen 7 I refer to 

 unsealed cells, of course. 



11. Will queenless bees continue to build queen-cells as 

 long as they are queenless, after you tear them away ? and 

 is that a sure sign they are queenless, together with having 

 no brood ? 



12. Where a queenless colony is to be united with a col- 

 ony that has a queen, is there any danger of the queenless 

 bees killing the queen ? and where you see they are dis- 

 posed to unite peaceably, would they then respect the 

 queen ? Mississippi. 



Answers. — 1. He may have smaller holes for the pass- 

 age of the liquid, or he may have a piece of cloth inside. 



2. If feed is needed in the brood-chamber, you may 

 count on the bees putting it there in preference to any other 

 place, no matter how you feed nor where you place the food. 

 I use Miller feeders, placing the food on top. The crock- 

 and-plate plan is also good. 



3. Please disabuse your mind entirely of all throught 

 that by different placings you can get the bees to carry the 

 feed to certain places. No matter where or how you feed, 

 the bees will first fill vacanies in the brood-chamber, and 

 then turn their attention to the super. But surely you 

 don't want sugar syrup in the super. 



4 Take it off the hive and let the bees rob it out. 



5. When they fill up because disturbed, they may after- 

 ward return the honey to the cells, but I suspect they 

 generally take pretty good toll for their own use. What 

 they get by robbing will be generally deposited in the cells. 



6. Possibly not compelled, but I think they always go 

 out empty. 



7. Three days from the time the grub hatches out of the 

 egg is theoretically the limit of age ; but I suspect that 

 younger brood is better, because when left to their own 

 choice the bees use younger. Be sure that they have at 

 least some cells containing the smallest larvae. If you give 

 them all kinds, from eggs to sealed brood, they'll make the 

 proper selection. 



8. Perhaps a failing queen. 



9. No, but such a case might easily be, especially if a 

 swarm should be hived in an empty hive and a super at 

 once given in which the bees had already begun work. 



10. I don't know, it's a way they have. 



11. Occasionally queenless bees will not start cells, and 

 sometimes they will have cells and no brood while a queen 

 is in the hive. 



12. The queenless bees will not disturb the queen if al- 

 ready fully conscious of their queenlessness, and a peace- 

 able uniting means kindly treatment of the queen. 



Returning After-S warms-D estroying Queens. 



Last spring I bought 2 colonies of bees. I transfer- 

 red 3 swarms from hollow trees and caught several 

 " tramp" swarms. I caught one the 19th of May. It cast 

 3 swarms, and the first one cast a swarm to-day, so that 

 I have had 25 swarms — too many, entirely. 



On page 457, is an easy way to return after-swarms. 

 Will they destroy the queen every time put back, or will 

 they come out again with the same queen ? 



Do we have to destroy the queens ? Missouri. 



Answers. — When an after-swarm issues, a young queen 

 emerges with it, and one or more young queens are allowed 

 to issue from their cells in the old hive. Then when you 

 return the swarm there is a battle, and the victorious queen 

 issues with the next swarm. This may go on so long as 

 any young queens are left in the cells. When all are out of 

 the cells there will be a fight to the finish, and only one 

 queen left, and consequently no more swarming. 



Maple Sugar and the Sugar Bush, by Prof. A. J. Cook : 

 44 pages : price, postpaid, 3(i cents. This is by the same 

 author as " The Bee-Keepers' lluide," and is most valuable 

 to all who are interested in the product of our sugar-maples. 

 No one who makes maple sugar or syrup should be without 

 it. Order from the office of the American Bee Journal. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full yearm advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



