Sept. 24, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



619 



whose bees have foul brood, as Ihey have told me thatthey did not 

 know what was the matter with the bees, as they have not swarmed (or 

 two years. I told him that he would most likely And them diseased. 



1. Can those bees be transferred into new hives, on new frames of 

 foundatiou, this fall, after the honey season closes? 



'i. Do you advise closing: up the " suspect " on brood-frames, or 

 can they go and come at will ; 



3. Will it be necessary to commence feeding at once the iTiipris- 

 oned bees, or can they still gather enough nectar to winter them < 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — 1. Yes; but unless you have an excellent fall flow they 

 will have to be fed to take them through the winter. 



2. I believe it is not considered necessary to confine them. 



3. I don't know what your fall yield is; but it is not likely it is 

 enough for a sole dependence for wintering. At any rale, it will be 

 safer to feed as soon as all diseased honey has been used up in comb- 

 building. 



Kinds of Bees— Wintering. 



1. What kind of bees are "Adels?" Are they Isomething the 

 same as Italians, or a distinct race JJ 



2. Do you think they would be better, or as good, as Italians ? 

 Mr. Alley says they are not only the hardiest and most gentle, but the 

 greatest hustlers for honey. They are practically non-swarming and 

 non-stinging. 



3. Would hybrid black bees rear any better queens than Italian 

 tieesi I have one colony that built very large queen-cells. 



4. If the hives are contracted down to five or six frames with a 

 division-hoard, would it be all right to leave frames of pollen on the 

 outside through the winter? Canada. 



Answers. — 1. If I understand it correctly, they are a strain of 

 Italians so named by Henry Alley. 



2. I have had no experience with them, so can not say. 



3. I don't believe they would. 



4. Yes. 



Changing Queens in the Pall. 



I have 13 colonies of bees. I started in with 5 in the spring, and 

 they have swarmed so that I had 15. One swarm went away, as I was 

 not at home to attend to them. They have not stored much honey 

 in the supers this season, but I think they have a good supply in the 

 brood-chamber. I think of getting a strain of honey-queens for next 

 season, as I am quite sure those I now have are breeding qeeens. I 

 think of trying two or three red clover queens, and the same of Italian 

 honey-queens. 



We had a good crop of white clover in this region this season, but 

 the bees did not work on it to any extent, and I think there was very 

 little nectar in the clover. 



What would you advise one to do in such a easel Would it be 

 advisable to introduce the class of queens I mention this fall, or wait 

 until next spring? lam anxious to improve my stock, so as to pro- 

 cure more honey. Michigan. 



Answer. — Don't be too sanguine as to improvement from new 

 blood. Increasing from 5 to 1.5 is hardly compatible with a very large 

 yield of honey, unless you have a late yield that is heavy. You ought 

 not to have allowed more than one swarm from each colony, and then 

 you would probably have done better in surplus. If there was no 

 nectar in the clover, a difference in bees would not help the case any. 

 It will, however, be a good plan to get one or two queens of different 

 kinds, and watch carefully for results, not so much to see what those 

 queens will do as to see what colonies will do that have young queens 

 reared from these new queens. 



Carrying Out Live Bees. 



What is the reason that the bees carry out live bees and fly away 

 with themi I am quite sure they are not robbers, as I have only 4 

 colonies. ^ _ _ , Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — Sometimes a diseased bee is carried out alive, so also a 

 young bee that has been made defective by the ravages of the bee- 

 moth. 



Colonies Strong in Bees but Short in Stores. 



I have 6 colonies of bees, two with Italian queens. The progeny 

 of one of the latter seems no lighter in color than the other 4 colonies, 

 what I supposed were black bees. The other Italian brood is pretty 

 golden-colored, and good workers. 



Noticing three of the black colonies were not doing much, I 

 examined all the colonies to-day, and found 3 of the black colonies with 

 very little sealed brood, none with unsealed brood, one in particular 

 had very little brood, and stores or surplus honey much less than at 

 examinalioo, two weeks ago. The other 2 colonies are also lighter in 

 stores, but in a lesser degree. The two with Italian queens and the 

 other black colony have plenty sealed and unsealed brood, but :ire not 

 increasing in stores, in fact not quite holding their own. All the colo- 

 nies are strong with bees. I saw only one queen during examination. 

 Have they stopped brood-rearing, owing to being queenless or because 

 there' is no honey to gather > The three in question are, two in 8- 

 frame hives, one in a 10-frame hive, and boiling over with bees. What 

 bothers me is, if they cease brood-rearing thus early, would they not 



be too weak to winter successfully even with feeding, as will have to 

 be done with their present stock of stores, if a later honey-flow does 



not materialize. 



Alabama. 



Answer. — I don't know just how much difference between Ala- 

 bama and Illinois, but in Illinois some colonies cease rearing brood 

 quite early in September. The age of the queen has something to do 

 with it ; if a colony supersedes its <iueen late in the season, the young 

 queen will continue laying later than would the old queen if she had 

 not been superseded. It the honey-flow ceases early, that means au 

 earlier cessation of brood-rearing. You needn't worry much alx)ut 

 their being strong enough in bees to winter well. If there it no har- 

 vest to stir them up to brood-rearing, that means that the bees will 

 keep pretty quiet, and bees don't grow old fast while keeping still. It 

 isn't with bees as it is with you and me; when work stands still with 

 them, age seems to stand still, too. 



Feeding Late Swarms for Winter. 



I have four late swarms which are all working nicely ; the frames 

 of the hives I put them in had only starters, as that was all 1 had. If 

 I have to give them a little feed, how much sugar will it take to about 

 a quart of water, or possibly more, to make the syrup to feed the bees? 



Illinois. 



Answer. —To make a syrup for feeding as late as this, it requires 

 5 pounds of granulated sugar to a quart of water. 



Loss'of Bees— PoHl Drood. 



1. I have lost nearly all of my bees the past summer. Do you think 

 it is the rainy weather or disease? 



2. If it is foul brood will the hives be all right to use next year? 



Connecticut. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. If you mean that a number of colo- 

 nies died since the first of June, I should be afraid of disease. Rainy 

 weather might hinder the success of bees, but would hardly kill them 

 outright. , . 



2. The hives will be all right, but not the combs, unless, indeed, it 

 turns out that the combs may be made safe to use again by using 

 formaldehyde as a disinfectant. 



Best Kind of Bees. 



I have 3 colonies of bees, 3 Italian and 1 black. They are in S- 

 frame Langstroth hives. I am a boy U years of age, and I just com- 

 menced keeping bees last spring, and like the work very much. 



I am a subscriber of the American Bee Journal, and I like it. I 

 wish you would tell me what kind of bees would be the best for me. 

 I want a gentle kind, and that will store lots of honey. There is 

 plenty of white clover in this neighborhood. Indiana. 



Answer.— Probably Italian bees will suit you as well as any, and 

 it may be that those you have are all right. You can, however, not 

 be sure of that without being able to compare them with others, and 

 it would be a good plan for you to get an Italian queen from some 

 queen-breeder. After a year or so you can decide which bees suit you 

 best, and then rear your queens from the best. Your father must be a 

 very wise sort of a man to allow a boy of 11 to keep bees. I hope you 

 will be very successful. I like boys. 



Caring for Honeyless Bees in the Fall. 



1. How shall I care for colonies of bees where they are robbed of 

 their honey after the fall-tlow ceases* There area number who caught 

 bees in boxes and in the sides of houses, and one of my neighbors had 

 a swarm take possession of their washing-machine, where it had been 

 left to drain the water out. These parties expect to kill the bees as 

 soon as they cease to gather honey ; I can have them and their brood 

 for taking them out. What I wish to know is: Can I successfully 

 take them and winter them * If so, please give me a little instruction. 



3. Is sugar better than honey to feed bees? I have IS colonies run 

 for comb honey. I put some frames where I took supers off for comb 

 honey to feed the bees it necessary, provided sugar is not as good. 



Nebraska. 



Answer.— You will have to use your ingenuity to some extent, as 

 each will probably differ from every other case, depending on how the 

 bees are located. The main thing is to get the bees into the hive, upon 

 their combs of brood, if they have any, the combs being transferred as 

 directed in your book for transferring. The probability is that you 

 will not have enough combs, and it will be well to help out with 

 frames filled with foundation. Then you will feed with the Miller or 

 some other feeder, according to the general instructions in your book 

 for fall feeding; trying to let each colony have the equivalent of about 

 30 pounds of honey. That will require about 33 pounds of dry granu- 

 lated sugar, if you use sugar syrup. 



2. There is no better food for bees than good honey, but granu- 

 lated sugar makes a very good substitute. 



Queenle Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallqnmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



