824 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLI<«AL. 



Dec. 24, 1903. 



ingr it. I tell 'em that with my 7-frame arrangement I get 

 some honey where they wouldn't get any. They have the 

 cheek to deny this. Page 728. 



SOIL BACTERIA FOR PLANT GROWTH. 



In an editorial comment, page 739, bacteria are spoken 

 of as if they were needed on the roots of asters and golden- 

 rods. That is not the case, I believe. Most plants do not 

 try to capture atmospheric nitrogen for nourishment, but 

 rely wholly on the nitrogen contained iu the soil. Only the 

 clovers, and perhaps some other plants of the same natural 

 order, have gotten onto the wonderful " scheme " of using 

 attnospheric nitrogen captured for them by minute growths 

 which they can harbor. The grape has nodules on its roots, 

 but the inhabitants of the nodules are not supposed to fur- 

 nish the vine with nitrogen. With a little lively imagina- 

 tion we could say that we must love the clovers because the 

 clovers are bee-keepers. The root nodules are little hives, 

 the inhabitants are little bees, and the nitrogen laid in is 

 the honey— honey both for the use of the bee and the bee- 

 keeper — alleesameas we'uns. And when both bee and bee- 

 keeper are dead, the fertility of the soil is found to have got 

 ahead. All soils would be fertile if all plants worked this 

 scheme — that is, so far as nitrogen could make them fertile 

 they would be. 



SMOKB AND NO SMOKE WITH BEES. 



" We're all poor critters." If ^e take a notion— is.\ie z. 

 notion that it's a thing to be proud of to do without smoke— 

 we can do much in that line, and make ourselves see it as 

 the best way — especially when we are arguing with some- 

 body out of reach of live bees. But contrariwise if we got 

 in the habit of using smoke a little to excess, and somebody, 

 unfortunately, pitched into us about it— and kept pitching in 

 until we used twice as much as before, we can manage to 

 see it best to use considerable smoke. An idle angel with 

 mischief in his mind, could set the same man either way. 

 As for me, I do not think ordinary smoke applied with a 

 cold smoker harms bees to an extent worth mentioning. 

 Thinking thus, naturally I think it foolish tactics to wait 

 for signs of attack. Give them several puflfs at the entrance 

 the very first thing. Why not? Or are we in the bee-busi- 

 ness for the simple purpose of showing off ? Send in a few 

 more puffs at the top immediately on opening. As for that 

 several spells of puffing, and several waits of actual time 

 by the watch, that's not for the bee- veteran but for the be- 

 ginner. It's a very good plan for the beginner, indeed. 

 Page 740. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 





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

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



Feeding Comft Honey vs. Candy in Winter. 



I notice that you are being asked quite frequently lately 

 to tell how to feed light colonies in cold weather. I also 

 notice you recommend candy made of sugar and water. I 

 wish to ask if you ever tried such candy yourself. And, 

 also, if you ever tried comb honey in place of the candy ? 

 I tried candy on 5 or 6 colonies a couple of years ago, and 

 every colony so fed starved to death, while a couple of colo- 

 nies that were given some comb honey in sections lived 

 through all right. 



Since then I have carried over a good many light colo- 

 nies by feeding comb honey, and believe that, counting the 

 extra risk and work of making the candy, honey is the 

 cheaper of the two. Of course, the cheapest grade of honey 

 will do, just so it is sound, ripe honey ; or cull sections will 

 do. For cellar feeding of box-hive colonies, turn hive bot- 

 tom up, and lay on enough sections to make sure of plenty, 

 and cover with a piece of carpet or quilt, or anything to 

 hold the heat of the bees without being tight enough to 

 smother them. For hives with frames, remove the cover 

 and lay the honey on the frames, directly over the cluster, 

 and cover the same way. Colonies in hives with frames 

 may be fed the same way out-of-doors, excepting more cov- 

 ering is necessary over the honey. In either case the honey 

 is laid down flat on the frames or combs, and, if it is 



thought one layer of sections of honey is not enough, or it 

 is desired to add more afterwards, the latter can be laid 

 right on top of the first. The colonies so fed, with me, have 

 all wintered perfectly, seemingly better than a great many 

 colonies that had plenty of stores in their own combs, and 

 wintered in the same cellar. The candy I fed was not 

 burned, and was apparently just as it should be, according 

 to the books, but the bees gnawed it up, and it dropped to 

 the bottom-board about like hard candied honey would, and 

 they died leaving part of the cake of candy on the frames. 



Now, I am aware that "one swallow does not make a 

 summer," but I am sure I always think of those 5 or 6 colo- 

 nies I might have saved when I see some one advised to 

 feed hard candy. 



L,et us know whether you know from personal experi- 

 ence that such candy can be made to do as some say it will. 



Iowa. 



Answer. — No, I never fed in winter, so there never was 

 any need of my using candy. But others have used it, and I 

 do not remember that any one has heretofore reported fail- 

 ure with it. Indeed, I think some say that they prefer it, 

 although it is generally recommended for feeding in winter, 

 because at that time it is not safe to feed syrup, and those 

 who have to feed in winter are not likely to have sealed 

 combs on hand. With your experience you are wise to pre- 

 fer sections. I am wondering whether it may not be that 

 some others have had a like experience without being so 

 frank about telling of it as you are. It might be a profit- 

 able thing if those who have used candy would tell us of 

 their success — or of their failure. 



Wants to Increase an Apiary. 



I lost all of my bees in the winter of 1902-03. I have 

 8 more colonies of bees, and fSO to begin with again, and 

 wish to increase my apiary. Which is the more profitable, 

 to buy bees in box-hives at $3 a colony, transfer and divide, 

 rearing the queens myself, or buy queens and increase from 

 the 8 colonies I have ? I reared my own queens the last two 

 years. 



Our main honey-flow is from alfalfa and sweet clover ; 

 we have a continuous flow from the last of June until the 

 first of September. Utah. 



Answer. — You say, " I have reared my own queens the 

 last two years." That makes me think you have had con- 

 siderable experience, and with a continuous flow for two 

 months or more from alfalfa and sweet clover, you ought to 

 get a nice return from your bees, so that it would be better 

 to invest in the box-hive colonies and run the 8 colonies at 

 least partly for honey. In any case, by buying you could 

 have more colonies for next year, and so the sooner have 

 the increased profit from a larger number. If, however, 

 there is considerable danger that you may repeat last win- 

 ter's experience in wintering, then you might better limit 

 yourself to the 8, increasing from them so carefully that all 

 would be strong for wintering. 



Widtli of Top-Bars. 



An editorial in a recent bee-paper recommended top- 

 bars of common hanging frames only Js of an inch wide. 

 Is that good advice ? Wisconsin. 



Answer. — Paraphrasing the words of Lincoln, for those 

 who need that sort of advice that is the very sort of advice 

 they need. If you want me to answer the question with a 

 curt yes or no, 1 must say I don't know. There might be 

 more than one understanding of the question, it might be 

 construed, " When common hanging frames are used, is it 

 good advice to advise that they shall be only J-i of an inch 

 wide ? " 



I rather incline to answer yes to that question. The 

 one special advantage of loose-hanging frames is that there 

 is no need of any dummy to get out the frames, but that by 

 shoving the frames to one side you may lift out any one 

 frame without lifting any other. To be sure, you may with 

 fixed-distance frames lift out any one frame without lift- 

 ing any other, but you must first lift out the dummy. If 

 top-bars be 1^'s wide, leaving only ,'4 inch between them, 

 a larger number of frames must be moved to get one out 

 than with Js frames that make the space twice as large. 



That, however, is a rather forced construction of the 

 question, and we may broaden it by asking whether it is ad- 

 visable to change from fixed-distance frames to the loose- 



