MAY 1, 1913 



315 



over the new one with perforated zinc between. The 

 object of this is to save the young: brood that is un- 

 sealed. In five days, as Mr. Alexander directs, all 

 the brood will have been sealed up, and quite a 

 number of young bees will have hatched out. At 

 that time the upper story with its young bees with 

 nothing but sealed brood can be put on another 

 stand much more safely than it can be done at the 

 very beginning when there is unsealed brood and 

 less of young bees. — Ed.] 



Feeding During a Time of Making Increase 



Dr. C. C. Miller: — Please let me know whether 

 the method of applying the Alexander feeder at the 

 time of making increase, as per your article in 

 Gleanings, May 1, 1912, p. 266, and feeding a 

 pint of syrup every night for 14 nights, so that the 

 increase will rush things for the basswood flow and 

 buckwheat would apply to conditions similar to those 

 given on p. 279, May 1, 1912. Do you approve of 

 the use of the Alexander feed in cases of this kind, 

 as the cost of syrup will be only about 30 cts. per 

 colony? Will it pay to spend this much in the above 

 cases 1 



Canastota, N. Y. Wm. P. Fritz. 



If I should feed in the way you suggest, I don't 

 believe it would make enough difference to pay for 

 the trouble, if, indeed, it would make any differ- 

 ence at all ; for at the time the increase would be 

 made the bees would be gathering enough and more 

 than enough to supply the brood, and extra feeding 

 would not increase the laying of the queen. There 

 are, however, a few localities where it might pay 

 well. There may be particular seasons in almost any 

 locality where feeding would pay big. In the first 

 half of June I expect my bees to be doing a land- 

 office business if the crop is to amount to any thing 

 that year ; and it would be foolish for me to feed 

 at that time. But one year there was a dearth in 

 June, and before I realized the situation the bees 

 were carrying out the white skins of larvse from 

 which they had sucked the juices. I could well have 

 afforded a dollar a pound for sugar to feed at that 

 time. Now, suppose a locality where the weather 

 is favorable during the time you would want in- 

 crease, but there was nothing from which stores 

 could be gathered, while a heavy flow might occur 

 later on. In that case it would pay well to feed, so 

 as not to have any break in brood-rearing. 



The gist of the whole matter is this: If bees are 

 already having all the brood they can cover, feed- 

 ing will not increase it. If they are already gather- 

 ing abundance of stores for brood-rearing, feeding 

 will not hasten the building-up; but if bees are not 

 gathering enough to keep up brood-rearing, then 

 feeding may pay well. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Spring Uniting 



In May of last year my bees were near the point 

 of starvation ; and as I did not see any prospect 

 ahead for honey I united a part of my 55 colonies 

 so that there were only 38. I intended to keep on 

 uniting until I had only 25, as I did not want to 

 have to feed so many ; but about May 15 the colo- 

 nies seemed to be so strong that I thought I would 

 wait a few days and then unite more of them if I 

 desired. About the 20th they began bringing in 

 some honey, and they kept at work. Up to that time 

 I had had three or four swarms. That is all I had 

 that season. I stacked up supers, thi'ee or four to 

 each colony, and when the season was over I found 

 I had sold $121 worth of comb honey neav liome, 

 and I had besides 22 hive-bodies full, ani ;iiany 

 unfinished sections. 



I will describe my way of uniting. If A And B 

 are to be united, A being the stronger of Ihe two, 

 I lift A from its stand; set B in place of it; then 



remove the cover from B, blow in a little smoko, 

 and finally I smoke a little at the entrance of A. 

 Then I loosen the bottom-board of A and set it on 

 top of B. I do this when the bees are flying freely. 

 If there is any choice in the queens, I kill the un- 

 desirable one ; but if not, I let them alone. Some- 

 times the two remain together ; but I have never 

 known more than two instances when the queens 

 lived together all winter. 



Late in the fall the bees will usually be in the 

 upper hive ; and if the colony is not too strong I 

 separate the two hives and give the best set of combs 

 to the colony. 



Fremont, Mo. Mrs. Almeda Ellis. 



Transferring without Drumming Bees 



I notice in Gleanings for March 1, pages 154 

 and 155, ilustrations of transferring which seem to 

 me to be altogether out of date; for, in the first 

 place, di-umming out bees is quite an unnecessary 

 waste of time. The quickest and easiest way of 

 transferring is to turn the hive upside down, fasten 

 a box in a slanting position over the bottom, of 

 course having used your smoker first. Then with a 

 hammer and hatchet split off the side that h-as few- 

 est combs attached. Smoke back the bees; cut out 

 the first comb ; put the dry comb into one hive, and 

 comb with honey into another ; smoke the bees off 

 the second comb, and repeat, cutting out any comb 

 containing brood, and so on. By the time the last 

 comb is out the bees will be in the top box, and the 

 queen either found in cutting out combs or remain- 

 ing in the old gum. 



Having transferred hundreds of gums in this 

 way, I have found it to be the quickest and easiest 

 way. Before I fasten on the small box I note par- 

 ticularly how the combs are fastened to the gum, 

 and choose the side having the fewer fastened to it; 

 for the side to be opened, there would not, in nine 

 eases out of ten, be a quarter of the flying and 

 loose bees as there are shown in the illustration. 

 Turned upside down, the combs are often found at- 

 tached to the sides of the hives. 



I don't say any thing about the crossway sticks, 

 as they are very easily gotten rid of. 



Allenville, Ala., March 10. H. P. Hart. 



[An expert can transfer from a box hive quicker 

 by the method described by our cor*espondent than 

 by the process of first drumming the bees out of 

 the hive. The average beginner, or, rather, the per- 

 son who tries transferring from a box hive the first 

 time, wiU succeed better — that is, he will have less 

 fear of stings if he drums the bees out first. Years 

 ago, when the writer was learning his A B C's he 

 feund it more practicable to transfer as described 

 by Mr. Hart; but at that time we had bought some 

 25 or 30 box hives, and we transferred them all in 

 two days. — Ed.] 



Giving Room Beneath Instead of on Top 



"When the bees need room in the spring, having 

 been wintered in two 5% -inch bodies, would it not 

 be a good plan to put the third one under the other 

 two and allow the top one to become an extracting- 

 super, when it could be thoroughly cleaned, as well 

 as the frames, of all propolis, and repaired if neces- 

 sary? In this way one half of the hive would be 

 cleaned every year. The bees, I believe, would be 

 inclined to store the honey above, and allow the 

 brood-nest to be extended downward ; and, further- 

 more, the loss of heat would not be so gi'eat with the 

 empty body below as it would be if placed above the 

 brood. H. C. Dunn. 



East McKeesport, Pa., March 19. 



[The proposed plan of putting the third shallow 

 brood-chamber under the other two is an excellent 

 idea, especially at the beginning of the season. It is 



