May, 11114. 



American ^ge JoarnaJJ 



froniiioing fatlher. 1 lie Hrst time queen 

 cells are foiiml started they are destroyed, 

 and then every in days after that they are 

 destroyed atiain. so lonn as nothing hut edsjs 

 are found or very small larva:-, even if that 

 BOes on the whole season, but when big 

 grubs or sealed cells are found, then it is 

 time to operate. 



Miscellaneous Questions 



1. I have a colony of bees tliat was running 

 out at the en trance and seemed to be greatly 

 excited on March 27. Looking on the ground 

 I found the tiueen dead before the hive. The 

 next day 1 opened the hive, and to my sur- 

 prise found tour frames partly hlled with 

 brood and some queen-cells. What was the 

 cause of the queen dying P 



J. What would be the result if young 

 queens were to hatch out of these cells and 

 no tlrones were present in the hive or in 

 other hives at this time of tlie year. April ? 



i- Wliat should be done in such a case ? 



4. When is the best time to transfer bees 

 from box liives into frame hives? 



=;. Is it practical to paint the covers of the 

 double telescopic metal roof ? 



6. Can bees be given too much shade in 

 early spring ? 



7- .Should I put swarms into hives with 

 frames with full sheets of foundation or one 

 inch starters ? 



H. What is the best race of bees for this 

 country, this being about the i8th degree of 

 latitude ? 



'I When is the best time to requeen to im- 

 prove slock ? 



10. Is the smoking plan the best method of 

 introduction ! Kentucky. 



■ Answers.—!. I don t know. If you had 

 opened the hive not long before, it is pos- 

 sible you may have accidentally killed her, 

 .She may have died of old age. Sometimes 

 bees ball and kill their own queen. 



2. 'I'hey might begin laying without mating, 

 being drone layers; or they might wait and 

 mate later on. In any such case queens 

 would most likely be very poor. 



3. A frame of young brood and eggs might 

 be given every 10 days, not allowing queen- 

 cells to mature until warm weather with 

 drones. It might be more profitable to unite 

 with the queenless colony a weak swarm 

 with a good queen, or else to divide the 

 queenless bees among other colonies where 

 they would do the most good. 



4. In fruit bloom used to be the favorite 

 time; nowadays it is considered better to 

 wait until the colony swarms, hiving the 

 swarm in a good hive, and then uniting the 

 rest of the bees at the end of 21 days, break- 

 ing up the old hive at the same time. 



5. I think so. 



b. Yes; at that time it is better to have the 

 sun shine on the hive at least part of the 

 day. 



7. Better use full sheets. With anything 

 less you are sure to get too much drone 

 comb. 



8. You are probably as safe with Italians 

 as any other. 



'J. Suit your convenience any time when 

 bees are busy gathering. 



10, I don't know. Some are very enthusi- 

 astic about it. but not many have yet tried 

 it very fully. 



What to Do Willi a Queenless Colony 



Doctor! what am I to do ? A fine lo-frame 

 hive with plenty of stores and of bees— but 

 tju^i-nlt-ss. I dare not ship a queen from the 

 South, as a cold snap would kill her if a 

 frame of brood from another hive is intro- 

 duced and a queen is reared; there are no 

 drones for her to mate w'ith. Laying work- 

 ers may develop at any time. But I do hate 

 to lose that colony. What would r<*« do ? 



Other colonies are breeding finely; new 

 bees tiying; abundantsupplies of pollen and 

 a little honey from the elms and early ma- 

 ples. Dandelions. (\>fitf<i/is anrt\i. violets. 

 DiifHtr,! ,titiill,iri,i ar^ already in evidence. 

 AnA /•.r\t/irofiiitnt is shooting out its spotted 

 leaves. Flickers, song sparrows, ground 



robins and meadow larks, and a few peach 

 blossoms may be seen. The prospect for 

 the year is fine. Missouri. 



Answer.— You are wise in thinking it best 

 not to rear queens too early. Aside from 

 the lack of drones, it is true that queens 

 reared much before the time of swarming, 

 and if drones are present, generally turn out 

 to be so poor that they are often worse than 

 none. All the same, you can give the colony 

 one or two frames of brood from some other 

 colony, with a goodly proportion of eggs and 

 unsealed larvai. Then within 10 days kill 

 all queen-cells started on this brood, and at 

 the same time give a frame or two of fresh 

 brood every 10 days until conditions are 

 right for rearing a queen, but allowing no 

 young queen to emerge until then, you will 

 do three things; You will keep up the cour- 

 age of the colony, you will help keep up its 

 strength, and you will keep it from having 

 laying workers And if the brood you give 

 them be mostly eggs and very young brood 

 it will not cost such a great deal to the colo- 

 nies from which it was taken. 



After all. that's hardly answering your 

 question, for you said. "What would yoii 

 do?" In the preceding I've said what you 

 can do. It isn't likely I'd do that. I would 

 harden my heart and break up that queen- 

 less colony. At least Id unite it so there 

 would be one less colony in the apiary. If 

 there was another colony quite weak, but 

 with a good queen. I'd put a sheet of news- 

 paper over the queenlesscolony. and set the 

 weak colony over it. Then the bees would 

 gnaw a hole through the paper and unite 

 peaceably. If I hadn't a very weak colony. 

 I'd divide combs with adhering bees among 

 two or more colonies, taking such colonies 

 as most needed help. In this way. although 

 I would have one less colony, I would be 

 likely to have more *tvj. and by the middle 

 of the summer likely more colonies. 



Swarms — Getting Colony from a Tree 



1. Will a new swarm gather any surplus 

 honey the first season ? 



2. Whicn is the best way to get a swarm of 

 bees out of a large tree; they are about 40 

 feet from the ground ? 



3. When is the best time ? Missouri. 



Answers.— I. Yes; is a general rule the 

 swarm is the one to rely upon for a crop, it 

 being put on the old stand after removing 

 the old hive to a new stand. 



2. That depends. Perhaps oftener than 

 any other way it is the plain job of cutting 

 down the tree and then chopping open the 

 part containing the bees. Sometimes it may 

 be felled against another tree or trees in 

 such a way as to break its fall and yet allow 

 it to come to the ground. Sometimes the 

 hollow may be in a branch of the tree which 

 may be cut off and lowered by a rope. Even 

 when the hollow is in the main trunk, and 

 other trees near, a rope may be used to ease 

 the fall. 



3. If you want to save the bees, a good time 

 is not later than fruit bloom. If you want 

 merely to get the honey, take fall, at the 

 first close of the honey flow. 



Dividing 



1. When should dividing be done ? 



2. How is it done? 



3. What are the prospects of a crop after 

 the operation ? 



4. Should feeding be done after fruit bloom 

 in order to ensure a good crop ? 



5. Will feeding every other day be suffi- 

 cient ? New York. 



Answers —I That depends upon circum- 

 stances; not before a colony has built up 

 trong; only when there is a flow of honey; 

 and never in such a wav or so late in the 



season as to risk having a colony too weak 

 for winter. The suoject of artificial in- 

 crease is a big one: you may be interested 

 in finding it treated pretty fully in "Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees " 



2. One way is to put the brood of a colony 

 into an upper story over an excluder, leav- 

 ing the queen below; then lu days later to 

 set the upper story on a new stand, giving it 

 a queen or a queen-cell if it has not started 

 queen-cells. A number of other ways may 

 be used. 



i. That depends upon the plan used. Gen- 

 erally the new colony cannot be depended 

 upon for much of a crop. 



4. No. unless there is so long a dearth after 

 fruit bloom that brood-rearing ceases. 



5. In case of a dearth every alternate day 

 will do. although every day is a little better. 

 Like enough there is no need tor anything 

 of the kind in our locality, provided there 

 are plenty of stores in the hive to ensure 

 against starving. 



Transferring 



I have a " bee gum " that has about 150 

 pounds of honey in it. How can I transfer 

 the bees to a modern hive? I wish to take 

 the honey out of the "gum." I also wish to 

 divide the bees into five colonies. Shall I 

 purchase Italian queens? This colony is 

 uncommonly large What time of the year 

 is best to take them out of the "gum "and 

 the'best lime to divide ? Wyoming. 



Answer.— You can transfer during fruit 

 bloom in the usual way, but nowadays it is 

 generally preferred to let the bees swarm 

 first. As you want to do some increasing, 

 here is perhaps what will suit you; Let the 

 bees alone until they swarm, and set the 

 swarm on a new stand (of course you will 

 have the swarm hived in a movable-comb 

 hive), leaving the old hive undisturbed on 

 the old stand. As the colony is avery strong 

 one. it is almost certain to send out a sec 

 ond swarm in a week or so. and this swarm 

 you will also set on a new stand. It is pos- 

 sible that a third, and even a fourth, swarm 

 may issue. At any rate, at the end of 21 

 days from the time the first swarm issued 

 break up the old gum. save out the honey, 

 and transfer the best of the worker combs 

 into frames in a new hive. If very weak 

 from too much swarming, it may be best to 

 add the bees to the last swarm and melt up 

 the combs. 



Spraying During Bloom 



I am a beekeeper in a small way, having 64 

 colonies; but 1 am going to have a hard 

 struggle, as people spray here when the 

 bloom is on as well as when there is none. 

 Spraying fruit trees is the thing, but not 

 when the bloom is on. It doesn't do any good 

 to talk to people. If we haven't any law in 

 this State, why don't the beekeepers go to- 

 gether andget a bill before our Legislature 

 against this spraying when the bloom is on. 

 That is all that will ever stop it. 



I produced 2700 pounds of fine comb honey 

 last year, and have it all sold. Illinois. 



Answer.— You are quite right about the 

 importance of a law against spraying, but I 

 am sorry to say there is no law upon the 

 subject in Illinois. A few years ago quite 

 an effort was made in that direction, and a 

 bill introduced in the Legislature, but it was 

 buried in committee. The trouble is that 

 the chairman of the committee to which 

 such bills are referred has always been a 

 fruit-man rather than a bee-man. I viTOte to 

 the chairman of the committee at that time 

 and he replied that fruit-men all knew that 

 spraying fruit trees when in bloom was 

 against their own interests, and so there was 

 no law needed. Of course that looks rea- 

 sonable; it would seem hardly necessary to 

 have a law against a man building a bonfire 



