Junp, 1914. 



American Hee Jonrnal 



is in very bad shape to a new hive, and 

 what is the best time of year 1' 



" Can 1 Bet several colonies from one hive 

 du'rinlthe summer, without letting the bees 

 swarm? Illinois. 



Answers.-!. You can transfer in the 

 usual way during fruit bloom, but perhaps 

 the best is to wait until the colony has 

 swarmed. Then hive the swarm in a proper 

 hive, and n days later either transfer the 

 bees from the old hive into a new one. or else 

 break up the old hive and add the bees to 

 the swarm. 



2 Yes if the bees are in a frame hive you 

 can divide the colony into several. Oneway 

 is to take from the colony two frames of 

 brood with adhering bees and the uueen. 

 and put them into a new hive on a new 

 stand. Ten days later you can divide into 

 two or more parts what is left in the old 

 hive, making sure to have a good Queen-cell 

 in each part. 



Uniting Colonies and Introducing Queen at Same 

 Time 



I 1 have 2 colonies that are very weak, and 

 want to unite them and ■"•'^^'i", ^".'"i',^,' 

 Queen at the same time. How is the Debt 



*r'How°vvould it do when the prime swarm 

 comes off to kill the aucen and put the bees 

 fn a swarm box lor about 12 hours, and then 



'"r°WhicV?s'u'"be'^re""extracting frame, 

 th'e Vinch top-bar with two grooves or U.e 

 ;4 inch top bar with one grooveforextractea 



and chunk honey ? .. ,, i,iv,a fnr this 



4 Which would be the better hive tor tnis 

 country, the Bono frame.' , 



^. What kind of bees would be the bes^ 

 fo: this part of the country, and what ao 

 you think of southern Oklahoma for honey 

 production? Oklahoma. 



Ansvvers.-i. Destroy the queen in each 

 liive.and introduce the Italian queen into 

 either hive, just the same as if there were to 

 be no uniting; put a sheet of newspaper 

 over the stronger, if there is any difference 

 and set the hive over it. All of this you wi 1 

 do at one time. The bees will gnaw through 

 the paper and unite peaceably, and in four 

 or five days you can move all brood from the 

 upper hive into the lower, as also the bees, 



2, It would probably work, only the swarm 

 would not be quite so contented with a 

 strange queen. 



3. One will probably work as well as the 

 other. 



i. Probably the lo-frame. 

 5, Likely Italians will do as well as any. 

 From all I know, bees should do well there. 



Using Swarm Box— Catcliing Stray Swarms- 

 How Late? 



1 How can 1 use a swarm box as mention- 

 ed in ■'First Lessons in Beekeeping? 



2 Do you think it would help to get more 

 bees if 1 would put up decoy hives to catch 

 swarms, and how should 1 put them up and 



where ? , , . . r. ^i 1 . r 



1 Is a swarm worth hiving after the last of 

 May, and how late are they worth saving ? 



4. Is there any special lumber which should 

 not be in hives ? ■ , j 



■;. Which is the best way to wire founda- 

 tion in frames: will the wire bother the 



I. Does it harm the bees to put them in 

 newly-painted hives, and does it hurt to 

 paint hives after the bees are in and work- 



'7 Is there any danger of losing swarms if 

 the hives are in too hot a place ? Is it nec- 

 essary to keep bees in the shade all the 

 time? ., .,, ,, j».„ 



« Is there any special width of foundation 

 to use in a brood-chamber? If I use lli|n 

 brood foundation, how much can I put in 

 each frame? Indiana. 



Answers. —1. A swarm box being lighter 

 than a hive, instead of carrying the hive to 

 where a swarm is, the box may be taken 

 there, and when the swarm is in the box it 

 can be carried to the hive, laid upon its side 



with the open part of the box toward the en- 

 trance of the hive, so the bees can run from 

 the box into the hive. If they are too slow- 

 about it they can be dumped on the ground 

 in front of the hive by jarring the box on the 

 ground. 



2. If stray swarms are plenty you would be 

 very likely to catch some in decoy hives. 

 Into an empty hive put one or more empty 

 brood-combs (the blacker the better), and 

 set the hive anywhere outdoors where the 

 bees can have freeaccess to it. That's all. 



3. In my locality nearly all swarms issue 

 after the last of May. A good swarm is worth 

 saving no matter how late it comes. 



4. Basswood is bad. owing to its tendency 

 to twist and warp. White pine is generally 

 used, and in some places redwood and 

 cedar. 



5. Wires are generally stretched horizon- 

 tally, 4 wires to the frame. The bees are 

 not likely to pay much attention to them. 



6 The only harm likely to happen would 

 be that bees might stick to the fresh, soft 

 paint. If you paint a hive with bees in it, 

 better do it in the evening after bees stop 

 flying, and use drier in the paint. 



7. There is great danger that a newly-hived 

 swarm will desert if its hive is too hot. 

 After it becomes settled and has started 

 brood, the danger disappears, and a colony 

 may do well without any shade. Yet in most 

 places it is better that a hive shall be shaded 

 in the heat of the day. A nice thing is to 

 have a hive under a tree, which shades it in 

 the middle of the day, but allows the sun to 

 shine upon it in the morning and evening. 



8. It is well to have the foundation come 

 down to within 54-inch of the bottom-bar. It 

 is not absolutely necessary to use full 

 sheets; if you use narrow starters you can 

 still handle the frames, only in that case you 

 will probably have too much drone-comb. 



When to Put on Summer Stands— Rearing Queens 



1. How soon will it be safe to take out of 

 their winter chaffs lined boxes and put on 

 summer stands bees that are in single-walled 

 hives ? 



2. I understand that the best queens are 

 reared during the swarming season, and that 

 the best time to requeen is after the honey- 

 How stops , in the tall. How do you keep 

 those queens until fall, and how can those 

 you do not use in the fall be kept over until 

 next spring? 



3 The cuts showinghow to nail dovetailed 

 hives, nail only every other dovetail. Do 

 you think that is the best way. or should 

 every one be nailed ? lowA. 



Answers.— I. It is much the same as tak- 

 ing bees out of cellar. Usually it is well to 

 take bees out of cellar about as soon as soft, 

 or red, maples are in bloom; although this 

 year it turned so cold that my bees were not 

 taken out of cellar until April 13, which was 

 18 days after the blooming of soft maple. If, 

 however, the bees are not to have their 

 stands changed, and can have a flight with- 

 out removing any packing, it is better for 

 the bees to have the warmth of the packing 

 until it is fairly hot weather, say about the 

 last of May in your region. 



2. ".Swarming season," and "fall "sound 

 farther apart than they may be found in 

 actual practice. Swarming season, for in- 

 stance, in my locality, and perhaps in yours. 

 does not generally begin until about the 

 first week in lune. and may continue until 

 August. Good queens may be reared dur- 

 ing this time, and indeed so long as a good 

 How continues, swarm or no swarm. Sup- 

 pose a colony swarms .Inly i. and you utilize 

 its queen-cells. From them you will have 

 laying queens perhaps July 15. If the season 

 closes as early as I have kiiown.it will be 

 just as well to requeen July 15 as later. At 



any rate you will likely haveswarms enough 

 later to accommodate you. for it is well to 

 requeen toward the close of harvest rather 

 than to wait until all gathering has ceased. 

 If. however, you have laying queens before 

 you need them, keep them in nuclei until 

 needed. Possibly you maybe able to winter 

 them in nuclei, by puttingthem in cellar. 



3. At top and bottom nail at least two con- 

 secutive dovetails; it's not so important 

 about the central ones. I have had pretty 

 good success by driving a nail vertically at 

 top. and one at bottom. 



Soutliern Bred Queens 



Will bees winter just as well when in a 

 cold climate, reared Ironi a queen bred from 

 a southern strain ? Pennsylvania, 



Answer.— It is considered that there is no 

 difference. 



Rearing Queen-Cells — Requeening 



Almost all of my bees are blacks, and I 

 want to rear queens from some pure Italians 

 to requeen all the others. There are no 

 drones Hying yet. but there is plenty of 

 drone-brood sealed over. After trying the 

 Alexander plan of increase I did not get any 

 queen-cells started, so I set the queen with 

 some brood on a new stand close by and 

 left most of the brood on the old stand, and 

 after five days I did not find any queen-cells 

 started. The bees have plenty of old honey, 

 and there is nectar available, so they do not 

 care for artificial feed. Bees usually swarm 

 here in April; sometimes beginning in 

 March. May is slack of nectar, and the main 

 How begins late in June. I am prepared by 

 Doolittle's plan to care for cells and hatch 

 them. California, 



Answer.— As I understand it, your trouble 

 is that the bees do not start cells at all. 

 even when only a few bees are taken with 

 the queen from a full colony. That is un- 

 usual, very. It is possible that the bees are 

 not gathering nectar enough, although from 

 what you say I should hardly think so. An- 

 other suggestion is that there is a difference 

 in colonies, some being more inclined to 

 start queen-cells than others, and that if 

 you should try another colony you might 

 have better success. A third thing that may 

 make a difference is the character of the 

 combs. Bees prefer to have holes or in- 

 equalities in the combs that give plenty of 

 room for the cells. That which of all things 

 seems to suit them best is a freshly-built 

 comb that only partly fills the frame. Take 

 from your best colony temporarily most or 

 all of its combs, and let them fill a frame 

 half full of comb, with its young brood and 

 eggs, then give this new comb to a strong 

 queenless colony, with or without other 

 brood, and if the bees don't start cells on 

 that virgin comb the case is hopeless. 



Wiring Frames— Drone Rearing 



1. Is it necessary to use wire in the frames 

 when full sheets of foundation are used in 

 the brood-chamber ? 



2. If so. liow large a piece of foundation 

 would be safe to use in the frames without 

 wire ? 



3. Doesn't the wire bother the bees in 

 drawing out the comb ? 



4. At what time do bees begin to rear 

 drones ? Michigan. 



Answers.— 1. Unless you use wire or foun- 

 dation splints you will be sure to have 

 bulged combs, unless it be in very shallow 

 frames with heavy foundation, and it is 

 cheaper to use wire than very heavy foun- 

 dation. 



2. From 2 to 4 inches ought to work all 

 right, depending upon the thickness of the 

 foundation. But in the long run it is more 

 expensive to use starters than full sheets, 

 for you are sure to have too much drone- 



