American ^ae Journal 



of standard lenetli and a bit over ii inches 

 deep, help an' about tlie swarming if the 

 hive was equipped with a ventilated cover ? 

 2 Whiclityneof Italians is best for New 

 Hampshire, the golden or the leather col- 

 ored ? vVili either or both work the red 

 clover ? Which will winter the best ? 



3. I judk'e ventilation is an important thing 

 in controlling swarming. How is it best 

 done, throutjh the bottom board, or by using 

 a hive cover like the Root ventilated gable 

 cover, and regulating the size of entrance? 

 Are there better ways f 



4. Would you judge a single-walled dove- 

 taileci hive like the jumbo mentioned above 

 to be a good one for me to start with. I do 

 not like to pay the price of the double- 

 walled ones. What about wintering out of- 

 doors in this hive ? Can I do better than to 

 get telescoping cases to put over the hives 

 in winter? ShouUI they go on with or with- 

 out the hive cover being on, and should any 

 thing be used between the hive and the 

 case ? Have several old out-buildings on 

 the place, some with an apology for win- 

 dows and some without. Would these be 

 better for the bees than to be left outside? 

 They would break the cold winds and make 

 temperature changes more gradual. If bet- 

 ter to put in here would you advise the 

 cases ? How should the entrance be left 

 for this kind of wintering ? 



5. What is the proper fuel for the smoker ? 

 t). What is the best way to transfer bees 



from an old-fashioned hive to a modern 

 frame hive ? Is there any satisfactory way 

 to do it without patching up the old combs 

 into the new frames ? 



7. How could I best add a weak colony in 

 an old-fashioned hive to a small colony in a 

 modern frame hive ? In transferring where 

 the old combs are patched into the new 

 frames, and do not fill nearly all the new 

 frames, should the remaining ones be filled 

 with foundation ^ Should a division-board 

 ■ be used and moved as the foundation is ac- 

 cepted ? 



S. I have heard that the best way to put 

 foundation into the sections was to put a 

 narrow piece at the bottom and a piece at 

 the top wide enough to almost reach the 

 bottom one. Is that right? How can I make 

 the top piece hang straight down, or will 

 gravitation hold it there if once bent down ? 

 New Hampshire. 



Answers. — I. It is a very difficult thing to 

 get at the real truth about the different 

 kinds of bees. One man says he has found 

 Carniolans superior to Italians; another 

 says they are inferior, and both may be hon- 

 est in their opinions. The first has had un- 

 usually good Carniolans and unusually poor 

 Italians, while the second has had just the 

 reverse. For Carniolans are' by no means 

 all alike, neither are Italians. Take the 

 two races as a whole, and I doubt whether 

 allorany of the claims to superiorty that 

 you have mentioned will hold good. The 

 fact that the great majority of practical bee- 

 keepers keep Italians speaks with some em- 

 phasis. The large hive you mention would 

 have some effect in keeping down swarm 

 ing with any race of bees. But you cannot 

 rely too much upon it. One year a colony 

 in ajumbo hive was the very first to swarm 

 for me. 



2. A good golden is better than a leather- 

 colored, and -■icevctsn. On the whole I 

 should prefer to take the chances on the 

 leather-colored. Probably no difference in 

 wintering. 



3. Give ventilation at both top and bottom. 

 and also in bet-oceii. This last you can hardly 

 accomplish if you are running for comb 

 honey, except that you can slide the bottom 

 super forward so as to leave a ventilatine 

 space of about !4-inch at the back end. If 

 you extract you can "stutter" the stories; 

 The first story over the brood-chamber 

 shoved forward so as to leave ventilation at 

 back end. the next story shoved back, the 

 next forward, and so on. 



4. Like enough the hive mentioned would 

 suit you all right. It does not matter so 

 much what the outside protection, and it is 

 better to use packing. The hive cover may 

 be on or off according to convenience. But I 



wouldn't advise you to winter in a building 

 above ground. To be sure, some make a 

 success at it. but most do not. 



s. It's largely a matter of convenience, 

 .^ny old thing that will burn is likely to an- 

 swer all right, provided it is easily obtain- 

 able. Probably nothing is better than dry 

 hardwood chips. A fa\orite with some is 

 the greasy cotton waste that is thrown away 

 after being used in machine shops or on 

 locomotives. Then there is bark, planer 

 chips, cowdung. cotton rags. etc. 



6. Wait until the colony swarms, and hive 

 the swarm in an approved hive. Twenty- 

 one days later drum the bees out of the old 

 hive and add them to the swarm ; then chop 

 up the old hive and melt up the combs. Or. 

 split up the hive and brush the bees off the 

 pieces of comb as you cut them out. 



7. Drum out the weak colony and add it to 

 the other. The bees will unite more kindly 

 if one hive be set over the other for three or 

 more days, with wire-cloth between them. 

 Yes. fill out the space with frames filled 

 with foundation, and no division-board or 

 dummy will be needed. 



8. Use a bottom-starter -^s-inch deep, and 

 a top starer to reach within 5-s inch of it. 

 Gravitation will make it hang straight. 



Excessive Swarming^What to Do 



Last spring I bought a colony of bees and 

 was very anxious to have them swarm. The 

 first swarm issued July I3 July 20. the 

 mother colony swarmed again. This swarm 

 covered six frames On July 24. the third 

 swarm issued from the parent colony. 



A week later I opened the pareiit colony 

 and found that the bees had done nothing 

 in the super. The body of the hive was full 

 of honey, and I found three queen cells. 

 Two of these I destroyed. The cap of the 

 third seemed loose, and soon the queen 

 crawled out. at least I thought she was the 

 queen, though she looked like any other 

 bee. Do you suppose I have left the colony 

 queenless ? 



Swarm No i has made lots of honey, while 

 the other two swarms and the parent colony 

 have made nothing. Had I better unite 

 these and how. or would it be better to give 

 them frames of honey from the other hive ? 



Should [ get new queens for the two later 

 swarms and for the original colony ? Should 



I go over the combs every 10 days and cu 

 out queen-cells? North Dakoi'a, 



Answer— There is nothing unusual in the 

 program your bees have followed. The 

 mother colony having sent out three swarms 

 has not bees enough left to do anything in 

 the super, and all the bees are crowded into 

 the brood-chamber. Neither are the second 

 and third swarmsstrongenough to do much, 

 the first swarm being the only one strong 

 enough to do super work. 



When a colony prepares for swarming, it 

 starts iiuite a number of queen cells, and 

 you found what were left after the last 

 swarm issued. It is not likely that your 

 cutting out those last cells made any differ- 

 ence about swarming, for it is a rare thing 

 for the fourth swarm to issue. You may or 

 may not have made the colony queenless by 

 cutting out the cells. If the bee that came 

 out of the cell was a queen, then the colony 

 is queenless. since you cut out the other 

 cells. But you say the bee that came out of 

 the cell looked just like any other bee. It is 

 quite possible that it was a worker. Some- 

 times a worker crawls into a queen-cell 

 after the queen has left it. although the cap- 

 ping of the cell looks as if the queen has not 

 yet emerged. If that was the case, then the 

 queen was left in the hive and the colony is 

 all right You cannot be certain about the 

 queen by the carrying of pollen. If you do 

 not find eggs in the hive about todays after 

 the last swarm issued, or at least in two 

 weeks, you may decide the colony is queen- 

 less. in which case you will give it a queen, 

 unless you prefer to unite with it the 

 weakest afterswarm. The chances are that 

 both afterswarms have queens all right. 

 The likelihood is that they will build up 

 without any help from the first swarm, 

 which can be left undisturbed at its work 

 of gathering honey. Of course, if the bees 

 do not gather enough for winter you will 

 have to feed. 



It is not likely you will have any difficulty 

 in telling a queen when you see one. by its 

 greater size, especially greater length. 



No need to go over your hives for queen- 

 cells now. after swarming is over. 



Hardly Make Living 



Honey crop will be short this year; in 

 fact, there will be none here. Bees will 

 hardly make a living. Frank Shupe. 



Mazon, 111.. Aug. i. 



Condition of Bees in Eastern Illinois 



It has been very dry. The corn will not 

 yield 25 percent of a crop. In some places it 

 is fired to the top. We had no rain from the 

 middle of May tilT Aug. 10. when we had a 

 good shower, but it is too late for the bees. 



A neighbor who had 8 colonies in the 

 spring has only one left. They left their 

 hives. The beekeepers who do not feed 

 their bees will go out of commission. 



I started inspection wor > at Donovan, 

 found one foulbrood colony. I found three 

 in Walseka. eight in Crescent City, none in 

 Oilman. In this place many hives had sur- 

 plus honey. One man had several cases 

 ready to take off. The reason of this is that 

 near Oilman there is a fieldof about 75 acres 

 of sweet clover. 



In Lodi. bees were holding their own. no 

 disease. In Paxton. I found two cases. At 

 Hoopeston. I found one case, west of town. 

 Mr G. T. Willis, on the east, has an apiary 

 of 30 colonies, all golden, which is a credit 



to Hoopeston. In fact, it is the neatest and 

 best kept yard I have seen. 



In Martinton. in one yard of 20 colonies. I 

 found IQ diseased; in another yard of 5 col- 

 onies. 3 were diseased That was the worst 

 I ever saw. They spend all their time read- 

 ing the war news and neglect their bees. 

 J. H. RonERTS. Dc/'ulv Inspector. 



Watseca. Ill . Aug. 15, 



Half a Crop for Nevada 



Up to the present, only the strongest colo- 

 nies have gathered any surplus. The sea- 

 son is poor. Alfalfa, which is the principal 

 source, has been badly killed down by 

 severe frosts and scorching heat. I think 

 we will do exceedingly well if we get half a 

 crop, I. E- Patton. 



Halleck. Nev , July 2i 



Bumper Crop lor Kentucky 



The honey crop has been a bumper one 

 here this season. Bees came through win- 

 ter in fine condition. We use no Hour here. 

 In early spring the soft maples bioom. with 

 just a few days of sunshine, then pear 

 peach, willow, apple, persimmon, locust. 



