352 



October, 1914. 



American Vee'Jonrnal 



zinc queen-excluder litling so well under hive 

 cover and all around that the queen in one 

 compartment cannot go into the other, not 

 even by the entrance, the inside of it is cov- 

 ered with a piece of queen excluder. The 

 cage containing new nuecn is inserted as it 

 reached me from the mail. Five days later 

 I take out the old queen and kill her and 

 remove queen excluder, and will look whether 

 new queen is in. What do you think? Or 

 would it be better later in the afternoon to 

 remove old queen and put cage of new queen 

 in the middle of brood cbami>y?r? 



4,. Will this tested queen lay as soon as 

 ^33e3 aqi JO jno si aqs Montana. 



Answers: — 1. If the bees have a gooil 

 flight December 1st, it will be all right; if not. 

 it will be better to put them in the cellar 

 directly after they have their last flight. 



2. Any disturbance in winter is bad for 

 the bees, although it will be better to distnrli 

 them than to let them starve. Unsealed honey 

 is not so good for winter and it does nol 

 ripen in the house as well as when the bees 

 are on it. 



3. If the new queen gets out of the cage 

 before the old queen is killed, she will very 

 likely be killed by the bees in spite of the 

 queen excluder. 



4. She sometimes begins laying the same 

 day she is out of the cage and sometimes not 

 for two or three days or longer. 



Buying Swarms and Dividing 



1. Can 1 divide stray swarms, imtting in 

 frames with foundation, say about one-half 

 to each swarm and put a queen in the new 

 colony? 



2. Will the new colony have to be kept 

 closed after dividing? 



3. Can I start a good swarm with one 

 nucleus and queen. If so, how should I 

 proceed? 



4. I can get new swarms from $1.50 to 

 $2.00. Is that too much? 



5. How late would it be safe to divide and 

 also to buy aueen? Our seasons are long 

 here. The' 10th of October is a very early 

 frost. Cotton blooming till frost. 



Oklahoma. 



Answers: — 1. Yes you can di\ide and 

 have each one a good colony if the division 

 be made early enough and the season be 

 good. Leave the old queen in the one that is 

 left on the old stand, and the part that is put 

 onthe new stand will more readily accet a 

 queen, for the older, or field bees will all go 

 to the old stand, and the younger bees are 

 better about accepting a queen. 



2. Yes, you may do well to keep the bees 

 fastened in for 2 or 3 days in the hive that 



is put on the new stand, and then less of 

 I hem will return to the old place. If, how- 

 ever, you put one or two frames more than 

 the half on the new stand (of course, with 

 their adhering bees) then it may not be 

 necessary to fasten the bees in. For some 

 reason the bigger the lot of bees and brood 

 the less inclination to return to the old place. 

 3. Yes, you can start a colony with a one- 



to 10th, provide the colony be strong with 

 plenty of brood. 



Crooked Combs 



1. I bought 15 colonies of bees last fall, and 

 they were on crooked combs. I cannot take 

 the frames out without tearing the combs. 

 The moths are getting into some of them' 

 What must I do? How is the best way to 



Part of the Haley Crum Apiary at Crawford. Neb. 



frame nucleus and a queen, but it will take 

 a lot of boosting to have it a good colony 

 before winter. Of course, it makes a differ- 

 ence when the start is made, and if made 

 early enough, with a good force of bees to 

 cover the one frame, in a good season it may 

 need no help. Otherwise, the way to proceed 

 is to give it a frame of brood about once 

 in ten days until it has at least four frames 

 of brood well covered with bees, and then it 

 will be able to take care of itself. 



4. All depends upon prices in your locali- 

 ty; but the probability is that the figures 

 named are none too high. 



5. I don't know just how late it might be 

 safe to divide. If the flow continues until 

 Oct. 10th, and a laying queen is furnished, 

 you might risk a division as late as Sept. 1st 



get them on straight combs when you haven't 

 any extra ones ? 



2. When is the best time to divide colo- 

 nies: in the spring or fall ? Georgia. 



Answers.— I. Better leave them to winter 

 as they are. Then when bees begin to gather 

 next year— say in fruit bloom— try if you can 

 find one frame somewhere in the hive that 

 you can take out. If so. then by a little cut- 

 ting you may continue to take out adjoinine 

 frames, crowding each comb into its frame, 

 cutting away attachments wherever neces- 

 sary. It may be, however, that the combs 

 are built in too crooked for this; in which 

 case wait until the bees swarm; hive the 

 swarm on frames filled with foundation, and 

 21 days later cut up the old combs and melt 

 them, adding the bees to the swarm. 



In general it may be said that the way to 

 get straight combs is to let the bees build 

 them on frames filled with foundation. 



2. In spring or early summer, at the time 

 when bees swarm naturally. 



Bees Carried Out— Increasing 



1. I have one colony that is carrying out 

 brood in all stages of development, some 

 alive with wings almost developed. Can you 

 tell me what is wrong? 



2. Is it profitable to buy nuclei and queens 

 in September to increase the number of 

 colonies ? Iowa. 



Answers — i One guess is that the larvai 

 of the bee-moth, or wax-worms, have muti- 

 lated the young bees with their galleries. 

 and the bees carry them out. Another is 

 that the bees are driving out the drones and 

 destroying the drone larva\ 



2, Generally it is better to get them at the 

 beginning of the season. 



Apiary of H. O. Bader at Browning, III. 



Arranging Feed— Feeding in Spring 



I. Do you think it would pay me to go 

 through all of my colonies this fall after 1 

 think the honey flow is all over for this 

 year and put the honey that is above down 



i 



