October, 1914. 



353 



American tee Journal 



in the lower story so it would be closer to 

 the bees ? 



2. Do you tliink it would pay to feed the 

 bees in the spring, using the H. H. Thale 

 feeder to net lots of young bees ready for the 

 flow; begin to feed tliem so as to have lots 

 of young bees by tlie time that the alfalfa 

 comes into bloom. Arizona. 



Answers. ~-i. That depends. If the bees 

 have had their own way they are likely to 

 have the honey where it is best for them. If. 

 however, by some means the honey is scat- 

 tered in two stories, then try to get it com- 

 pact in one story. 



2. It will pay if there is nothing the bees 

 can gather; otherwise not. 



th'anX'iraifa'Sr?''"' '^"^^ """""VIl^'ol!" ^'"'' ''"^""f" 1"'"°*^ R'^P"" 



Swaet Clover — Bees in a Porch 



1. There is not a half acre of white or 

 alsil<e clover wiihin i miles. Would it be 

 proHtable to sow 15 or 20 acres ? 



2. How many acres will it take for 40 colo- 

 nies ? 



3. What plant would you advise to sow for 

 bees only ? 



4. I tried having ciueens fertilized over a 

 queen-excluder, but failed. They kill her 

 before she becomes fertilized. Why do you 

 think I failed ? 



5. I have a swarm of bees in a Dorch, and 

 have tried usine a bee-escape to get them 

 out. but failed. They would all crowd to 

 the escape and close it up. What way would 

 you recommend without doing any damage 

 to the porch ? I intend to allow the bees to 

 rob it after I have the swarm out. 



ti. What size entrance would you advise 

 for winter ? 



Answers— I. Just for the honey alone 

 that the bees would get. it would not pay at 

 all. But if you lake into account tliea<ldi- 

 tional gain from hay and pasturage, it might 

 pay well. 



2. I don't know. At a guess I should say 

 that during the time of its bloom 12 acres of 

 alsike and three times as much white clover 

 might keep 40 colonies busy. But that may 

 be a very wild guess. 



3. It is not likely you will lind any plant 

 that will pay with its honey alone. Likely 

 sweet clover will come as near to it as any. 



4 I don't know. They fail for me the 

 same way. although sometimes I find a 

 queen successfully reared in an upper 

 story without any intention on my part. 



5. You probably used a Porter escape. If 

 you use a cone escape of wire-cloth it will 

 not be clogged. Sometimes, however, espe- 

 cially if the cone is small, the bees collect 

 at the apex and find their way back. You 

 can help to prevent this by using a double 

 cone, one 4 to b inches high, and a larger 

 one over it. 



6. For cellar, the larger the better. Out- 

 doors H-inch deep full width of hive is 

 favored by many, but opinions differ, 



7. They are not generally considered bet- 

 ter. 



I was quite busy for a while in June, I had 

 76 swarms in four days. 1 had 12 swarms 

 unite, making a bulk of five bushels of bees 

 filling six hives, some of them double and 

 some with big caps holding a bushel each. 



About a week ago 1 had another experi- 

 ence, home one opened my bee house and 

 exposed go supers to my 200 colonies of bees. 

 i hey cleaned out 33 and damaged the others 

 ^°A"^' ,,, • Andrew Sverkerson. 



Oregon, 111., Aug. 10, 



Failure for Three Years 



Bees have been a failure in this part of the 

 country. I haven I had any honey for the 

 last three years. Very few bees around 

 here. John A. Blocher. 



Shirley. 111. 



Large Hives 



That article of Mr. Barone on large hives 

 is all right. It was the big hives which gave 

 me the surplus. The 8 frames did nothing— 

 not a half crop with me. The big hives need 

 no feed this fall; they are chock full. 



Moorland, Ibwa, Sept. i. J. P. Blunk 



Followed Dr, Miller's Advice 



You will remember that 1 asked your ad- 

 vice about putting my bees in the cellar and 

 feeding A sugar in the late fall or early part 

 of the winter of 1912. You advised me to do 

 so and report. 



I did not lose a colony after putting them 

 in and feeding A sugar as you advised, and 

 they did fairly well last year, IQ13. I have 25 

 colonies in the cellar at this time, and am 

 feeding all that are short on sugar. It works 

 well if kept dry, but it cakes hard if it gets 

 damp. If it gets hard I grind it up again and 

 put it back. 



Onpage4iiof the American Bee Journal 

 for December. IQI3, Mr. Doolittle says where 

 anything is to be gained by disturbing bees 

 in winter it is all right to disturb them. I 

 gained four colonies by disturbing them 

 Nov. 1-3. loii. A farmer gave me four colo- 

 nies in old box hives, so old that they would 

 not stand handling, so I put frames contain- 

 ing pollen and honey in four hives and 

 transferred the bees from the old box hives 

 to the ones I had fixed to receive them, and 

 brought them home and put them in the cel- 

 lar and they did finely. A. J. ToBEV. 



Elmira. N. Y.,Feb. 2, 



thing for them to father. 



I have had to feed to keep them from 

 starving, I examined them about two weeks 

 ago and found them almost starved: noth- 

 ing but a very little sealed brood, no eggs 

 or larvae, and several of them were taking 

 out the sealed brood. I will have to con- 

 tinue to feed, and expect to feed for winter. 

 I am glad this condition does not exist all 

 over. James T. Johnson. 



Percy, III. July 4. 



Will Go Into Winter Well Supplied 



We have had a very good honey flow this 

 year from poplar; also basswood and sour- 

 wood produced some, but ivy or "little 

 laurel" produced some which came be- 

 tween linden and poplar which was bitter. 

 When I found this was coming in the gap 

 between poplar and sourwood. I raised up 

 cases which were finished and slid empty 

 cases between to catch this which was 

 streaked with this poisonous and bitter 

 honey, which I will now use for winter 

 stores. 



It appears that the fall flow will not be 

 good, but the white and purple asters are 

 just now about to bloom. When these are 

 good the bees generally fill up well about 

 frost I am now doubling up and gettine 

 ready for winter. 



I have tried to improve mv bees by cutting 

 out all objectionable queens and giving the 

 very best of young queens reared from the 

 ones that produced the most honey, all other 

 advantages considered. I think almost all 

 of the bees in this part will be in good con- 

 dition for winter. R. A. Shults. 



Cosby. Tenn.. Sept. 18. 



Making " Clouded " Hives 



I notice in Mr. J. M. Killian's hive exhibit 

 on page 4x3 of the December issue of the 



Too Dry for Bees 



We have had a drouth throughout the 

 whole summer, the bees hardly finding 

 enough to make a living until the month of 

 August. We have had good rains this week 

 The bees are doine nicely now I only have 

 II colonies. Philip Heintz, Jr. 



Jefferson Barracks. Mo. 



Faces Prospect of Feeding for Winter 



There has not been any rain here to speak 

 of since April 20, less than an inch has 

 fallen since then. There was not any white 

 clover, as it was all fall killed last year: the 

 prospect for a fall flow is very poor. 



Last year I secured 1000 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey and 500 pounds of comb from 

 27 colonies, spring count, and increased to 

 48 colonies. They wintered well and built 

 up strong this spring, but there was not any- 



Apiary of a, Sverkerson at Oregon. Ill : One of the Very Few Illinois 

 Rrporting a Crop this Season 



