422 



December, 19l4. 



American Hee Journal 



figure; a very small queen sometimes lays 

 more Ihan the average. Neither is the most 

 prolific Queen always the best. 



2. I don't know; I never heard of testing a 

 queen in that way, liven if you had a cer- 

 tain time given, it would have to vary ac- 

 cording to time of year. In the height of 

 laying she should hardly fall short of 2500 

 eggs in 2j hours; at least that would be my 

 guess. She might double it. 



3- Yes. 



4. Queens keep laying here throughout the 

 season from early spring until fall. They 

 hardly do any more with you. If you want 

 my own personal view in the matter. I would 

 let the bees do their own superseding 

 whether there were five flows or only one; 

 only I would supersede any queen that was 

 not satisfactory. 



A Beginner's Questions 



1. I am planning on keeping bees in the 

 spring, 1 have decided on 3-banded Italians 

 what do you think of them ? 



2. I am thinking of starting with two or 

 three colonies, run them for comb honey 

 until 1 get started, then change to extracted 

 honey by using the 4x5 inch section, so that 

 when I make the change 1 can use the same 

 supers by putting in shallow frames instead 

 of sections Do you think this a good plan, 

 or do you think it would pay to purchase an 

 extractor and outfit for only four or five 

 colonies? 



^ Which will be cheaper and easier to 

 run for. comb or extracted honey? I only 

 have a few hours per day to work with bees. 



4. What do you think of the lo-frame 

 "cypress " hives ? Are they as good as 

 white pine ? 



5. Which super is best for extracting, the 

 deep or shallow ? 



6. Would you advise me to paint the hives ? 



7. What hive is best, the dovetailed or 

 chaff double walled ? 



a. What make of extractor do you recom- 

 jnend ? 



0. How many yards and colonies have you 

 at present ? 



10, How much honey did you produce this 

 season, and what method did you use? 



Iowa. 



Answers— I. All right. 



2. It is generally considered that it re- 

 quires more skill to produce comb honey 

 than extracted, so it seems hardly advisable 

 to begin with comb unless you expect to 

 continue it. If you expect to extract later, 

 better have all the experience in that line 

 you can have from the start. Even if you 

 should not extract enough the first season 

 to pay for an extractor, it will be all right 

 for another season. So I should advise that 

 you begin with the extractor. 



3 Most likely extracted. 



4. Probably they are as good; some say 

 they are more durable. 



5. The shallow. 



6. I don't believe it is best for me; but the 

 majority think it better. Painted hives look 

 better and last longer; but I think unpainted 

 are better for the bees. 



;. What is best for one is not always best 

 for another. For the majority the plain 

 dovetailed is preferable. 



8. Something depends upon size of apiary 

 andolher things. I haven't had enough ex- 

 perience to advise. 



9. One hundred colonies in one yard. 



10. 1 don't know how much; likely in the 

 neighborhood of 70 pounds per colony. The 

 entire method would take ciuite a book to 

 describe; you will find it in "Fifty 'Years 

 Among the Bees." 



Dry Sugar in Miller Feeder 



1. How much dry sugar and how much 

 water would be necessary to make 10 pounds 

 of food in accordance with your suggestion 

 on page U2. at the foot of third column (dry 

 sugar in Miller feeder) ? 



2. Would October be too late to feed that 



way? CONNETICUT. 



Answers.— I. 1 think it will not be far out 

 of the way to estimate that2!4 parts of sugar 

 to one part water (either pints or pounds) 

 will make a syrup abou; the strength of 

 honey. If that be correct, then 7 1-7 pounds 

 of sugar and 2 6-7 pounds of water would 

 make 10 pounds of syrup. But it would not 

 be practicable to feed in the manner to 

 which you refer, and put in at one time the 

 exact amounts. On page 312, I referred 

 lightly to the plan without going into partic- 

 ulars, I said, "I'd set a Miller feeder on a 

 hive, pour into it dry sugar and then put in 

 water," Going into particulars, suppose I 

 wanted to give a certain amount of sugar to 

 a colony; I would out that amount, dry, 

 into the feeder; and then I would pour 

 water upon it. No need to be particular 

 about the amount of water; if a large 

 amount of sugar were in the feeder, there 

 would perhaps not be room for a great deal 

 of water, and so there might be less water 

 than sugar. If plenty of room in the feeder, 

 then more water than sugar would be given, 

 perhaps 2, 3. 5, or more times as much water 

 as sugar. In any case, whether little or 

 much water, I'd look in a day or two, when 

 likely I would find that the bees had taken 



all that was thin enough, and if some wet 

 sugar that they couldn't take was still left 

 in the feeder, I'd pour on it an indefinite 

 amount of water, and this I would continue 

 until all was dissolved and taken. It might 

 take only a day if enough water were given 

 first time, and if only a small proportion of 

 water were given it might need replenishing 

 several times and take several days. Now 

 suppose I wanted to give 10 pounds of sugar 

 and 4 pounds of water, making 14 pounds of 

 feed, and should give it all at once. The 

 bees would begin promptly on the sweeten- 

 ed water that drained through, and before 

 all the sugar had dissolved they would have 

 all the liquid sucked up, leaving wet sugar 

 still in the feeder. So you see that wouldn't 

 work. The idea of the whole thing, and the 

 beauty of it, is that you don't need to be 

 particular about the amount of water, but 

 add successively so long as needed. 



2. Yes, August, or first half of September 

 would be late enough. In October syrup of 

 full strength should be dissolved before put 

 in the feeder. 



Drones — Placing Super 



1. Please tell me what to do and how to get 

 a virgin queen mated after all drones have 

 been killed by the bees ? 



2. Could 1 induce the bees to rear drones ? 

 I have lost two colonies by not having any 

 drones. I know I should have ordered a 

 queen, but at the time I could not. 



3. If I cut out the patches of drone-comb 

 and fill in with worker-comb, would the bees 

 tear it down and draw drone-comb ? 



4. lam running tor section honey, would 

 it be advisable to put a super under the 



v.brood-chamber ? They have a tendency to 



work down, and it looks to me like it would 



work. Would 1 have to put on an excluder ? 



Mississippi. 



Answers — i. I don't believe you can do it. 



2. I don't believe there is one chance in 

 fifty that you could get bees to rear drones 

 after they have killed them off in the fall. 

 But it should be added that although I don't 

 believe you can get queens mated after 

 drones are killed off. yet all drones are not 

 always killed off as early as you might sup- 

 Dose; and even after you no longer see any 

 there might be a few left by which virgins 

 might be mated. 



3. No. 



4. You would need au excluder to keep the 

 queen from going down, and even with an 

 excluder the sections would be so dark that 

 you had better not try it. 



Size of Standard Frame— Transferring 



1. What are the di.-nensionsof the loframe 

 standard hive ? 



2. Which is best, to transfer bees from old 

 hives alter or before they swarm ? 



Missouri. 



Answers. — I. The I^angstroth frame, which 

 may be called the standard, is 17^8 inches 

 long and o'/a deep, outside measure. To con- 

 tain 10 such frames and a dummy, a hive 

 should be i8''4 inches long, I4"m inches wide, 

 and 10 inches deep, inside measure. Many 

 hives are made narrower, no room being 

 allowed for a dummy, but I think the ten- 

 dency is toward the wider hive, 



2. More and more the preference seems to 

 be for transferring after swarming. 



rHEU. GEHAKU'S Al'lARY AI lU'NKl.K HILL. ILL. 



Swarm of Yellow Wild Bees 



t have a large swarm of yellow wild bees 

 would it pay to requeen with a pure Italian 

 queen, or would it be better to get a swarm 

 of Italians ? Would they be worth $12 ? 



Michigan. 



Answer.— If a colony in my apiary should 

 swarm, and the swarm should lodge in a 

 hollow tree, the bees would then be called 

 wild bees. If 1 should get them out of the 



