298 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



answered by 

 Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special Interest to 

 require replies from the 20 or more apiarists 

 who help to make " Queries and Replies " so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly Interest beginners.— Ed. 



Listen Here, Bee-Keepers. 



I want to say a word to those who are 

 interested in reading this department, 

 especially to those who ask questions. A 

 good many questions come to me asking 

 for a private answer, sometimes adding, 

 " Please answer by return mail and give 

 full details." Now of course there can't 

 be a great deal of accommodation about 

 a man who isn't willing to spend a few 

 minutes writing a few words to help out 

 a fellow bee-keeper. You would not re- 

 fuse an accommodation of that kind, 

 would you ? But suppose it took a whole 

 day of your time ? Now if I were to an- 

 swer privately all the questions I am 

 asked, it would not only take a day, but 

 it would take a number of weeks every 

 year. Indeed, I have had letters more 

 than once that I could hardly answer in 

 full if I took a whole day to each one. 

 Many, however, require only a short an- 

 swer, and I should be glad to reply to 

 such at once privately, only if I should 

 attempt to do so I should be hopelessly 

 swamped in trying to get through all 

 that comes in the course of the year. 

 Some seem to think it is all right if they 

 only enclose a postage stamp. But what 

 good is it to me to get a postage stamp 

 only to send away again ? The fact is, 

 I always have a feeling of relief when I 

 open a letter and find no postage stamp 

 enclosed. 



Now please understand that I like to 

 get questions. The more the better. 

 But I want to answer them in print, for 

 two reasons. One reason is, that others 

 will get the benefit besides the one who 

 asks the (luestion ; and the other reason 

 is, because the editor pays mo for an- 

 swering. 



One other point: If you want an an- 



swer in this department, always say, 

 "Answer in A. B. J." Otherwise how am 

 I to know whether you want the answer 

 here, or in one of the other periodicals I 

 write for ? 



Now come on with your questions, and 

 I shall be glad to be your obedient serv- 

 ant. C. C. Miller. 



Drones Changing Hives. 



Do drones change hives ? That is, 

 leave one hive and take up their abode 

 in another? 

 « 



Answer. — Yes, indeed they do. Last 

 year I had it very clearly proved. I had 

 a colony of Funics, and the drones were 

 jet black, quite different from others, 

 and I found these drones scattered 

 about, some of them in pure Italian col- 

 onies. 



To Prevent Increase. 



When a swarm issues, cage the clipped 

 queen, and take from the colony two or 

 three frames of brood with adhering 

 bees and place in another hive, and give 

 them the queen. Fill up the hive from 

 whence the frames were taken, with 

 division-boards or dummies, and leave 

 on the old stand, and let the swarm 

 return and enter. In 6 or 7 days re- 

 move all queen-cells but one. If it 

 hatches and is a good one, and returns 

 from mating all right, dispose of the old 

 one, and return the frame and bees, 

 otherwise return the old one to the hive. 

 Will this plan prove a success ? 



Answer. — I've practiced the plan suc- 

 cessfully, but it isn't easy to be sure of 

 killing all cells but one, and sometimes 

 the bees will swarm later on. 



Swarms Swarming Out. 



I have been badly troubled this year 

 by bees coming out within a day or so 

 after being hived. I use the B. Taylor 

 sectional brood-chamber. I hive the 

 swarm in a single story on the old stand, 

 and put on it the super in which the 

 bees have been storing, sometimes put- 

 ing an empty super between the partly- 

 filled one and the brood-chamber. Next 

 day the bees are pretty sure to swarm 

 out again. I have tried giving them a 

 frame of brood, but it's no use, out they 

 come. What is the trouble ? K. 



Answer. — Sometimes bees swarm out 

 because of heat. Shading the hive will 

 help in such a case. Possibly a little of 

 it is in the blood, and a different strain 

 of bees might act differently. 



