330 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ANSWERED BY 



JDIEZ,. C. C. I^^ILiIjEJK,, 



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 malse "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. 



Italian Bees as Comb-Builders. 



Are Italian bees equal or superior to 

 the German brown, or common black 

 bees, as comb-builders ? J. F. C. 



Garden City, Kans. 



Answer. — I don't know that there's 

 any difference in general. Some colo- 

 nies of Italians are a little faulty as to 

 making white looking comb. They fill 

 the honey too close to the capping, mak- 

 ing it look dark and watery. 



Why Were Queen-Cells Built ? 



"What is the cause of bees building 

 queen-cells when they have a young 

 queen which has been laying about four 

 weeks, and the colony is strong ? 



Quincy, 111., Aug. 21. H. M. 



Answer. — Without knowing all about 

 the circumstances, it is not easy to say. 

 Possibly it is one of those rare cases 

 where they are getting ready to swarm. 

 Possibly the queen is not satisfactory 

 and the bees are about to supersede her. 

 This latter is quite often the case, but is 

 not known very often where queens are 

 not clipped. 



Italian vs. Blacks as Robbers. 



Are Italian bees worse than blacks 

 for robbing? While I had blacks only, 

 I had no trouble with robbers, but lately 

 (with Italians only) I have had a good 

 deal of trouble. Not long since I wanted 

 to Italianize a colony of blacks, and in 

 taking out the frames while looking for 

 the black queen I broke some comb, 

 which started the Italians to robbing. 



They came in such numbers that I did 

 not know what to do. I contracted the 

 entrance to about % of an inch, yet they 

 piled up ^n the hive like a swarm. I 

 then got camphor and carbolic acid, 

 made a solution, and sprinkled them all 

 thoroughly, but "no go" — they never 

 let up until they had killed every black 

 bee. Now could I have done more than 

 I did ? If so, what ? F. M. 



Answer. — My experience is just the 

 reverse of yours. When I had black 

 bees I had some pretty tough times with 

 robbing. This year has been one of 

 entire failure of the honey crop, when 

 there's every inducement for robbing, 

 and I've had no trouble whatever, al- 

 though my bees were never so nearly all 

 pure Italians. 



I doubt if there's any particular differ- 

 ence. Once started, perhaps Italians 

 are more energetic at robbing than 

 blacks. 



If you ever get into a scrape of the 

 same kind again, pile hay or straw at 

 the entrance, up to the top of the hive 

 if necessary, then pour on water and 

 keep it thoroughly wet. This will 

 dampen the ardor of the robbers, for 

 water is quite dampening, but don't be 

 sparing of it. 



After all, prevention is better than 

 cure, and robbing is nearly always 

 started by the bee-keeper himself. 



Why No Surplus Honey Stored? 



This season my bees have not stored 

 any surplus honey up to the present 

 time, and I have had but two swarms, 

 and they issued from one hive. The 

 rest of my colonies haven't swarmed, 

 nor have they stored any surplus honey. 

 There are plenty of fall weeds to work 

 on now, as most of them are in bloom. 

 What is the reason they have done so 

 poorly ? 



My bees are hybrids and Italians 

 mixed. My neighbor has 16 colonies 

 and he has had four swarms. The bal- 

 ance have done nothing. What is the 

 cause of this delay and lost time? The 

 bees are hard at work, but I don't know 

 what they do with so much wax, or 

 where they put it. O. D. 



Mishawaka, Ind., Aug. 20. 



Answer. — My bees have done just 

 like yours. The trouble is that you and 

 I both have that kind of bees that can't 

 store honey unless they have something 

 to store it from, and I don't know of 

 any one that has any other kind. Some 

 seasons blossoms are scarce, and some- 



