458 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



\9^ I 



ANSWERED BY 



DR.. C. O. li^H-jLiBK,, 



Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require rep ies 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. 



Uniting' Colonies for Winter. 



What is the best method of uniting 

 colonies for the purpose of reducing the 

 number for winter? J. P. S. 



Sunapee, N. H. 



Answer. — You will find a good deal 

 about this in the last few numbers of 

 this journal. When bees are gathering 

 honey there seems no trouble about 

 uniting, but when forage is scarce there 

 Is more inclination to fighting. I think 

 you will like the plan of putting one 

 hive over the other with only room for a 

 bee or two at a time to pass from one to 

 the other. 



Protection for Winter— Transferring. 



1. Will a three-inch plank hive with 

 tarred paper and rough boards tacked 

 on the outside, six-inch super packed with 

 chafif, and double bottom-boards with 

 tarred paper between, be sufficient pro- 

 tection for outdoor wintering, where the 

 mercury frequently hangs BO-" to 40^ 

 below zero, and sometimes goes to 60'^ 

 below, on a snap? If so, how wide 

 should a %-inch entrance be left ? 



2. Would it do to transfer bees on 

 frames from board hives' to plank hives 

 (inside dimensions are the same) as late 

 as the forepart of October, if we have a 

 few warm days ? M. N. B. 



Sand Creek, Wis. 



Answers. — 1. Your arrangements 

 seem pretty good, only I don't believe 

 you will like B-iuch plank for hives. It 

 will add greatly to the weight as also to 

 the expense, with no corresponding gain. 

 % lumber seems to be pretty well agreed 

 on for all climates. 



In a place where the temperature is 

 fool enough to lower itself as much as 

 60° below, it hardly seems as if it would 

 be safe to winter bees outside of a cel- 

 lar, and it would be certainly well to try 

 part in a cellar. Still, you can't always 

 go by the thermometer. My bees are 

 worse off out-doors with the thermom- 

 eter 10^ below and such fierce winds all 

 day long as we sometimes have, than 

 they would be in a much colder place 

 with no wind stirring. 



After all, there's nothing like experi- 

 ence in the matter of wintering bees. 

 Cut and try. When you find a plan that 

 succeeds best for you, that's the plan for 

 you to stick to. 



2. There will be no danger in chang- 

 ing the frames from one hive to another 

 any day when warm enough so bees are 

 flying. But look out that you don't get 

 started so late In the day that the bees 

 can't keep on the move for some little 

 time after the change is made. 



Wants Golden-Bod Described. 



Please give a description of golden- 

 rod ; also state whether there is more 

 than one variety. The so-called golden- 

 rod here is of bushy top, yellow, compact 

 flowers, about three to four feet high, 

 and nothing but potato bugs work on it. 

 Where can I procure the seed of the 

 true golden-rod, such as the bees work 

 on, or of any other plant that I could 

 raise with profit for the bees ? 



I anxiously await the weekly appear- 

 ance of the "Old Reliable." H. H. H. 



Hermon, 111. 



Answeb. — The picture of a spray of 

 golden-rod given herewith is one of the 

 most common kinds. You will recognize 



it from this picture better than from 

 any description. Yet this is only one 

 kind, and there are about 40 different 

 kinds in the U. S. They vary from the 

 widely-branching spray form to the sol- 

 idly compact head. At this time of year 



