586 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



have a queen at liberty, one queen in a 

 cage set between the frames, and queen- 

 cells with an egg in one of the cells. 

 When I looked at it yesterday, it was 

 nearly ready to be capped over. Whai 

 will be the outcome of this? Will the 

 bees kill the queen that is at liberty in 

 the hive, or not 9 I would not like to 

 lose her as it is one 1 value highly. 



2. By the way, you said I should keep 

 pure Italian bees to keep out moth- 

 worms. All my bees are the best Ital- 

 ians I can get, from such as Doolittle 

 and Mrs. Atchley. If they are " no 

 good," then I am sure I don't know 

 where to get any that are. 



3. One thing I have noticed, that the 

 bees that I united fought a great deal 

 and killed a greit many. Now wouldn't 

 it be better to unite them just as I am 

 about to put them in the cellar for win- 

 ter, or would you do it now, and let 

 them fight it out until ihey settle down, 

 as the one that I united has done ? 



Aurora, 111., Oct. 18. L. S. 



Answers.— 1. What made you leave 

 a caged and uncaged queen in the hive ? 

 If you caged a queen so the bees would 

 not hurt her, you were lessening her 

 chances by allowing another queen in 

 the hive. I have had bees kill their own 

 qneen for no other reason, I think, than 

 that I had caged another queen in the 

 hive to be kept till I needed her. So 

 the caged queen would make the free 

 queen's chances of safety less. On the 

 other hand, if the bees should not kill 

 the free queen, then the caged queen 

 would stand a poor show when liberated. 

 If you want one of the queens saved, 

 kill the other. If a queen is caged in a 

 hive, it is the common thing for the bees 

 to start queen-cells, and it seems some 

 of the bees friendly to your caged queen 

 acted on that plan. If not too late, the 

 best thing you can do is to destroy the 

 queen-cells, remove the poorer queeo, 

 and cage for a time the other queen, if 

 you think that is necessary for safety. 



2. It seems to me the source from 

 which your Italians come is all right, 

 and unless there is a predominance of 

 other blood worked in, the moths ought 

 to be held at bay. 



3. I think I would a little rather .have 

 Ihe uniting done before going in the cel- 



lar. Following up some one of the plans 

 lately given in the "Bee Journal," there 

 ought not to be much fighting. Smoke 

 'em like sixty if they start fighting. 



Pollen in Early Spring. 



I am in a quandary again regarding 

 my bees and know of no better source 

 to go to for information than the "Old 

 Reliable." 



I was out bee-bunting the other day, 

 and came to a bee-tree that had lately 

 been cut and robbed of all the honey, 

 leaving a good-sized colony of hybrids to 

 perish, as it is too late in the season to 

 get another store for winter ; and when 

 I happened to see that the queen was all 

 right, I concluded to take them home 

 and feed them on sugar syrup and see 

 how I came out next fall with my invest- 

 ment. 



I put them on 3 Langstroth frames of 

 old combs and 2 of foundation. I made 

 a feeder by tacking a piece of wood sep- 

 arator on each side of a Langstroth 

 brood-frame, and put in a bevel-edged 

 strip of wood for a floater to keep the 

 bees from drowning. This they will 

 empty in about three hours, and I should 

 think it would hold three or four pounds 

 of syrup. It is about 4xl7x% inches, 

 inside measure. I place it at one side 

 of the combs, and it seems to answer the 

 purpose well. 



Now, is it necessary for them to 

 have pollen for brood-rearing next 

 spring before pollen comes (I winter 

 bees in the cellar) ? If so, can I feed 

 anything to supply it? If so, what and 

 how? I looked in all jny strong colonies 

 for help, but pollen is scarce, and unless 

 it is in the bottom of the cells and cov- 

 ered with honey, there is none to spare. 



Bellevue. Wis. Sub. 



Answer. — They will rear no brood 

 next spring without pollen. You might 

 swap one or two of their frames of stores 

 for one or two from the other colonies, 

 for most likely you would thus give 

 them pollen, although you might not see 

 the pollen. Or, you can wait till next 

 spring, and then when the honey is 

 eaten out you'll have no trouble in find- 

 ing frames of pollen in the other hives, 

 from which you can draw. 



Have You Bead the wonderful Pre- 

 mium offers on page 578? 



