AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



649 



ANSWERED BY 



DR,. C. C. I^IILiIjEIK,, 



Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of suflficlent special interest to 

 require replies from the aO 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. 



Crimson Clover as a Honey-Plant. 



I do not see anything in the bee-papers 

 about crimson clover as a honey-plant. 

 I shall be pleased to write you about It 

 if you desire. It will grow in Illinois. 

 We in Delaware think there is nothing 

 like it. J. C. S. 



Willow Grove, Del. 



Answer.— By all means, tell us all 

 about the crimson, or, as it is also called, 

 scarlet or Italian clover. You say it 

 will grow in Illinois. Yes, anything 

 that grows in Delaware will grow in 

 southern Illinois, I suppose; but I am 

 quite anxious to know whether it will 

 grow in the extreme northern part of 

 the State. 



Removing Surplus Honey Late. 



I have 5 colonies of bees that I neg- 

 lected taking the supers from. The cold 

 weather is now upon us. Would the 

 disturbance caused by taking them off 

 now, injure the bees ? In the 5 supers 

 there are about 30 one-pound sections 

 sealed over, and the balance in more or 

 less unfinished condition. Would it not 

 be best just to leave them as they are 

 until spring ? 



In the five years that I have handled 

 bees, I have never lost a colony. I have 

 always wintered them on the summer 

 stands, leaving the supers on if they 

 contain no honey, removing the emam- 

 eled cloth and putting in its place a 

 piece of burlap. 



The honey crop here is rather short. 

 I got 700 pounds from 21 colonies. 



spring count, and increased to 28. From 

 what little experience I have had, the 

 10-frame hive suits this locality best. 

 Brookwood, Va., Nov. 6. F. F. B. 



Answer. — So far as the bees are con- 

 cerned, it would probably be best to 

 leave them as they are. Still, if you 

 care much to get the honey away, it can 

 be done with little or no harm. There 

 will undoubtedly be occasional days 

 when bees will fly, and if a warm day 

 comes you can take off the sections, do- 

 ing it early enough in the day so the 

 bees can fly afterward on the same day. 



Granulating of Extracted Honey. 



Does honey often candy in two or 

 three weeks after being extracted? I 

 had about 100 pounds of extracted 

 honey this fall, which can now be cut 

 with a knife. It was extracted about 

 two weeks ago, having been gathered 

 from ironweed. It is a beautiful amber 

 color. 



Brookewood, Va., Nov. 6. 



Answer. — There is a great difl'erence 

 about honey granulating, but I think 

 yours is quite an unusual case. 



Building Up and Uniting Colonies. 



After I have hived a swarm on the old 

 stand I wish to put a division-board in 

 the hive of the old colony (that has been 

 removed), and have two entrances ; de- 

 stroy all but two queen-cells, let those 

 queens remain until the fall flow, then 

 remove one queen and let the colonies 

 unite. Will they be apt to do it peace- 

 ably ? And will not this plan give a 

 strong colony for the fall flow, which is 

 considerable here ? ,1. S. 



Answer. — I think all will work 

 smoothly, and the uniting will be peace- 

 able, especially if, after killing one of 

 the queens, you allow a hole in the divi- 

 sion-board for one or two bees to pass at 

 a time, and then remove the division- 

 board two or three days later. 



Whether you'll gain anything by it, is 

 another question. In my locality I'm 

 sure there would be no gain, even if 

 there were a heavy fall flow. You see 

 when the old hive is moved to a new lo- 

 cation all the field-bees will leave it, and 



