74 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 30, 



again, and lit on an apple-tree ; so I got permission from 

 him to cut the limb from the tree and take my bees again. I 

 got them down and hived them in a new hive with full sheets 

 of foundation but the next day out they came and were 

 gone entirely. I saw nothing of their leaving the hive at all. 

 But what was strange to me was, when we were eating dinner 

 we found a queen on the window trying to get out. Now, 

 where did that queen ever come from in the house? Was it 

 the queen of the colony that left ? If it was, where were the 

 bees gone ? This happened on May T, 1895. H. W. S. 

 Baraboo, Wis. 



Answers. — 1. From the date given, it might be impossi- 

 ble for any one to say just why the colony was cross. You say 

 it was a first swarm from a gentle colony. In that case it had 

 the same queen the old colony had, and for at least three 

 weeks there would be no bees in it except those that came from 

 the old colony. So the difference can hardly be accounted for 

 by the change of bees themselves, as might be more or less the 

 case with a second swarm. 



If honey ceased to yield immediately after the swarm was 

 hived, that might account for an immediate change of temper 

 in the bees. 



If the bees lost their queen by any accident, or even by de- 

 sign, that would change their gentle character also. 



The place where the new swarm was put may possibly 

 have had something to do with it, for some have reported that 

 bees out in the hot sun were more vicious than those more com- 

 fortably located. 



2. It is simply impossible for any one to say with certainty 

 from whence came that queen. It is possible that it might 

 have come from a colony at almost any distance within two or 

 three miles, and from any point of the compass. The fact 

 that one of your colonies came out of its hive makes it of 

 course more probable that it was from such a colony than. 

 from a colony that remained quietly in its hive as a well-be- 

 haved colony ought to do ; but after all, any answer given 

 would only be a guess. 



Improved Nomcnelatiirc -Bee-Zinc. 



Some honey-boards are queen-excluding, others not ; then 

 suppose that those which are queen-excluders be called " bee- 

 boards," and leave the old name to those which fire honey- 

 boards and not queen-excluding. 



Zinc being the material which is in general use — I might 

 say almost universal use — for excluding or including queens 

 and drones, at other places than where honey-boards are used, 

 and most honey-boards are made of zinc if they are queen-ex- 

 cluding, how would " bee-zinc" do for the " perforated zinc," 

 as it is now called ? A Feibnd. 



Answer. — It is something of a question whether " bee- 

 board " could displace the well-established name " queen-ex- 

 clud8r," but decidedly " bee-zinc " has strong claims as a sup- 

 planter of " perforated zinc." The name is shorter, more des- 

 criptive, and could not be misunderstood. "Perforated zinc" 

 might equally as well apply, and very likely if applied, to 

 many forms of zinc with perforations that would not be per- 

 forated zinc at all in bee-keeping parlance. But " bee-zinc " 

 ■would easily recommend itself as meaning just the one thing. 

 Let's call it bee-zinc. [We are willing to adopt this change, 

 and for the reason given. — Editor.] 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. J. p. H. BROWIf, AUGUSTA, GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department.— Eds. 1 



Balling Qiieen§. 



Dr. Brown :^0n Oct. 1, as I was passing through my 

 apiary, I discovered one hive with a pile of dead bees in front 



of the hive, also a lump of live ones, so I searched the hive, 

 and the bees were just wild. Then I took a stick and wanted 

 to lind out about the bees in front of the hive, and found a 

 queen in the middle of a tight lump of bees, and as soon as 

 I took the queen some of the bees were fighting and trying to 

 sting the queen, so I caged her, and yet the bees were not sat- 

 isfied. I found another lump Just like the first, which I ex- 

 amined, and, to my surprise, I found another queen. Well, I 

 caged her, and not long after that the bees went straight to 

 work again. What was the matter with that colony ? Could 

 I not have kept those two queens until spring, if I had fed 

 them honey mixed with sugar? They seemed to eat by them- 

 selves. I had no bees with them, as the bees would fight her 

 if I put any with her. I had them in separate cages. If I 

 had shut the cages and put them into some hive, would the 

 bees have fed them through the wire-cloth and taken care of 

 them ? U. T. 



Leon Springs, Tex. 



Answer. — Judging from your description of the bees I 

 infer that a swarm from some hive, or hives, tried to enter the 

 other, and were killed, and the queen balled. Very often, 

 with small, weak colonies, in the spring and fall, they swarm 

 out and desert their hives, and frequently try to enter other 

 hives. The fact of there being two balled queens would indi- 

 cate two such swarms. 



I have also had cases where the queen of the colony en- 

 tered would be balled by the stronger bees, but in this case 

 the bees would be demoralized for quite awhile. As the bees 

 in your hive soon quieted down and went to work, this suppo- 

 sition would be very unlikely. 



If you wanted to save the queens, you could have given 

 them to some queenless colonies. The chances were all 

 against you saving them in cages until spring. 



(Jniling Colonics — Fccciing— The Danger of Ex- 

 tracting Too Closely. 



1. Is there likely to be a gain by uniting several weak 

 colonies in the fall ? That is, will it make them swarm early, 

 and put them beyond what they likely would have been? 



2. I understand there is no use of packing bees for winter 

 in the South ; but as soon as they commence brood-rearing 

 regularly in the spring, would it not be of some advantage to 

 pack them so as to prevent the cool nights from chilling the 

 brood, allowing them to remain so until the nights got fairly 

 warm ? 



3. I have had my bees, from all appearance, within a 

 week of swarming, when a cold, wet rain would set things 

 back until they would not swarm at all. Now, what I wish 

 to linow is, would it be advisable to feed a little regularly just 

 to keep up brood-rearing until the weather was right again ? 



4. The fall aster is our main honey-plant here. In ex- 

 tracting as fast as it is gathered, is there not danger of work- 

 ing the bees to death ? This accords with what decides the 

 life of a worker-bee. It seems that it would be at a critical 

 time of the year ; if so, what say you ? J. W. H. 



Newell, N. C. 



Answers. — 1. There would be a gain by uniting them in 

 this way; if you did not do it they would most likely be lost 

 before the first of April. Small, weak colonies in the fall and 

 spring frequently get, as it were, discouraged, and swarm out 

 — desert their hive and what brood they have started. Feed- 

 ing will not always hold them — it more often kindles their 

 " git and quit " propensity. By uniting you save the bees, and 

 may have a good, strong colony for spring work. 



2. I don't think you would gain much by the packing. 

 What you might gain in the night you would lose in the day. 

 The bees in the packed hives would be several hours later in 

 getting out in the day for forage than those in the unpacked 

 ones. You would find that by the time the honey harvest was 

 well under way, the unpacked bees would be most likely 

 ahead. I speak from experience. 



3. It would be advisable. 



4. Yes, there is danger. The extracting should be done 

 with judgment — always be on the safe side — don't extract too 

 closely — leave enough for the bees to winter on, and to carry 

 them until the first of April. Prom the first of February until 

 the first of April is a trying time with bees in our climate — ■ 

 stores are rapidly consumed. Look out for starving colonies. 



Every Present Subscritier of the Bee Journal 

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 scribe for it. 



