1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



quite so well, I prefer, on the whole, to have it so, for it means I 

 can have that much more for my money. 



Come to think of it, quality and quantity of contents are more 

 than looks, and if there are advertisements on every page it won't 

 take more than 30 seconds longer to leaf over the pages. So, 

 Messrs. Publishers, try to have half of every page filled with ad- 

 vertisements, and then put in some more pages. I still think I 

 would like to take a paper such as I first described, and if you can 

 get up one at $50 a year, please put me down as a subscriber. Or 

 how much would it cost ? 



Well, sir, you have succeeded in putting the case pretty well. 

 It we were to omit all advertisements from the Bee Journal, nm-y 

 subscriber would have to pay at least $3.00 a year instead of $1.00, 

 so by having advertisements there is quite a saving to bee-keepers. 

 Besides, the great majority want to know where they can buy 

 queens, bee-supplies, etc., and doubtless wouldn't have a bee-paper 

 without any advertisements in it. 



As you say, it is true that advertisers prefer their notices put 

 with the reading-matter, and as it is no inconvenience at all to the 

 reader to have it so, ihere is no good reason why the advertiser 

 shouldn't be gratified in his wish. Each advertiser pays in any 

 paper just for say an inch space one time, as much, or more, than 

 a subscriber pays for a whole year's subscription ; and as there are 

 so few subscribers who are so whimsical as to care anything about 

 the matter anyway, it is better to strive to please the advertiser in 

 this case, particularly as there is no sacrifice of principle. 



But if only one or two subscribers insist on having no adver- 

 tisements in their copies, we couldn't accommodate them short of 

 $50 a week each. Very few could afford that at present prices of 

 honey, we think ! 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. MILLER, MARENGO, ILL. 



LQuestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



may Be Short of Stores. 



My bees are in the cellar, and in a condition generally 

 agreed upon as the best, except a possibility that some may be 

 short of stores, as I was unable, at the right time, to attend 

 to them closely in that particular. Would it be safe and bet- 

 ter to leave them alone until they fail to respond as promptly 

 as usual to a tap on the hive? or should they be examined ? 

 (They are in frame hives.) The point is, what would you do '? 



Sound Beach, Conn., Jan. 20. E. M. 



Answer. — If I thought only a very small portion were in 

 danger of being short of stores, I think I'd risk their starving 

 rather than to risk hurting all the rest by opening them up, 

 and I don't think I'd want to be tapping them every day. If, 

 on the other hand, I thought a sufficient number were in dan- 

 ger of starving to make it a serious matter, I'd try to find out 

 for certain by weighing or looking into the hives, and then I'd 

 give enough to all that were at all doubtful, using combs of 

 honey or else candy. 



Putting Bees Out of tbe Cellar. 



1. Where one has from 125 to 200 colonies of bees in the 

 cellar to be put out in the spring, what kind of weather should 

 it be when they are put out ? 



2. About what should the thermometer register ? 



3. Should it be in the morning, at noon, or evening ? 



4. Should they be put out all at one time, or at intervals '? 



5. If at intervals, about how much time should elapse, 

 and how many should be put out in each lot ? 



6. When put out, should one begin at one side of the 

 yard and fill each row of stands until they are all out, or fill 

 and then skip alternately, and thus repeat until all is full ? 



7. I have had hives crowded and over-run with bees in a 

 few hours after they had been put out, even so they would 

 cluster on the outside of the hive in large numbers; appar- 



ently they came from several hives, as I could not detect the 

 loss from any one, or the direction they came from. What 

 was the cause ? 



8. How can it be prevented ? When it happens, what is 

 the best thing to do ? Northern New York. 



Answers. — 1. A still day, with bright sunshine. 



2. Fifty degrees or more; but if you're sure of your day, 

 and handle the bees quietly, you can commence in the morn- 

 ing early at 40-^ if you feel sure It will go up to 50° or 60"'. 



3. I prefer getting them out as early in the day as possi- 

 ble. However, if you could feel sure of a warm, nice day fol- 

 lowing, it would do to carry out in the evening. 



4. Either way will do, but I like full as well to put them 

 all out at once. 



5. The intervals I have used have been such as to suit my 

 own convenience. If I commence one morning, and after get- 

 ting out a few it turns cloudy or cool, I stop and make an in- 

 terval till the weather suits, whether it be the next day or the 

 next week. 



6. I think I have read of the skipping plan, but I never 

 knew any harm to come from filling the rows straight along. 



7. I've had something of the same kind, and It seems to 

 be something like swarming out. 



8. About all I've done has been to look on and wish they 

 wouldn't act so. If some hives get more than their share of 

 bees, I don't know that It does a great deal of harm. If so 

 many should be In one hive that at night they would not all 

 crowd In, I think I would take the bees that hang out in the 

 evening and give them to some colony that needed more. Just 

 after taking out of the cellar there isn't much trouble about 

 putting bees from one hive Into another. 



Double vs. Single Walls for Dryness. 



Will a double-walled hive, made of %-lnch lumber with 

 a %-inch dead-air space between the Inner and outer wall, 

 keep bees drier and better than a single-walled hive ? We are 

 not troubled with cold here, but rain. I do my own hive- 

 making, and lumber is no object. J. O. W. 



Cowlitz, Wash. 



Answer. — I doubt it. After getting wet, the double wall 



would be slower in drying out. With lumber cheap, the best 



thing might be to have a good roof large enough to cover al 



the hives. 



-^ — » — ^•— 



Probably Robbing. 



What makes my bees fight at this season of the year, 

 when we have a warm day so that they can fly ? They are 

 fighting all the time. Are they robbing ? I do not have time 

 to look after them as I ought to. J. W. W. 



Sallisaw, Ind. Ter., Jan. 6. 



Answer. — Without being on the ground. It isn't easy to 

 say why they are fighting, but very likely it is as you suspect, 

 simply that they are trying to rob. If you find the fighting 

 mainly at one hive, throw some loose hay or straw at the en- 

 trance. That will allow passage for the bees that belong to 

 the hive, but robbers are a little shy of going into a place 

 where they can't make an easy and prompt retreat. 



The Use of the Bee-Escape. 



Man — especially the bee-man — never is, but always to be, 

 blessed ; and I'm blessed if SImmlns, in the new edition of his 

 "Modern Bee-Farm," hasn't been loudly decrying the use of 

 bee-escapes— that perfect Invention that was going to save us 

 all so much stinging, anxiety, blasphemy and work, and 

 smooth our way to fortune. Back again to the primitive 

 smoke and brush ! Verily, we are progressing backwards! 

 SImmins says : " As soon as bees are frightened they will com- 

 mence to tear open the beautifully capped cells. This is one 

 of the most forcible arguments that can be used in condemna- 

 tion of the super-clearers, for the bees, once frightened by the 

 lifting of the super, will not hesitate to break countless pin- 

 holes In the beautiful cappings." And on page 129 he alludes 

 to bee-escapes as "an old and discarded fad." Does your ex- 

 perience permit of your endorsing these statements '? 



S. A. D. 



Answer. — It may be all right to call bee-escapes a fad, 

 but I hardly see how any one can call them "old," and surely 

 they are not "discarded" on this side the water. If a single 

 bee-keeper that has been favorable to them has given up their 



