150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 5, 



color of the honey is a. light, golden amber, and has a very 

 fine flavor ; it is very thick, and does not run out of the cells 

 in handling the frames. 



I read several times in the American Bee Journal about 

 people not knowing the difference between smartweed and 

 heart's-ease. If they will take a leaf or two in the mouth and 

 chew it, if it doesn't smart it's heart's-ease; if It isa't 

 heart's-ease they will soon find out which of 'tother it is. 



I have read and heard that a great many bees died the 

 past winter and spring, and to hear the bee-keepers tell it, 

 they say, " Yes, and they had a lot of honey, too. Now, what 

 do you suppose caused them to die?" Well, I told them I 

 didn't know. One man told me he had 5 colonies, and this 

 spring, when the weather became warm, he examined them, 

 and found that the honey was nearly all gone out of three 

 hives, and the other two had quite a lot of honey, so he fed 

 the first three. And just think ! the two that had lots of 

 honey died, and the other three he saved, he said. It hap- 

 pened that shortly after I went out to see this man and his 

 bees. I found he had three nice, strong colonies, and in look- 

 ing in the other two hives I found in one three frames, and in 

 the other four frames that had quite a lot of capped honey. I 

 took my knife and picked the capping off, which was tough 

 and hard, and found the cells full of candied honey. Now, 

 Doctor, don't you think if this man had fed the other two col- 

 onies as he did the first three, he would have saved them all ? 



Glenwood, Nebr., June 22, 1895. J. C. K. 



Answer. — Mr. Editor, here's a letter that I received more 

 than six months ago. I got it on the way to the cars as I was 

 leaving home, put it in a pocket of my sachel, and there it 

 remained until now. I sincerely beg the pardon of Mr. Knoll 

 and yourself, and I think I'll not consider it safe hereafter to 

 put letters in a grip. Fortunately the present one is of such 

 general interest that it has not spoiled by keeping. 



The question as to whether those colonies would have 

 been saved had the owner fed them, is one that I dare not an- 

 swer. There are so many " if's " in the case. If the honey 

 was in easy reach, for there are times when bees starve with 

 plenty in the hive, and yet outside of the cluster. As a rule, 

 I wouldn't expect a colony to starve if their honey was all 

 candied, but there may have been something so exceptional in 

 this case that feeding might have been their salvation. 



Buying Two-Frame Nuclei. 



I am a beginner in the bee-business. I bought one colony 

 last spring, and have three at present. I intend to buy 10 

 more in the spring. Do you think it would be advisable to 

 buy two-frame nuclei ? A. C. P. 



Leavenworth, Wash. 



Answer. — That depends somewhat upon circumstances. 

 If you can get bees near home, probably you will do best to 

 get full colonies. If you can only get them from quite a dis- 

 tance, then it may be best to get the nuclei, for the expressage 

 on a full colony would be too much. 



moving Bees — Honey from Sweet Clover — Car. 

 niolaus vs. Italians. 



As I am going to move my bees in the spring, I should 

 like your advice on some things. 



1. How do you fasten the screen over the entrance ? Do 

 you simply tack it on, or do you use strips of thin wood to 

 hold it? How do you fasten the bottom-board, super and 

 cover ? or will I have to take the super off ? I thought to 

 leave it on with the chaff cushion, etc. Of course, I will move 

 them before it gets warm. I have the dovetail hives. 



2. Do you think the bees will store any surplus from 

 sweet clover ? It grows thick on the roadsides for three or 

 four miles where I intend to have my bees. Does it take many 

 acres to make any show in the hive ? 



3. Are Carniolan bees as good as Italians, as to work and 

 gentleness ? G. E. N. 



Bishop Hill, Pa. 



Answers. — 1. Late numbers of this paper will give you 

 information on moving bees, and you will do well to read the 

 article of J. R. Slease, on page 148. My hives are specially 

 prepared, so that all I have to do is to slide a stopper of wire- 

 cloth into saw kerfs of the deep, reversed bottom-board. Then 

 the entrance is securely closed. You will see how Mr. Slease 

 does it, by crowding a piece of coarse burlap into the entrance, 

 and if the weather is cool enough that will answer all right. 



If so warm that you want to use the wire-cloth, you can double 

 a strip of wire-cloth, letting the stiff, doubled edge rest down 

 on the bottom-board, and the upper part can be fastened 

 against the front of the hive by a strip of wood nailed on. I 

 fasten on my hive bottom-boards mostly by screws, the hives 

 being specially prepared for this, but latterly I have used with 

 great satisfaction what are called "tobacco staples," IJ4 

 inches wide with legs % inch long. Drive one of the points 

 into the hive and the other into the bottom-board, using four 

 staples, and you will find it will hold solid. Two more such 

 staples hold the cover on. If you want to keep the supers on, 

 you could use the same staples. 



2. Of course, if there's enough sweet clover on the road- 

 side the bees will store surplus from it. The editor spoke of 

 some lately that I suspect was gathered from the roadside, 

 and I wish he would find out all about it and tell us how much 

 ground was perhaps occupied with sweet clover and how 

 many colonies of bees worked on it to get that surplus. [We 

 would kindly ask Mr. Armstrong (of whom we got the honey) 

 to tell us " all about it," if he will kindly do so. — Editors.] 



3. Some like Carniolans much, but in general the Italians 

 seem to be the most popular. Carniolans are very gentle and 

 great swarmers. 



One-Frame Sfuclcus — BasswoocI Bloom. 



1. Will a 1-frame nucleus make a fair colony? If not, 

 how many will it take ? 



2. How old is basswood before it blooms? I am going to 

 set out some in the spring, and would like to know. 



Lakewood, N. J. E. C. R. 



Answers. — 1. A single frame nucleus may make a fair 

 colony. Of course, it must have a fair start and a fair chance. 

 If it is started early — say before the end of May — the frame 

 well filled with bi;ood mostly sealed, and an abundance of bees 

 to cover the whole frame, the season good, and continuing 

 late, you may have a fair colony before winter. But take an 

 average frame of brood with adhering bees and you better 

 have three of them, to feel sure of a fair colony by fall. 



2. The age at which lindens bloom varies, and I don't 

 know what ought to be the average at which a plantation 

 ought to be expected to bloom, but at a guess I would set it 

 somewhere about 10 years. If any one knows more definitely 

 about it, I shall be glad to be corrected. 



Keeping Two Queens in One Hive — ITniting- 

 Heeping Down Increase. 



1. Is there any known way to keep two queens in the 

 same hive ? I cannot get my queens to keep the hives full 

 enough of bees to suit me, although I get from 50 to 75 

 pounds of surplus comb honey to the hive. I believe that if I 

 could get two queens to work in the same hive, that I could 

 get my hives so full of bees that I could double my surplus. I 

 have young queens from Texas, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, 

 Ohio and Illinois, but they seem to be but little improvement 

 over the ones I rear. The best ones I have bought are from 

 Texas; one of these queens swarmed early; I hived her on 

 full combs of honey and full sheets of foundation ; about six 

 weeks afterward I was looking through the hive, and found a 

 voung queen on the same comb with the old queen, and on the 

 same side of the comb within 4 inches of her, so she must 

 have known of her presence ; as I had a queenless colony at 

 the time I introduced the young queen to that colony. Again 

 in the fall I found another young queen in the same hive, 

 which I removed and introduced to a black colony. I have 

 since wished that I had not removed the last queen, but 

 watched results ; if they had both continued to work together 

 I might have had a colony large enough to suit me. I shall 

 watch that hive closely the coming season, and if I again find 

 two queens I can tell what two will do. 



2. I have several colonies of black bees in trees which I 

 wish to remove before my young queens begin to fly. Can I 

 unite the blacks with my Italians just before the main honey- 

 flow ? If so, how can I unite without the Italians killing the 

 blacks ? I have never yet been successful in uniting bees, 

 but have lost several colonies in trying to unite them. ::? 



3. Not wishing to run more than 50 colonies, how can I 

 keep down increase, as I do not wish any swarms to go to the 

 timber? J. W. G. 



Gazelle, Calif. 



Answers. — 1. Occasionally two queens will be found in a 

 hive working peacefully side by side, but as a rule they are 

 mother and daughter, the mother being so near her end that 



