246 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 16, 



but young bees kept dying until the fall honey-flow from the 

 golden-rod and asters came, when there were no more dead 

 bees. I am convinced it was the poison from the nightshade 

 that killed the young bees. 



In this part of North Carolina there are so many other 

 flowers blooming at the same time as the kalmia that the bees 

 prefer, that they do not get much honey from the kalmia. For 

 instance, the " redroot " — Ceanothus Americanus — when that 

 is in bloom, the air around my apiary is filled at night with 

 the odor of the blossom. 



I do not believe that the bees will work on the poisonous 

 plants like kalmia or nightshade unless they are forced to by 

 there being nothing else. I think that "Novice " will find, if 

 he observes his bees carefully, that they are getting the honey, 

 while the kalmias are in bloom, from some other flower. He 

 may find a few bees on the kalmia blossoms, but I do not think 

 much of his honey comes from that flower. It is well under- 

 stood among the mountains of Polk county, N. C, when there 

 is a great deal of " ivy," that bitter honey is poisonous, and 

 that it comes from the " ivy." W. A Thompson. 



Buena Vista, N. C. 



MOUNTAIN LAUREL HONEr, ETC. 



I have been interested in the communications with refer- 

 ence to laurel honey. The experiences of those who have re- 

 cently written in the American Bee Journal on that subject 

 coincide with mine. It is now 27 years since I began keeping 

 bees, and my bees have always had access to hundreds of 

 acres of mountain laurel, and I have never heard or known of 

 any one being sick from eating honey gathered therefrom. 

 The truth is, I don't believe that bees ever gather poisonous 

 honey from that source. Laurels are great bloomers, and in 

 favorable seasons produce great quantities of nectar, and if it 

 is poisonous, surely, in these long years, with my surround- 

 ings, at least one case of poisoning from its use would have 

 come under my observation. 



Prom the few communications published in the Bee Jour- 

 nal from East Tennessee, one would almost suppose that our 

 people are lagging in bee-culture, but such is not the case. 

 The year 1895 was not a favorable year with us, but the in- 

 dustry paid expenses, and left a surplus for a rainy day. 

 Owing to the dry weather in the fall the asters and golden-rod 

 did not produce as usual, and many bees went into the winter 

 with a scarcity of stores, and many will doubtless fail to re- 

 spond to roll-call this spring; but still we are not discouraged. 

 I fed my bees in the fall sufficiently to secure them against 

 starving, and so far their fatality has been less than usual. 

 The winter here has been a mild one, and the indications are 

 favorable for a good honey season, and it is important that 

 our bee-keepers should be ready for it. H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., March 6. 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. C O. JUII^LER. AT-AItEA'GO. ILL. 



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



Cutting Out Dronc-Conib — Fccdiug Rye-Flour. 



1. When cutting drone-comb from the frames of colonies 

 of bees In the spring, do you first smoke them, that is, puff 

 smoke in at the entrance ? Do you shake the bees from the 

 comb, or leave them on while cutting the drone-comb out? 



2. Why do my bees refuse to go near several pans of rye- 

 flour that I put out for them? I placed the pans about 15 

 feet from the hives. S. K. L. 



Olneyville, E. 1. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, you will do well to pufiF some smoke 

 lightly into the entrance before opening the hive, and then 

 give them a little on top as you open the cover. If they run 

 down from the top, then they may not need any more, but if 

 they show fight you must smoke till they retreat. You might 

 cut out the drone-comb with all the bees on, but it will be 

 easier and much pleasanter to handle the combs without any 



bees on them. You can shake off most of the bees, but you 

 will do well to brush the combs clean, using a Coggshall bee- 

 brush If you have one. This brush is made of broom-corn, 

 only the brush is very thin, and you would have a brush some- 

 thing like it if you should take a common corn-broom and cut 

 out half or more of the brush, and then cut off all but six 

 inches of the handle. A bunch of grass or weeds tied together 

 makes a good brush. Asparagus is good. Remember that 

 you'll do no good to cut out the drone-comb unless you fill in 

 its place with patches of worker-comb, for the bees will be 

 pretty certain to fill up the holes with drone-comb. 



2. Like as not your bees don't care for the rye-flour be- 

 cause they can get something better. Watch when they are 

 flying and return to the hives, and see If they are not carrying 

 in loads of natural pollen on their legs. If they can get nat- 

 ural pollen you can't get them to touch the substitute. Some- 

 times, however, they are slow about working on the rye-flour 

 simply because they haven't yet found it, and in that case you 

 can bait them to it by using a little honey or other sweet. 



Bio Bees for Sale. 



I wish to inquire if you have Italian bees for sale, and if 

 so what price, prepared ready for a long journey by express? 

 Forks, Wyo. A. D. B. 



Answer. — Haven't a bee to sell. I don't do anything in 

 the supply business. I've only two things to sell : honey — 

 that is, when I get any — and the sort of stuff I write for these 

 columns and the editor pays me for. 



Amount and Position of Honey for Wintering. 



1. Is it generally admitted that it takes 25 to 30 pounds 

 of honey to winter a colony of bees ? 



2. Does it make any difference where the honey is left in 

 the hive ? 



3. Should the center combs be full of honey ? J. M. 

 Ionia, Mich. 



Answers. — 1. If you mean will bees eat 25 to 30 pounds 

 of honey from the time they are put in the cellar till they are 

 taken out, the answer is no, they are not likely to eat any- 

 thing like that amount — many will do with a third of It. If 

 you mean is it best to have 25 to 30 pounds of honey in the 

 hive at the beginning of winter, yes. They'll not have much 

 of it left by the time they can gather in the soring, and in 

 some cases It will all be gone. 



2. and 3. Ye«, It's probably best to have It somewhat after 

 the plan the bees themselves follow, having a space toward 

 the center of the hive for the brood-nest and the honey stored 

 above and at the sides. 



Swarming and Tran§fcrring. 



I am a boy, and also a beginner. I have a few colonies 

 of bees, and I would like to know how to prevent some of them 

 from swarming, as they did nothing else last year but swarm. 

 I use an 8-frame hive. 



I think my bees are in eood condition, from all appear- 

 ance. They seem to be rolling something in awfully fast; I 

 don't know what it is. I have one colony I want to transfer. 

 Is It the time of year to commence such work ? R. W. 



Coalgate, Ind. Ter. 



Answer. — Probably what you want to know is how to 

 prevent excessive swarming, and not to prevent swarming 

 altogether. Most bee-keepers want at least some swarms, so 

 as to make up for winter losses, even if they don't care to 

 have a larger number. It is a very difficult thing to prevent 

 all swarming, but not so very difficult to prevent each colony 

 from swarming more than once. 



When a colony swarms, if left to itself it Is likely to send 

 out a second swarm in a week or ten days, perhaps another a 

 day or two later, and some colonies keep this up until they 

 have sent out four, five or six swarms. The desirable thing is 

 to know how to prevent all " after-swarms," as those swarms 

 are called which issue after the prime or first swarm. The 

 way some do is to catch all after-swarms and put them back 

 where they came from. If this is continued a few times, that 

 will be the end of the matter, for each time a swarm is re- 

 turned one of the young queens Is killed, and when only one 

 young queen is left" there will be no more swarming. In one 

 respect that Is a good plan, for it leaves the mother colony 



