56G 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 3, 



to grin and bear this hot spell. It hasn't generally been so 

 hot as this, and probably this will not last." But in the 

 empty hive it's different. The bare walls perhaps allow the 

 heat to be more keenly felt, and the reasoning may be some- 

 thing like this : "Why, this is awful! We never had any- 

 thing like this in our old home, and the sooner we get out of 

 here the better. Better leave now, while we can carry all our 

 stores with us than to wait until we have a lot of babies we 

 don't like to desert." So off they go. 



It is of importance that a newly-hived swarm be kept con- 

 fortable. Let there be plenty of room for ventilation below, 

 and let the hive be partly uncovered for two or three days. 

 Don't set the hive right out in the broiling sun with nothing 

 to shade it. Many practice giving a frame of brood, the idea 

 being that the bees will not be willing to desert this. Doolittle 

 says that a frame of brood will hasten desertion, and I sus- 

 pect there are differences in conditions that make a frame of 

 brood desirable in some cases and not in others. 



"Won't Work in the Super. 



Their hive is 

 J. S. 



Why don't my bees work in the super ? 

 full. They seem to keep going lively. 

 Beebe, Mich. 



Answer. — Hard to tell without knowing more about the 

 case. Sooietimes honey comes in slowly, and the bees keep 

 crowding the brood-nest rather than to take a fresh start any- 

 where else. It will help no little if you put in the super a 

 section with drawn comb in it, or a piece of brood. 



Rearing Queens— Bees in Winter. 



There was considerable of interest to me in the question 

 asked by W. S. G., and your answer to same, on page 5 IS, 

 regarding the fertilization of queens. Your answer was satis- 

 factory to me as far as it goes, but the particular difficulty 

 with me is to keep the queens separated during the time re- 

 quired to become fertilized. 



1. Is it necessary to use a full colony of bees and divide 

 them into as many nuclei as you wish to rear queens ? I have 

 20 colonies, purchased last spring, with the exception of one, 

 and have had all my bee-experience since that time. I have 

 one colony of black bees, about five hybrids, and the rest 

 Italians. I wish to Italianize these. I concluded to do this 

 by rearing queen-cells in a nucleus, and inserting the cells in 

 the hives I wish to Italianize, after taking out the queens. 

 Would this be a good plan ? I have made a nucleus for this 

 purpose, of from a pint to a quart of bees ; they are just one 

 week old, but refuse to build cells. What can be the trouble ? 

 I am sure they have no queen. 



2. Would cell-protectors be of any use in inserting cells, 

 to keep them from being torn open ? 



3. There is a theory prevalent here that during an ex- 

 tremely cold winter bees lie in a more dormant state than 

 during a mild winter, and consume much less honey, hence 

 are more likely to starve in a mild winter than in a cold one. 

 If there is any truth in this, why would bees not winter better 

 in a single hive, on the summer stand, than in a double hive 

 filled in with chaff, which latter method I had thought I would 

 adopt? 



The Bee Journal is very much appreciated in our home. 

 Globe, Kans. j. m. S. 



Answers. — 1. Your experience is somewhat like my own. 

 In the early part of my bee-keeping I said it wasn't worth 

 while to have a whole colony at work rearing queen-cells, for 

 only a few bees could have anything to do with it. So I made 

 a nucleus like yours, and in the course of time I got queens 

 that were about like yours will be. No matter what you and 

 I may reason about what the bees mujhl to do, the fact re- 

 mains that you can't have good queens by having the cells 

 reared in a hive with only a few bees. So don't think of such 

 thing at all, but have your cells reared in a full colony. Not 

 only a full colony, but a strong colony. After the cells are 

 sealed,!/ the weather is warm, then, the cells can be put in 

 nuclei. The nucleus you formed was probably taken from 

 colonies with laying queens, and all the bees went back to 

 their old home except those so young they had never taken a 

 flight. No honey was brought in, and the poor babies were 

 probably too discouraged to do much in the way of rearing 

 queen-cells. There are cases, however, in which bees seem 

 stubborn about rearing cells, even when in good numbers. 



2. Yes, the protector secures the cell against the freaks 

 of bees, but if nuclei are formed from a queenless colony they 



generally respect queen-cells given them. A much larger 

 proportion of bees will stay put in a nucleus if the bees are 

 taken from queenless colony than if taken from a colony hav- 

 ing a queen. 



3. If bees can fly out often through the winter they will 

 consume more than if they staid contentedly in their hives, be- 

 cause every flight means an extra feed. But it doesn't follow 

 from this that colder hives would be better for them, for it's the 

 frequent flights that cause a greater consumption, and when 

 the weather becomes warm enough to warm up a colony 

 through thick walls, it would warm them up all the sooner 

 through thin walls. Still, if I lived where bees could fly every 

 week, I wouldn't care for thick walls. 



Difference in Queen-Cells for Swarming and for 

 Superseding. 



What is the difference, if any, in the appearance of a 

 queen-cell reared for swarming and one reared for superseding 

 a queen ? J. W. 



Answer. — I don't know of any difference. Neither do I 

 know of any way you can tell for certain by looking at the 

 combs whether the cells are meant for superseding or for 

 swarming. In either case they are started from the egg in 

 the same kind of cell. Generally more cells will be started for 

 swarming, whereas only one or two will be started for super- 

 seding, but there's no fixed rule about it. I don't believe the 

 bees themselves can tell the difference, and sometimes cells 

 that are started for swarming are used for superseding, and 

 vice versa. Suppose they say, "Mother's getting old ; guess 

 we'd better supersede her," and cells are started for that pur- 

 pose. Then a honey-flow starts in, and some adventurous 

 worker says, "Say, girls, say we swarrn," and off they go. 

 On the other hand, if preparations for swarming are made 

 rather late, and about the time the cells are sealed, the idea 

 of swarming is abandoned, a young queen may be allowed to 

 mature and take the place of the old one. Taking advantage 

 of this, Doolittle says put a sealed cell in a hive at the close of 

 the honey-harvest, and the queen will be superseded. But I've 

 tried the same thing earlier in the season, and although the 

 young queen might be at first tolerated in the hive she was 

 always killed within a day or two. 



Hives- 



-Closed-End Frames — Placing Hives — 

 Comb-Ouidcs and Starters. 



1. The standard hive calls for 20 inches long, and 8 

 frames, 1% inches from center to center, which takes 11 

 inches. What fills up the other 9 inches, or is the 20 inch 

 hive necessary ? lama carpenter, and would like to make 

 my own hives. 



2. In using closed-end frames is it necessary to have any 

 space between the end of the frame and the side of the hive ? 



3. Is there any objection to placing hives close together ? 

 If so, how close can they be placed without damage ? 



4. How is a comb-guide made? What is it made of ? 



5. Is a comb-guide used when starters are used ? 



6. Is the starter used all around the frame, or just at the 

 top ? How wide is it, and how is it fastened ? W. L. S. 



Answers.— 1. I suppose you refer to the dovetail hive, 

 whose outside length is 20 inches. But its inside length is 

 18}^ inches, and its inside width 12M inches. The frames 

 run the length of the hive, so in figuring how much space 

 there is to be filled by the width of the frames, not 20 but 

 12}s is to be considered. Eight frames- spaced at l^^will 

 occupy 11 J-4 inches — you must allow ^4 inch space for one 

 side — and a thin dummy is put in to fill up the remaining 

 space. If you use Hoffman frames you'll find that bee-glue 

 will very soon make your frames spaced more than X^ Inches 

 from center to center. 



2. Yes, in most cases the same space is used as without 

 closed ends, but some have barely enough space to allow the 

 frames to enter easily. 



3. That depends somewhat on how they are placed. If 

 you put them in a straight row at equal distances apart, and 

 there are no surrounding objects by which the bees can mark 

 their hives, you ought to put them at least five or six feet 

 apart. But you can place a group of four hives and have 

 them touching, and you may have as many of these groups as 

 you please, if you allow five or six feet between the groups. 

 In the group of four, two hives are set side by side, then two 

 others set back to back to the first two. 



4. Comb-guides are not as much in favor as formerly, and 



