Jan. 25, l'X)0. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



55 



honey that made it diflferent from other honey— which I 

 very much doubt — the conditions were favorable for the al)- 

 sorption of moisture to a more than ordinary deg-ree. Some 

 sections were worse than otliers in the same lot, and that 

 may have been because of difference in ripeness when taken 

 from the hives, providing- all had the same treatment after 

 being- taken from the hives. If one section is left on a hive 

 longer than another, there may be a difference in ripeness. 



Some of it was in a warm, and some in a cold, place. 

 Other things being equal, the honey in the warm place had 

 the advantage, but there may have been some reason why 

 the warm place was unusually damp. If you keep honey in 

 a warm room, and this opens into a warmer room in which 

 steam is generated, your honey would attract moisture from 

 the atmosphere. 



The remedy is to keep the honey in a place where the 

 constant tendency is toward drying. If thru the hot 

 weather it be kept in a hot, dry, airy place, it will stand 

 much more abuse when cold weather comes. Where salt 

 keeps dry is a good place to keep honey. 



Possibly no true guess has here been made to fit your 



case. 



*~»-»^ 



Feeding Bees in Box-Hives. 



1. I am much interested in your answer to "New Jer- 

 sey," on page 6, for I have lately purchast 3 colonies of bees 

 in what are practically box-hives. One of them I will have 

 to feed. I have no cellar, and want to pack them as I do 

 the others on the summer stands. I can get the lids off, so 

 how will it do to lay the candy on top of the brood-frames, 

 and after putting a super on, pack above it as usual ? 



2. Can I put in enough candy so it will not be necessary 

 to disturb them again until summer — I mean, would it be 

 advisable to do so ? Kansas. 



Answers. — 1. Your plan will work all right, unless it 

 should happen that the bees did not reach the candy, in 

 which case they would starve with abundance over them. 

 This mig-ht happen if you should operate in a very cold time 

 when the bees were shrunk into a ball a little out of reach 

 of the candy. Better make sure before covering up, that 

 the bees actually reach the candy. If the weather is mild 

 there will be no trouble ; but if it should be cold it would be 

 a good plan to drum on the hive enough to make them go 

 up to the candy. This is on the supposition that they are 

 so short of honey that they might starve before a day comes 

 warm enough for them to reach the candy. If they 

 have honey enough to last till the first warm spell, there 

 need be little fear. 



2. Yes, there will be no harm in putting in too much, 

 and there might be much harm in putting in too little. 



Transferring, Dividing and Italianizing. 



I have two colonies of hybrids in Quinby hives, very 

 populous, with about 40 pounds of honey in each hive for 

 the winter. Next season I wish to divide, Italianize, and 

 transfer them to Langstroth hives. Can I make one job of 

 it in the following- manner? 



Smoke the bees at the entrance, lift the hive from the 

 stand, take off the cover, and place the honey-board on top 

 of the frames. Then set the new hive. No. 1 (fitted with 

 Hoffman frames of empty combs or foundation, without 

 bottom-board, and containing caged Italian queen) on top 

 of the old hive, drum up the bees for 10 or IS minutes, until 

 about half of them have ascended, then set the new hive on 

 the old stand. 



Next set new hive, No. 2, on the new stand, fitted with 

 frames as tjefore, but without a queen ; shake the frames 

 with adhering bees and the old queen into the new hive, 

 No. 2. Transfer the 10 combs of brood and honey from the 

 old frames to Hoffman frames, and put five into each of the 

 two new hives. Take away the old queen from hive No. 2 

 in two or three days, and introduce an Italian queen about 

 two days afterwards. 



When would be the best time to do this ? Any change 

 in the operation that vou can suggest, will be gratefully 

 accepted. " Massachusetts. 



Answer. — Your plan might not work to j'our satisfac- 

 tion. When you drive the bees into hive No. 1, you have 

 no security that the queen will not go up with them. If 

 you drive half the bees into No. 1, all the field-bees left in 

 No. 2 will join No. 1 in a daj' or so, and you will have no 

 bees left in No. 2 except half of the bees under 16 days old. 

 You may be better satisfied to transfer the colony into 



L,angstroth frames in time of fruit-bloom, reserving the 

 extra combs for future use if you have more than you need 

 for the Langstroth hive ; then when the colony swarms, 

 hive the swarm in hive No. 2. It will be just as easy to 

 make a separate job of Italiani/.ing, and will scarcely take 

 any more attention than the plan you propose; for in one 

 case your introducing the queen is a separate job, and in 

 the other you will have to see to releasing her at the proper 

 time. Before trying any original plans, always study thor- 

 oly your text-book so as to have principles well in hand. 



Bees Dying in Winter. 



My bees seem all to be dying, and I don't know what 

 can be the matter with them. They seem to be full and 

 healthy looking, but some colonies are dying very fast, 

 while others don't seem to be affected. Can you tell me 

 anything about it? It can't be paralysis, for they don't 

 have the greasy look that is described in " A B C of Bee- 

 Culture." They have plenty of good sealed goldenrod honey. 



Mo. 



Answer. — With no other information than the bees are 

 dying, and that they have a healthy look, it is hard to make 

 any guess as to the cause, and possibly it would be no easier 

 if one were on the spot. It is just possible that there may 

 be nothing wrong. At this time of the year bees are con- 

 stantly dying ; more in some colonies than in others ; and 

 one with little experience might think the mortality exces- 

 sive when only normal. It is nothing strange for a colony 

 to lose half its bees or more in the course of the winter 

 without anything being wrong. The simple fact that a 

 pint or a quart of dead bees are found on the bottom-board 

 is not a thing to awaken great anxiety. 



Requeening 3 and S-banded Bees-In-Breeding. 



1. Does a queen begin to decline after her second 

 season ? 



2. For profit, will it pay a bee-keeper best to requeen 

 his colonies, or let them supersede their own queens ? 



3. Is there any difference in honey-gathering qualities 

 between the 3 and S-banded Italians ? 



4. I reared all of my queens from one queen. Do you 

 think my future stock will be seriously affected by in-breed- 

 ing, or would it be best to rear new blood for the swarms 

 next season (of course, supposing I have any) ? Calif. 



Answers.— 1. That's a question that cannot be an- 

 swered by a single word. Some queens may be on the de- 

 cline before the close of the first year. Some queens may 

 be as good as ever when 3 or 4 years old. If a queen is kept 

 in a very strong colony, she will reach the limit of lier use- 

 fulness sooner than if in a weak colony. Perhaps it may 

 be said as a general rule that in an apiary where colonies 

 are kept large and strong a queen is not as good in her third 

 year, but with smaller hives there maybe no decline till the 

 close of the third season. It is by no means certain that 

 this is correct, and whatever may be the general rule the 

 exceptions are many. 



2. Opinions are divided, the tendency being toward the 

 belief that it is fully as profitable to leave the matter in the 

 care of the bees. When a queen has gone beyond her prime, 

 the bees will be pretty sure to supersede her, and their su- 

 perseding will be done with less hindrance to the work of 

 the colonies than if you take charge of the case. 



3. Some 3-banders are very much better than some 

 other 3-banders, and the same is true of the S-banders ; so 

 the best 3-banders are better than the poorest 5-banders, 

 and vice versa. If you could strike a fair average of both 

 kinds you might find no difference. 



4. There is danger of in-breeding where all or nearly all 

 queens are from one mother, the danger being greater if 

 only a small number of colonies are kept. I should say that 

 they would be affected in your case to such a degree that it 

 would pay well to get a new queen from which to breed. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the new bee-keeper's song— words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 2S cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



