March 8, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



151 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. MILLER. Marengo, 111. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



directf when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1 



Questions on the Dickel Theory. 



An esteemed correspondent sends some questions about the 

 Dickel theory which, if answered in full, would lead to a discus- 

 sion of the same. It is very doubtful that it would be wise to take 

 up room in this department for such purpose, and I have inten- 

 tionally refrained from taking up such room by saying anything 

 either for or against the Dickel theory. Page upon page has been 

 occupied with it in the German bee-journals, and to go over all 

 the same ground here would not be well, since we can afford to 

 wait and see how our able friends in the Fatherland will settle the 

 question, thus allowing the room in our journals to be occupied 

 with other things. Whether the theory be right or wrong, so far 

 as I can see, will make no practical difference whatever in our 

 management of bees. 



It may possibly be objected by some that the American Bee 

 Journal is unfair in allowing only one side, for an article in favor 

 of the theory has been publisht on the other side. That may not 

 be observing strict neutrality, but it is better to err on the side of 

 too much rather than too little politeness to a stranger. 



C. C. Miller. 

 .#-•-* 



Moving Bees from Nebraska to Indiana. 



I will have 40 or 50 colonies of bees to move in 1901, from 

 Saunders Co., Nebr., to Starke Co., Ind. What is the best method 

 of doing it ? How should they be packt for shipment ? When is 

 the beat season of the year for moving them ? Nebraska. 



Answer. — It will be better to move them early in the season' 

 when the temperature is somewhere from 35 to 60 degrees. How 

 they shall be packt depends upon the kind of hives, and whether 

 one hive is to be piled on another. The points to be lookt after 

 are to see that no bee can possibly get out of a hive, to have the 

 frames run parallel with the railroad track, the frames so fastened 

 they can not move in the hive, and especially to have plenty of 

 ventilation. It your hives are so constructed as to have an en- 

 trance of 30 square inches or more, covering the entrance with 

 wire-cloth will give all the ventilation necessary, unless the ther- 

 mometer is up to 70 degrees or more. Still better ventilation can 

 be given by making a frame or box without bottom or top to fit on 

 the top of the hive, with wire-cloth nailed over it. But this will 

 not do if something is to be piled on top. In such a case the cover 

 should be so constructed that openings at the sides and ends of the 

 cover shall be covered with wire-cloth. Make sure that the hives 

 are in some way fastened in the car so they cannot move about, 

 and especially that there is no chance of a hive tumbling down. 



Getting'Bees to Fertilize Red Clover. 



We commenced growing red clover last year in considerable 

 quantity, saving the second crop for seed. The season was propi- 

 tious, and a fine second growth came on, but on threshing there 

 was but about half the amount of seed lookt for. A foreigner 

 working on the place claimed there were not sufficient bumble- 

 bees in the country to pcsllenize the flowers properly. Will you 

 kindly give your views as follows ? 



1. Would the lack of bees account for scarcity of seed ; 



2. If so, can the bees be imported, and how must they be 

 started ? 



3. Where can they be obtained, and where should they be 

 turned loose ? Any information you may be able to give, or cite 

 me to, will be greatly appreciated. Oregon. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, the lack of bumble-bees is sufficient to ac- 

 count for the lack of bees. Bumble-bees do not, like hive-bees, 

 start with a full colony in the spring. A single bee begins the 

 nest, so that when red clover is in bloom the first time, bumble- 

 bees are very scarce, and no one ever counts on saving seed till the 

 second crop. Probably the only reason that the second crop is so 

 much better for seed than the first is that by the time of the sec- 

 ond crop the number of bumble-bees has increast many fold. 



2 and 3. I don't know where to refer you as to the desired in- 

 formation. From some experience I had when a boy with a col- 

 ony of bumble-bees that I captured and tried to domesticate, I 

 should advise as follows : 



In the first place, determine whether there are no bumble-bees 



in your region. It is pos.sible that altho they may not be in suffi- 

 cient numbers there are yet a few nests in the neighborhood, and, 

 if so, they will probably increase without further importation. If 

 there are none present, by all means get at least one colony. Get 

 some friend in a region where clover seed is raised, or in any 

 region where bumble bees are plenty (in all the older States they 

 are plenty) to send you by mail or express a colony of the bees, 

 nest and all, as found by the boys in the meadow. Something like 

 a cigar-box will hold them, with holes for air. Along in June will 

 be a convenient time, probably. Put the nest in a sheltered place, 

 perhaps in the side of a barn or other out-building, with a hole 

 thru the wall for the free passage of the bees, and pack some old 

 cloths about the nest. An advertisement in this paper would prob- 

 ably bring plenty of responses from those who would send you the 

 bees, possibly some one close by. 



Propolis on Unfinisht Section-Combs. 



1. Last fall I took off some sections that were half or two- 

 thirds drawn, which I thought would be quite a help for the com- 

 ing season. Now, in making up my supers, I find these sections 

 have a slight rim of propolis on the cells, which in my hurry last 

 fall I did not notice. Is this what is called "travel-stained?" 

 They look as if the bees had put it there purposely. 



3. If I use these sections will the bees clean them all right for 

 honey, or will it be better to make a cake of wax of them and have 

 all new ? 



I bad some fine honey last year and do not care to spoil my 

 reputation by giving my customers bee-glue to chew. The combs 

 look very nice, with the exception of this extra finish the bees 

 gave them. Of course, there is some bee-glue on the sections, but 

 when I sell my honey I am not particular to scrape them free of 

 this. If left on, people know it is genuine honey that they buy, 

 and they do not complain. Mass. 



Answers,— 1. That's probably a little more propolis than 

 would usually be called travel-stain, altho it lies somewhat in the 

 same line. The bees undoubtedly put it there purposely, because 

 you left the sections on after honey stopt coming in, and as they 

 didn't know what else to do with them they thought you wanted 

 bee-glue on them. Next time, take the sections off when the 

 honey-flow stops, even if you have to put them back again after- 

 ward. 



3. No, don't think of using these sections as they are, nor with 

 the least bit of honey in them. The bees will not remove a parti- 

 cle of the glue. Better melt them up, or, still better, remove the 

 propolis with a Taylor Handy comb-leveler. 



Methods of Introducing Queens. 



Having seen in your paper two plans for introducing queens 

 (pages 433, 547 and 644, 1899) and having tried the one with the 

 wire cage stuck into the comb, with indifferent success, and con- 

 sidering the other very cumbersome. I have planned and made a 

 cage as described below, which I think is an improvement on any 

 other I have seen, tho I have not given it a practical test as yet: 



Take a frame and rip it carefully in half lengthwise; cut away 

 from the top of the inside edge of each end-bar, enough to allow 

 for the spacing projections on the frame; tack a narrow strip of 

 separator to the outside of all the half end-bars, then, with short 

 pieces of separator nailed to the end-bars, connect the two half- 

 frames at such a distance apart as will allow a frame to slip down 

 between them. Now tack a piece of wire-cloth, as wide as the 

 frames are long, from the top on one side around to the top on the 

 other. Two cuts about an inch long and an inch apart, can be 

 made from the top of the wire on one side, so as to make a door 

 by which to introduce the queen. You have then a cage, which, 

 when the frame is slipt in, is quite bee-tight. When you wish to 

 use it, take a frame of brood with some honey, that has bees just 

 emerging, place it in the cage, then open the little wire door and 

 allow the queen to run in on the comb, close the door with a couple 

 of tacks in the top-bar, place the cage in the hive, and after 4S 

 hours, or longer if thought necessary, the door may be opened, or 

 the frame removed from the cage and placed in the hive. 



British Columbia. 



Answer. — If it were ever safe to say a thing is all right before 

 it has actually been put to the test with the bees, I should say un- 

 hesitatingly that your plan is all right, and enough better than 

 the wire-cloth cage plan to pay for all the extra trouble, I had al- 

 ready planned to try something in the same line, only my frames 

 have top-bar, end-bar and bottom-bar all the same width, so in- 

 stead of having a cage in which to slip a frame. I can tack a wire- 

 cloth cover on each side of the frame. Of course you will have no 

 unsealed brood in the comb used, and the more mature the sealed 

 brood is, the better. 



Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending- in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



