May 3, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



279 



ness in the queen ? I was intending- to rear queens from 

 that colony. Would you advise doing so ? I have another 

 untested one, g-otten at the same time, which, as far as I 

 can see, was purely mated. Would it be better to brood 

 from her ? 



In working- for extracted honey, would it be a good plan 

 when the hive (I use the 8-franie Langstroth) is getting 

 nearlj' full of brood, which will be about the beginning cif 

 May, to put on a second story, full-size frames, and when 

 the flow is coming on, about 5 weeks later, put a iiuoeii-ox- 

 cluder between the two stories? or would it be better to ])iit 

 on a third story with an excluder under it ? 



The bees are doing well so far, some colonies having 

 now (April IS) five frames nearly full of brood and eggs. 



British Columbi.\. 



Ansvvkrs. — 1. From the description it .seems to be a 

 case of bee-paralysis, and as far north as you are the proba- 

 bilities are that it will soon disappear. You hardly need be 

 afraid to breed from the queen. 



2. Either plan is good, the last being perhaps best. If 

 you prefer to have no swarming, you may like better, at the 

 beginning of the flow, to give an empty story below, put- 

 ting the queen in it and an excluder over it, and putting 

 the two stories with brood over the excluder. 



Fastening Wood-Splints in Comb Foundation. 



How do you put whole sheets of foundation in the 

 brood-frames with splints ? Do you put them opposite each 

 other, one on each side of the foundation ? Will they inter- 

 fere with brood-rearing ? Where could I get some of the 

 splints ? Subscriber. 



Answer. — The splints are put only on one side. I don't 

 believe there would be any advantage in having them on 

 both sides, and it would be more trouble. I never could see 

 that the splints interfered in the least with brood-rearing. 

 I could show you frame after frame filled solid with brood, 

 and you would find no signs of any splints present, only in 

 some cases you would find a row of cells right over one of 

 the splints projecting slightly above the sealing about 

 them. But you would have to look pretty close to see it. 

 Any establishment that has a machine for slicing wood sep- 

 arators can easily slice the sticks. Ask for sticks 1-16 inch 

 square and ,'s inch shorter than the inside depth of your 

 frame. 



Getting a Start in Bees. 



Sowing for Honey— Best Extracting Frame Clipping 

 and Swarming— Cyprian Bees. 



1. What is the best plant to sow, that will bloom the 

 same summer, for honey alone, besides white clover? 



2. Which is the better frame to use above the brood for 

 extracted honey, the ordinary brood-frame or the shallow 

 extracting-frame ? 



3. If a bee-keeper should clip the queen's wings, and go 

 thru the hives and take out every queen-cell, would not 

 swarming be reduced to a distant possibility ? 



4. Can you tell me who keeps Cyprian bees for sale, or 

 queens? Minnesota. 



Ans-wKRS. — 1. Perhaps buckwheat. You'll get all you 

 can ever get from that the first year, and white clover will 

 hardly do a good job the first year. 



2. The shallow frame. Bees occupy it more promptly, 

 fill it more promptly and more uniformly, the queen is not 

 so likely to lay in it if no excluder is present, and the un- 

 capping is easier. 



3. Looks very nice on paper, but when you trj' it in 

 practice it doesn't fully meet expectations. Clipping a 

 queen's wings doesn't make a particle of difference about 

 swarming. The swarm will issue just the same as if the 

 queen had not been dipt. But it does make a difference 

 about the swarm going off. Cutting queen-cells answers 

 .sometimes to prevent swarming, and sometimes you may 

 miss a cell, and it sometimes happens that a colony may 

 swarm the next day after you cut the cells, just to spite 

 you. It is true, however, that if you cut out all queen-cells 

 faithfully you will have less swarming than if you let them 

 alone. 



4. I only know them as they are advertised, and about 

 this time of year you will find advertisements in the bee- 

 papers of about everything to be had in the bee line. 



How and where could I get a little start in bees, say 

 about 2, 3 or 6 colonies with (pieens? Can you forward 

 them ? What would they cost ? 



I got a good, nice colony last summer from a friend, 

 and they did Well right along, and over the winter till now. 

 .'Vbout the middle of March a mouse made its nest in the 

 hive, and all the bees died, leaving the hive full of combs 

 and a few pounds of honey. I suppose that the old combs 

 would be all right to start a new colony. Would one pound 

 or '2 pound of bees for each colony be enough to make a 

 start with ? Nebraska. 



Answer. — You will lind among advertisements in this 



journal those from whom you can obtain bees and queens. 



I do not deal in bees or queens, except to furnish the queens 



ordered thru George W. York & Co. It is not too far to gel 



bees from Illinois or farther ; only the farther they are the 



heavier the express charges are. Perhaps you may do as 



well to find some one near by from whom you can get a full 



colony to start with. A pound of bees with a queen put on 



your old combs can be built up into a good colony. Much 



depends on the sea.son. In a very poor season they might 



hardly be got r'eady for winter without feeding, while in an 



extra season they might gather more than enough for 



winter. 



< * » 



A Beginner's ttuestions. 



Last fall when my son George went away he and his 

 brother-in-law gave me a colony of bees, but when we went 

 to get the honey out, about the last of October, the queen, 

 or a queen, was in the super, and she died. The bees did 

 not swarm last summer, and stored nearly 100 pounds of 

 comb honey, and seem to be very strong. We thought per- 

 haps it was a new queen or she would not have gone into 

 the super. The bees are in a fine modern hive. How can I 

 tell if they have a queen ? What would I better do ? What 

 would a queen cost if I need one ? And where could I 

 get it? Illinois. 



Answer. — Whether the queen was a new or an old one, 

 there is good reason to fear it was the only one in the hive, 

 and perhaps too late for a chance to have another one 

 reared. You can decide the matter by seeing whether any 

 worker-brood is present in the hive, that is, brood in worker- 

 cells, the smaller cells that measure five to the inch. There 

 is, however, a chance that there may be a drone-laying 

 queen or laying workers present, in which case the sealed 

 brood, instead of being flat, will be rounding like a lot of 

 little marbles. You can get an untested queen for a dollar, 

 generally, and any of the advertisements in this paper will 

 tell you where to order from. 



A Drone-Laying ttueen. 



I have a case of a queen laying all drone-eggs this 

 spring, that I can't account for. I reared the queen in June, 

 1898, from an imported mother. She built up the colony 

 nicely that season, and last spring my son and I dipt the 

 right wing, so that in case of swarming we would not lose 

 her. as she is a fine one. This morning (April 17) seeing 

 some young drones at the entrance of the hive, I opened it, 

 thinking my fine queen was gone, and a young one had 

 been hatcht too late to be mated ; but to my astonishment I 

 found the fine dipt queen on the comb busy laying, and 

 nothing but sealed drones in worker-comb, and brood in all 

 stages from the eggs to drones, hatching out. 



1. Is there any likelihood of the queen changing and 

 laying worker-eggs again ? 



2. Will her drones be good to breed from with young 

 queens before the usual hatch of mixt drones comes on ? 



3. I took the iiueen out with one frame of bees and brood 

 and put them in an observatory box to see what the result 

 will be. I gave the colony a frame of eggs and brood from 

 one of my imported queens. Did I do what is for the best ? 



Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. It is not uncommon for a queen when she 

 becomes old to lay part or all drone-eggs in worker-cells, 

 but not often so young as your queen. It is not at all likely 

 she will ever be any better. 



2. Her drones are all right for breeding, except that the 

 size of those reared in worker-cells is objectionable. 



3. Quite right. 



