438 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



July 12, 1900. 



thing handy. A beat of the drums and a flourish of trum- 

 pets for Comrade White. 



SUCCESS WITH BKBS IN THE FAR NORTHWEST. 



It is pleasant to see the success of G. T. Montgomery 

 in the far northwest, where everybody says bees can not be 

 kept. And his neighbor wintered a colony on the summer 

 stand! " Everybody " is a good school-teacher, but he oft 

 gets left, just like we'uns the nobodies. Half of the matter, 

 I surmise, is that the nectar and pollen of the far north is 

 still uninfected with evil germs, just as it used to be here 

 and everywhere. Page 364. 



LATE SECOND SW.\RMING. 



W. T. Stevenson's case of a swarm at 22d day from 

 prime vtight happen in two or three different ways. Bees 

 might keep queens prisoners in their cells all that time. 

 This, if proven up, would be an interesting addition to our 

 bee-knowledge. Same remark if a lot of virgins loose in 

 the hive for several days neither fought nor got themselves 

 balled. I once found a case in which a lot of surplus 

 queens were secreted under cushions, etc., about the hive, 

 having evidently been driven out " higglety-pigglety " by 

 the workers that didn't want to be bothered with them. A 

 case like this might result in a 22d day swarm. The citizens 

 of the hive (being all women-folks) might change their 

 minds, allow one of the poor outcasts to come in again, and 

 then swarm when the regnant queen began to "say things." 

 Page 363. 



BEE-KEEPING IN A FOREIGN LAND. 



" Just so as it ought to be " when we hear of bee-keep- 

 ing in a foreign land from the pen of one of the consuls of 

 the United States. See the interesting account of bee- 

 affairs in the Holy Land by Consul Merrill. Page 356. 



GLAST CARTONS FOR HONEY. 



So the carton of the future must be partly glass and 

 partly paper, eh 7 Shouldn't vconder. But I want to put in 

 my parting scowl and kick for the " uplifting " of those 

 brethren who desire such a thing as to sell glass for honey 

 by weight, at more than its cost. Page 353. 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. O. O. MILLER. Marengo, 111, 



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



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



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



Split Bottom-Bar for Brood-Frame. 



Would it be advisable to split the bottom-bar of the 

 brood-frame so that foundation might be fastened at the 

 base ? I have experienced much trouble in getting the bees 

 to fasten the comb to the bottom-bar. M.\ss. 



Answer. — I have many frames in use that have a split 

 bottom-bar, and I like them very much. The only trouble 

 is that if no precaution is taken the comb will be bulged. 

 I prevent bulging by using splints put in perpendicularly. 



Foul Brood and the Queen- Introducing Queens— 

 Wliite and Fall Honey-Flow. 



1. If I should purchase a queen by mistake taken from 

 a colony that has foul brood, would the queen transmit the 

 disease to my apiary ? 



'.2. I received a S2.00 queen from a queen-breeder June 7, 

 and placed the caged queen in colony No. 40, having previ- 

 ously destroyed carefully every queen-cell. On the 9th I re- 

 least the queen and on the 11th I opened the hive and found 

 a virgin queen with the drone appendage still adhering, 

 and my S2.00 queen lying outside dead. Nos. 39 and 40 

 hives were just alike, and close together, and No. 39 had a 



virgin queen that became missing at the time. Now could 

 the virgin queen in No. 39 have come out and met the drone 

 and gone back into No. 40 and killed the laying queen ? 

 Would the bees allow a strange virgin queen to enter the 

 wrong hive unmolested ? 



3. If on account of a poor honey-flow the bees only 

 partly fill the supers, is it best to leave them on the hives 

 till the fall flow, or take the sections off and put them back 

 at the beginning of the fall flow ? Ohio. 



Answers. — 1. At least some of the authorities say the 

 disease is not communicated by the queen, but I should pre- 

 fer a queen from a healthy colony. 



2. The thing probably happened just as you hint. The 

 $2.00 queeti had been in the hive only a day or two, hardly 

 recovered from her journey in the mails, and the bees took 

 up with the stranger. Whether the young queen or the 

 workers killed the queen is a question. Bees are freaky 

 things, and the same thing might not happen with you 

 again in a lifetime. 



3. If there is the same difference in price as generally 

 prevails between the early and fall honey, (two cents or 

 more a pound), better take off all fiiiisht sections at the 

 close of the white flow. 



An Insect That Works on Red Clover. 



I enclose an insect. What is it ? I have seen them work 

 on red clover for a number of years. I do not know where 

 they come from, and nobody else has them in this neigh- 

 borhood. Iowa. 



Answer. — I am not an entomologist, and am ac- 

 quainted with very few of the many kinds of bees, an ac- 

 quaintance with them lying outside of bee-keeping proper. 

 The specimen sent looks to me more like some kind of fly. 

 Prof. A. J. Cook, of Claremont, Calif., is an entomologist, 

 to whom should be sent all kinds of " bugs " to be named, 

 not forgetting to ptit in stamps for reply. 



Questions on Swarming. 



1. June 7 a prime swarm issued, and I put it on the old 

 stand, and set the old colony beside the new one. June 14 I 

 removed the old colony to a new stand ; on the l7th it cast 

 another swarm, but went back into the hive. What was the 

 cause ? 



On the 17th another colony cast a prime swarm. I put 

 the new swarm on the old stand and the old one beside it. 

 On the 18th the old colony cast another small swarm, and it 

 also went back. I have had bees for 10 years, and never 

 had them act this way before. Minnesota. 



Answer. — 1. It is possible that the prime swarm had 

 been delayed by the weather, so that on the 17th the young 

 queen was able to take her wedding-flight, at which time a 

 swarm sometimes come out and returns. It is also possible 

 that the swarm on the 17th was a regular second-swarm, 

 and it returned for some reason that I don't know. 



2. It may be that the old queen was killed or lost some 

 time before the 17th, so that a lot of young queens were 

 reared and otie of them came out with the swarm on the 

 17th, and another the next day. 



Extracting Honey— Cross Bees, Etc. 



1. I am a new hand with frame hives and so I want 

 some advice. I use the 10-frame hive. Will it do to extract 

 all above the honey-board, just leaving the 10-frames ? 



2. Will it do to extract a frame, say about ; j or ^{ 

 sealed ? 



3. Why is some extracted honey thin on top in a comb 

 or barrel ? 



4. Will sweet clover grow in red clay land ? 



5. I have some very cross bees. What is the best way 

 to manage them ? 



6. Our honey is from poplar, sourwood, etc.; no clover 

 or grain, but a lot of woodland near here. How many colo- 

 nies will do well in one place ? If I build up another apiary 

 how far must I have it from the first ? 



7. If I use 10 frames for the brood chamber, how many 

 frames should there be in the extracting-super ? Ala. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, all above the honey-board should be 

 extracted, and some extract part that is in the brood- 

 chamber, but generally it is best to let the brood-nest alone. 



