518 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Aug. 16, 1900. 



queen out to perform her duties, as more are balled on this 

 account, and it does not happen often when the weather is 

 favorable. Some are balled when returning from their 

 bridal trip. 



There were many other questions answered and discust 

 bj' all, and the list of about 40 members present showed that 

 5,808 colonies of bees were represented. 



The apiarian exhibit at the hall consisted of many use- 

 ful tools, implements and appliances, besides fine honey 

 and bees. Next year a grand exhibit is expected at College 

 Station, when the Association meets there. Prizes will be 

 offered for the different exhibits, many of which have 

 already been donated, to be awarded by a committee of four, 

 appointed by the convention, viz.: Louis Scholl, W. H. 

 Laws, J. B. Salyer and O. P. Hyde. The secretary was re- 

 quested to solicit donations for prizes, and a list will be 

 given later. 



This was indeed a grand meeting of bee-keepers. 

 LODis Scholl, Sec. O. P. Hyde, Pres. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. MILLER, Mareag-o, ni. 



{The Qnestions 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.] 



Prices of Queens. 



Please quote me prices on both tested and untested Ital- 

 ian queens ? Illinois. 



Answer. — To this and to others who have sent inqui- 

 ries, the only answer I can make is that I have no queens 

 for sale, only as the orders come from the publishers of the 

 American Bee Journal. C. C. M. 



Giving a Swarm Ventilation. 



Keeping Candied Extracted Honey. 



r have my last year's crop of extracted honey yet, and 

 it has candied solid, and I want to sell it in my home market, 

 but haven't the time to work at it yet. How long will it 

 keep in the candied state ? I keep it in my honey-house 

 where it is very warm in the summer, but very cold in the 

 winter. Indiana. 



Answer.— It ought to keep all right for a number of 

 years, unless your wife takes your honey-house to do a 

 washing in, so as to make steam. 



Entrance-Guards Pumpkins as a Honey-Plant. 



1. Was not the perforated zinc used in entrance-guards 

 intended for hybrid as well as Italian bees ? I tried a guard 

 on a hybrid colony and not ;4 of the bees were able to pass 

 thru. 



2. How do pumpkins rank as a honey-plant ? I have 

 not yet studied botany in my school work, but I thought by 

 the way the bees workt on the blossoms they must get 

 something from them, as there were two or three bees on 

 every flower in the morning. Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. There is supposed to be no diflference be- 

 tween hybrids and Italians as to passing thru perforated 

 zinc. There must be something exceptional about your 

 bees, or your entrance-guards, that allow only '4 of the bees 

 to pass thru. 



2. Pumpkins are quite rich in nectar. 



In hiving a swarm in a new hive, is it always necessary 

 to give ventilation ? If so, how would you give ventilation ? 



Michigan. 



Answer. — To say the least, it is very important, if you 

 want the swarm to stay. For the first two or three days 

 you can hardly give too much ventilation. Raise the hive 

 an inch or more from the floor-board, and raise the cover ^ 

 to )i inch at one end, or leave the cover partly off. After 

 the first two or three days, when work has been fairly be- 

 gun, the cover may be closed. 



Keeping Bees on a Balcony. 



There is a man living in our city who would like to keep 

 bees on his balcony, as he has no other room for them. Is 

 this a possibility ? If so, please explain how the hives can 

 be arranged so he can manage them from the back. 



Michigan. 



Answer. — There is no special trick in the matter, but 

 it would be easier to give specific instructions on seeing the 

 lay of the land. The main thing is to face the hives so that 

 there shall be the least interference by passers-by as the 

 bees enter or leave their hives. If the hives are of the ordi- 

 nary pattern, it will not be easy to manipulate them other 

 than at the side, but the hives can be in pairs, two hives 

 close together, then a space, then two hives close together. 

 .♦-•-♦^ 



Starting in Bee-Keeping. 



1. Do you recommend bee-culture as a means of money- 

 making for boys in school (college), who want to help de- 

 fray their expenses ? 



2. What variety of bees are best or most profitable ? 



3. What would a colony of bees cost for starting ? 



City Man. 



Answers. — 1. If it be merely the matter of money, there 

 might be other kinds of employment more advisable. But 

 if a young man has some taste for bee-keeping, it would be 

 hard to find anything better, for the care of bees to a stu- 

 dent with such taste would be recreation rather than toil, 

 and if well cared for a few colonies of bees would make sub- 

 stantial returns. But it requires some knowledge of the 

 business. 



2. Italians, or those with a large proportion of Italian 

 blood. 



3. Prices vary much, perhaps from $5 to $7, generally. 



Introducing Queens. 



I received the queen you sent me in good order, 

 but she is fion est now. I would like to write you the way I 

 introduced her, and if you will tell me what my mistake 

 was, you will greatly oblige one of your readers. 



I did not have any queenless colonies, so I took two 

 frames of sealed brood with adhering bees, and two frames 

 of honey, and shut them in a hive, putting the cage between 

 the top-bars. In two days, as the bees seemed friendly 

 towards the queen, I let her run on the frames of brood, 

 and the next day, altho I did not see her, I found eggs in the 

 frame. Yesterday the bees commenced to rob the colony, 

 and I could do nothing with them. I lookt at them this af- 

 ternoon, and they had taken every drop of honey, and I 

 should think had had a free fight, from the dead bees on 

 the bottom-board, but no queen living or dead could be 

 found. 



This is only my second year at bee-keeping, and as yet, 

 altho I have a great many theories, I have not had much 

 practice, but I hope in time to be more successful. 



Mrs. Florence. 



Answer. — It would have been a safer thing to have left 

 to the bees the job of releasing the queen, instead of letting 

 her out of the cage yourself. Still, that had nothing to do 

 with the loss in your case, for your finding eggs was good 



