Sept. b, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



569 



chamber, and 5-incli super, and all of them now full ..f 

 nice honey. Do you know of an extractor that would take- 

 so small a frame as mine ? Mississippi. 



Answkks.— 1. In workiny for extracted honey, fences 

 and other separators are entirely unnecessary, and proba- 

 bly not used hy any one. 



2. You cannot rely upon it. 



3. A larf,re number use full sheets. You can hardly af- 

 ford to use starters such as you mention, just because such 

 a large part of your frames would be filled with drone-comb. 



4. If your extracting-frames are shallow, they may do 

 without wiring. Even with shallow frames it may be best 

 to use wire or foundation splints. 



5. Whether vou use starters or full sheets (and I couldn't 

 easily be hired to use anything less than full sheets,) it will 

 pay to buy your entire foundation, whether you have 10 rir 

 100 colonies. 



6. No : anil vet some good bee-keepers use them. 



7. The Simplicity is one form of the Laiigstroth hive, 

 and the dovetailed is another. The Simplicity is of the 

 same size and has the same frame, but is not so simple in 

 construction, the corners being mitred together and the 

 joints being beveled. 



8. Yes; altho there is very little difference between a 

 plain Langstroth and a dovetailed hive. 



9. Yes, if straight worker-comb; and by all means if 

 filled with brood at the time of transferring. But if you 

 transfer 3 weeks after swarming, there will be no brood in 

 the case. 



10. Probably any extractor manufactured would take so 

 small a frame. Each extractor has its limit as to the large- 

 ness of the frame it will take, but not as to its sraallness. 

 A frame 4 inches square can be extracted in any extractor 

 made, but not one 4 feet square. 



Vii^in Queens Putting a Nucleus in the Place of a 

 Strong Colony. 



Iv Is a virgin queen an unimpregnated queen ? 



2. If a nucleus with queen is placed where a strong col- 

 ony of bees were, will there not be danger of the strange 

 bees not accepting the queen, since they are in a majority ? 



Washincton. 



Answek. — 1. Yes. 



2. Yes, unless the strong colony was queenless. The 

 greater the difference in numbers betweA the colony and 

 the nucleus, the greater the danger. But when a colony 

 swarms, I have many tiines put a weak nucleus in its place 

 to catch the returning swarm, with no danger to the queen. 

 I understand Mr. Doolittle to say that such queen would be 

 killed with him, and I don't understand what should make 

 the difference. 



Thinks It a Funny flight. 



What is it that makes sOme of my bees act so funny, 

 and also those of some of my neighbors ? The alighting- 

 board — especially the front part of it — and the lower part 

 of the front board of the hive, are alwaj-s covered with bees ; 

 and while they seem to stand still, they keep their bodies 

 moving backward and forward all the time, keeping their 

 heads close to the wood, as if rubbing the lower part of 

 their heads. It is rather a funny sight to see those bees 

 keeping up this peculiar motion day after day, just whole 

 rows of them. Those colonies are in good, healthy condi- 

 tion, some very strong, and are storing honey. Ind. 



Answer. — This performance has been likened to raking 

 hay, and also to rubbing on a washboard, and may be seen 

 in any apiary, but no one seems to know why bees do it. 

 They do it every summer, and that's all we know about it. 



Overheated Bees. 



The following is a case I would like solved : A nucleus 

 was formed by taking new frames of brood from a new hive 

 and placing in another new hive. The combs containing 

 the brood were drawn this summer from new foundation. 

 The brood was from a colony having a queen reared last 

 year— an Italian from choice stock. The hive containing a 

 frame of brood and a queen-cell was placed where it would 

 be in the sun most of the time, the nucleus being formed 

 about July 28th or 30th. 



In a few days, when examined, many young bees were 



found dead in the comb, with their heads slightly protrud- 

 ing : a few others had succeeded in getting out of the cells, 

 some to die and others crawling about. Still others in the 

 cells were struggling to get out, but unable to do so, the 

 comb appi'arinff to have become slightly stiffened by heat 

 ard then cooling. If assisted by pressing back the sides of 

 the cells, the young bees would crawl out, their bodies hav- 

 ing a dull, blackish tint. Is this state due entirely to heat, 

 the hive-entrance being closed tight, as the nucleus was 

 small ? or is there some disease 7 If so, what ? 



I never have known any disease to exist in the apiary 

 except in one colony, which had an unusually large en- 

 trance all winter and spring, and, before I realized what 

 was transpiring, had been robbed and killed by robbers un- 

 til no honey remained in their combs. They then appeared 

 to have paralysis, the queen disappeared, and the few re- 

 maining bees were allowed to shift for themselves, consid- 

 erable larva? and eggs remaining in all stages in the cells. 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — There is no likelihood of any disease in the 

 case. The bees were closed tight in the hive, and the ex- 

 citement of the imprisonment added to the heat of the sun 

 from the outside cookt bees and all. When forming nuclei, 

 it is a good plan to pen the bees in the hive for a time, but 

 great care must be taken to avoid having them overheated, 

 especially if they stand out in the sun. 



The Space Above Frames Combs Overheated. 



1. Is it preferable in dovetailed hives to use an oilcloth 

 cover on top of the extracting-frames, thereby preventing 

 the bees from getting above those frames ? or is it better 

 to use no cover, thus allowing the bees the '4 -inch space be- 

 tween the top of the frames and the hive-cover ? 



2. In chaff' hives', or other double-walled hives, when 

 the outer box is retained on the summer stand, should a 

 cover be used on top of the frames, or should no cover be 

 used, but the bees be allowed to roam at will between the 

 outer and inner boxes ? 



3. What is best to do when, thru overheating, the comb 

 breaks down in a hive ? Utah. 



Answers. — 1. Put nothing between the top-bars and 

 the cover when there is only V-i'ich space between. 



2. Use a cover a' d confine the bees to their proper place. 



3. The first thing to be done is to give the bees an 

 abundant supply of fresh air, throwing cold water on the 

 hive to cool it down.- That's on the supposition that you 

 are on hand when the trouble occurs. Generally, however, 

 you will know about it only some time after, and then you 

 must straighten up the combs. Some of them will be so 

 badly broken down that they must be removed entirely, 

 and if they are full of good brood they may be fastened in 

 the frame the same as when transferring. Some of them 

 will be only partially out of the frame, and by a little coax- 

 ing can be pusht back in and tied in place till the bees 

 fasten them. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



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. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market f r honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; SO for SO cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents; 250 for $2.00 ; SOO for $3.50. ' For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



