212 



I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Winter Passages in Combs. 



anery. No. 45.— Do bees make their win- 

 ter passag-es in the combs ? I have noticed 

 when I transfer bees and combs from box- 

 hives, that some ol the combs have nice 

 round holes in them about '2 of an inch in 

 diameter.— East Saginaw, Mich. 



Dii. G. L. Tinker answers as fol- 

 lows : "It is common to find passages 

 through the combs in box-hives, but 

 wliere sheets of foundation are used 

 in the brood-chamber, the bees do not 

 often make holes through them, and 

 when winter passages are cut in the 

 fall, they are soon closed unless a 

 wooden tube is inserted. Many colo- 

 nies on deep frames are lost every 

 winter for the want of passages for 

 the bees to cross to other combs con- 

 taining honey. With a shallow brood- 

 frame they do not seem to be neces- 

 8ai7, as the bees and queen can easily 

 and safely pass under the combs in 

 cold weather, to other parts of the 

 hive. I think this the strongest argu- 

 ment in favor of a shallow frame for 

 winter. Should bee-keepers adopt re- 

 versible frames and all combs be ex- 

 tended to the bottom of the frames, I 

 predict that winter passages will be 

 necessary, and one of the best fea- 

 tures of the Langstroth frame for 

 winter will be lost. I think that cross- 

 sticks over the frames in winter are a 

 nuisance." 



Prof. A, J. Cook says : " They do 

 not. The holes were accidental." 



Dadant & Son answer thus: "Bees 

 do not make passages in the combs in 

 preparing for winter." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus: 

 " I think that it is the cross-sticks in 

 the box-hives that cause the bees to 

 leave holes." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says : " The holes 

 are where the bees have taken out 

 moth-larviB or some other offensive 

 substance, some of the comb having 

 been removed with it. I formerly 

 used winter passages, but in late years 

 I have considered them a nuisance." 



G. W, Demaree answers thus : " I 

 have transferred many colonies of 

 bees from box-hives, and have never 

 seen any uniformity of comb-building. 

 I have frequently seen the little round 

 holes mentioned in the question, but 

 I have noticed that they are as likely 

 to be found in one part of the hive as in 

 another. This shows that there is no 

 system in comb-building when bees 

 are left without a guider, except in 

 spacing the cells, and as curious as it 

 may seem, some colonies excel in this 

 handiwork." 



Dr. C. C. Miller replies thus : 

 " Only by accident, as where the bees 

 have gnawed a hole where worms 

 have been, or sometimes where a 

 queen-cell has been." 



James Heddon answers as follows : 

 " I do not think that bees ever leave 

 holes through their combs, with a 

 view of using them for winter passage- 

 ways. The irregularity of the combs 

 in box-hives, caused in part by the 

 usual cross-sticks, and in part by the 

 lack of the better guides that higher 

 intelligences now furnish them, act as 

 a cause for these holes." 



ftueenless Colonies in the Spring. 



Query, No. 46.— What is the best thing to 

 do with queeuless colonies in early spring ? 

 It it is best to unite them, what is the best 

 method of doing it ?— G. A. M. 



G. W. Demarke answers as follows : 

 " Doubtless ' locality ' will stand in 

 the way of a uniform opinion on this 

 subject. There are two classes of 

 queenless colonies found in the spring 

 —the colony that has wintered with- 

 out a queen, and the colony that loses 

 its queen in the spring. The former 

 never has a fertile worker ; the latter 

 sometimes does. If the colony starts 

 queen-cells promptly, I never fail to 

 save them by giving them a piece of 

 comb containing larvte just hatched. 

 The proper time to give the larv» is 

 when the first sealed drone-brood is 

 found in the apiary. I save 2 or 3 col- 

 onies every spring in this way, and 

 they give as good returns as other 

 colonies." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus : 

 " If there are but few colonies, secure 

 a queen from the South for a queen- 

 less colony. If the bee-keeper has 

 bees enough to gather the nectar from 

 the area that is bee-flight from his 

 apiary, it is no object to preserve the 

 colony, and it can be joined to another 

 colony by simply shaking the bees in 

 front of the hive." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says: "If the 

 queenless colony is in fair strength, 

 give it a frame of brood once a week 

 from other colonies, until a laying 

 queen can be had. If it is a weak one, 

 it will hardly pay for the fussing 

 with." 



Dadant & Son answer thus : 

 " If a queenless colony is strong after 

 winter, give it some brood from other 

 colonies ; if weak, unite it with an- 

 other." 



Prof. A. J. Cook remarks thus : 

 " To unite them. By short removes 

 get the colony close side by side with 

 the one to which it is to be united. 

 Smoke them thoroughly, so as all the 

 bees will fill themselves with honey, 

 then place all in one hive, alternating 

 frames. This never fails with lue." 



Dr, C. C. Miller says : " Unite 

 with a weak colony having a fertile 

 queen. If united at the tirue of first 

 spring flight, there will be little 

 trouble if frames with adhering bees 

 are put from one hive into the other." 



Jasies Heddon replies as follows : 

 "It is usually best to give up the 

 identity of the colony, and unite the 

 bees with another, if your colony is 

 broodless as well as 'queenless,' which 

 is usually the rule. If your surplus 

 harvest is not all early, and the bees 



are still quite numerous, and you have 

 more combs than queens to fill them, 

 it will then pay to get a queen with 

 which to re-queen the colony, if not 

 too costly to procure." 



Dr. G. L. Tinicer remarks thus: 

 " Queenless colonies in early spring 

 should be united with the weakest 

 ones having queens. To unite, select 

 a time just after the^ees have had a 

 flight, if cool, or toward evening, if 

 warm ; move the colony with the 

 queen to the stand of the queenless 

 colony, and shake the bees of the lat- 

 ter from the combs and hive in front 

 of it. Smoking the bees a littld as 

 they go ii. will insure the safety of the 

 queen. After dark, take the colony to 

 its original stand, and remove the hive 

 and stand of the queenless colony, to 

 some other location." 



H. R. BoARDJiAN answers thus : 

 "Queenless colonies in the spring 

 should be united with those having a 

 good queen. There are many ways of 

 doing this successfully. A very easy 

 way is to crowd the bees having the 

 queen, upon as few combs as possible, 

 with a division-board ; then set the 

 combs containing the queenless colony 

 in the space on the opposite side of 

 the board, leaving only a small hole 

 for communication between the two 

 colonies, when they will unite of their 

 own accord in a short time. Leave 

 the entrance open only to the colony 

 with the queen." 



Local Convention Directory. 



1885. Time and place of MeeHnQ. 



Apr. 11.— Wabash (Jounty, at Wabash, In<J. 



Henry Cripe, »ec., N. Manchester, Ind, 



Apr. IS.—Marshalltown, at Marshalltown, Iowa 

 J. W. Sanders. Sec, Marshalltown, Iowa. 



Apr. 18.— Eastern Indiana, at Richmond. Ind. 



M. G. Reynolds, Sec, Williamsburg, Ind. 



Apr. 23.— Union Ky., at Eminence, Ky. 



G. W. Demaree, Sec, Christiansburg, Ky. 



Apr. 23,24.— Western, at Independence. Mo. 



C. M. Crandall, Sec, Independence, Mo. 



April 24.— Portage County, at Ravenna. O. 



L. G. Reed, Sec, Kent, O. 



Apr. 25.— Union, at Barlham. Iowa. 



M. B. Darby, Sec. Dexter, Iowa. 



Apr. 28.— DesMoines County, at Burlington, Iowa. 

 Jno. Nau, Sec, Middleton, Iowa. 



May 2.— Central Illinois, at Jacksonville, 111. 



Wm. Camm, Sec, MurrayviUe, 111. 



May 4.-W. New Vork and N. Pa., at Cuba, N. T. 

 W. A. Shewman, Sec, Kandolpb, N. Y. 



May 4.-Llnwood, Wis., at Rock Elm Centre, Wis. 

 B. Thomson, Sec, Waverly, Wis. 



May T.-Progresslve. at Bushnell, Ills. 



J. G. Norton, Sec, Macomb, Ul8. 



May, 7, 8.— Texas State, at McKinney, Tex. 



W. B. Howard, Sec, Kingston, Tex. 



May 12.— Cortland Union, at Cortland, N. Y. 



W. H. Beach Sec, Cortland, N. Y. 



May 19.-N. W. Ills., and B. W. Wis., at Davis, Ills. 

 Jonathan Stewart, Sec, Rock City, 111. 



May 2«. -Mahoning Valley, at Newton Falls, O. 

 E. W. Turner. Sec, Newton Falls, O. 



May 28.— N. Mich. Picnic, near MoBride, Mich. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec, McBride, Mich. 



May 29.— Haldimand. Out., at Nelles' Corners, Ont. 

 B. C. Campbell. Sec. 



June I9.-Willamette Valley, at La Fayette, Oreg. 

 E. J, Hadley, Sec. 



Dec 8— 10.— Michigan State, at Detroit, Mich. 



U. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



ly In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 titries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— ED. 



