292 



I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Prevention of Increase. 



Query, No. 61.— What is the best way to 

 keep down increase ? I have ."ili colonies of 

 Italian bees, which are worked for comb 

 honey, and they produce about as much 

 honey (1,000 lbs.) as my home trade de- 

 mands, so I do not want to increase ray num- 

 ber of colonies ?— W. R. Y. 



Prof. A. J. Cook says : " The 

 surest way is by extracting closely." 



G. W. Demaree replies thus : 

 " With as few colonies as you men- 

 tion, perhaps the best way to prevent 

 increase is to cut out the queen-cells, 

 andreturnthe bees; the plan, however, 

 makes too much work to suit me." 



G. M. UooLiTTLE replies as follows: 

 " The only profitable way to keep 

 down increase, is to unite two colonies 

 in early spring, and then let them 

 divide by natural swarming, to the 

 original number ; for I believe the 

 swarming-plaii will give better results 

 than any non-swarming plan .so far 

 devised, where the apiary is worked 

 for comb honey." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son reply : 

 ■'No drones, a young prolific queen, 

 plenty of ventilation and plenty of 

 room, especially empty combs." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker remarks : " The 

 best way to prevent increase fe to use 

 the extractor ; but I have been able to 

 get more comb honey where natural 

 swarming was allowed. If one has 

 too many colonies, they may be doub- 

 led up at any time after the honey 

 harvest is over. Bees are best united 

 in the evening, after dusk, using pep- 

 permint essence with an atomizer, 

 and caging temporarily the reserved 

 queen." 



Moving Bees a Short Distance. 



Query, No. 63.— I have 8 colonies of bees 

 in hives packed side by side. How can I 

 move a part of them a short distance, leaving: 

 the remainder where they are now ? The 

 bees have flown freely. — N. L. 



G. M. Doolittle remarks thus : 

 " In this case I should move the 

 strongest colonies, and let the weak 

 ones be strengthened by the returning 

 bees from those moved." 



Prof. A. .J. Cook replies : " By 

 moving each colony a little— 2 or 3 

 feet, each day— the thing is easily 

 done." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus : 

 " If some of the colonies are stronger 

 than others, move away the strong 

 ones and allow the returning bees to 

 join the weak one.s. If this is not ad- 

 visable, wait until a storm or cool 

 weather has kept them in a few days, 

 then move them, and set a slanting 

 board in front of each hive. If the 

 distance is very short, the hives can 

 be moved a few inches each day." 



G. W. Demaree answers : "I move 

 bees whenever and wherever I please. 

 When moving bees under the disad- 

 vantages you name, move them in the 

 evening, and keep them closed up till 

 nearly sunset ; place some boards be- 

 fore the entrances of the hives, and 

 disguise their old location by spread- 

 ing sheets over the hives near the old 

 stand. If the hives removed were close 

 to other hives, the sheets should be 

 kept dripping wet. After 1 or 2 days 

 the trouble will be over. If they are 

 to be moved but a short distance, it 

 may be done by moving them a little 

 at a time." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker remarks thus : 

 '• Bees may be moved a short distance, 

 a rod or two, by moving the hive 5 or 

 6 feet every day ; but I find the least 

 disturbance and as little loss from 

 moving the colony at once to the place 

 desired, be it one rod or a hundred ; 

 then stand a board up in front of the 

 hive, or disguise it in any way. The 

 bees should be turned to one side, and 

 the entrance made dark. They will 

 then mark the new location— will go 

 at first to the old, but return to the 

 new." 



Dadant & Son answer thus : 

 " You will lose some bees anyhow 

 from the moved colonies. The best 

 plan is to place a large block or board 

 leaning against the front of the hive 

 for a few days, after moving. When 

 the bees conie out, they at once notice 

 that something is wrong, and they 

 mark the location ; otherwise they 

 would start in a ' bee-line,' as usual, 

 and get lost." 



Virgin ftueens and Drone Eggs- 



Query, No. 63.— Does a virg-in queen ever 

 lay any but drone eggs ? Are the drones 

 from these eggs capable of fertilizing 

 queens 't—A. O. C. 



W. Z. Hutchinson answers thus : 

 "To the first part, no." 



PuoF. A. J. Cook remarks: "l.No, 

 never. 2. I have no doubt of it; as 

 they produce the active sperm-cells." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker says: "Toboth 

 questions I say no." 



James Hbddon answers as follows : 

 "l. Entomologists say ' no,' and my 

 practice has so far proved nothing to 

 the contrary. 2. These same scientists 

 say 'yes.' " 



G. M. Doolittle replies thus : 

 " 1. I answer no. 2. It has not been 

 satisfactorily settled to all minds that 

 such drones are ' as good as any.' " 



G. W. Demaree replies as follows : 

 " Of the many experiments that I 

 have tried, I have never seen but one 

 case where a virgin queen apparently 

 laid a few worker eggs ; but as I could 

 never see the same thing the second 

 time, I concluded that there must be 

 R mistake somewhere. On three oc- 

 casions I tried to have queens mated 

 by drones from virgin queens, once in 

 February, and twice in March ; I had 

 quite a number of these drones, but I 

 got no queens mated till the drones of 

 the mated queens began to fly." 



Dadant & Son remark : "1. No. 

 2. Yes, why not V" 



Explanatory — The figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 6 north of the centre ; 9 south ; O* east ; 

 *Owest; and this 6 northeast; "O northwest; 

 o> southeast; and P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Was It Bee - Diarrhea ? 



C. W. DAYTON, (50—112). 



Early last fall I packed 2 colonies 

 of bees with forest leaves to be win- 

 tered on the summer stands. One of 

 the colonies occupied 6 and the other 

 2 combs containing natural stores. 

 The colony on 2 combs was furnished 

 additional clustering-space by raising 

 their combs high above the bottom- 

 board. 



On Nov. 17, the mercury was below 

 38° above zero, and continued there 

 until March 4, 1885, when I examined 

 the colony which occupied 6 combs, 

 and on removing the comb whicli was 

 the farthest from tlie cluster and the 

 entrance to the hive, I found it to be 

 wet and moldy, and there was a con- 

 siderable amount of ice adhering to 

 the hive in the lower part of the 

 brood-chamber. The bees, to all 

 appearances, were as small and had 

 as undistended abdomens as in the 

 fall, and from the few which flew out 

 of the hive on account of the disturb- 

 ance, I failed to perceive any drop- 

 pings of excrement. I removed 

 neither of the combs in the other hive, 

 but from below or above I could see 

 no moisture in any form on anything 

 which was in immediate connection 

 with the brood-chamber, and the bees 

 were as small and slim as were those 

 in the otlier colony. 



Five days after this examination, 

 and on the 112th day of their confine- 

 ment, the bees were allowed a flight. 

 Quite early in the day, and as the 

 mercury neared 44° above zero, the 

 bees in the colony occupying 6 combs 

 began rushing into the open air. .-Vt 

 this time the bees that before were so 

 small and sprightly, had increased in 

 size, and were objects possessing 

 great clumsiness. The evacuations 

 were copious, and with but few ex- 

 ceptions they were of a consistency 

 of pure water containing portions of 

 pollen-colored feces that appeared to 

 be entirely unmixed; being as dis- 

 tinguishable from the transparent 

 portion as it would have been had it 

 been stone, and in the order of evac- 

 uation the solid matter was first and 

 the water last. In the evening tliere 

 remained on the alighting-board a 

 large number of bloated bees that 

 were unable to void the feces, and 



