THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



OGl 



winter in ttie absence of the fence.— 

 G. W Demauki;. 



Witli tlie giowtli on tlie nortli, I 

 stionlfl think it unnecessary. If you 

 luive a soi'ii cellar you had "better use 

 that for the whole or a part of tlie 

 bees. At least 1 should do so. — A. J. 



€()OK. 



Yes, shelter them on the north by 

 all means ; but let them have all the 

 sun you can. — Dadant & Son. 



I have seen so many colonies die in 

 the winter with the wind-breaks, and 

 so many live witliout tliem, that I 

 consider them as minor aids to suc- 

 cess—not worth their costand little to 

 be depended upon for protection. — 

 James IIeddon. 



If the hives are located within a 

 short distance (say a few feet) of the 

 woodland, I should leave them as 

 they are; otherwise I sliould build a 

 tight-board fence about (i feet high 

 for protection on the north and west 

 sides. I deem the above sufticient 

 protection without the addition of a 

 shed roof, although the roof will do 

 110 harm.— J. E. Pond, Jii. 



The fence and shed would be a 

 help.— G. M. DooLiTTLE. 



Bees Leaving their Hives. 



Qaery, No. 130. — My brnther-in-law bought 5 

 colonies t>f bees liist sprint:, tliat were in Americiin 

 hives. He liad tbenr transferred into l.angstrotb 

 hives, newly made and painted in different colors' 

 They ataid ia them all right, and did well. About 

 the middle of June one of them swarmed, and ho 

 hived it in a new hive that was painted green. 

 The swarm staid in it until the ne.xt day about 

 noon, when it came out and went otT. He hived 

 another swarm in the same hive, and it did like- 

 wi^e : and so did ab(tut a half dozen more, some 

 staying until the next day after being: put in the 

 hive, and building quite a lot of comb. They were 

 hived in good shape, and had good care. What 

 made so many leave the hive? Did the color of 

 the hive h.ive anything to do with it? Is a swarm 

 more liable to leave when put into a hive where a 

 swarm has left ?-J. S. B. 



Perhaps something was wrong 

 about the hives. Possiblv they did 

 not like any tiling green a"bout them. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



Possibly lieat was the cause. I do 

 not think that color or previous use 

 )iad anything to do with the case.— C. 



C. MiLLEIt. 



I do not think that the color of the 

 hive had any tendency to displease 

 the bees. I have never noticed that 

 a colony was inclined to desert a hive 

 that had previously been deserted.— 

 James IIeddon. 



Dark i>aint draws the heat from 

 tlie rays of the sun, making the inside 

 of the hive too warm for the bees 

 unless the hive is shaded. I should 

 say that the bees left on account of 

 the extreme heat inside the hive.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



I prefer white to any other color for 

 hives, and I paint tliera all alike. The 

 green paint may have contained 

 arsenic, as much of the green paint 

 does. This may have been the reason 

 the bees would not stay in the hive. 

 A hive standing in the sun should be 

 shaded for three days at least after 



hiving a swarm in it. Where this 

 precaution is neglected the bees are 

 very apt to swarm out.— G.Ij.Tinkeu. 



I do not think that the color of the 

 hive had anything to do with the bees 

 leaving, except that dark colored ob- 

 jects absorb more of the heat of the 

 sun's rays than do light colored ones. 

 If something aliout a hive, or its sur- 

 roundings, causes one swann to ab- 

 scond, Ishould expect the same con- 

 duct from every swarin put into the 

 hive.— W. Z. IIUTCIIIN.SON. 



From the data given it is impos- 

 sible to more than guess at the cause 

 of desertion. I do not think that the 

 color had anything to do with the 

 matter. To the last question I would 

 say no, most decidedly.— J. E. Pond, 

 Jk. 



The color of the hive had nothing 

 to do with it. I have had bees in 

 hives of nearly all colors, and have 

 seen no difference. Either some 

 smell about the hive was offensive to 

 the bees, or it was a mere accidental 

 occurrence that might never take 

 place again. In the season of ISSS 

 there was a period during the swarm- 

 ing season when a majority of the 

 swarms in this part of Kentucky ab- 

 sconded. It was found that a comb 

 containing pollen given the new 

 swarm would keep them every time. 

 For this reason many thought that a 

 scarcity of pollen was the cause.— G. 

 W. De'mauee. 



Replacing Queens. 



Query, No. I40.— Isit best to charge queens 

 that are three years old ? I have some that are 

 just as good layers as ever, and they are in my 

 strongest colonies. They are Syrian queens. 

 How long do they live ?— F. L. 



Unless you have had much experi- 

 ence, you had better let them alone. 

 — C. C.Miller. 



I would never destroy such a queen. 

 Such old queens, when good, are 

 often super-excellent for live years. — 

 A. J. Cook. 



I have known queens to do good 

 business for live years. However, 

 most of my queens are superseded by 

 the bees when .S or 4 years old. I let 

 the bees do the changing.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



I would never change good queens 

 because they are old. The bees will 

 attend to that, and make less mistakes 

 than you are likely to make, no mat- 

 ter how careful and wise you may be. 

 — G. W. Demakee. 



I would let the bees do the super- 

 seding of all valuable and prolific 

 queens after they are three years old. 

 They may live to'be five years old, but 

 usually not more than three.— G. L. 

 Tinker. 



No,- let the bees do it themselves; 

 or at least do not change them until 

 you see that they are decreasing in 

 their breeding capacity. — Dadant & 



Son. 



I do not know that it is. I cannot 

 advise such a change. (Jueens live 3, 

 4 and o years.— James IIeddon. 



In my opinion it is best to let the 

 bees do their own superseding of 

 queens. The length of a queen's life, 

 other things being e(iual, depends 

 upon the tax that is put upon her lay- 

 ing powers. Perhaps three years is 

 the average with our modern manage- 

 ment.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Queens live to about '.'>}{ years, on 

 the average. I do not thiifk the ques- 

 tion of age, however, should be con- 

 sidered in the matter of changing 

 queens, except so far as it may be 

 taken as a sort of rule to judge of 

 when they will be apt to fail. I should 

 not change a queen so long as she was 

 laying up to the average. As a rule, 

 queens are jiroductive up to the end 

 of the second year. I have one now 

 passed her litth year, that has proved 

 extraordinarily prolific the past sea- 

 son.— J. E. Pond, Jit. 



Convention Notices. 



t^W~ The Mai'.vland, Vivg-inia nnrl West Vir- 

 g-inia Bee-Keepers' Associatinii will ninet In 

 the f'om-t House at Hagerstown, Md., on 

 Oct. 21, ISS.'j, at 10 a. m. U.A.PiKE.Prcs. 



tW The New .Jersey anti Eastern Bee- 

 Iveepei-s' Association havlDsr aeceiited an 

 invitation to meet with the Mercei" County 

 Board of Agriculture, of Trenton. N. J., 

 will hold their senii-annnal convention ia 

 the Grand Jury Boom of the (_'ourt House 

 at Trenton, N. ,J.. on Thursday and Fi;idav, 

 Nov. ,j and fi, ISS.'i, at 10 a. m. A lull attend- 

 ance of the members is requested. To all 

 persons interested in our vooation, we ex- 

 tend a cordial welcome. The committee of 

 arrangements h:i\'e secured hotel accommo- 

 dations at reduced rates. 



W.M. B. TllE.VDWELL, SCC. 



I^" The Central Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in the Pioneers' Rooms 

 in the State Capitol, at Lansing-, Mich., at 9 

 a. m., on Nov. 1'-, 188. >. All wlio have bees 

 or are interested in bee-culture, are invited 

 to attend. E. N. Wood, Sec. 



IW The next annual meeting of the 

 Northern Michiiran Bee-Keoper's Associa- 

 tion will be held in the Council Rooms at 

 Sheridan, Mich., on Oct. '22 and 2^, 188.5. A 

 cordial invitation is extended to all. 



F. A. P.LLMER, Sec. 



The Central Illinois Convention will be 

 held at Jacksonville, Ills., on Wednesday 

 and Thursday, Oct. 28 and 29, 1885. 



ClUS. D.iDANT. 



Honey as Food and Medicine. 



lEP" To create Honey Markets in e%-ery 

 village, town and city, wide-awake honey 

 producers should gret the Leaflets "W^hy Eat 

 Honey" (only .50 cents per 100), or else the 

 pamphlets on "Honey as Food and Medicine," 

 and scatter them plentifully, and the result 

 will be a dem.\nd for all of their crops at 

 remunerative prices. " Honey as Food and 

 Medicine " are sold at the following prices : 



Single copy. 5 cts. ; per doz., 40 cts. : per 

 hundred, $2.50. Vivo hundred will he sent 

 postpaid for $10.00; or 1,000 for $13,00. 

 On orders of 100 or more, we will jjrint, if 

 desired, on the cover-page, "Presented by," 

 etc. (giving the name and address of the bee- 

 keeper who scatters them). 



To s:ive aivay a copy of " Honej' a? Food 

 and Medicine " to every one who buys a 

 package of honey, will sell almost any quan- 

 tity of it. 



