THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



47 



Wj^oUs S: Queries. 



I. 



Winnebago Co., III., Dec. 33, 1876.— "My 

 bees did well. I had 30 stands last spring; 

 increased to 40; got 1,300 lbs. of honey in 

 4-lb. boxes, and 300 lbs. of extracted. I 

 would like to know how Mr. Harbison, and 

 others, get their comb built true in those 

 small frames. Please tell us through the 

 Biif^ Journal? W, H. Conklin. 



[Starters of empty comb or foundation 

 will secure straight combs. A piece of 

 empty comb may be used, of sufficient size, 

 to till the small frame, or a strip of only half 

 an inch in depth may be used.— Ed.] 



Broome Co., N. Y., Jan. 1, 1877.— "Will 

 some one that has used frames closer than 

 13^ in. from centre to centre report their ex- 

 perience? It seems to me that frames 

 should be closer than IK in. from centre to 

 centre. If placed 3 in. from centre to cen- 

 tre, they will lengthen out the cells so that 

 the space between the sealed honey is no 

 more than when put closer, and is built 

 more uneven than when put farther apart. 

 I use the Langstroth frame, and put 8 in 13 

 inches. 1 hang the outside ones 3^ in. from 

 side of hive, the others ^ in. between, mak- 

 ing 1}4 in. from centre to centre. The bees 

 make the comb in outside frame as straight 

 as a board, and will make the frames full, 

 only leaving }4 in. lietweeu outside of cf)mb 

 and side of hive. Why should they require 

 doiible that space between the other combs? 

 Close the space up to about J4 or % inch, 

 and they will leave that much space if 

 frames are put % in. apart. 1 may be 

 wrong in my conclusions. How would 

 1 and .5-13 in. frorfi centre to centre of frames 

 do? What is the best method for keeping 

 frames foom swinging, and at a proper dis- 

 tance apart at the bottom?" 



J. F. Pelham. 



[Bees do not usually raise brood on the 

 outside cells of the outside comb. This al- 

 lows them to lengthen the cells, leaving 

 barely room to pass between the comb and 

 the side of the hive. If combs are built 

 perfectly straight, less than 1 5-13 in. from 

 centre to centre will be all right. Usual- 

 ly, however, there are inequalities which 

 make it desirable to have them nearly or 

 quite 13^ in. from centre to centre. 



Nails, small staples and various other 

 devices have been used to hold frames the 

 proper distance apart at the bottom, but 

 probably nothing is better than to have the 

 frames true and hang in the ordinary way 

 on a rabbet, with nothing but their own 

 weight to make them hang true.— Ed.] 



Dearborn Co., Ind., Dec. 37, 187t3.— "The 

 A. B. J. is a welcome visitor. Some around 

 here think they 'know it all," and that jour- 

 nals are of no use to them, but I could not 

 consent to keep bees without the Bee 

 Journal. I have the Langstroth hive 

 with 9 frames. Is there any better hive 



than that ? I wish to Italianize in the 

 spring, but my neighbors have hybrids; 

 would there not be some trouble in doing 

 it?" S. HuMFiELD, Jr. 



[The Langstroth is a good hive; we know 

 of none better; a few modifications are in- 

 troduced by some who use it, to suit their 

 own notions, but does not change it from 

 being a Langstroth hive. 



The best way to Italianize is to get a 

 purely fertilized queen and introduce her to 

 a strong colony.— Ed. J 



Two queens from Mr. Nell is arrived safe- 

 ly in cold weather. I removed the black 

 queen and introduced the Italian in a cage, 

 and let her out the next day, there being no 

 brood in the hive. I did not think there 

 would be danger of her being killed. They 

 went to killing one another in the following 

 night. I am sure no strange bees entered 

 the hive. I examined the dead bees, but 

 found no queen. Please explain. 



R. C. Cameron. 



[We never knew of bees of the same 

 colony fighting each other. In a starving 

 colony the old bees sometimes fight the 

 young ones, to get their honey. Then the 

 young ones crawl out, their abdomen 

 curved, in a dying condition, like bees that 

 have been stung; but such cannot be the 

 case with friend Cameron's bees. Robbers 

 may have entered while he was looking for 

 the black queen, and the cold might have 

 prevented them from returning to their 

 hives. The loss of the queen, and finding 

 no brood to replace her, may have so far 

 troubled the bees that they did not notice 

 the robbers; but as soon as they discovered 

 the caged queen, and quiet was restored, the 

 bees may have destroyed all the intruders. 

 Can any one suggest another explanation? 

 — Ch. Dabaxt.] 



Broome Co., N. Y., Jan. 10, 1877.—" I like 

 the Bee Journal very much, and hope 

 you will be able to make as good a volume 

 this year as you did last year. I wish it 

 much success." Dr. F. Lashier. 



["Excelsior" being our motto, we expect 

 to have each years' numbers excel those of 

 the previous year. It is very encouraging 

 to the publisher to know that The Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal is so much appreciated 

 and so welcome to the thousands of its 

 readers, as testified by multitudes of letters 

 received within the past few weeks. It 

 shall be our constant aim to excel, to advo- 

 cate the interests of bee-keepers every- 

 where, as well as to give the most scientific 

 and practical articles, on every branch of 

 bee-keeping, by the most successful apiar- 

 ists of the world.— Ed.] 



Jan. 16, 1877.—" Some say there is no 

 money in the bee business; others think 



