THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



157 



^oUs and Queries* 



% 



Owen Co., Ky., Marcli 17, 1877.— "I am at 

 a loss to know how to make surplus lioney- 

 lioxes and section frames. 1 hope to yet 

 the desired information in the A. B. J. We 

 are in 38 north latitude and are now havinji: 

 cold rains. March, so tar, has been a cold 

 month here. I have lost some weak stocks 

 but most of the bees are in sood condition. 

 After a few days of tine weather the elm 

 will be in full bloobi." G. W. Jenkins. 



[On page 122, may be found a description 

 of sectional boxes, which will perhaps be of 

 value to you. In Cook's Manual for the 

 Apiary, page 44 and 45 you will find a full 

 description of how to make franies and 

 boxes.— Ed.] 



1. On measuring my Langstroth hives I 

 find them only 14 ni. wide and containing 10 

 frames, which instead of 1}4 in. to the frame 

 gives but I 2-5, and as the bees often build a 

 part of the comb straight and tlien mix it 

 all up, would it not be better to put only 9 

 frames in each hive ? 



2. I wish to prevent "in-and-in breeding." 

 Can I successfully do so by sending for a 

 dozen queens, and on their arrival take 

 about 3 combs with adhering bees from 

 each of three hives and place them in an 

 empty hive and introduce a queen im- 

 me<liately, without keeping her confined in 

 a cage ? 



3. Would it be necessary to place the new 

 hive in place of one of tlie aforesaid hives ? 



H. B. KOLFE. 



[ Fourteen inches for 10 frames are suffi- 

 cient for the bees. If some bee-keepers 

 give more space, it is for their own facility; 

 for the combs can be more easily extracted 

 from the hive when they are wider apart. 

 But bees will build the combs truer in the 

 frames only 1%. 



2. Yes I By buying a dozen queens you 

 can prevent "in-and-in breeding;" especial 

 ly if you buy them from different breeders. 

 But we would not recommend the plan of 

 introducing that you describe, and were we 

 to try it, we would not put the new hives in 

 place of the old ones; for the old bees 

 would be apt to kill the queens.— Cri. Da- 



DANT.] 



Juniata Co., Pa., April 20, 1877.—" Apiar- 

 ists in this locality have suffered greatly 

 from tlie severity of the wintei'. Nearly 

 one-half the bees are dead and others great- 

 ly reduced. Many perished during the ex- 

 cessive cold in March. My loss has been 

 very light. Wintered out-doors, having my 

 bees protected from the north-west winds 

 by a high board fence. I use mostly the 

 Farmer's Hive, with double walls and an 

 absorbing nuit on top. i have 30 colonies, 

 nearly all in very fine condition. 



"A Question.— How can we best prevent 

 extracted liouey from souring iu the warm 



weather ? I had trouble with mine last 

 season, although carefully put up in Muth's 

 honey jars. 



"I find my interest in the JouRNAii con- 

 stantly growing— could not do without it. I 

 heartily recommend it to all bee-keepers." 

 J. E. Keauns. 



[ Those who have experimented with 

 remedies for " souring," will confer a favor 

 to the bee-keeping fraternity by giving the 

 results of their experiments iu the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal.- Ed.] 



Benton Harbor, Mich., April 14, 1877.—" I 



Eut 10 colonies of bees into the cellar on 

 »ec. 1st; after snow came, and we had a 

 few cold nights. On April 1st I took them 

 out; one was weak and another dead. The 

 8 are in good order. I have fed them syrup 

 made from A sugar; also about 2 lbs. of rye 

 meal per day. Is there any danger iu feed- 

 ing too much meal ? One of my neighbors 

 put 100 colonies into winter quarters in 

 good order; some in the cellar, some in 

 boxes packed with straw around the hive, 

 and some of them were covered with stalks 

 in his barn. All that he can count on now 

 is 29 swarms; the rest have gone the way of 

 all the earth. Can some of your corres- 

 pondents tell us what was the matter. The 

 combs were bright, with plenty of honey. 

 He is an old bee-keeper and has always had 

 good success before. He thinks that he let 

 them stand until too late before he put 

 them into winter quarters. Do you think 

 that the cause of the loss ?" 



0. E. Mead. 



[We cannot guess the cause of the loss 

 without knowing the circumstances of this 

 unlucky wintering. I'our neighbor is prob- 

 ably right, especially if he put his bees in 

 their winter quarters after a spell of very 

 cold wea;ther, and when their abdomen was 

 already distended with faeces.— Cn. Da- 



DANT.] 



Crawford Co., Mo., March 19, 1877.—" I 

 have never seen in bee publications what 

 the effects of sugar maple water has on 

 bees. My bees have plenty of honey, but 

 they work strongly on sugar water. Please 

 let us know, iu the Joi'rnal, whether it is 

 good for them. Another question I would 

 ask: Will bees do as well with frames hung 

 crosswise to the fiyhole as lengthwise ?" 

 Job Harm an, Sr. 



[ Sugar maple water is very good for bees. 

 They will increase in brood very fast with 

 it. 



Combs hanging crosswise with the front 

 board of the hive are called cold combs. If 

 hung lengthwise we call them warm combs. 

 Americans prefer the cold combs, while the 

 Germans and Italians, having side-opening 

 hives, use warm combs. I am nearly sure 

 that queens will lay more in cold than in 

 warm combs, especially during the summer 

 months.— Ch. Dadant.] 



