158 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Perry Co., III., April 9, 1877.— "I have 10 

 colonies, some in box hives. I wish to 

 transfer them and would like to know how 

 to do it. Also please tell me iiow to make 

 bees raise queens when their queen is lost." 

 Joseph Bkown. 



[ Transferring can be done at any time 

 but it is best when there is but little honey 

 in the hives, early in the spring. On a 

 warm day, after the bees are at work, blow 

 some smoke in the entrance and take the 

 hive a short distance away and turn it bot- 

 tom upwards. Place the new hive over it 

 and wind a sheet about the hives where 

 they come together, so that the bees cannot 

 get out. Put a box on the old stand for the 

 returning bees to cluster in. Rap on the 

 lower hive 15 or 20 minutes, and the bees 

 will till themselves with honey and go up 

 into the new hive with the queen. Take 

 the new hive down; knock tlie box hive 

 apart, cut out the worker comb and fit to 

 the frames (be careful not to damage the 

 comb, and also to save all the brood); fasten 

 the combs into the frame by tieing it, or 

 putting a few wires accross it. Set the 

 frames in the new hive and proceed with 

 the rest, till all the worker comb is in. 

 Raise the front of the hive and get the clus- 

 ter in the box which was put on the old 

 stand; shake them down in front of the 

 hive. When the bees are all in, set the 

 hive on the old stand. In about .3 days the 

 bees will have fastened the combs; then 

 the strings and wires may be removed; the 

 colony being then in good order. 



If a colony is queenless the bees will start 

 queen cells, if they have anything to do it 

 with. To give them a good queen cell from 

 another colony is the easiest and quickest 

 way of providing them a queen.— Ed.] 



Decatur Co., Tenn., April 1, 1877.— "I 

 commenced a few years ago with 4 box- 

 hives; I now have 40 colonies in the Ameri- 

 can and Thomas hives. 1 have tried to 

 learn something of tlie bee as my stock in- 

 creased. I have Root's honey extractor; it 

 is exactly what it claims to b<,>. My bees 

 pay me over 200 per cent: We Iiad too 

 much rain last season, for much surplus 

 honey. I never expect to be without bees 

 and The American Bee Jouknal. It 

 should be in the hands of every apiarist. I 

 am wintering on the summer stand, and 

 shall, I think, not loose one-tenth of my 

 bees. I expect to move some of my bees to 

 Illinois soon. I want a little more informa- 

 tion on nucleus swarming. I expect to 

 Italianize my whole stock next summer. — 

 What will give me the desired informa- 

 tion ?" 



O. P. Storm. 



[ Get "Cook's Manual of the Apiary," and 

 study it on these subjects, and with your 

 determination you must succeed.— Ed.] 



" Editor A. B. J.— Having received one 

 of the smokers, sent as a premium by the 

 Magazine iolks, with that paper, and dub- 

 bed the " Quinby Bellows-Smoker, Ij^test 

 style"— I desire to give my opinion of it. It 

 is so badly made and of such poor material 

 that it is entirely worthless. Mine is a 

 regular fraud. I say this only in justice to 

 my brother bee-keepers. Is it right to send 

 out such ail article, and call it a Quinby 

 smoker of the latest style ? I call it decep- 

 tion ! What do you call it?" R. P. G. 



[ Friend G. that is a haj-d question. We 

 don't like to pass ju/lgment upon the 

 motive. You paid only SI. 60 for it and the 

 MngavAne, and as the price of the Maga- 

 zine is $1.50, call the cost of the smoker to 

 you 10 cents, and it isn't so bad, in your 

 case.— Ed.] 



IW' Since writing the above, one of these 

 smokers has been put on our table to ex- 

 amine and give our opinion of. It came via 

 "Novice" from L. C. Root. It is very poor- 

 ly constructed, and the leather of which the 

 bellows is made would not stand an hour's 

 use. We only speak of the one before us, 

 and hope that others are much better than 

 this one.- Ed. 



Editoi? a. B. J.— In looking over the 

 " Utticial List of Awards of the Centennial 

 Exhibition," I find only one award for 

 American Extractors. VVill you please in- 

 form the readei'S of the Journal how it 

 comes that several claim to have diplomas 

 for Extractors in the A. B. J.? M. D. T. 



[We have examined the "Official List of 

 Awards," and find Murphy's on page 73. It 

 is a big job to look over so many names, 

 and we shall ask friend Chapman to give us 

 a copy of the official notice of the premium 

 being awarded, or refer us to the page in 

 the "official list" where it can be found.— 

 Ed.] 



IT 1 M|> - T tt 



E^" A. G. Hill, of Kendallville, Ind., is 

 issuing a monthly sheet called The Bee- 

 Keeper's Guide, which he sends free to all 

 his customers. 



J^" J. S. Coe inquired in the Journal— 

 " Who made the first curved-bladed or 

 round-pointed honey knife." F. W. Chap- 

 man claims to have done so, in 1870. He 

 says: "I made the first one I ever saw or 

 heard of." It is a nice knife and is well 

 finished, and is kept for sale at this office. 



E^° We have had so many " calls " this 

 month that it would make a long chapter to 

 repoi't them. Since we have gathered up 

 our "museum" of articles used in the 

 apiary for the instruction and amusement 

 of visitors, we find them increasing in num- 

 bers. All are welcome. 



