•TH® m^mmmi€;mn -mmm jouKiwaiL. 



197 



Usin;; Comb roiindalioii when 

 TraiiMrcrriiig — Ke-Qiiceiiiiis. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



Query 694.— 1. In trausfemng bees from 

 box-hives, ^^•ith all tbe imperlect eomb, to 

 movable-frame hives, would it lie advisable to 

 use comb foundation in all the frames, leaving 

 out all brood. 2, If desiring tore-queen them, 

 would it be practical to give them a queen at 

 the time of transferring. — Tennessee. 



1. Yes; that is, follow tbe Heddon plan. 

 3. Yes.— A. J. Cook, 



1. Use wbat good comb you can; the 

 balance of the frames fill with foundation. 

 2. Yes.— H. D. Cutting. 



1. No. 2. No. It would not be advis- 

 able to re-queen at that particular time. — 

 Mks. L. Harrison. 



1. Yes: but of course the brood must be 

 preserved. 3. Yes. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Certainly, and follow the Heddon plan 

 for transferring. 2. Yes. — A.B.Mason. 



1 . No ; put in all the brood, and fill all 

 frames not filled with eomb, with founda- 

 tion. 2. Yes.— M. Mahin. 



1. I do not believe that I would like to 

 waste brood, but I would want good combs 

 first or last. 3. Yes, if transferred at a 

 good time for re-queening. — C. G. Miller. 



1. I would advise using all the brood and 

 straight combs. 2. I would not recommend 

 re-queening at the time of transferring. — J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



1. Sometimes combs are nearly enough 

 perfect to transfer, but not often. Ordi- 

 narily, I would say melt the combs, and 

 use foundation. — J. M. Shuck. 



1. I should try and save the brood, unless 

 at a season when it would not be valuable. 

 2. I think that it would. — Eugene Secor. 



1. Transfer them on the Heddon plan, 

 and let the brood hatch out. 2. Re-queen 

 the last colony to be driven out of the box- 

 hive, and all is done. — C. H. Dibeern. 



1. By all means, transfer the brood, and 

 fill out with full sheets of foundation. 2. 

 Provided you can catch the old queen, it 

 would be practical. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1 . No 1 emphatically ; we would no more 

 destroy brood than bees. You can straight- 

 en a great deal of the comb. 2. Hardly. 

 It would be better to wait until they have 

 somewhat recuperated, or repaired their 

 combs. — Dadant & Son. 



1. Transfer all of the brood always, and 

 all good, straight combs, and fill out the 

 hive with frames with full sheets of foun- 

 dation. 2. Do not re-queen till the colony 

 is settled, especially if robbing is liable. — 

 G. L. Tinker. 



1. You can use what is termed the "Hed- 

 don plan " of transferring, where there are 

 many crooked combs. In no case throw 

 away brood, for this will be the bees of the 

 future. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Use the "Heddon method," and you 

 will save all the brood, and get rid of the 

 bad comb at the same time ; this plan, too, 

 is the simplest possible, in my opinion. — J. 

 E. Pond. 



1. I would not transfer the imperfect 

 combs unless they were well filled with 

 brood. Transfer only the best of the combs, 

 and fill out what space is left with frames 

 filled with sheets of foundation. Very 

 many bee-keepers will advise melting into 

 wax all the old combs after driving the bees 

 into hives filled with foundation; but this 

 is a serious waste, if the box-hive contains 



a fair amount of good combs. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



1. If you will read in my book, or Prof. 

 Cook's, my method of modern transferring, 

 you will get a com]ilete answer, which is 

 too long for this depai'tment. 2. It might, 

 or might not, be the best time to re-queen 

 the colony— all owing to conditions. Bee- 

 keeping cannot be successfully run by 

 stereotyped rules. The apiarist, to succeed, 

 must know the stereotyped laws, and then 

 form his rules from these laws, and their 

 relation to his special environments and 

 conditions. — James Heddon. 



1. Save the brood, unless it be done at a 

 time when more bees are not required. 

 Fill all the other frames with full sheets of 

 comb foundation. 2. It is practical to do 

 so, but it may not be desirable sometimes 

 to do what is possible. Circumstances 

 may make it very undesirable, robbing 

 may be induced, etc. You must consider 

 the matter, and decide upon the advisa- 

 bility of doing so at the time.— The Editor. 



Prevention of iSwarmin;;, Build, 

 ins Comb in ^Vircd Frames. 



Written for the Amerlean Bee Jou/mal 



Query 695.— 1. Can swarming be prevented 

 by putting on a full upper story for extract- 

 ing, and then raising the frames full of brood 

 from the brood-nest, and replacing with full 

 sheets of foundation, thus allowing part of 

 the brood to hatch above, and use a queen- 

 excluder with the 8-frame Simplicity hive? 2. 

 Will bees build eomb in wired frames, with 

 only starters, the same as without the wire ? 

 .3, By using a starter in both top and bottom 

 of the brood-frames, would the bees connect 

 both without leaving an opening, and thus 

 save inverting J-Paris. 



1. I think so ; but I should prefer to have 

 the brood below. 2. Yes, 3. They do in 

 the sections. — A. J. Cook. 



1. Not entirely. 2. Yes. 3. After you 

 try it, then you will know all about it. — H. 

 D. Cutting. 



1. Sometimes. 2. Yes. 3. They would 

 generally ; and it is a first-class plan to put 

 a narrow starter, say three cells wide, at 

 the bottom.— A. B. Mason. 



1 . It may retard it, and in some cases 

 prevent it; but there would be many 

 swarms issuing in spite of it. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



1. Yes, to a great extent. 2. Yes. I tried 

 the experiment last season, but lost track 

 of the hive after putting a swarm into it.— 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



1. I think that it could be controlled in 

 that way, in most cases. 2. If the frames 

 are exactly plumb, yes; but why wire at 

 all, if starters are used? 3. I do not know. 

 — Eugene Secor. 



1. There is no absolutely certain way of 

 preventing swarming, with which I am 

 acquainted. 2. Not with the same facility, 

 or perfection. 3. I have never tried it. — 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. No. 2. No. 3. Please read the best 

 and latest works in apiculture. Study, 

 patience, practice — these three will save 

 many questions. — J. M. Shuck. 



1. I should say that it might, but I have 

 had so many plans for preventing swarm- 

 ing, and failed, that I have no faith in the 

 answer of any one but the bees. 2. Some- 

 times. 3. I think so. I have had thou- 

 sands of sections so built. — C. C. Miller. 



1. Your plan is not new. It will retard 

 swarming, and if the queen is not so old as 

 to excite the concern of the bees, it may in 

 some cases prevent swarming. 2. They 

 will build in wired frames, but the wires 

 will not always be found in the center of 



the comb; and when this is the case, they 

 are hard to manage. The only way is to 

 cut the wires and press the comb in ]jlace. 

 3. It will not do to put starters on the t>ot- 

 tom-bars of the frames; the bees will build 

 upward, and the combs will often topple 

 over,and make a muss of it. — G.W. Demaree 



1. If the queen were confined below the 

 honey -boai'd, and d(jne seasonably, it would 

 delay swarming; but whether it would pre- 

 vent it, would depend upon other condi- 

 tions, as the character of the honey -flow, 

 etc. 2. Yes. 3. I think not, but I never 

 tried it. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Swarming can be greatly re.stricted 

 by giving plenty of room, and plenty of 

 ventilation. 2. They would build them 

 true. The wires would not be in the sep- 

 tum of the comb. 3. If they were to build 

 both from the top and bottom, the combs 

 would not be projierly joined at the place 

 of meeting. There would be jogs and off- 

 sets. — M. Mahin. 



1. Yes. 2. No. What do you want 

 wired frames for, if you do not use founda- 

 tion * Wu-e is used to keep the foundation 

 from sagging and warping. 3. Try it on a 

 hive or two, and then tell the readers of 

 the Bee Journal how it works.— G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



1. Bees are "contrary critters," and no 

 plan can be said to be certain with them. 

 This, perhaps, may work well; try it, and 

 report. 2. Yes; but it is better to use full 

 sheets of foundation. 3. They might, and 

 might not. I do not see how any gain can 

 be made by so doing. — J. E. Pond. 



1. I think not. Yon should give more 

 capacity to the queen's fecundity, with less 

 disturbance. 2. Yes; but look out for 

 drone-comb, which is a nuisance. 3. I have 

 not tried starters at the bottom ; I hardly 

 think that it will work. Try it, and report. 

 — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. Few swarms would result from this 

 management. 2. No. Why not use a 

 more shallow frame than the Simplicity — 

 say a 7-inch frame — and do away with the 

 wired frames? If you use a queen-ex- 

 cluder, the more shallow combs give better 

 results. 8. Yes; but if you put the frames 

 in an upper story, you will not need the 

 starters at the bottom. — G. L. Tinker. 



1. Not absolutely, although such a plan 

 would have a great tendency to discourage 

 swarming. 2. Yes, sir; and follow the 

 wires almost every time. 3. The jjlan will 

 not take the place of inverting. The bees 

 will be very apt to cut away a portion of 

 the lower strip of foundation, and bad work 

 is liable in every case. Inverting does it 

 just right, and cannot faU. — James Heddon. 



1. No system of management can be re- 

 lied upon to absolutely prevent swarming. 

 At least that is true in America, whether it 

 is so in France or not. The plan mentioned 

 would sometimes retard swarming, if it 

 does not prevent it. but it is not a new one. 

 2. Yes. 3. To build combs from the top 

 and bottom is objectionable— the join in 

 the center is not perfect, etc. — The Editor. 



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 East Madison Street, brings us in close 

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 all the freight depots. 



This location has made it possible for us 

 to be more prompt than ever in filling 

 orders, saving the long distance for haul 

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