THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 26, 1905; 



those already on hand. It is doubtful that you can get anything bet 

 ter than the T super, provided you know how to use it correctly. 

 The fence should be the T fence to go with the T super, and should 

 be nailed or fastened together in some way besides mere gluing, unless 

 you prefer plain separators. As to size of section, find out which will 

 bring most in your market. 



2. On general principles it is a bad thing to make a hive different 

 from all other hives, and I should advise against it unless you feel 

 very sure it will be a great improvement. Even then it is best to go 

 slow, and make a trial on a small scale. If you have never tried such 

 a hive as you contemplate, you can not be at all sure you will like it, 

 and it is not a nice thing to have as many as a hundred unsatisfactory 

 hives reproachfully staring one in the face every time one goes into 

 the apiary. So far as wintering is concerned, your hive ought to be 

 all right, but I have doubts whether you would like it in summer. 

 Honey-boards have been pretty generally discarded. 



3. It is so important to have combs of perfectly straight, all- 

 worker comb that it pays to fill the frames entirely full of comb 

 loundation. 



Feeding Bees In the Spring. 



I have 3 colonies of bees that I am afraid are short of stores, but 

 if they should live until spring, and it gets warm enough so they can 

 fly occasionally, would it be all right to feed them sugar syrup in 

 feeders on top of the frames, a small amount each day, until the 

 flowers bloom? Would it be likely to start robbing? Maine. 



Answer.— Instead of feeding a little every day, better give them 

 a good feast, giving it to them warm as possible, so as to get them to 

 take enough to tide them over a considerable space of time. If you 

 give them a little each day when they can fly only occasionally, it 

 keeps them stirred up and makes them fly out at times when they may 

 be chilled and never get back to the hive. If the feed is given so that 

 no robber can get to it except through the entrance of the hive, there 

 ought not to be much danger of robbing, especially if the feed be 

 given well on in the day. 



Transferring Bees from a "Log" Hive. 



I placed a " log of bees " in the cellar a few days since. I had 

 them cut and hauled in a wagon about one-fourth of a mile. They 

 seemed to be all right. They had been in the tree since July last. I 

 see a large number of dead bees at the bottom of the " gum " since 

 being in the cellar. The log is about 4 feet long with a small opening, 

 and I can see empty comb at the top and no bees there. I can see 

 comb at the bottom and lots of bees. I placed a section of honey at 

 the top, and it was untouched for three days. I placed it at the bot- 

 tom with the same result thus far. Now, when should I transfer them 

 to a regular Langstroth hive? And how can it be done— in the cellar, 

 and when? Iowa. 



Answer.— No, don't transfer in the cellar; wait till the bees are 

 busy in fruit-bloom. Perhaps it may be better still to wait till the 

 bees swarm, hiving the swarm in the new hive, then cutting out the 

 combs from the log hive 21 days after swarming. 



The Best Hive to Start With. 



I will quit business the coming summer and locate on a farm. I 

 have already purchased 6 colonies of bees, but I am not versed suffi- 

 ciently in the bee-business to know what hive would be best for me to 

 get. I was about to get the Danzenbalter, but since reading the 

 American Bee Journal I see in the answers that you also have hives. 

 Have you any for sale? If so, which would be the best and cheapest 

 to get? How far are you from St. Louis? Missouri. 



Answer. — I have no hives for sale, and have no financial interest 

 in any hive. It is likely that the dovetailed hive would suit you as 

 well as any. It is not so much the hive as the management ; and I am 

 sorry to say that sometimes claims are made for a hive of some par- 

 ticular make which are not warranted by the facts, and the inexperi- 

 enced is led to think that if he only has that hive he'll get the honey. 

 I am not far from 300 miles north of St. Louis, but a hive right for 

 this latitude would probably be aU right there. 



Sainfoin in lowa-tietting Bees Out of Pull Supers. 



1. Will sainfoin grow in northeastern Iowa? If so, is it of any 

 value as pasture for stock? Will it produce much liay, or is it 

 something like sweet clover? If not, will it winter-kill? Would it 

 be any damage to land? 



2. What is the best way to get bees out of the supers when re- 

 moving honey? I removed the cover and then tried to smoke them 

 down. I smoked and smoked, but there were still several hundred 

 in the supers when I took them off. Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. It grows in Wisconsin and Canada, and most likely 

 it would in northern Iowa. There is no need to fear that it will dam- 

 age the land. For further information see American Bee Journal for 

 1904, pages 740, 813, 846, and especially the article by C. P. Dadant, 

 page 7SI0. 



2. There are different ways of getting them out. There are times 

 when honey is yielding so abundantly that you can set a super on end 

 on top of the hive and let it stand there till all the bees have run down 

 into the hive; but you must watch closely for the first sign of robbinir 



or you'll have a picnic. If you have only a single super, put it in a 

 tub, cover over with a sheet, and turn the sheet over from time to 

 time. Ton can use a Porter escape, thus allowing the bees to go down 

 of their own accord. The bees may be partly smoked down, the supers 

 taken off and piled up 5, 10, or more high, and a Miller tent-escape 

 put on top, allowing the bees to go out at their leisure. You will find 

 particulars in the book, " Forty Years Among the Bees ". Do not 

 think of trying to smoke all of the bees out of a super while leaving it 

 on the hive. If you must rush them out with smoke, smoke lively for 

 a minute or two, take off the super, close up and set the super on end 

 on top of the hive, then smoke and brush till the bees are all out. 



Transferring Queen-Cells. 



I understand that after a colony of bees is made queenless they 

 will build several queen-cells on one frame. Now I desire to cut these 

 queen-cells out and insert them on another frame of brood that is to 

 be given to a nucleus. Can this be done? It so, will the nucleus 

 after 48 hours accept these queen-cells? Michigan. 



Answer. — Instead of building cells only on "one frame", under 

 ordinary circumstances the cells will be on several frames. Yet, if 

 you so desire, you can have them built mostly on one frame. Take a 

 frame containing comb that has been just built, the outer edges con- 

 taining nothing beyond larvie just hatched, and you are pretty cer- 

 tain to find nearly all the qaeen-cells on that frame provided the other 

 combs in the hive are old. About eight or ten days after such a comb 

 has been given to a queenless colony the cells will be ready to cut out, 

 and will be accepted readily by a nucleus that has been queenless as 

 much as 48 hours, or even the half of that time. Fasten the cell on a 

 central part of the comb, where you are sure it will be kept warm by 

 the bees. A good way to fasten it on the comb is to take a hive 

 staple, letting one leg of the staple straddle the cell, the other leg 

 being firmly pushed into the comb. If you haven't a staple, two wire 

 nails will do, each an inch and a fourth to an inch and three-fourths 

 long, each nail thrust in slanting so as to hold the cell between them. 



Red Clover Bees- 



Swarming and Superseding Queens- 

 Making Hives. 



1. In a locality where there is an abundance of red clover, would 

 it pay to keep only the red clover bees? 



2. How can I get the most increase from one colony of bees ? 



3. Will bees at any time while rearing brood, it a queen is re- 

 moved,' begin at once to replace her? 



4. Will it pay to hive new swarms on full foundation in the 

 frames, that is, foundation as large as the frames the bees are to 

 occupy? 



5. How soon after a swarm issues can I put it back where it came 

 from? 



6. As I expect to make my own hives, how would it be if I make 

 them out of 1-inch pine or basswood, then inside of the main body 

 leave an inch space all around the hive Inside, land pack this space with 

 sawdust; then, for winter, make a frame out of about 2-inch material 

 and put this on the frames above the bees, and fill this 3-inch place 

 with sawdust? Would this make a good hive to winter bees in out-of- 

 doors where the thermometer gets to be 13 to 18 degrees below zero ? 



Ohio. 

 Answers. — 1. Yes, it would be better to have in such a locality 

 bees that will work on red clover than those that will not, for they 

 can do just as good work on other plants as other bees. The right 

 way is to breed from the stock that gives you best returns, red clover 

 or no red clover. 



2. That's too long a story to tell here. There is no way that will 

 suit every bee-keeper in every locality. Study up general principles; 

 become thoroughly familiar with what is in the bee books and papers, 

 and you can then tell better than any one else just what will be best for 

 you. For some, natural swarming is best ; for some, shaken swarms, 

 increase by nuclei or some other way. You will find several pages 

 devoted to artificial increase in the book, " Forty Years Among the 

 Bees ", perhaps more than in any other one book. 



3. Yes, although there might be an abnormal case where the bees 

 were slow to recognize their condition. 



4. I feel so sure that it pays me that I never have a frame that 

 isn't filled entirely full of foundation. 



5. You can put it back whenever you like. If your object is to 

 prevent further swarming, it may be well to wait 34 hours. In gen- 

 eral, however, it is better to use plans that do not require the return- 

 ing of swarms. 



6. It may work very well, but it would be well to try a few at 

 first to find out before making a large number. You may also find 

 that it will cost more than to buy the stuff ready to nail together. 



A Queen-Bee Free as a Ppemium.— We are now 

 booking' orders for untested Italian queens to be delivered 

 in May or June. This is the premium oflfer : To a sub- 

 scriber whose own subscription to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal is paid at least to the end of 1905, we will g'ive an un- 

 tested Italian queen for sending- us one new subscription with 

 $1.00 for the Bee Journal a year. Now is a good time to 

 get new subscribers. If you wish extra copies of the Bee 

 Journal for use as samples, let us know how many you want 

 and we will mail them to you. Address all orders to the 

 ofiBce of the American Bee Journal. 



