Feb. 9, 1905. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



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Doctor Zniller's 

 Question = ^ox 



J 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Prevention of Swarming. 



1. Having a few colonies, and very little time to watch for 

 swarms, if I prepare an empty hive with shade, bee-entrance guard, 

 frames and starters, and place it directly in front of and facing the 

 same way as the parent colony, but so close up to the old hive that 

 the bees will have to pass back and forth through the new hive to the 

 field, is it likely, when swarming, they would take up their al)ode in 

 the new hive? or would not such a plan be practical? 



2. Not desiring any increase, if in five days after a swarm issues 1 

 destroy all queen cells in the parent colony, and place it with a queen- 

 excluding honey-board on the super of a new hive, will the brood, 

 when hatched, unite with the bees in the lower chamber? or would 

 not such a plan be practical? Ohio. 



Answrrs. — 1. The plan has been tried by a good many, but not 

 with satisfaction. 



3. It will not do well for comb honey, but may be all right for ex- 

 tracted. If you destroy the cells five days after swarming it may be 

 well to repeat the process after another five days. 



Transferrine Bees— White Clover— Overground Cellar. 



1. We have some bees which we got out of a bee-tree. They have 

 no honey, and only 3 little pieces of honey-comb. We have fed them 

 thus far. They are in a block sawed from the tree. When can I 

 transfer them, and howl The hollow in the block is about the size of 

 a gallon measure, and we can't leave them in it if it gets down to zero 

 for two or three weeks. 



3. How shall I feed them? Could I put them in a room 1 



3. How many colonies of bees can be kept in one yardi 



4. I want to sow some white clover seed in the spring. Will it 

 bloom the first year? 



5. Can I sow it on timothy stubble, or will the ground have to be 

 broken ? 



tj. What other kinds of plants are good for beesi I have never 

 kept bees, but am just buying some. 



7. Next year I want to make a cellar on top the ground. I am 

 going to make it with a double wall and fill in between the walls with 

 dry sawdust, and make it so it won't freeze inside. Could I keep bees 

 in it the same as they do in an underground cellar through the win- 

 ter? Illinois. 



Answers. — ^1. I don't transfer before fruit-bloom. Your bee- 

 book will give you instruction for transferring, although with only 3 

 small pieces of comb there will be little more to do than to dump the 

 bees down in front of an empty hive and let them run in. 



3. You can put comb honey or candy in close up to the bees. It will 

 hardly do to keep the bees in a room, but it will be a fine thing to 

 keep them lo a dark cellar. 



3. That depends upon the pasturage within a mile or two. In 

 most places not more than 75 or 100. 



4. Not enough to count on. 



.5. It will grow almostanywhere, and with any kind of preparation. 



6. There are hundreds of honey-plants, but none, perhaps, that 

 will pay to sow for honey alone. It might be worth your while to try 

 sweet clover, alsike clover, and buckwheat. 



7. It will be all right if you keep it dark and steadily at about 45 

 degrees, but it will be easier to do that if it is at least partly under- 

 ground. 



Winter Transferring- Size of Hive to Make, Etc. 



I started with a lot of box-hive colonies last summer, and have 

 about 40 in the cellar. I am a rural route mail carrier, and work my 

 spare lime towards getting a supply of good standard-size hives for 

 bees in the spring. Several of the old hives cost me only 50 cents 

 each, some $3.00, but some are nearly destitute of food. 



1. Would it do to take some of the box-hive colonies that are in 

 danger of starving into a warm room this winter, and transfer them to 

 good frame hives, using only the good combs, and contract to the size 

 bees will occupy, placing candy between the frames or on top? Or 

 would it cause the bees to bo over-excited, filling themselves, and 

 when again confined in the cellar without a cleansing llight, to be- 

 come filthy and sick' 



2. Will it injure colonies to have the top of their box loose (not 

 sealed) ; as, for instance, the dovetailed hive and a flat, loose cover 

 (in cellar ranging from 42 to 4s degrees) ? 



3. Is it any advantage to have hives crowded full of bees in tl 

 fall before putting into the cellar? 



4. I got several swarms from friends who wanted to kill them ami 

 take the honey, and after drivlug them in my forcing-box I united 

 them in 8-frame hives rich in stores. What would you do to two of 



these when the bees hang outside of the hive in the cellar, and con- 

 tinually make a humming noise as if uncomfortable? The hive, 

 bees, and t)Ottom-board weighed i;'.i pounds when put in Dec. 0. I 

 have raised the cover one inch tor more ventilation ; it helped only 

 little. 



5. Do you recommend, when one starts with all new hives, to 

 make the brood body 2 inches deeper ( Dadant fashion) , with telescopic 

 covers? or what hive do you recommend ; 



6. Will it pay me, when transferring a number in the spring, to 

 use full sheets of foundation instead of the old combs from box-hives? 



7. What are tulip-trees, also called poplar or whitewood? Have 

 we any such tulip-trees here in the Mississippi region? (Can it be 

 cottonwood-trees ?) 



8. If I make my own hive-bodies, what kind of frame would you 

 advise me to buy for practical bee-keeping? Grundt Co., Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Don't tr-ansfer in winter. Those box-hives, most 

 likely, have no bottom ; if they have bottoms, pry them off. Turn the 

 hives upside down, put candy between or on the combs, and leave 

 them upside down as long as in the cellar. When I had box-hives I 

 wintered them upside down in the cellar. 



2. Not a bit; unless the entrance is very large it will be all the 

 better to be a little open at the top. 



3. I suppose it might be possible to have colonies too strong, but 

 there isn't much danger in that direction. It's an advantage to have 

 them very strong. 



4. If raising the cover an inch quieted the bees a little, raising it 

 more ought to help more. Try 3 inches, or even taking the cover off 

 entirely. Possibly the cellar may be too close. 



5. I don't like to adviSe. It won't cost you a great deal to try a 

 few of the regular size of Langstroth frames and compare them with 

 the deeper, and see which is best for ;/<>«. 



6. Better transfer all the straight worker-combs, unless you allow 

 the bees to swarm first (which may be better), in which case you'll 

 hive the swarm on full sheets of foundation, and then break up the 

 old colony 31 days later. Then it will be a question whether to melt 

 all old combs or to save the best. 



7. No, they're not Cottonwood; they have a beautiful blossom 

 that looks like a tulip. 



8. Most likely the regular size Langstroth, 17>^x9,V ; unless, in- 

 deed, you should prefer the deeper frame, as mentioned in Answer 5. 



Don't you worry about my understanding your questions. If 

 being a Scandinavian makes you write bo neatly and express yourself 

 so clearly, I wish a lot of bee-keepers would turn Scandinavian. 



Memberstilp In Bee-Keepers' Organizations. 



If I unite with a bee-keepers' association in an adjoining State, 

 said association uniting with the National in a body, will I go into 

 the National as a member on the same basis as the other members? 



Bee-Keeper. 



Answer. — I don't know that there is any formulated law upon 

 the subject, but the law of custom in such cases rules. No geographi- 

 cal lines govern strictly the membership of bee-keepers' societies. A 

 bee-keeper may fin<l it convenient to join a State association in an 

 adjoining State, and if received as a member he is entitled to the same 

 privileges as other members. If for any reason a bee-keeper in Canada 

 should elect to unite with a society in the Southern States which 

 unites as a body with the National, it is his privilege so to do, and it is 

 the privilege of such society to accept him, and he will be accepted as 

 a member of the National the same as others. 



Handling Poul-Broody Colonies— The Rietsche Press. 



1. I am a beginner in the bee-business, and my bees had foul 

 brood last fall. They are the common black bees, and into all colonies 

 that did not show foul brood I put Italian queens last fall. I have 

 some of the old foul-broody colonies left yet, and my thought was to 

 put them on starters and then on full sheets of foundation in the 

 spring, very early ; but I see that you do not think I can do so before 

 the honey-flow. 



I have a few colonies of bees that I bought, and would like to 

 move them home early in the spring. What can I do to get rid of the 

 foul brood and save the bees in the spring? I want to know if I can 

 not shake them on starters before the honey-flow and feed them? Can 

 I not rid them of the foul brood in that way, and give the bees to 

 other colonies of the Italian race ' 



The colonies I wish to move home are free from foul brood. 



2. I want to put in some more Italian queens in the spring. 

 Would you advise putting them in before the honey-flow? The earlier 

 I can do it the better, on account of the foul brood, I suppose. Those 

 I wish to move home are common bees. 



3. If I am careful in handling the foul brood, can I not save the 

 brood-frames that contain such disease, by scraping or boiling them? 



4 Do you know anything about the Rietsche press for making 

 foundation? New York. 



Answers.— 1. It is possible that you might, early in the season, 

 feed the bees regularly in such a way as to make it take the place of a 

 honey-flow, but it is hardly advisable. Bring those bees home— they'll 

 be just as safe as the healthy colonies already there— then treat the 

 diseased ones in the honey-flow. Do what you can to avoid having 

 any of the diseased colonies robbed, for that's the special danger. If 

 a foul-broody colony becomes queenless or very weak, there is danger 

 that the healthy colonies will rob it and carry home the disease. So 

 break up any that are in any danger of being robbed, and be very, 

 very careful not to expose any of the combs with diseased honey. You 



