Feb. 23, 1905. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



143 



many bees still in the hive. Last fall the hive and all 

 weighed about 75 pounds. How do you think they will win- 

 ter^ 



'4 I have a bee-book dated 1887, called "A B C Guide 

 to Bee-Keeping," by W. B. Webster. Did you ever know this 

 ^an> Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. When they got here they were of the 

 smashed variety, making it hard to tell much about them. 

 I think one has one yellow band, making it a hybrid. The 

 other may have three yellow bands, and no one can tell 

 whether a single three-banded bee is pure Italian or hybrid. 

 If all in the hive are three-banded, they're Italian. 



2. Yes, the supers are lifted off to get into the brood- 

 chamber, and of course that disturbs the work of the bees, 

 but not very much. 



3. As far as can be judged from description, they ought 

 to winter well. 



4. I knew one bee-keeper by the name of Webster, 

 but I'm not sure he is the man. [It is a book written by a 

 bee-keeper over in England, and has been reprinted in this 

 country. Scarcely any bee-keeper in America would use the 

 implements and fixtures illustrated in it, and, besides, they 

 could not be bought here. — Editor.] 



WinterltiK bees In a basemeut. 



1. How would it do to winter bees in the basement of a 

 ■brick building v.-here the temperature is 22 degrees above 

 zero when it is 18 below out-of-doors? The air is absolutely 

 pure. The building is 36 x 60 feet. It has a center wall which 

 divides the basement. There is a furnace in one part of it, 

 which is fired up once a week, raising the temperature to 55 

 degrees above zero. I am wintering 15 colonies of bees in 

 the other part. I put them in Dec. 12, and they are doing 

 nicely so far. 



2. Do you think they would winter better out-of-doors? 



Iowa. 

 Answers. — 1. If the bees have done well up to the last of 

 January, it would seem reasonable to expect still further 

 success. On general principles it would not seem desirable 

 to have a repository range from 22 to 55 degrees, but if it 

 does not touch the lower figure very often, generally ranging 

 in the neighborhood of 45, it may do very well. 

 2. Likely not. 



•* • ^ ■ 



Increase— Honey-DrlnKs— Wintering Ont-Doors. 



1. Which is the more profitable, forced or natural swarm- 

 ing when running for section honey, and when increase is 

 desired? 



2. Can a good alcoholic drink be made with honey? If 

 so, how? 



3. How much air-space must be allowed to keep the bees 

 from smothering in outside wintering, when the temperature 

 goes as low as 10 degrees below zero? Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. Depends upon the person; with little ex- 

 perience natural swarming is best; with sufficient experience 

 something else may be better. 



2. I've had no experience in that direction, and would 

 rather throw good honey away than to make it into an r.lco- 

 holic beverage. 



3. The entrance should amount to something like two 

 to four square inches, depending upon the strength of the 

 colony. 



* ■ » 



Best Hive— Detecting Queenlessness. 



1. As there are no bee-keepers in this vicinity using 

 patent hives (nothing but the box-hives), I would like yuur 

 advice as to the kind and size to buy. "The main source of 

 honey is white clover. 



2. I heard an old bee-keeper say that he could tell 

 when a colony was queenless by the actions of the bees. I asked 

 him how, but he would not tell. Can you tell me? 



Iowa. 

 Answers. — 1. You will probably be well suited with 

 10-frame dove-tailed hives. If you are working for comb- 

 honey, 8-frame hives may do better, but even in that case 

 it is better to have 10-frame hives unless you expect to give 

 your bees a good deal of attention. There is much more 



danger of starvation in winter with the smaller hives, if they 

 do not have close attention. „ , , , . 



2 I don't believe there is any way to tell whether colonies 

 are queenless without looking in the hive, although a pretty 

 good guess may be made when a colony is carrying in yer>' 

 little pollen when others are carrying in much. If a colony 

 has just become queenless, you may see the bees running 

 about at the outside in an anxious way. 



Drone-Comb Required In a Hive. 



How much drone-comb does an 8-frame hive require? 



California. 



Answer.— If you allow no drone-comb whatever, you 

 will probably have all the drones needed, because the bees 

 will manage to get drone-comb into some corners in spite 

 of you. Yet it is better to encourage drones in one or more 

 of your best colonies (not the ones from which you rear 

 queens), suppressing them in others. Mr. Doohttle's plan is 

 good. Allow one or two square inches of drone-comb in each 

 colony whose drones are to be suppressed, so as to prevent 

 them from building drone-comb: then every two or three 

 weeks shave off the heads of the drone-brood. 



Improved " Frost Proof " Hive. 



I have been interested in bee-culture for the past two 

 years, and am contemplating increasing considerably my 

 apiary the coming season. This will necessitate the purchas- 

 ing of additional hives. I have heretofore used only dove- 

 tailed hives, but a gentleman who has invented and applied 

 for patent on a hive is desirous of furnishing me with his 

 product. He makes a hive which is fastened at the corners 

 by a metal device, which he claims to be a great improve- 

 ment, as the hives can be knocked down at any time; it is 

 frost-proof; and requires no nailing to put together. He 

 also claims he can make them out of basswood instead of 

 pine, as his manner of joining the corners prevents warping. 



In your experience have you found that being able to take 

 the hives apart at any time is of importance? and what 

 do you think of adopting this hive? I can see that it is much 

 easier to put together than the dovetailed pattvn, but if you 

 can see any reason why it would be unsatisfactory in any way, 

 I do not want to invest to any great extent. Illinois. 



Answer.— I know nothing of the particular hive in ques- 

 tion except what you say, but on general principles you may 

 feel pretty safe in saying that 9 out of 10, if not 99 out of 

 100, of supposed improvements are anything but improvements. 

 Just now I cannot think of any advantage there would be 

 under ordinary circumstances in having a hive capable of 

 being taken apart. The only advantage I can think of in 

 any case would be to take the hives apart so as to pack them 

 in less space, but that would apply only to unoccupied hives. 

 The corners of a basswood hive may be held against warping, 

 but would that prevent shrinking and swelling, so as to keep 

 the brood-chamber always of the same depth ? A "frost-proof 

 hive" in northern Illinois sounds like a fairy tale. 



Stimulative Brood-Rearing Feeding Bees-Leasing 

 Ground for an Apiary. 



1. What is the most satisfactory way of stimulating 

 brood-rearing in the spring? 



2. Is not extracted honey and sugar syrup mixed the 

 best feed when it is fed warm? 



3. What should be the proportions? 



4. In feeding is it not better to have all the hive-bottoms 

 perfectly tight, and raise the front somewhat higher than 

 the back end, pouring the syrup in at the entrance? 



5. Can you give a form of agreement in regard to leas- 

 ing ground for locating an apiary? 



6. Should the land-owner be bound to protect the apiary 

 from thieves and stock so far as he is able to do- so? 



West Virginia. 



Answers.— 1. The most satisfactory way for me is to see 

 that the bees have plenty, yes. more than plenty— abundance— 

 of stores, keep them well closed up, and then let them en- 

 tirely alone. If your queens are not so good at laying as to 

 do their best without the lash, or if your locality is such 

 that you have good flying weather without any pasturage, 



