146 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 23, 1905. 



3. In case of starvation isn't the queen one of the last 

 to die? 



4. Is it possible that the mild winter has led to unsea- 

 sonable brood-rearing and egg-laying, and undue tax on the 

 queen? 



5. In that case would the fact of considerable part of 

 the stores being non-nitrogenous sugar-water work destruc- 

 tion to the queen or not? 



6. Do bees ever supersede a queen in winter? If so, 

 how could they rear a new queen without her being an un- 

 fertilized drone-layer? 



7. Would you think it at all likely that they superseded 

 last September, but left the original queen on the combs, 

 as sometimes happens (so I have read) till she died 

 naturally? 



8. Would you be inclined to think that that hive has no 

 queen ? 



9. Assuining it is not destroyed by robbing, how early 

 next spring, if winter continues mild, will that colony cease 

 to exist, or at least fall below the point of easy building up? 



10. Is it possible to introduce a queen in winter in an 

 outdoor hive? If so, how? 



11. I notice in bee-papers one Southern queen-breeder 

 advertises, "I can send you a queen any month in the year 

 and guarantee safe arrival." And another, "Queens from 

 now until Feb. 1, $— each." Would it be advisable to at- 

 tempt to secure a new queen now, or do these advertisers 

 mean these offers only for their Southern customers? 



13. If you had this colony what line of action would 

 you pursue to make the best of the matter for the coming 

 season? Indiana. 



Answers.— 1. No. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. 



4. Even if the queen should lay several times as much 

 as usual in winter, it would still be a small amount com- 

 pared with her full capacity, and would not be likely to have 

 any appreciable effect on her health and strength. 



5. The lack of nitrogenous food would have for one 

 effect to save the queen from laying, and it couldn't kill the 

 queen without killing the other bees. 



6. Probably not. I don't know for certain just what 

 would be the result in all cases if a queen were killed in win- 

 ter. If at a time when brood was present they might rear 

 a queen, and it is among the possibilities that she might be 

 fertilized as soon as drones were flying; but it is not likely 

 that such a queen would be valuable. 



7. It is entirely possible. It is also possible that she 

 was killed on the occasion of the robbing mentioned. 



8. The probabilities are in that direction, but you can't 

 be sure until you find no brood in spring when all other colo- 

 nies have brood well under way. 



3. Not till in honey harvest if laying was kept up well 

 m the fall. 



10 and 11. Yes, you can introduce in winter the same 

 way as in summer, but it is hardly advisable. It would 

 disturb the colony unnecessarily, and there would be no par- 

 ticular gain. Even with guaranteed arrival, she might not 

 arrive m as good condition as later. 



12. I'm not sure whether it's worth while to tell you 

 what / would do, for bee-keepers who have been no longer 

 in the business than you have are almost certain to think it of 

 more importance to have a large number of hives with bees 

 in than to have a large number of bees in each hive The 

 chances are 99 in 100 that I would break up the colony 

 when spring opened— of course on the supposition that it is 

 queenless or has a worthless queen— distributing combs and 

 bees to colonies that would be the better for strengthening That 

 would leave all in shape so that by fall I'd have more good 

 colonies than if I had coaxed along the queenless one. But 

 you'll hardly be willing to break up that colony, and vou can 

 keep gradually adding brood from other colonies and buy a 

 queen to introduce near the opening of the honev harvest. But 

 if you can steel yourself to be so hard-hearted, you'd better 

 break up a colony that is queenless in the spring. 



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

 booking orders for untested Italian queens to be delivered 

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

 scriber whose own subscription to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal is paid at least to the end of 1905, we will give 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 sample.?, let us know how many you want 

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

 office of the American Bee Journal. 



=\ 



(£ont)cntton 

 Proccebtngs 



ONTARIO BEE-KEEPERS' CONVENTION. 



REPORTED BY MORLEY PETTIT. 



(Continued from page 119 ) 

 The Question Drawer was reversed from the usual order. 

 The president chose a subject, subdivided it, and asked the 

 members leading questions. 



PRODUCING COMB HONEY. 



1. What race of bees would you choose for producing 

 comb honey? 



R. F. Holtermann would choose Carniolans, if it were not 

 for their tendency to swarm. They are hardy, build up well in 

 spring, cap white, use little propolis; in fact, seem to have 

 only one fault ; but on that account, in a locality where the 

 flow is continuous, and inducement to swarm great, they 

 must be strongly mixed with Italian blood. 



Jacob Alpaugh — A cross between Italians and blacks pro- 

 duces good comb honey. Blacks cap whiter but do not store 

 so well. There is a great difference in Italian bees. 



WHAT SIZED HIVE WOULD YOU USE? 



Morley Pettit prefers the 10-frame Langstroth. 



F. J. Miller considers the Heddon hive excellent for 

 either comb or extracted honey. 



Jno. Fixter for five years got more honey from a 10- 

 frame than from either the 8-frame or 12-frame hive. 



Mr. Sibbald said last year if the hive is too large put in 

 a division-board and run the hive at the capacity it has at 

 the beginning of the flow. 



R. H. Smith — How about uniting at the beginning of 

 the honey-flow? 



Mr. Holtermann — I do not care for uniting at any time. 



Morley Pettit — The main thing is to equalize brood. 

 This can be done by taking from the strong and giving to the 

 weak. It should be capped brood, and not more than one or 

 two combs at a time from any hive. 



TIME OF PUTTING ON SUPERS. 



Mr. Alpaugh — I would make sure to have supers on in 

 plenty of time. I do not find the bees do the foundation 

 any harm before the season. It is after the honey-flow is 

 over that they gnaw and wax it. 



R. H. Smith — I would not put on supers until the bees 

 are ready to work in them. If you have a super drawn out 

 from last year, put that on first; but be sure last year's honey 

 is extracted out of it. A good way to get well-filled sections 

 is to put on extracting supers until the bees swarm, then put 

 sections on the swarm. But sometimes the season is half 

 over and not nearly so much comb is obtained. 



Mr. Holtermann — We must consider the most paying 

 system. To wait until the bees swarm may give the best 

 quality, but the quantity is so much less that the money 

 returns are entailed. In any case, sections must not be put 

 on until the end of the dark honey flow. Where a rasp- 

 berry honey counts, the honey from it often runs on into the 

 white clover season and injures quality considerably. 



SECTION FOUNDATION, AND HOW PUT IN? 



How much foundation would you use in a section? And 

 how would you put it in? 



The consens'us of opinion was that the section should 

 be filled with foundation. 



R. H. Smith said it should fit the sides and bottom to 

 1-16 inch. 



F. J. Miller fastens foundation with a hot-plate machine, 

 and uses a bottom-starter. 



H. G. Sibbald, whose comb honey took first prize at the 

 Honey Show, uses what he calls an old-fashioned method. 

 He puts the section together, puts the foundation in, and 

 runs melted wax around, fastening it on all four sides. 



Mr. Holtermann — You cannot get good sections without 

 full-fitting foundation. Too many supply dealers turn out 



