April 6, 1905. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



265 



=\ 



Doctor lllillcr's 

 Question - Box 



J 



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

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



Black Bees— Italians or Carniolans Perhaps the Best 



1. I enclose a few bees. They are the only kind here noW( and 1 

 would like to know what strain they are. 



2. I am a beginner, and would like to know what kind of bees are 

 the best for this part of the country? Missodri. 



Answers. — 1. They appear to be the common black bee with a 

 very slight admixture of Italian blood. 



2. You will probably do well with Italians, and perhaps with 

 Carniolans. 



^ • » 



Feeding Bees— Wintering Bees— Preventing Swarming 



1. I have n colonies of bees, 3 are in the cellar and 2 outside. 

 Those in the cellar we put out a few days ago for a flight. The tem- 

 perature was 50 degrees in the shade. They were all in good condi- 

 tion but one, which was short of honey. We put on a super contain- 

 ing a few chunks of honey before putting them back in the cellar in 

 the evening. Is it right to feed them that way in the cellar? 



2. Is it better to leave them in the cellar until spring, or give 

 them a flight? The temperature of our cellar is about 33 degrees in 

 cold weather. 



3. I must get some new bee-hives this spring, and would like to 

 know which are the best. I had thought of getting the 10-frame dove- 

 tailed with T tin supers that could be used with any width sections. 

 I haven't mucn time to attend to the bees. 



4. Will a swarm be larger from a 10-frame hive than from an s- 

 frame? 



5. Will a colony winter better in a 10-frame hive outside and also 

 in the cellar? 



6. I can't walk across the bee-yard without getting stung. How 

 do you account for it? 



7. Would a good drink of whiskey do any good? 



8. To keep the bees from swarming should all the queen- cells be 

 cut out after swarming? 



9. Will bees swarm as often from a 10-frame hive as from an S- 

 frame? Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, only make sure that the bees have reached the 

 honey. 



2. Having had a flight in March they will hardly need a flight 

 again till taken out for good, say when soft maples bloom, or later, if 

 the weather does not seem warm and settled. 



3. Your choice is good. 



4. In general, swarms should be larger from larger hives, but 

 there are exceptions. 



5. Yes, for one who, as in your case, has little time to give them. 



6. I don't know. Possibly you have a cross strain of bees which 

 would be improved by getting a queen of gentler blood, and possibly 

 you are a little rough in handling them, so as to keep them irritated. 



7. I don't know how whiskey would affect bees, but it it works 

 as it does on most men, it would only make them worse. If you were 

 to drink the stutf yourself, I should expect the smell to anger the 

 bees, but if you'd drink enough the stings won't hurt you— say enough 

 to make you dead drunk. 



8. You may keep them from swarming if you cut out all queen- 

 cells but one before the first virgin emerges, or by cutting out aU cells 

 after piping begins. 



9. As a rule, no. 



Your tenth question relates to the reliability of a supply-dealer. 

 That question is just a bit outside the scope of this department, but I 

 feel safe in saying that no advertisement is admitted into the columns 

 of the American Bee Journal unless it is believed that the advertiser 

 is entirely reliable for what he advertises. 



Foul Brood- 



Feeding— Increase— Hive-Entrance in Win 

 ter— Painted Hives 



1. How early in spring can bees be treated if they have foul broo' I ' 



2. What Is the best method for increase? 



3. Will the bees leave dead brood in the combs over winter in any 

 other case than that of foul brood? 



4. How much sugar syrup should be fed in a day after the bees 

 have been treated? 



5. How shall I feed them, and ought it to be done in the daytime 

 or at night? 



6. I have 5 colonies of bees (one is small and queenless) that 

 would make about 4 good ones. To what number could I increaf?" 



7. How large ought the hive-entrance to be for wintering b«i i 

 the cellar? 



8. Is it best to remove the quilt and put the cover on or not? 



9. If I paint the front of all my hives different, and have the hives 

 about 2 feet apart, will the bees know iheir own hives? Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. Usually no treatment is undertaken until bees are 

 busy gathering. 



2. I don't know. The best way for one may not be best tor 

 another. Study up the plans given in your bee-books, and you may 

 be able better than any one else to decide what is best for you. It you 

 have had no experience, natural swarming may be best. If you decide 

 on artificial increase, you will find it very fully treated in the book, 

 " Forty Years Among the Bees." 



3. It is not likely to occur, and yet it is perhaps possible that dead 

 brood might be left in an outside comb over winter. Of course you 

 understand that live brood may be found in the combs in March, and 

 sometimes as early as January in your latitude. 



4. Nectar should be yielding, so that there will be no need of feed- 

 ing. If a sudden dearth should occur, a colony should receive a pint 

 or more of syrup daily. 



5. If you are at all careless about starting robbing, evening is the 

 best time to feed, but with the Miller and some other feeders you may 

 feed at any time unless you take special pains to start robbing. 



6. It will vary greatly. In a flush season an experienced hand 

 would increase to 30 or more. In a poor season an inexperienced 

 hand will do well to hold his numbers without increase. 



7. The larger the better. Some have the bottom removed entirely. 

 My hive-entrances are 13 by 2 inches, and I should not like to have 

 them smaller, and yet I have wintered bees well with one-fourth as 

 large an entrance. 



8. Just as well to leave all on till time to put on supers. 



9. I don't know just how much difference it makes to have hives- 

 ot different colors, but it is supposed that bees recognize colors; but 

 if there is a space of 3 feet between hives there ought to be no trouble 

 even with the same color, especially if trees or other objects help to 

 mark location. You can do still better by putting your hives in pairs : 

 2 close together, a space of 2 feet, 3 together, a space, and so on. Con- 

 tradictory as it may sound, the bees will have less trouble finding their 

 own hives in this way than when no hive is nearer than 3 feet from its 



neighbor. 



^ 



Caucasian Queens Crossed with Cyprians 



Where can I get Caucasian queens? I still have those mean bees, 

 which no one dares to go near. I believe I have requtened 3 times 

 from the black bees to the present " hornets," and they get worse, it 

 seems to me. Will a cross with Caucasians and these hornets (mostly 

 Cyprian blood, I think) be a good stock? I must get gentler bees, or 

 quit. South Carolina. 



Answer. — I don't know where you will get Caucasian queens, but 

 from what you say about your bees the probability is that they would 

 be improved by a cross with Caucasians, or with aiiythiiiri else. Very 

 soon you ought to find advertisements of different queen8,%nd I would 

 not be discouraged yet, even if previous attempts in changing blood 

 have not brought desired results. 



Bees Hiving Themselves-ltallanlzing-Laws Against 

 Spraying 



I am an amateur bee-keeper— just bought the first 2 colonies of 

 black bees in box-hives ; and I have just received my second copy of 

 the American Bee Journal, with which I also secured Prof. Cook's 

 " Bee-Keepers' Guide " and Newman's "Bees and Honey." I want 

 all the information I can obtain in regard to bees, and as I can not find 

 all that I desire in the literature which I have, I want to ask a few 

 questions. 



1. I bought the 2 colonies of black bees merely to gain experience 

 before investing heavily in Italians. I intend to use the Danzenbaker 

 hive, as from what I can read I inter that it is the best for comb 

 honey. If I place an empty hive near the old colony, will not the new 

 swarm be quite likely to enter it of their own will, instead of fiying 

 off a long distance to a less desirable home in a hollow tree? It this 

 plan has never been tried it may prove successful in a large percen- 

 tage of cases, and, if so, it will save a (,'reat deal of trouble. 



2. Has a bee-keeper in New York State any redress if a neighbor 

 kills his bees by spraying poisonous substances into fruit-blossoms 

 when trees are in full bloom? 



3. Several apiaries have been entirely destroyed in this town in 

 this manner. So many bee-keepers have given *= 

 fruit-growing district that I concb led to try it. For this reason do 

 you not think that I was wise to ouy cheap, common bees to experi- 

 ment with the first year? 



4. If I meet with success with my small venture this year, what is 

 your advice as to going into the business on a large scale? 



5. Would you advise me to Italianize by introducing first-class 

 queens? or would you entirely destroy all the common bees and buy 

 full colonies of Italians? 



6. If I introduce a flrst-class, high-priced Italian queen into each 

 colony of the blacks, will they gradually merge into pure Italians, or 

 will they be hybrids? 



7. I can sell all the fine comb hooey I can produce at a good price, 

 if I have it in one-pound sections. Do you advise the use of the Dan- 

 zenbaker hive for this purpose? 



8. How many colonies of bees could I keep successfully on 5 acres 

 of land covered with fruit-trees and i-lover? 



I am entirely ignorant regardiot: bees and bee-keeping. I never 

 owned a bee, nor had anything to do with them before in my life, and 



