280 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 13, 1905. 



of the 2 they had clustered between where the honey was 

 partly consumed. 



Was it a queenless colony ? When I scraped up all the 

 dead bees in it there was not enough to fill a pint cup. I 

 found several queen-cells started. There was no disease, 

 for everything smelled as sweet as new, and it had less bees 

 in it with all that honey than either of the other 2, and all 

 3 hives were perfectly dry. I took special care in packing 

 them for winter the latter part of September. 



I had been in very poor health during the summer, so 

 did not take the pains to examine them to see if each colony 

 had its queen, feeling satisfied that they did, as they seemed 

 to be doing all right. The bees have always been wintered 

 on the summer stands, and with very little loss. 



There was no sign of moths. I am puzzled to know 

 why all that honey is in that hive. I could scarcely lift it, 

 and instead of clustering in the center of the frames under 

 the Hill's device, they clustered between 2 of the outside 

 frames. Mrs. Mary A. Ray. 



Adams Co., Ohio, Feb. 22. 



1. Not necessarily ; and yet it might be ; not so much 

 the intense cold as the long continued cold. 



2. Almost certainly that one colony was queenless. The 

 starting of queen-cells is one evidence, provided there was 

 anything in them. The mere presence of cups started with 

 nothing in them is no indication of queenlessness, for these 

 may be found in any hive. The case was probably some- 

 thing like this : It was a strong colony, and by some means 

 became queenless some time before the close of the honey 

 harvest. Other colonies were busy storing in supers, while 

 this one was doing a large part of its storing in the brood- 

 chamber, filling up the brood-combs with honey as fast as 

 the young bees emerged from them. In this way you will 

 see that a strong queenless colony is the very one that 

 should be heaviest in stores ; for other colonies could not 

 fill the brood-combs so long as brood was in them, and this 

 one had no brood to prevent the honey going into the brood- 

 chamber. 



^ 



Bees Gathering Pollen— Wintered Well 



Our bees were taken out of the cellar March 27. and 

 were bringing in pollen shortly after being put out. They 

 seem to have wintered well, having been in the cellar four 

 months. To-day it was too windy for them to fly at all. 

 Soft maple is in full bloom. 



(Miss) Mary Theilmann. 



Wabasha Co., Minn., March 29. 



Moving Bees a Short Distance 



I have about 100 colonies which are on a couple of vil- 

 lage lots, and which I wish to move outside the corpora- 

 tion (a distance of about five or six blocks) in April or May. 

 How can I move them at that time of the year so the bees 

 will stay in their new location ? 



My bees have wintered very nicely, and most of the 

 colonies appear quite strong, but I suppose there will be 

 some loss. I notice the mice have been very bad in some 

 hives. 



I trust you have been very fortunate in wintering yours, 

 and wish you "good luck." Mathii.de Candler. 



Grant Co., Wis., March 1. 



In April or May the bees will already have made many 

 flights, and without special precaution, when moved so 

 short a distance, a large number will return to the old 

 stand. If you will move them two or three miles away, and 

 then return them to the new place after two or three weeks, 

 they will be likely to stay put. That's very troublesome, 

 and you would probably rather lose more bees and have less 

 trouble. Shut them up in their hives for two or three 

 weeks, and move them to the new place before liberating 

 them. But some of them would smother, and many bees 

 worry themselves to death. Well, you can compromise. 

 Shut them in their hives in the evening, or any time when 

 all are in the hives. If the weather should be cool enough 

 not to fear smothering, they might remain thus imprisoned 

 two or more days. More likely it will be so warm that you 

 will feel you must move them the next forenoon. No need 

 ^o be so very careful in moving them gently ; fully as well 

 ^o knock them about a bit. As fast as you move them away 

 lean up the old ground, and don't leave any stands or 

 mpty hives standing about. The object is to have the old 



ground look as little like home as possible, so that if any 

 bees should return they will not feel like staying. 



After all are moved you are ready to open entrances. 

 Go to a hive and smoke and pound upon it till the bees are 

 thoroughly frightened and roaring loud and strong. Less 

 pounding will do if they are already roaring before you 

 touch the hive. When you think they are suflSciently ex- 

 cited open the entrance, setting before it a board so as to 

 prevent the bees from shooting out in a straight line- After 

 all are opened see if you find many bees at the old place 

 that act as if they had a notion of staying there. If you do, 

 itmaybewell to set for them a hive filled with empty 

 combs. Then when flight has ceased in the evening, dis- 

 tribute these bees in the new apiary where you think they 

 will do the most good, perhaps shaking them down in front 

 of entrances. If they come back next day repeat the 

 process. 





=/ 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



SHORT HONET-DBABTH A BLESSING. 



Mr. Morley Pettit may be right that a short period of severe 

 dearth in the midst of the season is often a blessing, in that the drones 

 are killed off and swarm-fever stops. How nice it would be to have 

 bees on a barge and tow them to barren regions for a few days, and 

 then tow them bacl;. 



Imaginable that two smokers running in a room that is not alto- 

 gether bee-tight might help some in keeping bees out — but, murder- 

 ation! What sort of beings inhabit Mr. P.'s locality, that they can 

 consent to worlc in a choking, glimmering gloom so suggestive of bad 

 regions? Page 119. 



GRANULATED HONEY — AN " END-STINGER." 



To teach customers that the natural condition of honey is granu- 

 lated—I'm afeared that would be stretching the truth a little. With 

 the honey in the comb, and the comb in the hive, and the hive in the 

 best of condition, granulation is the exceptional and not the usual 

 state. Also it is a state which the bees themselves manifestly don't 

 like, in that they very generally throw the granules away. 



for a stinger at the last end, that " make good use of your money 

 when you get it," is just the thing, Mr. Pettit. The dull and ordinary 

 essayist would surely have left that off as not strictly bee-ological. 

 There is such a thing as sticking too close to the text when the pews 

 sadly need some " general applications." Page 119. 



WAX AND RBLIQUEFIED HONEY. 



1 should want Mr. Armstrong to wipe his specs and examine his 

 facts once more. Don't believe there is any wax in the foam that 

 rises out of the interior of granulated honey when it is reliquefied. 

 Wax all rises while the honey is at rest previous to granulation. How- 

 ever, propolis usually contains a small percent of wax. It is imagin- 

 able that a can of honey might have some propolis settled to the bot- 

 tom that would yield a trifle of wax when subjected to heat. Propolis 

 sinks in water— can't say that I ever saw it sink in ripe honey. 

 Page 119. 



WORKING UP A HONEY MARKET. 



It's a wise suspicion of Dr. Emmons that his excellent home mar- 

 ket for honey came largely as the result of not trying to make a mar- 

 ket—giving away all his surplus at first, and getting to sell only as 

 his crops increased, and even then with a sort of reluctance. Con- 

 vinced the flies that he was not a spider . Underneath the diligent culti- 

 vation of the market (whicli the papers so properly tell us about) the 

 Hies oft imagine that they hear the traditional, " Will you walk into 

 my parlor?" And they whisper to themselves, " That spider will not 

 catch me." Page 135. 



FEEDING AN OBSBBVATION COLONY. 



Allen Latham's suggestions about feeding bees in an observation 

 hive are good ; but I think we need something decidedly better — some 

 sort of feeding-chamber right adjacent tO-the back end of the frame, 

 where robbing-bees could not get it short of first fighting the colony. 

 It would increase the cost of the hive a trifle; but it could be made 

 more convenient than setting a saucer and tumbler on the window- 

 sill. Page 126. 



"bathos" INSTEAD OF "PATHOS." 



In my second paragraph on page 136, read bathos in place of 

 " pathos." 



SOLIDIFYING OF LIQUID SUGAR AND HONEY. 



As to the conundrum on page 131, about the solidifying of liquid 

 sugar and liquid honey, I should say the former is sharp and hard, 

 with some exceptions, while the latter is soft and cloud-like, with 

 some exceptions. Not very satisfying from the logician's point of 



