June 29. 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



455 



the larger the hive-body, and, vice versa^ the longer and 

 steadier the flow of honey the smaller the hive-body. 



Now try a small hive with a short, profuse flow for comb 

 honey, as I did at Brst, not knowing any better, and the re- 

 sult will br that without a profuse flow from clover the bees 

 will not work in the sections until the basswood begins to pro- 

 duce, then immediately they will swarm, and before they set- 

 tle down to work the season is over, with sections about half 

 filled. Such a result is a waste of time ; even with large 

 hives the result for comb honey with such a How is no bettor, 

 for the reason that while the swarming can be kept down to 

 some extent, the bees will not work in the sections as long as 

 there is room in the large hive, and the result will be half- 

 filled sections in the end. Thus such a flow is impossible for 

 comb hon(>y under any circumstances. 



Xow having settled on extracted honey as the only suc- 

 cessful form of production for our locality, which shall we 

 use, large or small hives? I say large hives, by all means. 

 With small hives the swarming will begin at the beginning of 

 the main flow, and the settling process, if you try to keep 

 them together, will consume half the period of flow. I say, 

 keep them together, for what could you do with them divided 

 at such a time ? You have two almost worthless colonies for 

 the work in hand. 



Another thing, with this combination, should you be able 

 to keep the swarm together, the hive-body will be so packed 

 with brood that there will be little or no honey, which will 

 make extensive feeding necessary "every fall, which adds 

 greatly to the cost of keeping the bees ; besides, if sugar syrup 

 is fed, the bees will not winter as well as upon good white 

 honey that they have put in and themselves arranged. 



Xow ttese reasons I think sullicient to militate against 

 the small hive for a short flow of honey. For the large hive, 



under the same conditions, there is to be said, first, there is 

 plenty of room for brood and stores for winter, and no over- 

 crowding just before or just at the beginning of themain flow. 

 If up to this time they have not acquired the swarming fever, 

 it is easy to keep them together until the end. Such a condi- 

 tion is ideal ; they are ready to put into the field every avail- 

 able bee to gather honey during the short period of flow. 

 After such a flow, when the honey is sufficiently ripened, the 

 supers can be removed and the bees will still have room 

 enough in a large hive if you do not wish to increase ; should 

 you wish to increase you can remove two frames of brood and 

 stores from each hive and make one booming colony with 

 stores enough for winter, from every four hives, and still 

 leave a plenty in each of the hives so depleted. 



I will say at this point that I consider a large hive one 

 that has a capacity of 12 frames of the common dovetailed 

 hive; anything less is a small hive;. 



Now, for a long, steady flow of honey, I can see why the 

 whole system must be changed, and that small hives would 

 be altogether the best to use. First, because you want the 

 bees to swarm as early as possible, thereby getting two work- 

 ing colonies with two laying queens, and double the working 

 force. The smaller the hive the quicker each (the parent 

 colony and the swarm) will recover from the division of 

 forces, and reach the surplus-storage period. With such a 

 flow comb honey can be produced, because the crowding pro- 

 cess, which is necessary for its production, will not cause a 

 second period of swarming. 



With a fall flow of honey, even with small hives, the bees 

 are likely to have stores for winter, because the surplus ar- 

 rangements for light honey having been removed, and brood- 

 rearing falling ofl', plenty of storage-room is obtained. 



Hennepin Co., Minn. D. D. Leonard. 



r 



\= 



(Dur Scc=l{cepin(3 Sisters 



"^ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



J' 



A Diseoupaged Sister 



I went into last winter with 7 colonies and 

 came through with 6, losing my observatory 

 colony. For the past 4 years our bees have 

 profited us nothing (but experience). Last 

 year I fed all fall and got them into winter 

 and through in nice shape, but just when the 

 fruit-bloom was opening we had a hard 

 freeze, and since the clover came out, and 

 there are acres almost white, we have had 

 such cold, drenching rains that the bees have 

 done nothing, so I have had to feed 2 colonies 

 right when there was plenty of clover and 

 poplar bloom. Do you wonder at me feeling 

 discouraged^ But I do not mean to give up. 

 We will sit about the tires in .luneandbuy 

 sugar to feed the bees, and hope to catch 

 buckwheat and fall bloom. 



Mrs. J. C. Parker. 



Monroe Co., W. Va., .June .3. 



Don't feel too discouraged; the season is 

 not over yet. I distinctly remember just such 

 a season a number of years ago. Plenty of 

 white clover, weather cold and wet, bees 

 starving in .June, dragging out their brood 

 ere we discovered their condition. Had to 

 hustle with the feeding in order to save them. 

 Things looked blue, and yet in spite of all we 

 had a very good crop at the end of the season. 

 So you see you may have a good crop after 

 all. Let's hooe. 



Only Pollen— Finding Queens- 

 StapteFS for Sections 



I do not know as a subscriber is allowed to 

 ask questions twice in one season, but as I am 

 much puzzled and not a little woriied, I am 

 taking the liberty to impose on your kindness 

 once more. 



On May s I transferred a swarm of bees to 

 a new hive to get the frames in such shape 

 that they could be removed. In the new hive 



I put full sheets of comb foundation. Every- 

 thing, apparently, was all right and in good 

 shape when the transfer was made. 



Last week one day I was examining the 

 frames and looking for the queen-cells in the 

 above-mentioned hive, when I noticed perhaps 

 12 or 15 cells among the brood that looked a 

 blackish gray. It looked like a mixture of 

 honey and pollen that had grown— well, not 

 like milkdewed, but yet like iiiilkdewed. 

 Some were hard when I ran a toothpick down, 

 and others were about the consistency of 

 muck or dirt. 



I was at once alarmed, and thought of foul 

 brood, but upon consulting my " A B C of 

 Bee Culture," I found foul brood was entirely 

 different, and could not find anything like it 

 described. Then I came to the conclusion 

 that it was honey and pollen mixed and stored 

 for future use. But the color was so dark, 

 and they all appeared the same but one, which 

 was red. This fact bothered me. I thought 

 of inquiring about it, but thought I would 

 wait a little and see if I could discover for 

 myself what it was. 



Yesterday, upon opening this same hive, I 

 discovered about three times as much as there 

 was the other day, and I am very much wor- 

 ried as one other hive contains a ley/ of these 

 cells. 



Was the lirood or eggs chilled in tiking out 

 the frames, or could the comb foundation 

 have been manufactured from wax from a dis- 

 eased colony? I must mention that some of 

 the cells were about half full of the substance, 

 and others would only have a little, but they 

 all seemed a little sticky when a toothpick 

 was run down. All cells were uncapped con- 

 taining this substance. Have I any cause to 

 be alarmed for fear of spreading among the 

 other colonies? 



I read a short time ago in the American Bee 

 Journal how to divide the colonies so I would 

 not have to bother cfttching swarms if busy. 

 This struck me as au excellent idea, as I work 

 during the day. Bui the thing that bothers 

 me is how to find the queen moderately quick. 



All but one of my colonies are very large and 

 strong, and yesterday — and only then by mere 

 chance — was the first and only time I have 

 succeeded in finding one of my queens. They 

 are not clipped. I don't like to do it. Is 

 there a way to find her quickly other than 

 taking out each frame — center frames first — 

 and hunting for her among the other beesi I 

 have looked repeatedly in each hive I open to 

 see her, and I do not seem to be able to find 

 her. I know she is there as there are brood 

 and eggs. 



In my sections last year I put a square 

 piece of starter. This year I put in a three- 

 cornered piece, letting the point hang down. 

 The bees seem to take to it much better. I 

 make the piece about IJa inches, or 1'^ inches 

 on each edge. Is that a large enough piece 

 of starter? I had only one comb crooked last 

 year, and the starters were about 1 inch by IJ-^ 

 inches last year, with the long end hanging. 

 This may soem a simple question to " one 

 who knows," but a beginner has to learn all 

 these simple things. 



I would like an answer as soon as conven- 

 ient in my turn, as I am desirous of checking 

 the mischief if it is one to be checked, and I 

 should also like to know how to stop it. 



.June 13. Miss Michigan. 



Don't be worried about asking questions. 

 You are at liberty to ask as many as you wish. 

 We are always glad if we can be of service in 

 helping to overcome your difficulties. 



Now as to the cells you speak of. I think 

 there is no reason for you to be alarmed, for, 

 judging from your description, I should say 

 it was pollen, and a very good thing it is for 

 the bees, too, large quantities being used in 

 brood-rearing. Y'ou will find that the quan- 

 tity will steadily increase, and instead of be- 

 ing two colors there may be as many as half a 

 dozen ditlorent colors. If you will notice 

 closely I think you will find that there is 

 much more of this substance iu the outside 

 frame, on one ur l)0th sides of the brood-nest: 

 as the season is well advanced you will find 

 these frames almost solid pollen. 



With regard lo finding queens, I can speak 

 from much experience, that particular part of 

 the work generally falling to my lot, and 

 sometimes I find from 3.5 to lOU queens in a 

 day, doing nwve or less of it through the en- 

 tire season. Practice is what you need; 

 however, I mi^ht mention a few things that 

 will help you. 



First, give your bees just as little smoke as 

 possible to keep them quiet. In opening 



