Sept, 7, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



635 



f 



Doctor ITHUcr's ^ucstion^Sox 



=\ 



\= 



Send QuestioDS either to the office of the Americau Bee Journal, 



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



^^ Dr. Miller does iu>t answer Questions by mail. 



Jf 



Treatment of a Weak Colony- 

 ins Bees 



Loaf- 



1. How will it do to set a weak colony on 

 the stand of a strong one, and the strong one 

 on the stand of the weak one? Or, would it 

 be best to give the weak colony brood and bees 

 from the strong onel 



3. What makes the bees loaf so much when 

 there is plenty of buckwheat bloom? They 

 hang out and seem to be lazy. 



West Virginia. 



Answers. — 1. In making a weak colony 

 take the place of a strong one, there is some 

 danger that the queen may be killed. It is 

 safer to give brood. Bees may also be given 

 with the brood, but the bees added should not 

 be more than about a fourth as many as the 

 bees already io the hive. A nice way is to 

 exchange frames of unsealed brood for frames 

 of sealed brood. 



2. It is not because the bees are lazy, but 

 because they are wise enough not to wear 

 themselves out when there is no nectar in the 

 tlowers. See answer to Kansas, page 603. 



Swarming Management 

 Bees 



Wintering 



1. My bees are a quarter of a mile from 

 the house, and I clipped the queens' wings 

 last spring; but being so far away, and not 

 being able to be with them all of the time, I 

 have lost a good many swarms. Another year 

 could I not buy a drone and queen trap for 

 each hive, attend to them every night, and 

 divide what I want for increase, so I would 

 not have to be with them all of the time? 



2. Ought I to build a shelter for the bees or 

 will the}' winter here all right without pro- 

 tection * Colorado. 



Answers— 1. Yes, it will work. There is 

 danger that some swarms will return to the 

 wrong hives, but that is better than to have 

 them sail off entirely. 



2. While it may not be absolutely necessary 

 in your locality, it is well that there be some- 

 thing to break the force of the winds. 



Management of Swarmlng- 

 Brood-Nest— Hives 



Size of 



I started with 2 colonies (in the spring of 

 1893) in 8-frame hives. I now have 36 colo- 

 nies, 6 in Langstroth lOframe, 4in S-frame 

 hives, and all the rest in common store boxes 

 with slats and end-pieces to hold the combs. 

 Is it not possible in using the Heddon system 

 in swarming, with these boxes, to get more 

 money out of it in the end than to buy new 

 hives at $2 each, since with this system, as I 

 understand it, there is no need to overhaul 

 the bees to cut out cells or anything of the 

 kind? 



I never read anything about bees until this 

 season. Of course I now see where I could 

 have prevented so much swarming, but at the 

 same time I wanted to get into the bee-busi- 

 ness, therefore the increase was all right for 

 me. 



1. In the shook swarm method (or the 

 other method of hiving the new swarm on 

 the old stand) why couldn't we place the old 

 hive (with all queen-cells cut out) right un- 

 der the new swarm until the bees have all 

 hatched, then we have a hive for more bees 

 again f This continual increase means more 

 hires, and there comes a time when we would 

 like to call a halt. 



3. What is the matter with closing the hive 

 tight when the swarm commences to issue, 

 keeping it closed until the bees will not take 



to wing when released, as described by J. T. 

 Adams in the .June 15 issue of Gleanings for 

 1903? 



3. Does the anticipated swarming method 

 of Adrian Getaz, described in the American 

 Bee Journal of .June 16, 1904, work out accord- 

 ing to schedule? 



4. A beginner sees so much in print that 

 seems to be contradictory. For instance : Of 

 course in the early spring we want increase, 

 and lots of it. Some advise a second story to 

 give room for the queen, etc. Then we read 

 what Mr. Danzenbaker has to say in regard 

 to his hive, and one of his strongest claims is 

 just the reverse. He says we need a smaller 

 brood-nest, etc. 



Then I read of a lady who keeps down 

 swarming by puffing a little smoke in at the 

 entrance when the swarm commences to 

 issue. This stops the swarming note, she 

 says. Then the next morning she shakes the 

 swarm into a new hive on the old stand and 

 plaees tfte ohi our in Hera 6 or S high on a strong 

 colony. Very good. Then I read that should 

 you put even one swarm into an old hive with 

 brood, there would not be enough nurse-bees 

 to take care of all the brood, but if you 

 should put 3 swarms into such a hive there 

 would be enough such bees, and such method 

 was advised. Now comes the question, How 

 many bees would it take to care for the (i ur S 

 eolonies tiered up over even a strong colony? 



5. What would you advise me to do? I am 

 a pharmacist, and therefore can give only a 

 small part of my time to the bees. I can have 

 enough of these store boxes ready for another 

 season without any cost except for paint. Or 

 would it be better for me to buy new hives 

 for another year; I am getting honey, and 

 I have some new colonies which I think will 

 give me 3 supers full, as I have 2 already. I 

 am running for comb honey altogether, and 

 winter the bees in the cellar. Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. You'll never reach the point 

 where year after year you'll have just enough 

 hives and all constantly occupied. Some ex- 

 tra hives must always be on hand. But that 

 isn't answering your question. You can 

 easily make a trial of your plan, and one trial 

 will probably satisfy you that poor wor^c will 

 be done in an empty hive over the brood. In 

 one case I had a queen thus placed — over an 

 excluder— and she stayed there 3 weeks with- 

 out laying an egg. 



3. I don't know how it would work in your 

 locality, but I feel almost sure the colony 

 would swarm as soon as the oldest virgin 

 could go with them. Mr. Adams says in his 

 locality he has no afterswarms. But if you 

 could control theiu till all the virgins but one 

 were killed, you might come out all right. 



3. When I see the name of Adrian (ietaz 

 attached to a statement, I feel I can rely upon 

 that statement. The system he gives is in 

 good repute acro^^s the water, and I wonder 

 that it doesn't make headway here. Excep- 

 tions to the wui Kiug of the plan will no doubt 

 occur, just as exceptions occur in the usual 

 manner of shaking swarms. 



4. Different views are entertained as to size 

 of brood-nest, but the difference you speak of 

 may be accountfi! fur by the fact that differ- 

 ent times are talked about. When a colony 

 is building up for ine in the spring, it is im- 

 possible to give ! ' much room for a brood- 

 nest so long as ii is fully occupied by the 

 bees; but during the harvest it would be 

 ruinous to have tr limited room in the brood- 

 chamber. It won ii mean not an ounce of 

 comb honey. 



A colony cover!:,- 8 or 10 combs in winter 

 will laugh at a i 'iji>erature30 degrees below 

 zero, while anui.. covering only a single 

 comb would frcu/.i to death. Same thing in 

 summer. Take a ogle comb sparsely cov- 

 ered with bees, an^, the brood will be chilled 



in a little while. Take 8 or 10 such combs 

 together, with the same proportion of bees, 

 and the brood will be all tight. When you 

 make a shaken swarm, and put the brood in 

 an empty hive, you may put in so few bees 

 that the brood will suffer. It will of course 

 take more bees to take care of two stories of 

 combs than it will to take care of one story; 

 but it iritl not take twice ati many bees. The 

 larger number of such combs you have in a 

 pile, the smaller the proportion of bees 

 needed to keep the brood warm. I don't 

 know for certain, but I think there are 

 enough bees in one strong colony to care for 

 the brood in (! or 8 hive-bodies tiered up. If 

 necessary, the whole field-force could remain 

 in the hive to keep things warm, and some of 

 them might even lend a hand at feeding 

 babies. 



."i. In getting ready empty hives for next 

 season, have part of them one kind and part 

 the other, and decide from your own experi- 

 ence which you like the better. I should 

 advise that you try only a small part of the 

 store-box kind, only that the cost is so little 

 that you won't mind throwing them away if 

 they don't suit you. And I have a suspicion 

 that they won't suit you so well as the other 

 kind. But don't grumble at me at the trouble 

 of transferring all from the boxes later on. 



White and Yellow Sweet Clovers 



I have read that there are two kinds of 

 sweet clover, white and yellow, and I would 

 like to know which is the better to sow on 

 ground which is not under cultivation ; for 

 instance, waysides, fence-corners, etc. Which 

 of the two varieties is to be preferred as a 

 drouth-resister, and are they also used as for- 

 age-plants ; My intention is to sow it for the 

 bees, especially on waste ground, but I would 

 like to know for what other purpose it could 

 be used. 



I have heard that sweet clover grows like 

 weeds and blooms for a long time during the 

 summer. If this is so, I would like to give it 

 a trial, but would like to hear something defl- 

 nite about the plant before I purchase any 

 seed. Indiana. 



Answer.— As to kind of soil and as to re- 

 sisting drouth, there is probably no difference 

 between white and yellow sweet clover. The 

 chief difference is in the time of blooming, 

 the yellow blooming first. Some say it is two 

 weeks earlier than the white, some say four. 

 As a forage-plant, some esteem it highly, 

 others say it is worthless. It is probably 

 good in all cases where stock have learned to 

 eat it. I have never seen much of the yellow, 

 but from what I have seen I judge it does not 

 grow so luxuriant as the white, and so would 

 not yield so much forage. If you have abun- 

 dance of white clover, the white sweet clover 

 may be better for you than the yellow, for the 

 white sweet clover comes into bloom before 

 white clovei is done. 



Reports a\\ii 

 CSxpertences 



"Raised" Kot "Reared" 



On page hft^. in my letter on ''White Honey 

 Almost a Failure," in next to the last para- 

 graph, it should read, ''no brood niiso? " 

 from below to the upper stories instead of "no 

 brood reared," which makes it unintelligible. 

 B. T. Davenport. 



Hard Winter— Fairly Good Yield 



Last wiiiiei- was a hard one for the bee- 

 keeper. Aijuut 50 percent of the bees were 

 lost in this part of the State. But spring 

 opened nice and warm, so the bees built up 

 first-rate. Swarming has not been excessive, 

 the clover yield being rather late, commen- 

 cing about .1 jue '30. Up to date I have some- 

 thing like '.'■ pounds of honey to the colony, 

 present ci .iit. I double up all swarms which 



