82 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



May 



queen is in the lower hive. Usually she 

 will not pass the section super to again 

 reach the upper case of combs. By 

 such manipulation the super, to a very 

 great extent, takes the place of the 

 queen-excluding honey-board, with the 

 advantage of a more direct communica- 

 tion. The queen should not be allow- 

 ed to stay in the upper or extracting 

 case, as we will call it, for the bees will 

 carry pollen thereto, which will cause 

 more or less fermentation in the honey 

 when extracted. 



Another point right here: When 

 there is brood of the proper age in the 

 super shut ofT from the main hive by 

 means of a super or a queen-excluder, 

 the bees are very apt to construct 

 queen cells. These should be looked 

 after and removed, or the young queen 

 will go down and destroy the old one 

 at a time when her loss may greatly af- 

 fect the yield of surplus honey. 



The super should be made absolutely 

 air tight above, for the bees hesitate 

 about placing honey near any opening 

 that admits air, and to some extent, 

 light. 



If the colony shows by the common 

 habit of clustering on the front of the 

 hive, that it wants more and cooler air 

 within, give it at the bottom of the 

 hive always. The habit of giving ex- 

 tra supers of sections to cool the hive, 

 at a time when the bees are doing but 

 little work in the one they have, I con- 

 sider, very impracticable. An auger 

 hole in the middle of the side boards, 

 and also end boards of the brood cham- 

 ber, in addition to the regular entrance, 

 is a wonderful source of comfort to the 

 bees. These holes will not be used to 

 any extent, as flight holes; but aside 

 from their freer ventilation they aflford, 

 its tendency is to keep the bees from 

 storing too largely in the outside combs 

 for reasons above given. 



I do not like drone comb for use in 

 extracting stories. If there is little or 

 none in the brood chamber, the queen 

 is apt to pass through the section super 

 to get to it, while, a queen-excluding 

 honey-board will prevent her from do- 

 ing this. The bees will often reserve a 

 goodly portion of the comb for her, at 

 a time when honey is plentiful. This 

 causes dissatisfaction on the part of the 

 bees, and I am inclined to the belief 

 that many excellent queens are "balled" 

 by the workers simply from an inabil- 

 ity to get through the honey-board and 

 gratify their wishes. Drone comb has 



one good feature: it is seldom, if ever, 

 used for the storing of pollen. 



Now, it will be seen, I think, that to 

 ^et the bees into the super at the prop- 

 er time, it must be so snug and warm, 

 so assuring that the young members of 

 the colony will feel at home while there. 

 In all preparatory work keep close to 

 that which is common to the bees and 

 their obligations will be dutifully per- 

 formed. 



Wheelersburg, Ohio, March 30, 1902. 



Titusville, Pa., March 9, 1902. 

 Messrs. W. T. Falconer Mfg- Co., 

 Jamestown, N. Y. 

 Gentlemen: I should like to ask 

 through the columns of the American 

 Bee-Keeper, in regard to the caging of 

 queens during the honey season. Will 

 Mr. Doolittle, or some one else who 

 has had experience in the matter, kind- 

 ly let me know when to cage the 

 queens, and how long'.'' I have twen- 

 ty-three colonies in chaff hives, which 

 are located on my farm, three miles 

 from town, and as I cannot be with 

 them all the time, and run a grocery, 

 am interested in the prevention of 

 swarming. Respectfully yours, 



S. Chase. 



Murphys, Calif., Feb. 28, 1902. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper: 



Dear Sir: We have had an unusual- 

 ly dry winter, but February has made 

 amends in giving the state an unusual 

 amount of rain. With me it has rained 

 six inches in four days, and "the end is 

 not yet." Mr. Bennet. of the P. B. J.. 

 writes me: "We are having a glorious 

 rain and everything looks promising for 

 a good season, but it will take a large 

 amount of rain to make honey." I am 

 now feeding my bees (outside, or open 

 air feeders). The winter was so open 

 that the bees flew every day and in con- 

 sequence the bees are weak in stores 

 and numbers. Last year it stormed all 

 through February, keeping the bees 

 from building up. and then, in the first 



