42 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



ANSWERS BY HRNKY ALLEY. 



1. Yes. It is a good plan to shade 

 the hives if the apiary is so situated 

 that tlie wind does not have iree circu- 

 lation. 



Bees will not suffer from heat in 

 hives that have laiiie entrances, say h 

 inch high by 10 inches long, pi'ovided 

 the hive is painted wliile. Hives paint- 

 ed a darl< color will attract the rays of 

 the sun, and therefore should be placed 

 where tlie sun will not strilve them. 

 .Hives that have loose bottom-boards 

 .may be raised about an inch at tlie 

 front, which will admit of plenty of 

 air. 



Bees Clin not work in the sections or 

 •upper story of the hive when the tem- 

 .perature outside is among the nineties 

 .in the shade, unless properly ventilat- 

 ed. When the bees are " laying out," 

 then give more ventilation. We do not 

 believe in shade tor bees unless the 

 weather is very liot. In spring give 

 the liives all the sun possible, and you 

 will see that the colonies in the hives 

 that get the sun all day will be two 

 vweelss ahead of those in the shade. 



Wenham, Mass. 



THE SLNIMINS' MKTHOD FOR IN- 

 TRODUCING QUEENS. 



Query No. 9. What is the Sim- 

 ;mins method of introducing queens? 

 Who is Simmius, anyhow? 



ANSWERS BY SAMUEL CUSHMAN. 



Mr. Simmins does not favor caging 

 queens when they are to be introduced. 

 He always introduces direct. What 

 he calls ills original method is as fol- 

 lows. The queenless colony is opened, 

 all the combs are exposed to the light 

 and spread so that bees are separated 

 and do not hang from one comb to an- 

 other. A comb with queen and atten- 

 dant bees is then taken from the desired 

 hive, thoroughly exposed to the light 

 and introduced. Combs are left apart 

 so each comb of bees are by them- 

 selves. 



The plan is tliat "a queen parading 

 unconcernedly upon her own comb and 

 among her own bees" can be safely in- 

 serted into any desired hive. 



Both colonies are tirst smoked. Sy- 

 rup and scents are useless. 



If the queen is received from a 

 distance, a corner of the quilt is lifted, 

 bees smoked and she is allowed to run 

 in alone. She is tirst kept warm and 

 alone without food for thirty minutes. 



He also confines the bees and when 

 they have missed the queen one is 

 dropped in among them, similar to the 

 plan made known by Mr. Dooliltle. 

 Hives are not opened for forty-eight 

 hours. 



Mr. S. Simmins of llottingdean, 

 Brighton, England, is a prominent 

 beekeeper of that country, a writer 

 on bte topics, author of "Simmins' 

 Original Nonswarming Sj'stem," and 

 "Direct Qneeii Introduction." He is 

 evidently a live man who keeps well 

 posted and up with the times. In his 

 advertisement in the British Bee Jour- 

 nal he says, "Owning the largest apia- 

 ries in the Kingdom I can offer great 

 advantages to those who wish to study 

 the true economy of practical beekeep- 

 ing. My attention is devoted exclu- 

 sively to the production of lioney and 

 breeding of bees, wlule all needed ap- 

 pliances are made on the premises for 

 liome use." 



I have referred to his "non-swarm- 

 ing system" in another article. 



We hope Mr. Simmins will tell us 

 tlirough the columns of the "Api" the 

 number of swarms in the great Sussex 

 apiaries, and what he does and how he 

 does it. 



Pawtucket, B. I. 



AD.JUSTING DRONE TRAP TO 

 CHAFF HIVES. 



Query No. 10. How do you at- 

 tach the drone trap to chaff hives, or 

 those having an entrance like the Fal- 

 con, on which traps will not stand se- 

 curely ? 



1. How can the drone-trap be attached 

 to Simplicity hive without alighting- 

 board, and entrance is made by sliding 

 hive forward on bottom-board, the en- 

 trance being full width of hive front? 



2. Mr. Manum says on page 260, Vol. 

 IV, of "Api" that his summer entrance 

 is i + 14: inches. This is the Bristol hive 

 I suppose. Is the enormous entrance 

 to give thorough ventilation? How does 

 he prevent robbing when so greatly 

 exposed? Do you consider such size 

 entrance an advantage, or otherwise? 



ANSWERS BY HENRY ALLEY. 



1. I can not answer this question as 

 I never saw the Simplicity hive. Such 

 an entrance, as is described, would not 

 suit us. Almost any man could find 

 some way to attach the trap to a hive, 

 as it requires but little ingenuity to do 

 so. All that is necessary is so to ar- 



