186 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



flue young queens in each. Pretty 

 good luck to coinnu'iice with. You 

 should ivacl the Eeukeepers' Handy 

 15o()k. Tliink you would get more iu- 

 lonualiou tVuni it in one hour than you 

 will be likely to learn otherwise in sev- 

 eral years.] 



Walioorth^ Wis. 



Am. Apiculturist : 



Can bees be wintered in a cave 

 or root house near their sn miner 

 stands? J. L. Hall. 



[Yes. just as well as in a cellar, pro- 

 vided the cave is not too damp. No 

 roots nor other vegetal)les should be 

 in the cellar at the same time the bees 

 are.] 



3Iorgantoivn, Pa. 

 Mr. Alley : 



Do you consider the brown 

 bees a better strain than tlie Ital- 

 ians? E. R. fSxYER. 



[No, tiiere is no strain of bees as 

 good as the best strains of Italians. 

 But there is a great difference hi the 

 Italians.] 



Newport, B.I. 

 Mr. Alley : 



What is the best way to prevent 

 moth worms, more especially in 

 sale honey after it has been re- 

 moved from the bees and is stored 

 away, or is out being ottered for 

 sale? Also in spare either empty 

 or full combs? I had trouble last 

 season and would like advice before 

 the trouble begins anew. 



Walter Sherman. 

 [Read the back numbers of the Api- 

 cuLTruiasr and you will find replies to 

 your questions. The worms do not 

 trouble full colonies of bees. When a 

 hive becomes queenless in the spring 

 or at any time previous to Sept. i, 

 Avorms are pretty sure to devour the 

 combs]. 



Gonzales, Cal. 

 Am. Api. 



Query : — Do you find that C3'- 

 prians and Syrians have the same 



characteristic with tlie Italians, of 

 being slower than blacks to go up 

 into the sections, when working for 

 comb honey ? Is that a feature 

 of the yellow races in general, or 

 of the Italians in particular? 



Would specially like an answer 

 from Henry Alley. 



A. Norton. 



[I And the Cyprians and the Syrians 

 are very uuich alike so far as entering 

 the sections, and very much unlike the 

 Itnlians. While the latter are very 

 quick to enter the surplus boxes, the 

 former are very slow to do so. I have 

 not one word to say in favor of the 

 Cyprians and Syrians, or any other 

 imported race of bees but the Ital- 

 ians.] 



Plainfield, Mich. 



1. Is there any way to tell 

 witliin a day or two when a new 

 swarm is going to come out, so as 

 to put on the queen-trap in time, 

 provided you don't want to keep 

 it on all the time? 



2. Is there any particular time 

 to catch and kill off the drones, 

 or a part of them when there are 

 a good n:iany of them ? 



3. Is there not some way to 

 extract honey from the comb with- 

 out any kind of machine extract- 

 ors. 



4. Would like to know liow to 

 tell the rigid time to divide a swarm 

 or hive instead of having them 

 come out. 



A. T. W. 



[1. The only thing to judge by is to 

 open a hive, and if there are qneen 

 cells capped or nearly capped, a swarm 

 is very likely to issue within a day or 

 so if the weather continues favorable. 



A colony that is intending to swarm 

 is not generallj' at work :is smart as 

 the others on the day of swarming. 

 There will be considerable many bees 

 about the entrance ; many will be slow- 

 ly working into the hive and while not 

 doing much work seem to be some- 

 wliat uneasy. A swarm maybe expect- 

 ed from a \\\vq that is full of bees, 

 and at any time when honey is plenty 

 and the bees doing well, as it is called. 



