212 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



Cross River, N. Y. 



Mr. Ai.lkv : 



Denr Sir : 



I wish you would answer through 

 the Api whether it is common for a 

 queen to stop laying two or three 

 weeks and then go on all night 

 afterwards; also if anything but 

 old age or injury (including chill) 

 •will stop a queen laying. 



G. H. Churchiix. 



[A queen seldom ceases to lay from 

 March to Sept. 25. In your case, it is 

 my opinion that the bees superseded 

 an old queen. Unless nearly frozen, a 

 • queen would not be injured by a chill.] 



Mr 



Hunters Land, N. Y. 

 Alley 



Please answer the following 

 .questions in the American Apicul- 



TURIST. 



1, What is the best breed of 

 bees? 



2. What is the best bee hive? 



A. Dings. 



[1. The Italians by all odds. 



2. Best bee-hive is tlie one that 

 suits the beekeeper best. I cannot say 

 ^which of the thousand and one differ- 

 ■ ent styles would be most likely to suit 



you.] 



Glenbrook, N. S. W., 



May lb, 1887. 

 Mr. Hekry Alley. 

 Dear Sir: 



Will yon kinilly answer the enclosed 

 through vour journal. . , j ^ 



What is the proper Avay to mix food for 

 Bliiiiijing bte-'? In most cases the Igod be- 

 comes liquid and runs all over the case. 

 How can this be prevented ? 



Major A. Shallard. 



[Take five pounds of pulverized 



(not powdered) sugar and add to 



it one pound of the best quality 



honey. Then knead it the same 



as a good bread-maker does her 



dough for bread. Add sugar enough 



to keep it from sticking to the 



hands. When you have worked 



and kneaded it an hour and call it 



done, just knead it half an hour 



longer. The more it is kneaded 



the less it is liable to soften or 



to become sticky during damp 



weather.] 



Prairie du Chien, Wis. 



Henry Alley. 



Dear Sir : Please find ten cents 

 for the June number of your valu- 

 able journal. 1 wish to be posted 

 in the kind of work of which the 

 June number treats. 



I was a Bay State boy raised in 

 Franklin county. 



[It will be noticed that there is no 

 natne signed to the above. We print 

 it as it is only a sample of many such 

 letters which come to hand during the 

 year. This Bay State boy is probably 

 telling his friends that the manager 

 of the API has cheated him out often 

 cents. Please be more careful in sign- 

 ing your name and full address.] 



Late last fall I purchased a 

 swarm of bees with a fair quantity 

 of bees. I packed them for win- 

 ter on summer stands ; on opening 

 them early this spring, 1 found 

 plenty of honey, bees all detid, 

 with but very few in or about the 

 hive. What was the cause of their 

 death and especially of their dis- 

 appearance ? 



Subscriber. 



[Should say the colony lost its queen 

 la.st fall and the bees gradually died of 

 some disease developed during the win- 

 ter. Perhaps honey- dew had something 

 to do with it. Lots of beekeepers were 

 troubled the same way last winter.] 



Bodiester, N. Y. 

 Mr. Alley: 



If brood is chilled when 

 transferring, or from any other cause 

 should not'hatch when the proper time 

 arrives, will the bees take care of it, 

 or should it be removed from the hive? 

 W. G. TowKii. 



[The weather is not cold enough 

 at any time when bees shonld be 

 transferred to chill the brood. 

 Capped brood will not chill nor die 

 in the cells unless the temperature 

 is below 50° and the brood exposed 

 for twenty-four hours. People have 

 a queer idea about brood chilling. 

 The combs may remain out of the 

 hive several hours, even at a tern- 



