Feb. 1, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



105 



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Doctor filler's 

 Question * Box 



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Send questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 



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



^ST Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Making Increase— Queen-Excluders and Comb Honey- 

 Fastening Full Sheets of Foundation In Sections 



Our main flow here is from buckwheat, and is very 

 short, often lasting- but a few days. I have some bees in 8- 

 frame Gallup hives, and want to make all the increase I can 

 up to the time buckwheat comes into bloom (about Aug. 1), 

 and put the increase into dovetail hives, but leave the origi- 

 nal colonies in the Gallup hives, to save the expense of buy- 

 ing so many hives, then turn the whole force to storing' 

 buckwheat honey, having all full colonies by Aug. 1. 



1. What would be your plan for making the increase ? 



2. Is it necessary to use queen-excluders with dovetailed 

 hives in producing comb honey (I run for comb honey ex- 

 clusively) ? Would you use bound, unbound, or wood-and- 

 zinc ? 



3. What is your method of fastening full sheets all 

 around in the sections? I have had some trouble with them 

 coming loose when fastened only at the top with a Parker 

 fastener, and using bottom starters. Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— 1. It isn't easy to say what will be the best 

 plan of increase for you. One's previous plans and experi- 

 ences have much to do with it. If your increase up to this 

 date has been entirely by natural swarming, that may be 

 the best now. But in that case try to get your surplus 

 honey chiefly from the swarms. Remember that 50,000 bees 

 in one hive will store more than 2 colonies of 25,000 each. 



So when a colony swarms, put the swarm on the old 

 stand, and set the old colony as close as you can 

 beside it. Then a week later move the old colony to a 

 new stand some distance away. That will make the swarm 

 a rouser, and it will do fine work for you if there is any- 

 thing to be done. The old colony will do little or nothing 

 in supers, but having a young queen it ought to be a fine 

 colony for the ensuing season. You will see that will leave 

 all the old colonies in the Gallup hives, and the swarms in 

 the new kind. If you do not want to wait for natural 

 swarms, you can practise shaking swarms. That is, set 

 an empty hive on the old stand and shake bees into it, 

 leaving just enough bees in the old hive to keep the brood 

 from chilling, setting it on a new stand and letting it rear 

 a queen ; although it will be much better to give it a queen 

 or a ripe queen cell. 



2. I wouldn't use excluders for comb honey. 



3. At our house we use the Daisy fastener, which has a 

 hot metal plate. That melts the edge of the foundation, 

 fastening it more securely than by mere pressure, and the 

 work is a good deal easier. 



Feeding Bees In Early Spring 



I have 65 colonies of bees which I think I will have to 

 feed in the spring. I think of putting a piece of muslin 

 over the frames and an oilcloth and the cover over it, and 

 then raise the oilcloth and cover when pouring the syrup 

 over the muslin, and cover up again. I can feed them in a 

 short time in this way. 



The syrup will be made of half honey and sugar-water. 

 Will this daub the bees up too much ? When the muslin is 

 on the hives a few days there will be little holes in it so the 

 syrup will run through quite freely. Will it hurt the bees 

 any to have the syrup run on them and be daubed up some- 

 what with it. Wisconsin. 



Answer. — It depends upon how early in the spring you 

 operate. If after it is warm enough for bees to fly freely 

 it will be all right ; the bees will clean each other if they 

 get daubed ; but if you attempt it at a time when too cool 

 for bees to be on the move, it would be likely to do more 

 harm than good. 



Reports anb 

 (Experiences 



Good Season For Bees 



One year ago I put 11" colonies into winter 

 quarters. I lost one last spring with paraly- 

 sis. They did not increase any the past sea- 

 son. I obtained 12,000 pounds of honey, over 

 one-half of it comb honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions, and the balance extracted. It is about 

 all sold at prices ranging from 13 to 15 cents. 

 I have sold about $1200 worth. 



Bees are in good condition for winter, and 

 heavy with honey. B. W. Peck. 



Dorset, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1905. 



Bees Did Poorly in 1905 



Bee6 did poorly last year. We started in 

 the spring with 24 colonies; had one swarm, 

 and got about 500 pounds of extracted honey. 

 They were so weak this fall that we doubled 

 them down to IS colonies. Nearly half of the 

 bees throughout the surrounding country are 

 already dead. We have had good weather 

 this winter ; no snow, and the ground is dry 

 and dusty — poor prospect for clover. 



Richard Chinn, 



Concord, Neb., Dec. 28, 1905. 



Light and Heavy Weight Sections 



I have my bees all packed well for winter. 

 Some one stole 3 sections of honey off the 

 hives, as I had 1 super left on last week. It 

 was done while we were out selling honey. 



There is quite a good deal written about 

 the weight of section honey. I have many 

 different kinds, some produced with separa- 

 tors and others with no separators. Many 



sections will weigh 19 or 20 ounces each, while 

 some weigh 14 or 15 ounces. Perhaps 10 out 

 of 28 will weigh 1 pound My wife and I go 

 out with the horse and buggy and sometimes 

 sell 30 or 40 sections a trip. When selling, I 

 weigh every section, and then those that do 

 not come close to a pound I put with those 

 that weigh over a pound, and in this way a 

 light one and a heavy one will weigh 2 pounds, 

 which I sell for 25 cents; or 1 pound for 13 

 cents. We sell all our honey around town. 

 Belmont, N. Y. Geo. Hodges. 



Poor Season for Bees 



The season of 1905 was rather poor for bees 

 in this part of the State. I got 700 pounds 

 of comb honey from 36 colonies, spring count. 

 The flrst of the season was cold and wet, then 

 the dry weather cut off the fall flow. I put 

 my bees into a dry cellar under the dwelling 

 house Dec. 1, in medium condition. 



I consider the American Bee Journal one of 

 the best of its kind of literature. I read it 

 with pleasure and profit every week. 



John Cline. 



Darlington, Wis., Dec. 15, 1905. 



Sweet Clover Honey 



I have been watching various statements by 

 different people regarding sweet clover ; some 

 do not think that it yields well. Nevertheless, 

 I got about 20 pounds per colony from it, and 

 neighbor bee-keepers averaged about the same 

 this year, and it left our bees in very good 

 shape for winter. 



The reason we happened to have such a 

 plenty of sweet clover is because some one 

 planted it along the banks of the Grand river, 

 and the river distributed the seed everywhere. 



Well, as to taste of honey. Some have said 

 it was poor and thin, and had a peculiar flavor ; 

 also an odd smell of its own. That is all true, 

 but the trouble is that that honey was ex- 

 tracted too soon. One of my neighbors had a 

 little of that kind of experience this year; he 



got the odd flavor and the smell, while another 

 neighbor farther away, and myself, left our 

 honey on the hives some weeks longer than 

 our friend did, and got A No. 1 honey, clear 

 and heavy, with a flrst class taste to it, and no 

 smell whatever. 



Another thing about this plant is, it fur- 

 nishes supplies for the bees until it is almost 

 too cold for them to fly, where cattle get at it 

 and keep it eaten down somewhat. 



Preston, Ont., Jan. 2, W. D. Harris. 



Foote's Swarm-Hiving Box 



I want to thank Mr. Hasty for his criticism 

 of my "Swarm-Taking Box and Pole" (page 

 883). But he (rather HaBty-ly, I think) 

 jumps at a conclusion and lands on the wrong 

 side of the fence when he votes the "whole 

 scheme a failure and a nuisance." After re- 

 peated trials I have decided that " that style 

 of doings" is a complete success. He is very 

 decidedly still on the wrong side of the fence 

 when he intimates that I " waste time hiving 

 a. pari of a swarm." I have not kept bees, 

 with very good success, for 20 yeirs to be sat- 

 isfied without securing the "whole thing." 

 But I see that I will have to reverse the order 

 of things and make a short story long in order 

 for himself and "some of the brethren" to un- 

 derstand how I manage the affair. 



In the flrst place, I have a slim, light pole 

 about 18 feet long, to the top of which a 

 strong iron hook is securely fastened to 

 operate as a shaker. When a swarm first be- 

 gins to cluster, and I think it is necessary to 

 U6e this pole, I hang it on the limb close to 

 the cluster, then get the swarm-catcher, stand 

 the pole under the cluster, steady it with one 

 hand, run the box to the top and fasten it 

 there by winding the cord around the bracket 

 at the bottom. Then, with the other hand, I 

 take hold of the " shaker" and shake the bees 

 from the limb into the box. If a few persist 

 in going back to the limb, I repeat the shak- 

 ing until all of them cluster in, or on, the 



