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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 8, 1906 



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Doctor miller'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. 

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Cracker-Box Hives-Large Hives, Etc. 



1. Can I make a good hive from a cracker-box covered 

 outside with weather boarding- ? I have a fair supply of 

 each. 



2. In the practise of using large hives and taking out 

 all frames not in use during the super-storing season, and 

 putting in a division-board, have the bees free access to the 

 space thus created ? 



3. Do bees winter well in observation hives ? 



_ 4. Which is the best to put over the frames in winter a 

 solid board, a chaff cushion or a cloth, packing the super 

 with leaves ? Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. It would make a good box-hive, and I see 

 no reason why a good frame hive might not be made of the 

 same material, with care in measurements. 



2. No, the space must be filled with dummies or in some 

 other way to prevent the bees from building comb in it. If, 

 however, the colony is queenless the bees are not likely to 

 build comb in the empty space in the brood-chamber. It 

 may be well to mention that bees do not work so well in 

 that part of the super which is over the part not occupied 

 with combs in the brood-chamber— a matter of some conse- 

 quence in working for comb honey, but not when working 

 for extracted. 



3. No; although an observation hive might be con- 

 structed, and perhaps some are, so as to be all right for win- 

 tering. 



4. The last, for outdoor wintering ; in a cellar it mat- 

 ters little which, if the cellar is aU right and the hive has a 

 large entrance. 



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Pall Feeding of Sugar Syrup for Winter Stores 



For outdoor wintering how would it do to feed every 

 colony up full of sugar syrup in the early fall ? 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — You can winter bees very successfully in 

 that way ; and it is certainly much better than to let bees 

 starve or winter on unwholesome stores as are some kinds 

 of honey-dew. Yet there are those, especially in Europe, 

 who hold that continued feeding of sugar will lead to less 

 vitality on the part of the bees. Certain it is that they 

 can not rear brood on sugar alone. But, then, neither can 

 they on honey alone ; they must have the nitrogenous ma- 

 terial contained in pollen. 



Italianizing or Caucasianlzlng Bees- 

 Sections 



Folding Faulty 



1. I have an apiary of . 25 colonies of hybrid and brown 

 bees. I wish to rear queens and requeen them this summer. 

 Would you advise Italians or Caucasians? 



2. Do you know of a better plan than you give on pages 

 237-8-9 of " Forty Years Among the Bees ?" 



3. Sometimes we get sections that will not stand square 

 when folded. My way to handle such is to press one corner 

 having the acute angle (not the joint corner) against the 

 table on which I am working until the crease opens. Then 

 with the point of a pocket-knife, or one corner of a hive- 

 scraper, I rub into the crease some propolis or wax which 

 will hold the section square so that the foundation will keep 

 the proper position. This is quickly done, for one or two 

 strokes are all that is necessary. This saved a case of sec- 

 tions for me, for they were almost useless without some sort 

 of tinkering. Indiana. 



Answers.— 1. Certainly Italians until Caucasians are 

 better known ; although it is all right to experiment with 

 Caucasians. Some speak very highly of Caucasians, and 



some think them the worst ever. So while it would not be 

 wise to start with them entirely, it would be well to try them 

 side by side, but on a small scale. 



2. Yes, I don't know of any better way for me — and I 

 should think also for you. For those who rear queens on 

 a larger scale, other plans may be better ; but I'm not so 

 sure of that. You notice that the breeding queen is kept in 

 a 2-frame nucleus. I don' know that there is any advantage 

 in this, except that the queen will last longer when laying 

 so few eggs. And the brood taken from this queen to start 

 queen-cells may be given to any strong colony that is con- 

 scious of its queenlessness. 



3. Sections rightly made ought to be square ; but your 

 plan seems to work with the faulty ones. In this locality 

 we pay no attention to the matter; for when they are 

 wedged up in the super they must become square and stay 

 square. 



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Swarm-Catching Device— Increase 6y Swarming or 

 Buying? 



1. What kind of a device can I use to put on an 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive to catch the bees when they swarm, with- 

 out interfering with the work of the workers ? I am just 

 starting into the bee-business and have 8 colonies, but wish 

 to increase the number of colonies rather than to obtain a 

 large amount of surplus honey. I work in an office during 

 the day, so I do not have time to catch the swarms that 

 come off. 



2. Would this be the cheapest way to increase, or would 

 it be cheaper to keep my bees from swarming as much as 

 possible, thus getting a large amount of surplus honey, and 

 buying the extra colonies? They can be had for$1.00 to 

 SI. SO per colony in box-hives. California. 



Answers. — 1. A queen-trap at the entrance will serve 

 your purpose. Then when you come home in the evening 

 and look at the trap, you will see when the queen is in the 

 trap by the unusual number of bees. The same evening, or 

 next morning, take away all the brood with plenty of bees 

 to take care of it, fill the hive with frames of foundation 

 and liberate the queen, and you have very much the same 

 condition as if you had been at home to hive the swarm. 



2. I don't know ; perhaps a little of both. When you 

 take away the brood and bees, as indicated in the previous 

 answer, you can divide it into two parts, making sure that 

 neither part is without one or more good queen-cells, and 

 that will make your number trebled. If you want to in- 

 crease at a more rapid rate instead of dividing in two parts, 

 put all the brood into one hive, shaking off very few of the 

 bees into the old hive, but leaving a good lot of bees with 

 the brood. From this brood, bees will be hatching out all 

 the time, and in 6 or 7 days you can divide, making a 

 nucleus for each 2 frames of brood, making sure that each 

 nucleus has one or more good cells centrally located where 

 there is no danger of their being chilled. Of course, one of 

 the nuclei will be left on the stand where the brood and bees 

 have been standing for the past 6 or 7 days, but this nucleus 

 may be left with fewer bees than the others ; for there will 

 be a return of a good many field-bees to the old location. 

 You may ask, Why wait 6 or 7 days before dividing ? One 

 reason is that at the time of swarming there is more or less 

 unsealed brood, and this will be better cared for if all are 

 kept together. Another reason is that if the bees are 

 divided up in the first place, there will be more tendency to 

 discouragement and desertion than after waiting for more 

 bees to emerge. 



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Cleaning Out Old Combs and Unfinished Sections- 

 Moving Colonies a Short Distance 



1. I have some old combs containing quite a good deal 

 of honey in frames of odd sizes, none of which will fit my 

 hives. Will it be safe to place these combs in boxes a few 

 rods from the hives, giving a very small entrance — for one 

 bee at a time — on a bright day after the bees commence col- 

 lecting pollen from the soft maples ? Or would I better cut 

 out these combs and put in supers on top of the hives ? I 

 would like to have these combs cleaned out so I can melt 

 them up into wax ; but, of course, I want to be careful not 

 to get my bees into the habit of robbing, 



2. I also have some unfinished sections from last year. 

 I had intended to put these on the hives as soon as it gets 

 warm enough to remove the chaff, and let the bees clean 

 them out at their leisure. Will this be a good plan ? 



3. Will it be safe to move a colony now on a high stand 



