390 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 3. 19(6 



or 3 days later. (Don't think of doing this till the season has fairly 

 opened, the colony strong, and bees gathering well from the flowers 

 everyday.) A week later let the 2 hives swap places. In the queen- 

 less hive you ought now to find a lot of queen-cells, each cell contain- 

 ing a young princess of the desired blood. You may reasonably ex- 

 pect at least 5 to 10 such cells, and 2 or 3 day6 prior to this time you 

 may have removed the queens from perhaps 5 colonies. To each one 

 of these 5 colonies you may how give one of the cells in question, with' 

 the reasonable expectation of its maturing into a queen of superior' 

 blood. Whether it shall produce worker progeny of pure blood or 

 hybrids depends upon whether the young queen mates with an Italian 

 or a black drone, the chances being largely in favor of its being a black 

 drone if black bees predominate in the neighborhood. 



An easier way can be used, if you are satisfied to Italianize only half 

 a dozen or so colonies. Give your Italian colony sealed brood from 

 other colonies, swapping these frames of sealed brood for frames not 

 so well tilled. This for the purpose of making the colony so strong- 

 that it shall be the first to swarm. When it swarms, set the swarm on' 

 the old stand, and put the stump (or mother colony) in place of the 

 next strongest colony in the yard, setting this strongest colony in a 

 new place. When the stump swarms again, which it will do' in 8- 

 days or so, set the swarm in its place, and put it in place of the next 

 strongest colony, and continue doing this as long as it continues send- 

 ing out a swarm. 



5. The general testimony is that poultry will eat drones but not 

 workers. 



6. No. 



T. One of the easiest ways for a small amount is to put the pieces 

 of comb to be melted into a dripping-pan and.putit in the oven of a 

 cook-stove. Keep the oven-door open, have one corner of the pan 

 split open, and have this corner project outside, with a dish under it 

 to catch the melted wax. A little stone, or something of the kind, 

 should be under the pan at the. corner farthest inside, so the wax will 

 run down-hill to the open corner. 



8. Probably no difference. 



Use of Queen-Excluding Zinc Tan Bark for Bee-Yard 

 and Walks 



1. We have a flve-sixteenths bee-space above the frames, and do not 

 allow the zinc to ' sag " as you suggest. We split slivers of lath and 

 lay 2 or 3 small pieces across the tops of the frames to hold the zinc- 

 excluder up. Of course, the zinc costs high when used the full size if 

 the hive 



„ cm,*,. H ][vc? .i».iv« iuc tops ui tne irames to noia tne zin< 

 r up. Of course, the zinc costs high when used the full size i 

 }■, but I want to give the bees all the chance there is. 

 ^. .riend of mine, who, I .judge, economizes at the wrong ent 

 uses on some of his hives only one-third of perforated zinc, aud 

 oilier two-thirds of cheap unperforated tin. 1 think this is ba< 



g end, 



tne 



bad for 



honey-production, and I could not be induced to use it on a hive of 

 mine, and should like to know what you thick of it. Don't be afraid 

 to tell all you know, and even what you think may bring out what 

 some one else knows. 



2. Does not the continued passing of the bees through the zinc 

 tend to wear out their wings and thus shorten their lives? 



I 6aw something in your answers about gravel for walks. About 

 as nice a thing as I remember for the purpose, was long ago when this 

 was a country for tanning with hemlock bark, and in a bee-yard the 

 walks and hive-stands were of " spent " or used tan-bark. I suppose 

 there were no " smokers " in those days to 6et it on fire with a spark, 

 which might happen in a dry time. Whether it kept down the grass 

 mechanically like the gravel, or whether there remained anything in 

 it chemically injurious to vegetation, I could not say. Ontario. 



Answers.— 1. So far as concerns passing back and forth, one- 

 third of the space is more than sufficient; but bees de better to be, so 

 far as possible, all in one compartment, their inclination being to form 

 a single cluster, and the separation made by having so much as two- 

 thirds of the brood-chamber covered either by wood or tin is certainly 

 objectionable. The objection is greater when working for comb 

 honey, the difference in the work being plainly seen in the Parts thus 

 cut off from direct communication with the brood-chamber. The full 

 sheet of zinc, as used by you, offers the least obstruction possible in 

 the use of an excluder. 



2. I hardly think the weiring of the wings by the zinc is a serious 

 matter. But even if it was, it isn't a matter of any consequence to 

 producers of comb honey, for in their regular work they have no need 

 of excluders ; and so good a bee-keeper as C. P. Dadant says he has no 

 use fcr an excluder for a colony producing extracted honey. 



Is Smartweed Honey Peppery? 



Will honey gathered from smartweed be strong in taste like pep- 

 per? Last year the honey gathered in the fall was so strong after be- 

 ing swallowed that it would burn the throat for 2 or 3 hours. Smart- 

 weed was plentiful. Texas. 



Answer — The general run of what is called smartweed honey 

 will not smart your mouth at all. But the plant from which it is 

 gathered hardly ought to be called smartweed, for if you chew the 

 leaves it will not smart ynur mouth any more than to chew so much 

 lettuce. It also goes by the name of heartsease — the better name; the 

 botanical name being Persicaria mite. Persiearia punctatum is the 

 real smartweed, and if you chew a leaf of that you'll wish you had let 

 it alone. I don't know about the honey from this, whether it is acrid 

 or not. but it is possible. Will some one who knows please tell us 

 about it; 



l| Keporis anb 

 | (Experiences 



I 



Awful Winter on Bees. 



This has been an awful winter on 

 bees, some losing all they bad. I saved 

 all of mine, thanks to the American 

 Bee Journal. |.\ p. Daum. 



Clinton, Mo., April 16. 



Clover Seems All It is lit. 



I have 32 colonies of bees, having 

 put 35 into the .■■•liar. I united 3 with 

 stronger ones this spring. Clover seems 

 to have wintered all right in this part 

 of the state. Will Arbuthnot. 



Woodman, Wis., April 11. 



Poor Crop In 1003. 



I have- in colonies and bought 11 

 more, making 27 in all. By putting the 

 weak colbfiies on top of the strong 

 ones I lost halt' of my queens. I had 

 200 pounds of honey from 16 colonies, 

 spring count, ami no increase. The 

 crop was poor here. It was too cold 

 and wet. A. L. Oliver. 



Ronncby, Minn., April s. 



Heavy Loss in Wintering. 



You may put in "blasted hopes," 



but I shall not stay there long, for this 

 is not the first lime in my experience. 

 I had So colonies last fall. I now have 

 30. They are very weak. I am feeding 

 them every day. So you see I lost 55 

 colonies during the winter, from star- 

 vation. Nearly all the bees in this 

 neighborhood have died. 



I will buy some bees in box-hives and 



try it again. I don't know how Mr. 

 Stone's bees wintered, but I think they 

 did better than mine, for he had some 

 sweet clover in his neighborhood. 



C. Becker. 

 Pleasant Plains, 111., April 12. 



Eees Not in Good Condition. 



Bees in this locality are not in very 

 good condition this spring, caused 

 mainly from lack of sufficient honey 

 ood quality to winter on. I would 

 place iho loss up to this time at from 

 1" to 50 per cent. The prospect for 

 white clover is from fair to good. 



H. G. Wykoff. 

 Norwalk, Iowa, April 13. 



A Variable Spring. 



Wintry April — then a little taste of 

 sultry, hot summer — now blowing cold 

 again. The present prospect is that I 

 shall lose some colonies of bees, but 

 that the loss will not be great. Quite 

 a number, however, will not be as 

 strong as they should be. 



B. E. Hasty. 



Toledo, Ohio, April 14. 



colonies and have always wintered - 

 them on the summer stands, and have 

 not had any freeze or starve since we 

 have had them. The last three years 

 have been poor for honey, as it has 

 been too wet. But, thanks to the 

 American Bee Journal, by following its 

 advice we have had more honey than 

 tin- bee-keepers who let the bees take- 

 ran- of thems i es. 10. L. McClaskey. 

 Girard, Kan., April 6. 



Away Down in Florida. 



The climate here is fine, and it is a 

 great bee-rountry. Bees are doing well 

 here; they are storing some honey. 

 We had frost one morning last week 

 ami one this week. The first swarm 

 issued on .Match 16. We have had 5 

 till together so far. I am working in 

 i lie apiary of S. S. Alderman, of We- 

 wahltohka. We have had considerable 

 rain. Peaches are as big as the end 

 of your finger. L. A. Cameron. 



Dalkieth, Fla., April 4. 



Dees Making Tilings Hum. 



This is about the first real nice day 

 we have had this spring. The bees 

 ar. making tilings hum. We have 14 



Good Results in Wintering. 



On November _::, l!ti.ir>, I put 96 colo- 

 nies into the cellar and 47 in an out- 

 shed. I lost only 2 in the shed, and 

 those I knew would not winter. I took 

 them out last week, and they are all 

 in good condition and strong' in bees. 

 After I put them in I never looked at 

 them until I took them out. They 

 were piled up on top of each other in 

 both places, with bottom-boards and 

 honey-boards on the same as they are 

 out for summer, and I believe that is 

 good wintering. 



We tire having a backward spring 

 here. Out I hope it will open up soon, 

 and that the bee-keepers will have a 

 S'ood season Wm. J. Healy. 



Mineral Point, Wis., April 9. 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



Western Illinois — The semi-annual meet- 

 ing of the Western Illinois Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will be held in the County Court 

 Room, in Galesburg, on Wednesday, May Ifi, 

 commencing at 9 am. and lastiog all day. 

 Messrs. C. P. Dadant and J. Q Smith have 

 promised to be present and contribute to the 

 success of the meeting. .Our meetings have 

 been good, but we hope to make this one bet- 

 ter. Galesburg has good train-service, and 

 all bee-keepers in this part of the State should 

 not fail to come. Come, and bring your wives- 

 with you. E. D. Woods, Sec. 



Galesburg, 111. 



