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American Ttec Journal 



Julv 5, 1906 



which resulted in a rapid increase of larvse, so that feeding had to be 

 resorted to as the stores were found to be very short. 



House-cleaning time came, and, of course, the bees must go out- 

 doors. In that move the bees became divided, and would not unite 

 without fighting. They called my attention to the condition, and as 

 it was some hours after the hive had been removed, and manv of the 

 workers were flying all around and through the house, I took 3 of the 

 heaviest brood-frames, brushed the bees off and placed them in a new 

 hive with other drawn cromb, and placed thi6 hive in the window, and 

 20 minutes later everything was quiet, and the bees were working 

 nicely in both hives. A few days later I found only 1 queen-cell. I 

 gave another frame of brood, and 10 days later found 4 more fine 

 queen-cells ready to cap, and one queen possibly 2 hours old. Then I 

 removed the hive, jostling it much as I removed it from the window, 

 giving it as much jolting as I thought the comb could stand and not 

 tear. Then I took the frames out that had queen-cells, with adhering 

 bees, and placed them in another hive, leaving the young queen in 

 possession of hive No. 2. Then, about the time the queen would be 

 likely to fly it began to rain, and turned cold. Fivedays later I found 

 the young queen gone, so I decided she had been lost on her wedding- 

 trip, because of rain and cold, or some other cause unknown to us. A 

 careful examination revealed the fact, also, that there was not even as 

 much as one drone in any of the hives. Now, with nice queen-cells 

 ready to hatch, and no drones, what am I to do for these people? 

 There are black bees in the neighborhood, and if we have no drones 

 for our young queens to mate with, will they not find a black, or pos- 

 sibly, at best, a hybrid drone, producing a cross of inferior stock? 



I have placed a frame of drone-comb in the center of the brood- 

 nest early this spring. The first time I did that the bees took out the 

 eggs the queen laid in it, and filled the frame with honey. I changed 

 it before the honey was capped, and placed another frame of drone- 

 comb in its place ; but even if they allow it to be filled with eggs, the 

 drones will be too young to be of any practical good until very late in 

 the season, if I am not wrong in my opinion as to the age a drone 

 must be to fly well. Or could I get a few drones from a distance? 

 What are they worth? and would they do us any good? 



Can a queen be kept confined and allowed to fly only in a wire- 

 cage (say 2 feet square), and be expected to mate with a drone there- 

 in, or must she have the freedom of the open field for her wedding- 

 trip? Indiana. 



Answer. — It would hardly do any good to try to get drones from 

 elsewhere. The journey would be hard on them, and even if they 

 should be in best condition they would not be likely to stand much 

 show against the drones of the neighborhood. You may count quite 

 certainly that your virgins will meet drones from some of the colo- 

 nies within a range of 2 miles or less, and having pure drones of your 

 own would not lessen greatly the probability unless in great numbers. 

 By this time there will be no scarcity of drones in the surrounding 

 neighborhood. Mating queens in confinement is not a success yet. 



Preventing Increase-Putting Weak 

 Strong 



Colonies Over the 



1. Will giving an empty story below a queen-excluder do for sec- 

 tion honey, to prevent increase? 



2. E. W. Alexander says, in the Bee-Keepers' Review, that " those 

 colonies that are weak in bees yet have a good queen I mark, and as 

 soon as they have larva;, which is usually in about 5 days after setting 

 out, each is taken to a good, strong colony and given a frame from 

 the strong colony so a6 to keep the bees from leaving their queen and 

 all going below. I close all the entrances except that of the strong 

 colony. The bees will divide themselves about equally between the 

 two queens, and in about 4 or 5 weeks I can separate them, and in 9 

 times out of 10 I have 2 good, strong colonies. For 20 years I have 

 treated all my weak colonies in this way in early spring. Sometimes 

 I have had 100 weak colonies on top of 6trong ones. Don't keep them 

 together too long, as the young bees, when over 2 weeks old, are liable 

 to sting one of the queens." Now, is Mr. Alexander not mistaken as 

 to the young bees stinging the queen? Don't the queens fight each 

 other? This can be prevented by putting 2 queen-excluders on top, 

 or between the weak and the strong colonies so the queens can not 

 reach each other. I will try this next year. This is what troubles me 

 the worst, to keep the queen living in this weak colony and breed up. 

 A queen I got last year is a dandy. She had 4 brood early this spring, 

 and the hive is now full of sealed brood and bees. I put an empty 

 story on top. I am going to try Mr. Doolittle's plan on one hive this 

 year, and take the brood and make nuclei of it, and save the young 

 queens. 



3. Is this all right, or do you know of a better plan to get the 

 most honey and save the queens, too? Minnesota. 



Answers. — 1. You probably refer to the (1. W. Demaree plan, 

 which is to put an empty story on the bottom-board, and on that the 

 old hive with its contents, an excluder being put between the 2 stories. 

 In 3 weeks' time all the brood in the upper story will have emerged, 

 and it will be an extracting super. Of course, that would hardly do 

 for section honey. But in " Forty Years Among the Bees'' will be 

 found a plan somewhat after the same order that is all right for sec- 

 tion honey. It is called the foundation plan of treatment, and is 

 given as follows : 



" We find and cage the queen, destroy all queen-cells, remove the 

 hive from its stand, and put in its place a hive containing 3 or 4 

 frames of foundation. The foundation is on one side of the hive, with 

 a dummy next to it. The rest of the hive is left vacant. Upon this 

 hive is put a queen-excluder, and over the excluder the old hive with 



its brood and bees, and over this the supers as before. Then the 

 queen is run in at the entrance of the lower hive, and the colony is 

 left for a week or 10 days. At the end of the week, or as soon after 

 that time as we can conveniently reach it, we take away the lower 

 story with its excluder, and put back the queen in the old hive, which 

 is left on the 6tand." 



2. Your idea seems to be that when there is only one excluder, 

 one of the queens stings the other through the excluder. I wouldn't 

 like to be too sure about it, but I very much doubt that one queen 

 can sting another through an excluder. 



3. You will likely find it works all right. 



Rearing Queens in a Poor Honey-Season 



I am trying to rear queens, but we have had a poor season so far. 

 The bees take the eggs out of the cups as fast as I can put them in. 

 I can't think what is the matter, as the colony is queenless. I have 

 been following the directions given in Pratt's queen-book. 



Wisconsin. 



Answer. — If the season is as poor with you as it is here, I don't 

 wonder at your experience. Feed your colony a little daily, so as to 

 make them think a harvest is on, and they will be more ready to start 

 queen-cells. 



« • » 



Is "Honey-Dew" Pure Honey? 



As the bees are gathering and storing away a great amount of 

 honey-dew this spring, and as there seems to be some difference in 

 opinion in regard to what is meant by the term " Pure Honey," do we 

 mean to say that only the sweet of flowers gathered by the bees is 

 pure? or do we accept the theory that all sweets gathered from plants 

 are pure? If we stamp all honey as not pure which is not gathered 

 from flowers, we necessarily then have classed honey-dew as impure, 

 whether it is produced from the aphides and is a production of plant- 

 life, or fall 6.88 a manna from heaven — we believe it ju6tas pure as 

 white clover, alfalfa, or any of the best grades of honey that are pro- 

 duced by bees. It is true that it is an inferior grade, but quality is 

 not to be reckoned with purity. Is not white clover superior to buck- 

 wheat honey? and are there not flowers at times which produce honey 

 that is not conducive to good health? Why, then, class honey-dew as 

 impure because it is not gathered from flowers? What is meant by 

 " impure honey?" Is it honey that has been adulterated and doctored 

 by men, therefore a mixture and impure? J. W. P. 



Answer. — Your views are quite correct, unless it be with regard 

 to honey-dew falling like manna from heaven. It is now generally 

 conceded that it never falls anywhere except where there is 

 something above in the form of a tree for it to fall from. 



Dividing Colonies for Increase 



1. When dividing bees at this time of the year, would it do to set 

 the colony, or half containing the old queen, on a new stand and stop 

 up the entrance with green leaves, or place screen-wire over the en- 

 trance to confine the bees for a few days so the working force will 

 not return to the old stand? 



2. Would the bees be likely to smother if confined in this way? 



3. The real trouble with me in dividing for increase is the work- 

 ing force leaving the old queen which I place on a new stand and re- 

 turn to the old stand, so that we get no work from the old colony 

 with the queen for a week or two. Can you give me a better plan for 

 dividing? Missouri. 



Answer.— If I understand you correctly, you want to take half 

 the colony, with the queen, aDd put it on a new stand, and your prob- 

 lem is to make the older bees, or the field-bees, willing to stay there. 

 Confining them for 2 or 3 days would accomplish that end, but there 

 is danger that a good many bees would worry themselves to death. 

 Such a plan is all right for a nucleus of one or two frames, but half a 

 colony would be too much crowded and heated. But you can make 

 that all right by putting them in a cool and dark cellar during the 

 time of their imprisonment. 



I could tell better as to the advisability of your plan if I knew 

 just what you intended to do with the half left on the old stand. In 

 any case, you will likely get more honey, and perhaps more satisfac- 

 tion in every way, to proceed thus: Set the old hive with all its con- 

 tents on a new stand, taking from it one frame with queen and ad- 

 hering bees, which you will put in a new hive on the old stand. A 

 week later shake a lot of the bees, perhaps half of them, from the old 

 hive into the new. Of course a queen-cell or a queen is to be given to 

 the queenless bees on the new stand within 2 or 3 days of moving 

 them. The object of wailing a week before shaking the bees into the 

 new hive is to allow plenty of bees in the old hive till all the young 

 brood and eggs are out of danger. 



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