Nov. 29, 1906 



983 



American Ttee Journal 



A to 



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 "ftaadom 



Conducted by Mohlet Pettit, Villa Nova, Ont. 



How to Run Combs in the 

 Extractor 



I notice o a page 866, an item on running 

 the top-bar first in extracting; and owiog to 

 the dip of the cells it is certain the boney will 

 fly out more freely than when run the oppo- 

 site direction. I just rise to say that I have 

 beeD practising the suggestion, and find no 

 inconvenience in reversing the extractor. 



Bewdley. Ont. Jas. Sackville. 



As the motion of the extractor is to 

 draw the comb away from the honey 

 so quickly that the honey is left be- 

 hind, going at a tangent against the 

 side of the extractor can instead of 

 staying with the comb in its curved 

 motion, it follows that as nearly as 

 possible the bottom of the cell should 

 go ahead, leaving the open top to fol- 

 low, and allow the honey to escape be- 

 hind. Working out this theory, the 

 bottom-bar should precede the top-bar 

 in its journey around the extractor, as 

 the bottom of each cell is a little nearer 

 the bottom edge of the comb than the 

 top. After reversing, the crank can be 

 turned in the opposite direction and 

 thus give the same precedence as Mr. 

 Sackville suggests. 



The objections are : First, many 

 hired men will not give thought enough 

 to place the combs right, especially 

 when there are so many other little 

 things they have to be taught to do 

 correctly. Second, after reversing it 

 is easier for many to start up the 

 crank again in the same direction. 



Robber-Bees and TheiF Treat- 

 ment 



There is perhaps no condition that 

 arouses the ire or the bee-keeper more 

 thoroughly than this lamentable desire 

 of the bees to relieve some poor un- 

 fortunate of its scanty stores. Gen- 

 erally the strongest colony will select 

 the weakest, and either quietly filch its 

 stores or swoop down on it in clouds 

 and carry away everything movable. 



A queenless colony is generally a 

 sure victim. However, a weak colony 

 is quite apt to be entirely destroyed 

 even when the queen is present. 



When the robbers persist in their 

 raids from day to day there is one 

 remedy that will prove of value, and 

 will surely stop the worst case when it 

 occurs in the spring. I have never 

 tried it in the summer, but I believe it 

 would work as well then as earlier. 



As soon as robbing is noticed re- 

 move the victim from its stand. Place 



at once an empty body in its place. 

 Now go to some reasonably strong col- 

 ony and place a queen-excluder over 

 the frames, and the body of the robbed 

 hive over all. 



Before making the change it would 

 be well to learn positively whether or 

 not the robbed colony contained a 

 queen. If there is no queen present, 

 and no brood, supply it with a frame 

 of brood containing hatching eggs. 



If the queen is present so much the 

 better. The robbers will enter the 

 empty hive-body, and in a few hours 

 finding nothing to carry away, will 

 give up the job. 



Remove the empty body the follow- 

 ing night, and if any of the field-bees 

 that belonged to the colony that for- 

 merly occupied the stand are in the 

 hive, brush them into their old home, 

 which is now on another hive. 



Nine days after making the double 

 colony, examine the comb to see if 

 queen-cells have been drawn. If none 

 are present, close the hive. 



Should there be plenty of brood, the 

 upper body may be placed on a new 

 stand. It is better to wait until the 

 brood in the upper body is hatching be- 

 fore making the change. 



If, however, queen-cells are present 

 the two bodies must be separated on 

 the ninth day. 



This method of tiering up is quite 

 successful to stimulate backward colo- 

 nies in the spring, even should there 

 be no robbing. When so tiered up 

 both colonies do better than either 

 would do if dependent upon the limited 

 amount of heat each could develop to 

 build up.— E. H. Dewey, in Mail and 

 Empire. 



This plan should be followed with 

 great caution. The robbed hive con- 

 tains many robbers during the day, 

 and if set on another hive at that time 

 is very liable to start robbing there. 

 Especially is this the case if it is first 

 opened up to ascertain whether it has 

 a queen. The better plan would be to 

 close the robbed hive until evening, 

 then open the entrance to let the rob- 

 bers fly home, when it can at once be 

 set on the other hive, as Mr. Dewey 

 describes. When the 2 hives are to be 

 separated again, the stronger one 

 should be removed to a new stand, and 

 the weaker one left to eatch the return- 

 ing field-bees. 



ocfbr MilkrS 

 iiesfioivj^c 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Jourr 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 

 $W Dr. Miller does nut answer Questions by mail. 



Mice Eating Honey— For the Hasty- 

 man 



Once there was a man who liked to- 

 bacco. One day he was very hungry- 

 He found some bread mixed with to- 

 bacco, but he would not eat it. Then 

 he found some bread without any to- 

 bacco, and he ate it. Afterward he 

 found some tobacco without any 

 bread, and he thought it tasted better 

 than the bread. But he didn't want 

 the two mixed. 



Once there was a man who thought 

 things over afterward. He had some 

 mice. He gave them some bread mixed 

 with honey, and some bread without 

 any honey. They ate the bread with- 

 out any honey, but not the other. 

 They didn't want the two mixed. 



Query. — Wouldn't they think the 

 honey better than the bread if they 

 could get it without being mixed? 



C. C. M. 



Moving Bees a Short Distance 



I have 7 colonies standing on the 

 lawn, close together, on the south side 

 of the house, which I wish to 

 move to the further side of the 

 garden, 25 paces from where they 

 now stand. When will be the best 

 time to move them, placing them in 

 pairs in their new location, facing 

 south as they do now? How would it 

 do to put them on their new place 

 about March 1, just before the bees 

 begin to bring in water, as that is 

 their first flight abroad for the season, 

 which occurred on March 6, last spring? 

 Would it be better to wait until apple- 

 bloom? At that time I have the sec- 

 tions on and the bees are storing. Of 

 course, when I put them on their new 

 place, I shall put a board in front of 

 each hive for them to bump against, 

 and, when they first fly, smoke them 

 and make them all take wing. Would 



