362 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



answered by 



Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 20 or more apiarists 

 who help to maiie "Queries and Replies" so 

 interesting on another page. Tn the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Foundation Used in Brood-Frames. 



1. How much foundation will it pay to 

 use in brood- frames '. 



2. What thickness or grade should it be ? 

 Weston, Iowa. A. G. A. 



Answers.— 1. There is some difference 

 of opinion as to this, but I think most bee- 

 keepers agree that it pays to use full sheets. 

 Brood-combs last so many years that one 

 can afford a good deal in the first place to 

 have them satisfactory, straight and all- 

 worker. 



2. If your frames are not wnred, the 

 heaviest foundation is none too heavy. If 

 the frames or foundation are wired, medium 

 brood-foundation will answer. With deep 

 frames it is more important to have the 

 foundation than with light frames. 



Queens and Queen-Cells — Drone-Comb 



1. Last year, about a week after one of 

 my colonies cast a swarm, I heard a young 

 queen piping in the cell at evening. The 

 next morning I heard the same, but no 

 queen out of the cell. That evening I 

 heard a queen piping out of the cell, but 

 none in, and the next morning I heard 

 none — they did not swarm the second time, 

 and I found no dead queens in front of the 

 hive. I thought perhaps the bees wanted 

 to swarm again, but had reared only one 

 queen. Have you ever known a colony to 

 do so '. 



2. What is the greatest number known 

 of queens reared by one colony, under the 

 natural swarming impulse ? 



S. I noticed in a reply not long ago, that 

 bees would build more drone-comb where 

 only starters are used than on full sheets of 

 foundation. Would they build more drone- 

 comb on starters than when built on empty 

 frames ? 



4. Usually, or always, when a swarm 

 with a young t^ueen is united with a swarm 

 witli an (ikl queen, eitlier in a iiive or in 

 the air. the young queen gets killed. Is it 



the old queen, or the bees, that kill her ? 

 Chanhassen, Minn. J. M. S. 



Answers. — I don't think I ever heard of 

 a colony starting only one queen-cell at 

 swarming, but such a thing is possible. It 

 is also possible that a number of cells were 

 in your hive, all of them considerably 

 younger than the one that matured. You 

 might not see the young queens when car- 

 ried piecemeal out of the hive. 



2. I don't know. I've read of forty 

 queen-cells being reared at a time, and in a 

 few cases many more. 



3. I doubt if there would be any differ- 

 ence between empty frames and starters if 

 the starters were small. For they will 

 build only a limited amount in either case. 

 Still, with starters of worker foundation 

 they would have to change to drone, while 

 with empty frames they could begin with 

 drone-comb ou some of the frames, so there 

 might be more drone-comb with the empty 

 frames. 



4. I suppose you mean a young, virgin 

 queen. The bees probably kill her. 



Italian Queen in a Black Colony, Etc. 



1. If I take a black queen from a colony 

 of black bees, and put in an Italian queen, 

 will all the bees coming from the Italian 

 queen be pure Italian bees ? 



2. I liave a colony of black bees in a box- 

 hive. I want to transfer them to a mov- 

 able-frame hive. When is the best time to 

 do it ; J. Q. 



Barrington, N. H. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, it is generally consid- 

 ered so. There are some, however, who 

 think the progeny of the queen will be af- 

 fected by the nurse-bees. 



3. During fruit-bloom is the time gener- 

 ally preferred. 



Difference in Colonies — Placing Hives. 



1. What makes some bees, when wintered 

 in the cellar, cluster down close to the bot- 

 tom-board, and an undue amount of dead 

 bees which will die right in and around the 

 cluster to such an extent as to block the 

 entrance, which is large ? What makes 

 some colonies, when wintered in the cellar, 

 keep nice and dry while others right by 

 them are very wet and mouldy ? My hives 

 are all alike, with sealed covers. 



2. Is two feet from center to center too 

 close for hives to be placed f Will they do 

 as well before swarming time, so close, as 

 they would four feet apart ? I have mine 

 two feet in tlie spring after protection is 

 useless. I move every other one back in a 

 new row. 



;■!. How do extensive bee-keepers have 

 their hives arranged .' Subscriber. 



Newton, Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. One of the difficult things 

 to tell, is wliy two coli>nieK u( bees appar- 

 ently alike in all respects dejjort them- 

 selves so ditlereutly. Une colony gives a 



