394- 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



answered by 

 Marengo, Idl. 



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 'JO or more apiarists 

 who help to malie "Queries and Replies" so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Give Them Bee-Bread and All. 



As we had lately unusually warm weath- 

 er, I examined my bees on the summer 

 stands. I found one colony with the queen 

 and bees all dead — killed, I suppose, by the 

 severe and long spell of cold we had in De- 

 cember. Strange to say, there is plenty of 

 sealed honey in each comb, within easy 

 reach of the bees, and plenty of bee-bread also. 

 Now with regard to this last (pollen), I wish 

 to know whether it is good, or even neces- 

 sary to scrape it off before giving the combs 

 to another colony in April. H. D. 



Montreal, Canada. 



Answer. — Give the bees bee-bread and all. 

 If it's in nice, clean shape it may be worth 

 to them as much as an equal weight of 

 honey. Even if not in the best shape, the 

 bees are good at cleaning up. 



Honey Crop of the United States, 



If possible, please publish the honey crop 

 in the United States for 188.5, and each year 

 up to this. In 1890 the Bee Journal said 

 " about one-fourth of a crop." What year 

 was it a full crop? Is it better in Canada 

 of late years (five years) than in the United 

 States? What localities fail most? 



Orangeville, O. Peter Moxer. 



Answer. — Friend M., did you ask such 

 questions just on purpose to get me to say 

 I don't know? I've no idea that any one 

 can give an entirely reliable answer to a 

 single one of them. The attempt was made 

 one year by bee- keepers themselves to take 

 a census of the crop, but it didn't amount 

 to much. The federal government has also 

 made some kind of a census at different 

 times, and perhaps some of the States, but 

 I think nothing of the kind has ever been 

 accurate or complete. 



Lately A. I. Root struck a plan whereby 

 he thought he might make a pretty close 

 guess at the amount of section honey pro- 

 duced. The plan was to have all the manu- 



facturers of sections report the number of 

 sections they had sold in this country. But 

 all of the manufacturers would not agree 

 to tell, so the plan fell through. 



With regard to this whole subject, the 

 ideas of some of our most intelligent men 

 are quite vague. Ask a man what his aver- 

 age crop is, and he will give an answer that 

 is quite wide of the mark if compared with 

 the actual figures. My observation has 

 been that most men set the figure a great 

 deal too high, with no intention to be dis- 

 honest about it. Even with figures accu- 

 rately kept, what do you mean by a "full 

 crop " or an " average crop ? "' I'm sure I 

 don't know. You may find the average 

 crop one man has had for the past five 

 years — that's easy — but his average crop 

 for eight or for ten years will probably be 

 an entirely different thing. 



Several Questions Asked. 



1. I have one colony of bees that lost its 

 queen and nearly all the bees last winter. 

 I gave them a queen in the spring, and. this 

 colony built right up and was in good con- 

 dition for this winter, but they took another 

 spell of dying about the first of December, 

 and the queen went with them. They 

 brought her out with the other bees that 

 died, but they have stopped dying and ap- 

 pear to be all right now. What was wrong? 



2. Would it do to give them some brood 

 to rear a queen as soon as the bees begin 

 gathering pollen? or what is best? 



3. I have one colony of bees that about 

 swarming time their young bees that have 

 just hatched out crawl out of the hive and 

 crawl off. They appear to be all right, but 

 too young to fiy. 



4. Will feeding a colony of bees in early 

 spring (as soon as they begin gathering 

 pollen) and contracting the hive, have any 

 effect toward making them swarm? I have 

 one colony that I would like to have swarm 

 as many times as possible. Please give me 

 the best plan of making them swarm, out- 

 side of dividing for increase. 



5. Why do our bees not swarm in this 

 part of the country in May, but always in 

 April and June ? 



6. Something more about the question 

 asked on page 10. I am satisfied that it was 

 a queen piping, but you say the piping is 

 not heard before the issuing of the first 

 swarm. That colony hadn't, nor didn't 

 swarm, and no mistake about it. 



7. Do you think the bee-business would 

 pay in this country? About how many col- 

 onies could be kept in one bee-range? 



Some of our honey-plants here are poplar, 

 sourwood, fruit, blackberry, sumac, gum 

 maple, willow, and lots of other varieties of 

 blooms. M. W. G. 



Bankston, Ala. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. I might 

 guess at several things, but merely knowing 

 that bees died, nothing but guesses can be 

 given. 



2. It might do to give them brood from 

 which to rear a queen, and it might be more 



