404 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



a small wire nail in the cleat of this hive 

 in front, which shows at a glance what 

 hives have swarmed, when I leave the 

 disposal of the brood until the next day. 

 I sometimes liberate the queen on the 

 alighting-board, and let her into the hive 

 in the evening. 

 Manistee, Mich. 



ElgM or Ten-Frame Hiyes ?-l3aeries. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 

 BY JOHN M. SEILER. 



On page 623 of the Bee Journal for 

 November 16th, 1893, in the report of 

 the North American Convention, and in 

 answer to the question, "How many pre- 

 ferred a 10-frame hive ?" 16 favored it, 

 and 42 preferred an 8-frame hive. One 

 had changed from an 8-frame to a 10- 

 frame, and 24 had changed from 10- 

 frame to the 8-frame hive, showing that 

 the majority were for 8 frames. 



I have never used a 10-frame hive, so 

 I cannot tell from experience which is 

 the better, but will tell what my bees did 

 in 8-frame hives during 1893. 



I put 14 colonies into the cellar on 

 Nov. 12, 1892, and took them all out 

 alive on May 1, 1893, but 3 died soon 

 after, leaving 11. I allowed the 7 

 strongest to swarm, from which we got 

 15 swarms. The next two in strength, 

 I got 50 pounds of honey each in sec- 

 tions, and I united the second swarms 

 with the two weakest. 



The first prime swarm was on June 7, 

 hived on empty frames, and by fall they 

 had filled 4 supers of 24 1-pound sec- 

 tions each, or 90 pounds net, and had 

 enough to winter on. 



We had no clover honey here during 

 1893 — lots of blossoms, but I did not 

 see a bee working on white clover last 

 year. We had about half a crop of bass- 

 wood. The caterpillars ate all the foli- 

 age of the basswood in 1891 and 1892, 

 and about one-half in 1893. 



I have watched the writings of the 

 prominent bee-keepers during 1893, and 

 it seems the Southern bee-keepers, or at 

 least the majority of them, prefer a 10- 

 frame hive, and a majority in the North 

 prefer an 8-framo hive. I think an 8- 

 frame hive plenty large enough for our 

 short seasons here in the North. 



THE ANSWERS TO QUERIES. 



The answers to Queries are the same 

 as other things — so many conflicting 

 theories. Take the replies to Query 

 908, on page 142. Seven say, '• Leave 



the old queen in the old hive ;" 10 reply, 

 "move her to the new hive;" 9 don't 

 mention the hive at all, but to " move 

 the old queen to the new location," or, 

 "it doesn't make any diflference." It 

 seems there are about one-third for each 

 of the three ways. The reply of Dr. 

 Tinker is right to the point, viz: "1. 

 Leave the old queen with the old hive 

 on a new stand. 2. I would not ' com- 

 mence to divide' at all. I don't believe 

 in it." 



Five of the 26 would not divide. 



Query 910 asks, "Do you clip your 

 queens' wings ?" Eleven answer "No," 

 13 reply "Yes," and one never prac- 

 ticed it. After "Illinois" has read these 

 replies, how much wiser will he be ? 



Of course, some queries have the re- 

 plies nearly all on one side, such as 

 Queries 883, concerning starters, 884 

 and 901. In the replies to Query 898, 

 9 prefer a 10-frame hive, 9 an 8-frame, 

 and 5 all the way from 8 to 32 frames. 



But, take it all in all, the "Old Relia- 

 ble " is a good paper. Long may it 

 prosper. 



Bees are wintering nicely here so far. 



Chanhassen, Minn., Feb. 21. 



Bees Fertilizing PnniiiHns, Spaslies, Etc. 



Written for the American Bee Joujiial 

 BY F. A. WILLSON. 



I recently received the following re- 

 quest : 



Mr. F. a. Wilson: 



JJear Sir — Referring to your letter in the 

 Bee Journal, page 283. will you kindly say 

 in that journal what difference, if any, you 

 think has been made in the fertilization of 

 pumpkins, squashes, etc., by the introduc- 

 tion of honey-bees? Yours truly. 



C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



In answer to the foregoing I will state 

 that in the spring of 1892 we planted a 

 few hills of the Hubbard squash ; some 

 five or six plants came up and grew most 

 luxuriantly, the ground being a rich, 

 black loam. The vines spread in all di- 

 rections and covered quite a space of 

 ground. 



About the last of July the young 

 squashes began to set and would grow 

 to the size of a medium-sized apple, then 

 turn yellow and die. I saw them daily, 

 and watched for bees, as we had been 

 told that squash vines would not bear 

 unless there were bees of some kind to 

 fertilize them, by carrying the pollen 

 from flower to flower. I did not find a 



