458 * AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



consider it policy to make the swarms as 

 strong as possible at the expense of the old 

 colony. 



Lately J. F. Gates gave a plan in the 

 American Bee-Keeper, which coolly plans to 

 get nothing from the old colony but the 

 swarm, and nothing from the swarm but a 

 crop of honey. The old colonies, which he 

 calls his breeders, are in big box-hives, and 

 being strong they cast early and large 

 swarms. These are hived on the old stand 

 in a small hive, sections put on at once, and 

 if there's any section honey they get it. 

 Then all he asks of the old colony is to get 

 sti'ong again for the next year, at the close 

 of the harvest adding the bees of the swarm 

 to the breeder, melting up the combs of the 

 little hive so as to have it empty for the 

 next year. 



Weak Colony— Sorghum — Beets. 



On the first day of March I bought two 

 colonies of bees from a man that has been 

 keeping bees for 5 or (5 years. He told me 

 that he examined them, that each colony 

 had a queen, and that they were all right. 

 I brought them home and put them in the 

 grove, on little blocks 2x4x12 inches. 



The weather was cold and windy till 

 about the 10th, when I opened the hives 

 and looked them all over. In one hive 

 about half tbe bees were dead, and not 

 much honey in the combs; some of the 

 combs were jet black, and a lot of dead 

 bees in the cells. It seems as if the bees 

 had crawled in and died, and I couldn't see 

 the queen, so I cleaned out all the dead bees 

 (I took out 4 or 5 handfuls) and closed up 

 the hive. 



The other hive I opened next, and in it I 

 found some black comb, but very few dead 

 bees. I found the queen and the hive full 

 of bees, but they had very little honey, so I 

 made two feeders and started to feed some 

 syrup, made according to the directions in 

 Root's "A B C of Bee-Culture." 



The bees in the first hive seemed to go up 

 into tbe feeder, which holds about a pint. I 

 filled it a week ago, and it's only about hal^ 

 eaten. The second colony eats a pint eveiy 

 night. 



1. What is the matter with the first col- 

 ony? 



3. Is sorghum molasses good to feed to 

 bees ? 



3. How are sugar beets for bees, to feed 

 in the raw state, smashed up ? J. C. K. 



Glenwood Park, Nebr. 



Answers. — 1. Probably all that ails the 

 weak colony is its weakness. They don't 

 use up the feed as rapidly as the stronger 

 colony, for one thing, because there are not 

 so many of them, even if they work accord- 

 ing to their strength. Another thing is. 



that they have a smaller cluster and don't 

 keep so warm, so a smaller per cent, are 

 able to leave the cluster. You will find 

 that they may do a little better on the 

 feed if you give it to them very hot. If 

 there was a queen present on the first of 

 March she may be there yet, and in that 

 case you ought to have found some brood 

 present. If the colony was queenless, that 

 would be a good reason for the bees dying 

 off" from old age. 



3. I shouldn't want bees to have sorghum 

 molasses for winter, but when they can fly 

 every day there's no danger. 



3. I don't know anything about beet feed- 

 ing from experience, but I suspect it would 

 be cheaper to»get the ^igar out for them 

 than oblige them to do the extracting. 

 Still, it is just possible that at a time when 

 nothing else is to be had, it might be a good 

 thing to keep them exercising on beets. 



Italian Drones that Look Black, Etc. 



1. The drones from my Italian bees are 

 as black as the ace of spades, but the work- 

 ers show the three bands. Are the drones 

 pure ? If so, what makes them so black ? 



3. What would be the result if I were to 

 get some Carniolan bees mixed with my 

 blacks and Italians ? 



3. Don't you think my bees have too 

 much room to winter well, with a hive 10 

 inches deep, and a story on top 7 inches 

 deep I Had I better take off' the top story ? 

 Would there be stores enough in the brood- 

 chamber if I did not take any from below '. 

 My hives are 18 inches by 12 in the clear, 

 made of one inch stuff', 8 frames to the 

 story. M. W. G. 



Bankston. Ala. 



Answers. — 1. Hard to tell. If the work- 

 ers are part of them with three yellow 

 bands and part with less, than they are not 

 pure, and it would look as if there was 

 black blood in the queen, although she may 

 have mated with a yellow drone. If, how- 

 ever, all the workers show the three yellow 

 bands, then you may count the drones 

 pure, even if they are ver}- dark. Drones 

 vary greatly, and their color is not con- 

 sidered a test of purity as is that of the 

 workers. 



2. I'm not sure that I can say for certain 

 what, except that I should expect more 

 swarming, and as you are anxious for 

 swarms, that might suit you. But nearly 

 every one who has been in thp business for 

 any length of time, is anxious to have bees 

 that will not swarm, and you may be sure 

 that you'll come to be of the same mind. 



