490 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ANSWERED BY 



DR,. C. C IMIILjrjHJR,, 



Marengo, III,. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of suflScient special interest to 

 require replies from the 20 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. 



Starving with Plenty of Honey. 



One of my neighbors called on me this 

 morning, and wanted to know what to do 

 when bees sealed their honey so solid that 

 they could not get to it, stating that some 

 of his colonies had sealed theirs in that 

 way, and were starving. I told him I had 

 never heard of bees starving with a hive 

 full of sealed honey in frames, and to take 

 a sharp knife and uncap it. I further told 

 him that I would find out if the like was 

 ever known before. F. M. L. 



Langlois, Oreg., March 9. 



Answer. — Bees sometimes starve with 

 plenty of honey in the hive, not because 

 they cannot uncap it, bnt because it is too 

 far from the cluster, and too cold for them 

 to leave the cluster. There's no trouble but 

 what they can uncap it, if it's in the middle 

 of the brood-nest, or if it's warm enough 

 for them to go where it is. 



There's only one way in which a starving 

 colony, so far as I know, could have honey 

 right in the brood-nest without getting it, 

 but that's a very rare case, and it is not 

 likely your neighbor's bees were so situated. 

 It sometimes happens that honey sealed 

 over in the comb is so placed in the hive 

 that there is room to add to it. In such 

 case the bees sometimes commence building 

 right over the capping, and when the bees 

 come to use out such honey afterward, I 

 never knew them to get down any deeper 

 than to the old capping. They probably 

 think that's the septum, and they don't dig 

 through the septum. 



Working for Extracted Honey. 



1. I wish to run part of my bees for ex- 

 tracted honey. 1 am using the American 

 hive with a frame 12 inches deep. Is it 

 best to put the extra body on top of the 

 brood-chamber, or will it work just as well, 

 or better, to put the body with the empty 

 frames below the brood-chamber, by taking 

 fhe one frame with the queen out of the 



brood-chamber, and placing it among the 

 empty combs below, the queen to be held 

 below by a queen excluder, then the old 

 brood-chamber on top to be filled with 

 honey as fast as the young bees hatch out ? 

 I worked one colony on the last-named plan 

 in 1898, but. in 23 days after, they cast a 

 swarm that nearly filled an American hive. 

 Two days later the swarm was returned, 

 and all worked well. I extracted 137 pounds 

 of honey from the colony, and after the 

 honey-flow was over 1 divided them into 

 two good colonies, both of which are in 

 good condition to-day. 



2. Is it best to leave the entrance for the 

 top body open, or is it better to let them 

 use the lower entrance only ? J. S. 



Huntington, Ind., March 28. 



■ Answers. — 1. Either way will do well. If 

 you can always have as good results as last 

 year, it certainly will be well to follow up 

 the plan. But I should not expect them 

 always to swarm. Be sure to report your 

 success the coming season, and tell how 

 many colonies swarm with the brood put 

 up. 



2. There may be a little advantage in 

 having the two entrances. 



Preventing Loss of Out- Apiary Swarms 



I read the answer to A. W. S. on page 

 363. I am using what I call a success in 

 preventing loss of swarms in out-apiaries. 

 My frames are crosswise of the entrance. 

 The division-board has a strip of zinc ^4- 

 inch wide with one row of holes at the bot- 

 tom of the board so the bees can pass 

 through. All hives that are full of bees 

 and brood when the honey-flow commences, 

 I set the queen with one or two frames of 

 brood at the back end of the hive, and the 

 division-board in front of them and be- 

 tween the rest of the brood-frames, leaving 

 them all to hatch out and be filled with 

 honey. I also put over them the excluding- 

 board of zinc, and any surplus arrangement 

 for extracting I have. By this method I 

 stop all brood-rearing except on the one 

 or two frames that I have left with the 

 queen behind the division-board. The bees 

 have free access to the queen, both below 

 through the division-board and over 

 through the zinc excluding-board. That is 

 my way for keeping bees at home, and get 

 good work from them. This is the way I 

 leave the brood-frames for extracting. 



For comb honey it is a little different in. 

 the brood-frames. Leaving the queen with 

 about the same frames behind the division- 

 board, I take out all the brood-frames ex- 

 cept 3 or 4 of those nearest solid full of 

 sealed brood, and in the place of the frames 

 taken out I place 3 or 4 broad frames filled 

 with sections, placing them back next to 

 the division-board, and the brood-frames in 

 front, next to the entrance. Most of the 

 brood will be out in 10 days, and then I 

 take them all out, or nearly so as to space, 

 and in place hang more frames of sections. 

 By this method I put all my bees in the 

 field during the honey-flow, and get honey 



