AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



523 



and take possession of the hive. My bees 

 he brought to me last November, with one 

 colony of increase. We put them into the 

 cellar at once, where they remained until 

 March 17th ; it being a nice morning, and 

 the soft maples in bloom, I put them out 

 and got a " shanty " over my eye, as many 

 other people do on the day that they med- 

 dle with " other folks." 



They had a nice flight, and gathered some 

 pollen. The gi'ound was white with snow 

 yesterday morning (March 35th), and we 

 had squalls all day. I knew nothing of 

 bees or bee-keeping when I got my bees, 

 but I subscribed for the Bee Journal and 

 have read " Bees and Honey," and I think 

 I will be able to handle the bees after a 

 fashion, if I ask questions enough, and get 

 them answered, so here goes: 



1. Would you advise me to transfer one 

 or both of my colonies to frame hives 

 (say something after the style of the dove- 

 tailed hive) in the coming fruit-bloom ? 

 One colony's combs are quite black, and I 

 am afraid of moths or -miller-worms," as 

 they are called around here, as I saw a sus- 

 picious-looking worm on the bottom-board 

 when I put them out— it was about 1 inch 

 long and ^g inch in diameter. 



2. What is the best remedy or prevention 

 for moths ? Bee-keepers make a great 

 " ado " about them here, but I see scarcely 

 anything about them in the Bee Journal. 

 The colonies seem strong and heavy, and I 

 think they have brood. Will they rid 

 themselves of their intruders (moths) ? 



3. Will a virgin queen, if she fails to meet 

 the drones on her first trip, make a second 

 or third trip for that purpose ? 



4. About how old will she be when she 

 takes her trip, and at what time of day ? 



5. Will an unmated queen leave with a 

 swarm if there are protected queen-cells in 

 the hive ? 



6. In running a colony for comb honey in 

 sections, in section-holders, should there be 

 a bee-space between the sections and cover? 

 and if the supers are tiered, should there be 

 a bee-space between the tiers of sections ? 

 If so, do not the bees soil the sections at 

 such places ? I should like to run my bees 

 for section honey, as soon as I can, and I 

 want the sections soiled as little as possible. 



7. Will I get nearly as much surplus 

 honey if transferred on frames containing 

 full sheets of foundation, as if left in the 

 old hives arranged to put sections on top ? 

 I intend putting full sheets of foundation 

 in the sections. 



Bees wintered well here last winter — 

 what few there were. Nearly all the bees 

 died the winter before. I do not think 

 there are a dozen colonies within a radius 

 of three miles. We have some basswood 

 along the Sugar river here, and lots of 

 white clover, besides other bloom, and I 

 should think bees will do well. J. H. D. 



Belleville, Wis. 



Answers.— 1. If you intend to do much 

 with bees, you will probably never be satis- 

 fied till you have them in hives with mov- 

 able combs. But remember it's for your 



own convenience instead of any benefit to 

 the bees that movable combs are used. But 

 don't worry about the brood-combs being 

 black. Black combs are better than white 

 in the brood-nest. 



2. The best remedy for moths are strong 

 colonies of bees, and Italians will keep out 

 moths better than blacks. A good colony 

 of Italians will clean out moths without 

 any help from you. 



3. Yes, a number of trips. 



4. Perhaps generally when 5 to 7 days 

 old, in the heat of the afternoon. 



5. Yes. 



6. Yes, have the bee-spaces. If the sec- 

 tions are taken off as soon as finished dur- 

 ing the harvest, they will be pretty clean, 

 and if there is no bee-space they will crowd 

 in glue badly. But leaving sections on 

 after the honey-flow stops, will insure the 

 sections being badly daubed. 



7. There ought not to be much difference. 

 If there is much drone-comb in your present 

 hives, you may get more sections of honey 

 by transferring. 



Placing Hives — Sweet Clover. 



1. Would there be any difficulty in plac- 

 ing a number of hives close together on a 

 stand ? Would they be likely to rob one 

 another by so doing, or must they be a 

 certain distance apart ? 



2. If I plant one acre of sweet clover one 

 or two miles away in any direction from 

 the hives, will the bees be likely, or sure, to 

 find it ? H. S. 



Rockport, Utah. 



Answers. — 1. Inconvenience in handling 

 makes it objectionable to put more than 

 two hives close to the side of each other. 

 So far as the bees are concerned, three 

 hives side by side are aU right, but when 

 you go beyond this there is danger that 

 bees may get into the wrong hives, unless 

 trees or other objects help to mark the 

 entrance. 



2. If there was a scarcity of pasture, 

 there would not be much trouble about 

 their finding it if there was any consider- 

 able quantity of it in a place, and possibly 

 they would find it all right if it was scat- 

 tered. 



What Caused the Diarrhea ? 



It seems almost impossible to winter bees 

 in this locality. Three years ago I bought 

 some bees that had the diarrhea. Of course 

 some of the old honey was in the hive, and 

 I lost 28 colonies out of 53. Last summer 

 we had a fearful drouth here, consequently 

 hardly any honey, and I fed considerable 

 honey from the colonies that died this win- 

 ter. I have lost almost all of mine — 31 out 

 of 38. All died with plenty of stores. I 

 have as good a winter house for my bees as 

 I know how to make, and I have been a 

 mechanic for 25 years. It is not only I, but 

 other parties have lost as well, whole api- 

 aries gone. My bees commenced to spot 

 their hives about the middle of January. 



