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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



store less, or more, honey than a colony 

 with a normal proportion of each, other 

 things being equal ? 



3. If there is a golden mean, should it be 

 such as to make the numbers of each about 

 equal, or should the number of those of one 

 age exceed the others ? 



4. Do you consider from $1.00 to $2.00 

 worth of honey in the outside combs as 

 "dead capital?" What about the moral 

 effect on the bees ? I confess I do not un- 

 derstand those reports of a colony "filling 

 a small chamber with brood," in the East. 

 They will never do it for me. Here the 

 bees build up according to the amount of 

 stores in rexerve, other things being equal. 



5. Why is it necessary that wire for 

 brood-frames should be tinned ? Will they 

 not become varnished with wax or propo- 

 lis before the iron can have a deleterious 

 efffect ? 



6. What is the philosophy of the bad 

 effect of iron vessels on honey ? 



7. When bees fill themselves on being dis- 

 turbed, do they afterwards return the 

 honey to the cells ? If not, does it tempo- 

 rarily incapacitate them from duty to any 

 extent ? Does frequent disturbance (in 

 summer, I mean) result in an appreciable 

 increase in the consumption of honey ? I 

 mean, is it common-sense to mippose that it 

 will; for of course we don't know, and 

 never will. F. L. T. 



Denver, Colo. 



Answers. — 1. I wish with all my heart 

 that I were fully competent to charge the 

 jury in this matter, giving what can fairly 

 be allowed to both sides. So far as my 

 own views are concerned, I am really and 

 truly an interrogation point. I want to 

 know the truth in the matter, and am 

 ready to work back slowly to larger hives 

 if that is best. But I think I can hardly 

 satisfy you better than to refer you to two 

 or three late numbers of GleanbKjs, in which 

 I have tried to give in a very full manner 

 just what you have asked for. C. P. Da- 

 dant, who is a strong advocate, not for a 

 10-frame hive, but for a larger hive, will 

 give his views in an early number of Olean- 

 ings. I think you will find that the advo- 

 cates for large hives make these claims: 

 That eight frames do not allow for the de- 

 velopment of a sufficiently large colony; 

 that in actual practice larger hives show 

 better results; and if they can fully estab- 

 lish this last proposition, they have made 

 out a case. 



2. As a matter of actual fact, if there are 

 no older workers in the hive, those 5 days 

 old can be seen carrying in pollen, and it is 

 believed they gather honey nearly as 

 young. I can only give a guess in answer 

 to your question. With all bees older than 



.6 days I suppose there would be no brood, 

 and I should hardly expect the workers'to 

 be in as good heart as if prospects looked 

 bright for a continuance of the "common- 

 weal." Still 1 have known bees to work 

 industriously when they were all above 1(1 

 days old, and hopelessly queeuless ; so I 

 wouldn't like to be dogmatic about it. 



3. In the case of an individual bee, I ' 



should hardly expect any difference in its 

 industry, whether the number of young 

 bees were above or below the usual propor- 

 tion. Without knowing anything posi- 

 tively about it, I have an impression that 

 the exigencies of the case may make a dif- 

 ference as to the age of commencing work 

 in the field. If the number of young or 

 nurse bees is so large that all are not needed 

 for housework, why may it not be that they 

 may commence work in the fields sooner ? 

 If that should be the case then it might be 

 best, if there is any lack of equilibrium, to 

 have the balance on the side of the young 

 bees. 



4. I can hardly believe that you mean to 

 have that last statement carried out to its 

 extreme. That is, I hardly believe that a 

 colony with 100 pounds reserve will build 

 up twice as fast, or twice as strong, as one 

 with a reserve of 50 pounds. Still, I do be- 

 lieve that a colony with a pound of reserve 

 will do better at building up than one with 

 only an ounce, and one with 20 pounds bet- 

 ter still. I can imagine a case where $1.00 

 to $2.00 worth of honey in the outside 

 combs would be dead capital, providing the 

 size of the hive was so proportioned to the 

 size of the colony that there was no possi- 

 bility that the honey of the outside combs 

 would ever be touched by the bees. I can 

 also imagine a case where it might be very 

 live capital, the honey being drawn upon 

 at a time when in a smaller hive the bees 

 would limit their operations for the want 

 of stores. 



5. I don't know. Once inside the wax, I 

 suppose the untinned wire would be all 

 right, but I don't believe the bees would 

 coat the part of the wire that was not built 

 into the comb. But I'm not sure whether 

 the untinned wire has been fairly tried. 

 The tinned wire certainly works well, and 

 there would be very little saved in using 

 the other. 



6. The acid of the honey is supposed to 

 work on the metal. But I don't know much 

 about it from actual experience. 



7. That question hardly comes within the 

 limit of my knowledge. As a guess, I 

 should say that if you do anything to make 

 a bee fill itself when without your inter- 

 ference it would not fill itself, that bee is 

 not in quite so good a shape for its work as 

 if you had let it alone, and it will cost you 

 at least a little fraction of the drop of 

 honey you made it gobble. Mind you, 

 that's a guess ; I don't know. 



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