AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



683 



room will be taken up with peep-holes or 

 vacancies along the edges of the comb. 



6. You can't always depend upon bees 

 rearing a queen in the lower story, espe- 

 cially if the attempt be made after the 

 swarming season. 



As a rule, I think queeens reared in the 

 swarming season or in a heavy honey-flow, 

 will average better than others. As to pre- 

 vention of swarming, I don't know whether 

 there would be any difference between one 

 reared in the fall and the spring, but I 

 should think that one reared in the spring 

 would be better, for it has laid less. One 

 reared late in the fall would of course lay 

 so little in the fall that it might not be 

 worth counting, but it might be reared so 

 late that the queen would not be worth 

 counting. 



Thanks for helping us out as to the cost 

 of rearing a pound of bees. 



When Bees Gather Nectar, Etc. 



1. How do you tell when bees are gather- 

 an abundance of nectar ? My bees just 

 roll in and out till about 10 o'clock, and 

 then they slack up. In the afternoon about 

 2 o'clock they begin to work faster, or the 

 amount of bees going in and out is greater 

 till late in the afternoon. 



2. Which swarm the more, Italians or 

 hybrid bees ? 



3. Is this often or ever the case ? I have 

 a black queen that was mated to an Italian 

 drone, and all her bees but about one-fifth 

 are as bright Italians as you see, that is, 

 3-banded ; they show the 3 bands when not 

 full of honey. The one-fifth are all black. 

 The "A B C of Bee-Culture " says, " all the 

 way from 3-banded to the blackest of bees ;" 

 but this is not " all the way," for it is 3 

 bands and black. 



4. I have a colony of bees and there are 

 all the time young bees coming out on the 

 alighting-board and dying. They appear 

 to have no use of themselves — just can 

 crawl and pant as if they were tired, till 

 they die. What is the cause of this ? 



Bankston, Ala. M. W. G. 



Answers. — 1. You've partly answered 

 your question in the asking. When bees 

 " just roll in and out," you may be pretty 

 certain they're not fooling, but are doing a 

 profitable business. When they slack up at 

 about 10 o'clock, it's because business is 

 getting dull. It is not an uncommon thing 

 for flowers to yield better in one part of 

 the day than another. Buckwheat, for in- 

 stance, yields little or nothing in the after- 

 noon. Catch a bee returning from the field 

 and you can see whether its honey-sac is 



full by tearing it apart, or by gently press- 

 ing it till it ejects the honey from the 

 mouth. 



2. I don't know that there's any differ- 

 ence. 



3. Yes, the first cross is very likely to 

 have some that appear pure blacks and 

 some that appear pure Italians. 



4. Probably bee-paralysis. With me the 

 disease doesn't amount to much, but in the 

 South it is in some cases very destructive. 

 Unfortunately, there seems to be no sure 

 remedy, although some think changing the 

 queen effects a cure. 



Moving Bees a Short Distance. 



I wish to move a few colonies of bees 

 from my neighbor's apiary, which is about 

 a good stone's throw away from my bees. 

 Can this be done now, or in the swarming 

 season ? If so, how ? H. O. J. 



Reeseville, Wis. 



Answer. — If a swarm is taken to your 

 place the day it issues, there will be no 

 trouble. A colony may be taken at any 

 time, and you can put up a board in front 

 of the entrance ; but some of the bees will 

 go back. 



Foul-Broody Honey — Basswood. 



1. Is honey from foul-broody colonies un- 

 healthy to eat ? Or is it for the benefit of 

 bee-keepers that foul brood inspectors are 

 employed ? 



2. In what month does basswood bloom ? 



F. T. S. 



Answers. — I'm not sure about it, but I 

 should not suppose any serious results 

 would come from eating it, and at the 

 same time I do not believe it as wholesome 

 as honey from healthy colonies. The 

 thought of its coming from such a foul- 

 smelling place would settle the matter for 

 most people's eating. Certainly, foul 

 brood inspectors are for the sole benefit of 

 bee-keepers. It makes little difierence to 

 your neighbor who is a shoemaker whether 

 foul brood is within half a mile of you, but 

 it does make a big difference to you, and 

 you are anxious for the inspector to find it 

 and stamp it out. 



2. June and July. 



A Binder for holding a year's num- 

 bers of the Bee Jouenai. we mail for 

 only 50 cents ; or clubbed witt the 

 JOUKNAL for $1.40, 



