AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



779 



sealed, and I opened the hive, expecting 

 to find a fine young queen, but as the 

 cell was still sealed, I thought some- 

 thing was wrong, and opened it. It 

 contained nothing but some royal jelly. 

 Guthrie, Okla. T. F. N. G. 



Answer. — Sometimes, without any ap- 

 parent reason, bees will have a queen- 

 cell with a dead larva in it, and if it is 

 sealed they don't seem to know any bet- 

 ter than to leave it sealed up to fool the 

 bee-keeper. In the present case, how- 

 ever, it is quite possible we may find the 

 reason in the weather. There have 

 been severe changes, and there has been 

 some very cold weather in which the 

 bees may have cuddled together, leaving 

 the queen-cell out in the cold. 



I think there must have been a larva 

 in the cell, although jelly and larva may 

 have been so dried up as not to be easily 

 distinguished. I can hardly imagine 

 that the bees would seal up a cell con- 

 taining no larva. 



If I had been in your place I would 

 have saved a sealed cell, or else waited 

 till the cell was sealed before dividing. 



As you left most of the brood with the 

 old queen, it is quite possible she may 

 issue with a swarm as soon as suiBcient 

 strength is recovered. 



Next time, try putting the queen on 

 the old stand, and most of the brood 

 and bees on the new stand. You see, as 

 you have done, nearly all the older bees 

 would leave the queen and go back to 

 the old stand. So the queen would not 

 be induced to lay as much as she would 

 on the old stand with field bees bringing 

 in abundant stores. In a natural swarm 

 the old queen has most of the bees and 

 no brood, and it's hard to improve on 

 that. Although I say put most of the 

 bees with the brood on the new stand, 

 yet in a day or so you would find most of 

 the bees back on the old stard with the 

 old queen. 



Bees In-Doors Leaving the Hives. 



I neglected my bees two days during 

 the warm weather in March, and when 

 I opened the bee-house everything was 

 in confusion — the bees had crawled out 

 all over the floor and sides of the wall, 

 so thick that I could not walk without 

 killing great numbers of them. But I 

 got out 11 colonies, and left them out. 

 In two days a cold wave appeared again, 

 and the temperature went down to zero. 

 I then looked at the bees, and they were 

 still on floor and wall, but to hum their 

 sweet notes no more. The result is, I 

 have 11 out of 40 colonies put in 



last November. I wish to ask if there 

 is any way to get them back into the 

 hives, should it ever happen to me 

 again ? Or what is to be done with 

 them ? ,1. w. M. 



Rodney, Mich., May 16, 



Answek. — You don't give full partic- 

 ulars, but as nearly as I can make out, 

 you winter your bees above ground, the 

 bees having no chance to fly till carried 

 out, and it became so warm in the bee- 

 house that large numbers of the bees 

 came out and scattered around. 



I suspect that in the warm days of 

 March it was not the heat so much as 

 the bad air that made the bees leave 

 their hives. In the hottest days of sum- 

 mer you know the heat does not make 

 the bees leave their hives. It may make 

 them cluster out, but they stick to the 

 hive. But those same bees shut up in a 

 close box on a hot summer night would 

 very likely scatter about just as yours 

 did. 



If the supposition is correct, that bad 

 air is the cause of their scattering 

 about, then the remedy is clear. Give 

 them better air. Open all doors and 

 windows at night, shutting them in the 

 morning when the bees show signs of 

 flying out. At the time your bees were 

 making such trouble, mine were in the 

 cellar, in one room 160 colonies, and 

 they became uneasy. Every night I 

 opened doors and windows. When the 

 fresh air came into the cellar they roared 

 as if there was going to be a general 

 exodus. In the morning, however, 

 everything was quiet, and sometimes the 

 sun would shine in upon the hive for 

 some time before any bees seemed to 

 want to fly out. They were then left 

 in till April 18, and came out in splen- 

 did condition. 



Nectar Secretion, Sui*plus Honey, Etc. 



1. Do flowers secrete honey when wet 

 with rains or heavy dews ? 



2. Can sections that are filled and 

 capped be taken from the super and re- 

 placed by sections containing foundation 

 starters ? 



3. Can a super containing sections 

 that are filled and capped be taken off 

 and replaced by an empty one contain- 

 ing sections with foundation starters, 

 without injuring the work of the bees ? 



4. Is it necessary to have the entrance 

 of the hives at the end of the frames ? 



5. Will bees build straight combs in 

 sections without foundation, separators 

 being used ? 



