AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



333 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing isimediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 25 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. 



Camiolan Bees. 



Are the Carniolan bees suitable for a 

 climate that is not very cold, but very 

 damp in winter ? D, T. Phillips. 



Cornelius, Oreg. 



We referred this question to Messrs. 

 F. A. Lockhart & Co., of New York 

 State, who have had much experience 

 with these bees. They answer thus : 



In reply to Mr. Phillips' inquiry, we 

 will say that he will find that the Car- 

 niolans are suitable for any country 

 where any other race of bees can exist, 

 whether it be a country that is cold, hot, 

 wet, or dry, as the Carniolan bee is a 

 native of a cold and windy country ; 

 showing that they will succeed in any 

 country, for they are used to rapid 

 changes of temperature. The rough 

 climate of the Alpine mountains has 

 made them a strong, robust and hardy 

 race, for they have been hemmed in by 

 mountains for centuries, and that no 

 other race of bees could possibly have 

 endured. 



We have handled the Carniolans by 

 the hundred colonies, for the past six 

 years, and upon a series of observations 

 and demonstrations with different races 

 of bees as to gentleness, activity, pro- 

 lifiness, working qualities, and their 

 ability to withstand climatic changes in 

 cold regions, we give the highest prefer- 

 ence to the Carniolans. 



F. A. Lockhart & Co. 



TTniting and. Feeding Bees. 



I have 3 colonies of Italians, that were 

 late swarms, hived in common boxes. 

 No. 1 is in a soap-box, No. 2 is in a 

 cracker-box, and No. 3 is in a nail-keg. 

 Quite an apiary, isn't it ? Nos. 1 and 2 

 were bought for 25 cents apiece, and 

 hauled 15 miles. They have no more 

 stores. No. 3 had fall honey from 

 golden-rod, and is also out of stores. On 

 Jan. 26th I brought No. 2 out of the 

 cellar, the thermometer registering 50°. 



I fed syrup in a plain feeder outside, 

 and placed a screen cage over the box. 

 The heat of the sunshine induced them 

 to fly, and they discharged their feces (a 

 dark-colored, ordorous fluid) all over the 

 cage, and at night, when I put them in 

 the cellar, half of them were dead. 



On Jan. 27th I examined Nos. 1 and 

 3, and seeing nocappingson the bottom- 

 board, I concluded they were out of 

 stores. The day being warm (50° above 

 zero), I decided to bring all the colonies 

 out of the cellar. They had a good 

 cleansing flight, and I fed them syrup. 

 There were no dead bees. I returned 

 them all to the cellar. 



Now, as all the colonies are weak, and 

 have no stores, could I, on the first 

 warm day, take away the queens from 

 two of the colonies, and unite all in the 

 soap-box, which has the most combs, 

 and feed by placing white comb honey 

 in sections beneath the cluster ? Per- 

 haps you would say, let 'em starve, but 

 I being a beginner, do not wish to lose 

 them, as by trying to bring them 

 through the winter, I will get hard- 

 earned experience. All the bees com- 

 bined now number only about 20,000. 

 J. C. Wallenmeyer. 



Evansville, Ind. 



No, don't "let 'em starve." After 

 confinement in the cellar, bees are not 

 very hard to unite, and you hardly need 

 trouble to kill two of the queens. The 

 bees will look out for that. But you 

 must look out that the honey you feed is 

 not out of reach of the cluster, for it's 

 no use to give them honey if they cannot 

 reach it. 



Moving Bees in Winter. 



I have an apiary that I wish to move 

 a few miles from where it is now located. 

 What time would be best for moving it — 

 at the present time on sleighs, with a 

 a splendid track and lots of snow, or not 

 until spring and warm weather ? I have 

 the hives packed away in large cases 

 out-doors, with four hives in a case, and 

 space enough between each one to fill in 

 some two inches of leaves, and the same 

 around the inside of each case. Would 

 it do to have help enough to place those 

 cases on sleighs as they are, already 

 packed at this time of year, and shift 

 them to their new location ? We have 

 had some four weeks of very severe 

 winter weather here, and if they would 

 do to change this time of the year, would 

 it be advisable to leave them until after 

 we had a few warm days, and they had 



