AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



521 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of suflBcieut special interest to 

 require replies from the 25 or more apiarists 

 who help to make "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. 



Foundation Starters with Separators. 



Is it necessary to place foundation 

 starters in one-pound sections with sep- 

 arators ? If so, why ? 



Gaston, Oreg. Louis Wilcox. 



Answer. — Yes ; unless you use start- 

 ers of foundation or comb, the bees will 

 be likely to make very crooked work, 

 and make a good many sections so they 

 could not be taken apart. 



Test for Purity of Queens. 



If all the workers are three-banded, is 

 that conclusive evidence that the queen 

 Is pure, and that she is purely mated ? 



My experience says no to the above 

 question ; and that the only true test of 

 a pure queen, and that she is purely 

 mated, is the production by her of pure 

 queens, or queens with the proper mark- 

 ings. If we would keep our stock pure. 

 It is essential that we know how these 

 things are. H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn. 



Answer. — Others have thought with 

 you, but the difficulty of carrying out 

 the theory in practice seems to have 

 resulted in settling the rule that three- 

 banded workers are taken as evidence of 

 purity of queens. The markings of 

 queens from unquestionably pure moth- 

 ers you will hardly find uniform enough 

 to make the task of deciding an easy 

 one. 



Perhaps it was Moisture. 



I began bee-keeping in the spring; of 

 1891, with one colony, increased to 

 three, and for want of knowledge only 

 got 40 pounds of comb honey. They 

 wintered well on the summer stands in 

 chaff hives, and last year I increased 

 them to 7 colonies, and got 250 pounds 

 of comb honey. All were in chaflf hives 

 with plenty of stores for winter. The 2 

 stronger colonies have had honey run- 

 ning out at the entrance. What is the 

 cause? Is it the moth? If so, how will 



I know it ? and what will I have to do 

 with them ? John Bagshaw. 



Vroomantown, Ont. 



Answer. — Are you sure it wasn't mois- 

 ture from the bees, instead of honey ? 

 If there was much dampness in the hive, 

 it is just possible that some of the honey 

 might get thin enough to run out. If 

 the work of worms, you can tell it by 

 taking out the combs and examining 

 them. Then you can dig out the worms 

 with a pen-knife. But the fact that the 

 strongest colonies are affected, hardly 

 points to worms as the cause. Moisture 

 would be more likely to run out at the 

 entrance of a strong than a weak col- 

 ony, and might look very much like 

 honey, but the taste would decide it. 



Transferring— Extracting Pieces. 



1. Will you tell me the best method to 

 transfer bees from a box-hive to the 

 Langstroth hive ? I have 27 swarms in 

 the box-hive. They are in fine condition, 

 and have been carrying in pollen fast 

 to-day. Would you cut out the old 

 comb and fit it in the frames, or would 

 you give them foundation aiid drive out 

 part of them, leaving the balance 21 

 days, after Heddon's plan ? I intend to 

 work them for comb honey. 



2. Can I extract the honey I take out 

 of the old box-hive, with an extractor? 



Gran, Mo., March 13, 1893. 



Answers. — 1. You will probably like 

 the Heddon plan of transferring best. 



2. Yes, you can extract from the old 

 combs, but they are not so easy to man- 

 age as straight combs in frames. If 

 very crooked, you may have to cut them 

 up a good deal, and for the small pieces 

 you will need some kind of a comb- 

 basket that will hold them. 



Robber Bees — Straw-Board Separators 



1. What is the best way to prevent 

 robbing when bees are put out in the 

 spring ? 



2. How can it be stopped after rob- 

 bing has begun ? 



3. Can common straw building-paper, 

 or any other kind, be used successfully 

 for separators in the section supers ? 



Melrose, Wis. H. N. 



Ans. — 1. Try to have all colonies fairly 

 strong when put into the cellar. Then 

 you will have fewer weak ones in the 

 spring, for a very weak colony in spring 



