AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



553 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as ai'B not of sufficient 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. 



Hive that Had Diseased Bees. 



Is it injurious to put bees into a hive 

 where a colony has died with diarrhea ? 

 Sherwood, N. Y. Geo. L. Winters. 



Answer. — No ; the bees will clean it 

 out, but if too filthy they might desert. 



One or Two Rowed Zinc. 



Which is the better, one or two rows 

 of zinc for queen-excluding honey- 

 boards ? Is it quite necessary to use 

 two rows ? Give me your best advice. 



Bishop Hill, Ills. D. Lindbeck. 



Answer. — Opinions differ. Perhaps it 

 doesn't make much difference. 



Origin of the Honey-Bee. 



Please give in the Bee Journal in- 

 formation as to the substance and pro- 

 cess through which the honey-bee origi- 

 nated. C. S. PiZEE. 



Franklin, Pa. 



Answer. — Probably you can get no 

 more reliable information than that con- 

 tained in the first chapter of Genesis. 



Honey or Sugar Syrup for Breeding. 



I bought 5 good colonies of bees of 

 one of my neighbors last week for $30. 

 There are plenty of bees in every hive, 

 but they are light In stores. I have 

 about 20 pounds of choice comb honey 

 all in one-pound sections. Would you 

 give them that, or feed sugar syrup ? 

 Which is the better to breed up on ? 

 The bees were all. wintered in a good, 

 dry cellar, and were not taken out until 

 April 3rd. Wm. Kittinger. 



Caledonia, Wis., April 3, 1893. 



Answer. — If the honey were worth no 

 more than the sugar syrup, we should 

 prefer it to feed. There may not be a 

 great deal of difference, but we know 

 that honey is the natural food for them, 

 and the little pollen that may be float- 



ing in it gives it some advantage. But 

 at the present prices, choice comb honey 

 being high, and sugar very low, we 

 don't believe there is as much difference 

 in the value as in the price of the two, 

 so we think we should sell the honey 

 (provided we didn't need it on our own 

 table) and feed sugar syrup. The bees 

 can probably get enough fresh pollen to 

 make up any difference, and if they can- 

 not get pollen enongh from natural 

 sources, it may be well for you to feed 

 some kind of meal as a substitute. 



Getting Bees to Empty a Super. 



I began bee-keeping last summer with 

 3 colonies, two of which were in dove- 

 tailed 8-frames hives, and the other was 

 in an old box-hive. The two in the 

 dovetailed hives wintered very well on 

 the summer stands, but ^the one in the 

 box-hive either froze, or 'was smothered 

 to death. They did not starve, for 

 there is just lots of nice comb honey in 

 the hive. Now would it be advisable 

 for me to put an empty super on one of 

 the dovetailed hives, and take the honey 

 out of the box-hive and put into this 

 empty super ? Would the bees carry it 

 down and put it in the empty combs of 

 their own hive ? If they would, they 

 would be all ready to work in the super 

 when the honey-flow comes. 



Wallace H. McCoemick. 



Ransom, Ills., April 4, 1893. 



Answer, — Sometimes they will carry 

 it down in good shape, and sometimes 

 they will not. If they have a good sup- 

 ply below they may leave it. You may 

 succeed better by putting it in an empty 

 super or hive below, that is, if your 

 hives have loose bottom-board. The 

 farther it is below their combs the surer 

 they are to take it. 



Swarm Scattering all Over a Tree. 



I had 3 colonies of black bees, spring 

 count, in 1892, and about May 12th 

 one swarm came out and alighted all 

 over a small quince-tree. The tree was 

 black with bees, and I had to sprinkle 

 water on them to make them bunch up, 

 and then I hived them. No. 1 swarmed, 

 and went back into the old hive again. 

 Then No. 2 swarmed, and I put them 

 into a hive. They stayed in, but had 

 alighted the same as No. 1, all over the 

 same bush. No. 3 swarmed well ; No. 

 2 and No. 3 stored each about 15 

 pounds in the supers. No. 1 came out 

 again, and scattered all over the tree. I 



