586 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



as long as possible, and if I blunder into 

 something I do not know anything 

 about, I will be sure to " get out in the 

 little end of the horn." 

 Bishop Hill, Ills. D. Lindbeck. 



Answer. — Confined on 3 three frames, 

 you may be sure of a swarm whenever 

 the nucleus becomes strong enough, and 

 much sooner than if more combs were 

 given. If excluder zinc prevents the 

 escape of the queen, you may be pretty 

 sure she will be killed. 



If you want to keep the queen from 

 laying much, it may be well to try a 

 plan given by Dr. Miller. Set your 

 nucleus on top of one of your regular 

 hives. As soon as you think there is any 

 danger of too many bees, or sooner, re- 

 move the nucleus and set it on the top 

 of another hive, thus changing it to a 

 new place each time it becomes strong 

 enough, only allowing it to be left un- 

 disturbed long enough toward the last 

 of the season so that it will be strong 

 enough for winter. 



Each time you remove the nucleus the 

 field bees will return to the spot from 

 which they were removed, and unite 

 with the bees below. 



Bees Leaving in March. — Large Hives. 



1. Did you ever hear of bees leaving 

 in March ? I went out on March 22nd, 

 and noticed a colony of Italians which 

 had always been inactive, just boiling. 

 They would come out, crawl up on the 

 hive, circle around, and then make a 

 liner across the field. I thought they 

 were robbers, so I closed the entrance 

 for one-half hour, then opened it again 

 to see the dead bees, but there were 

 none to be seen. I then opened the full 

 entrance, and went back in three hours 

 — I had a lot of empty combs, bees all 

 gone, and no brood. I could not find 

 even a dead queen, which would have 

 been the case had robbing been going 

 on. Now I think they must have had it 

 all made out, as they did not carry in 

 any pollen, while the other bees were 

 just rolling it in for 2 or 3 weeks before. 

 However, not to be "bluffed," I bought 

 10 colonies of Italians at an auction for 

 $30, the very next day. The storm 

 blew off the covers, and drenched the 

 outside combs. I took out the wet combs 

 and packed them in burlap. The next 

 day I saw hundreds of bees lying 

 around shaking, shining and black, and 

 very largo.. I suppose they were bloated. 

 I have not a single colony of blacks or 

 hybrids. 



2. Now what was the matter with 

 them ? They were hauled 10 miles 

 over rough country roads, in a spring 

 wagon. The hives are 18x30, and 26 

 inches high. They are the "Crown" 

 pattern, with 18 closed-end frames, 

 11x12%. 



3. Are not 18 frames too many for 

 one queen ? Could I put a division- 

 board in the center, and introduce 

 another queen, thus having 2 colonies 

 in one hive ? But I am afraid there 

 will be " scrappin' " going on up in the 

 super. At all events, I will experiment 

 and report my success. 



J. C. Wallenmeyer. 

 Evansville, Ind. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, bees often leave 

 their hives in March, sometimes a num- 

 ber of hives being deserted at a time. 

 Usually a hive is deserted for want of 

 stores, but sometimes a sort of mania 

 seems to possess them, and a number of 

 colonies will swarm out and mix up, 

 with no apparent excuse for it. 



2. Possible the drenching the bees got 

 was enough to account for all. As you 

 describe it, the appearance is much that 

 of the " nameless " disease, only you re- 

 port as though there had been nothing 

 of the kind before the drenching. 



3. Your hives are larger than would 

 be preferred by many, especially for 

 comb honey, but some would say they 

 are none too large for extracting. If 

 you cut in two with a division-board, it 

 will be pretty small. Bees of 2 colonies 

 admitted to the same super have been 

 known to work together quite peaceably. 



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