THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



267 



but we wish some one would, and keep 

 bees in a cellar or bee-house, for at least 

 three months, while no brood is being 

 raised. We think they will come out 

 stronger in spring lor it. 



Is it a disadvantage to the main hive to 

 have a buckwheat swarm leave? Might 

 it not rather be said that with fewer con- 

 sumers, and a young queen, it was a gain ? 



D. C. M. 



It would be a gain, no doubt, if the 

 main hive were left strong in young hatch- 

 ing bees, and was sure of a fertile queen. 



Wliile doubling up weak colonies, how 

 shall I prevent them from slinging each 

 other to death ? What is the best method 

 of doubling up V S. Calland. 



If one of the colonies to be united is 

 queenless, there is no trouble in putting 

 them together. If not, the queen may be 

 taken away a few days before uniting, 

 and it can then be done without more 

 trouble. 



If you do not care to do this, follow 

 these directions: Smoke both colonies 

 till quiet, then remove both from their 

 old places; take another hive of the same 

 kind as the ones to be united, remove the 

 frames one by one from the hives, shaking 

 all the bees into the empty one; then se- 

 lect the best combs and put them into the 

 hive with the bees. All the bees living 

 in a strange hive will unite quietlj', and 

 wherever they are placed, will mark the 

 location, though we usually set them 

 where the strongest hive was before. This 

 can be done in quicker time than we have 

 written it, and will never fail. We have 

 often set a hive with the best frames ar- 

 ranged in it, right over the one containing 

 the bees, and left them to go up at their 

 leisure. It is hardly necessary to say that 

 the combs left over must be put away with 

 care out of the reach of robber bees. 



Is it a good waj"- to hatch out queens in 

 small boxes over the brood V When they 

 are hatched out, will they eat honey if 

 it is placed in the box ? 



H. S. Harrison. 



We have hatched queens in this way in 

 warm weather and had good success ; but 

 have failed when it was cool. 



Young queens will eat honey rather 

 than starve, but they do not thrive as they 

 do when fed and nursed by the bees. 



I see in the Jouunai. articles about tlie 

 enemies. Our worst enemy is the martin 

 or mud swallow. I opened the stomach 

 of one young swallow and found 8 perfect 

 workers in it. The law here forbids the 

 destruction of birds' nests, and they are 

 quite thick around this part of the State. 

 Geo. Van Voris. 



West Fulton, N. Y. 



Our friend need not be afraid of either 

 the martins or mud swallows. They do 

 catch insect, but prefer those which are 

 smaller than bees. It would be well toj 

 remember that the martin is a'tjiyger birc 

 with somewhat different habits tlian th^ 

 mud swallows, which one was meant? 



I have heard it said that one acre 

 mignonette is worth 10 acres of buckwhei 

 for bees, please answer through the Jour- 

 nal, for my benefit and all others in the 

 bee business. W. G, W. 



Mignonette is an excellent honey plant, 

 no doubt, but we do not think it so much 

 superior to buckwheat. The seed for 

 acre would be very expensive and as it \ 

 no use but for honey, we don't thin] 

 would pay to sow it fqjj,that alone. 

 would like to have some one sow an 

 and report. 



Would you advise one who had no combi 

 of consequence, and wanted to secure 

 them, to purchase Long's comb founda- 

 tion? Will it pay? J. C. 



We answer "yes," most heartily. The 

 comb foundation is valuable for those 

 anxious to secure a supplj^ of comb. It 

 saves both time and honey to the bees, 

 whether used in full size or in strips; to 

 secure straight comb it is worth double 

 its cost to the bee-keeper. 



Bees here in this vicinity find next to 

 nothing from July 1st to Aug. 1st, from 

 which to gather honey. With what can 

 we best supply that lack ? 



H. S. Heath. 



We have found nothing better than 

 buckwheat sown from May 15th to June 

 1st, and coming into bloom through July, 

 to fill the vacancy you complain of. 



Does it injure the eggs, or young larva 

 in the combs, to whirl them in the ex- 

 tractor? J. W. Ddnn 



Corpus Christi, Texas. 



We have always thought, and our ex- 

 perience confirms us in it, that eggs and 

 young larvie are destroyed by whirling 

 them in the extractor, though sealed brood 



