THE AMERICAN 



BEE JOURNAL. 

 — s 



111 



0tc5 S^ ^xterics. 



CONDUCTED BY CH. DADANT. 



Which will be the most profitable way 

 to use the comb fouudation in my surplus 

 honey frames? Should I fill the entire 

 frames with foundation, or use them only 

 in strips; and if in strips, how deep must 

 these be, in order to induce the bees to be- 

 gin to work readily and to build the 

 combs straisiht within the frames? My 

 frames are o% inches long, 4^^ inches 

 deep, and 1^^ inches wide, inside measure. 

 My surplus honey is nearly all from 

 white clover, which I put up in shape 

 and manner probably unexcelled, and 

 furnish it to home customers in desirable 

 quantities, at 35 cents per pound, net, 

 ready sale. The frames are returned to me 

 when empty, and will last many years. 



Stark Co.', Ohio. Henry Crist. 



Answer: — No doubt comb foundation 

 will greatly help the bees, and secure 

 straight combs. To incite bees to work 

 readily in the surplus frames, fill the 

 frames with foundation, or at least, have 

 a part of the foundation descending 

 as low as to touch the bottom bar of the 

 frame, cutting the foundation diagonally. 



1. What honey-producing plant will 

 supply that lack occurring about June 1 ? 

 If we can find good forage then, we shall 

 have as good a place for bees as any in 

 the West. 



2. What is your experience in raising 

 Melilot clover? When does it blossom? 



3. When does Alsike clover blossom? 



4. When does Chinese mustard blos- 

 som? 



5. Where can I purchase these seeds, 

 and at what price? H. S. Heath. 



Answer: — 1. White clover, alsike, mel- 

 lot, catnip, all- of the large tribe of mints, 

 linden, sumac, anise, borage, red rasp- 

 berry, cucumber, melon, sun-flower, etc. 



2. Melilot is one of the best plants for 

 bees, and blossoms from June till Octo- 

 ber. 3. In June. 



4. See page 33 of our February number. 



5. Consult our advertising pages. 



Among honey-producing plants I have 

 not seen any account of hemp. I had 

 a few stalks growing in my yard ; as soon 

 as it began to bloom, the bees were on it 

 from light till dark. P. McBride. 



Keokuk County, Iowa. 



Answer: — Bees find pollen in large 

 quantity on hemp, but, we thiAk, no 

 honey. 



Wishing to Italianize my black and hy- 

 bred bees, I would like tn know Ihc best 

 method. Is it to buy a tested queen and 

 raise others, or to get dollar (jueens in the 

 spring and introduce into hives early* 

 Will two out of three dollar queens be 

 pure? H. Haines. 



Answer: — It would be well to buy dol 

 lar queens for all your hives if you could 

 get these queens from a reliable bee- 

 keeper, whose apiary is well stocked with 

 pure bees, and surrounded with neighbors 

 having pure Italian bees. No doubt hon- 

 est bee-keepers are numerous, but the 

 other conditions aro rarely found, and 

 to buy these dollar queens is something 

 like gambling, yet they are very good 

 to raise drones, at least. 



On what terms are bees rented, when 

 taken in the spring? Stephen W. Hall. 



Answer: — We give one-fifth of the hon- 

 ey and one-half of the natural swarms to 

 the owners of the farms where we put our 

 bees, and attend to them ourselves. If the 

 farmer could take care of them we would 

 give him one-half of both increase and 

 honey. S. 



Will you please by the Journal inform 

 me how to make " bee-quilts," so frequent- 

 ly mentioned therein. Do they any more 

 than cover the top of the frames, laking 

 up only the place the honey board does 

 in a Langstroth hive? How thick are 

 they, and of what material should they be 

 made ? Are they used only as winter cov. 

 ering? Is it any advantage to give bees 

 rye flour when there is a warm time for 

 several days or a week at a time, when the 

 bees are on their summer stands, and are 

 out flying about? Can the extractor be 

 used early in the summer ? If so, in what 

 should the extracted honey be kept, and 

 at what temperature should it be kept? 

 Will dampness afiect it? Can the frames 

 for surplus honey be one-half the length 

 of those in the lower part of the hive ? 

 A Subscriber. 



Answer: — Bee-quilts are made of two 

 pieces of cotton cloth as large as the top 

 of any hive, with several thicknesses of 

 cotton batting between them — some use 

 more, some less. Some use them all 

 the time, — winter, fall, and spring, — tak- 

 ing them off" only in summer, when sur- 

 plus boxes are put on. Give rye flour to 

 the bees whenever they will take it. The 

 extractor can be used in cold weather by 

 keeping comb containing the honey to be 

 extracted, in a warm room twenty-four 

 hours. Dampness does not aff'ect honey 



