112 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



kept in tight barrels, kegs, or cans. Wax 

 all wooden vessels in which honey is to 

 be kept. The frames for surplus honey 

 are often made half the size and depth of 

 those used- in the lower part of the hive. 



1. In making artificial swarms, would 

 it not be better to give the queenless part 

 a queen, or a queen cell immediately, in- 

 stead of waiting for them to rear one? 



2. Would it not prevent after-swarming 

 to destroy queen cells, begun before the 

 division ? 



3. Will bees produce as much extra 

 honey in an under-hive as they will in 

 boxes OQ top. A. A. Stetson. 



Answer: — 1. Yes; if a queen cell, 

 give it the next day. 

 2. Yes. 3. No. 



I put my bees, 19 colonies, into winter 

 quarters on Nov. 15, in a house built on 

 purpose. Thermometer stands at 42 deg. 

 never going below 40. I notice a con- 

 stant humming in a number of hives, so 

 that I fear there is something wrong. 

 They are Thomas' Patent Hive. I made a 

 frame to tit the top of the hive, with can- 

 vas on the bottom, and filled each frame 

 ODP inch in depth with wlieat bran. 

 Quebec. John Edmond, 



Answer: — Probably the top of your 

 hives are fitting too closely, and conse- 

 quently the inside too warm; your cellar 

 is at the suitable temperature. 



By what process can I tell the age of a 

 queen ? I see it recommended to destroy 

 queens three years old. What think you 

 of it? John W. Baylor. 



Answer: — Generally, old queens can be 

 detected by their appearance. Yet no one 

 can tell exactly the age of a queen, with- 

 out having kept a I'ecord of her birth. The 

 piolificness of a good queen decreasing 

 after her third year, it is a good practice 

 to replace her after she attains that age. 



1. Should the inside of a movable 

 comb hive be planed smooth? 



2. What height and length should 

 the entrance holes to hives be ? 



3. Which is best: top or side surplus 

 boxes? 



4. What depth of frame will give the 

 imost top box-hone\^ without regard to 

 wintering? 



5. Is the lophantlma anisatus a valu- 

 able honey producing plant? 



Pettit, Ind. John Jones. 



Answer : — 1. It is better to do so. 



2. The whole length of front, but so 

 • constructed as to be made smaller at 

 >will. 



3. Top boxes, with small frames at 

 sides. 4. Eight inches. 5. In some local- 

 ities. 



I have a hive that has been queenless 

 for two or three months. About ten 

 days ago, eggs were deposited in a small 

 piece of drone comb which the bees pro- 

 ceeded to nourish, and they are now 

 sealed over, and I think will- hatch all 

 right. I examined on Feb. 21st. There are 

 no other eggs in the hive. Query: Where 

 did these eggs come from ? If from a 

 fertile worker, why not more eggs, and 

 should they be from a fertile worker, 

 could they be relied on for fertilizing 

 queens, if I raise them now? J. M. W. 



Answer: — No doubt these eggs were 

 laid by a fertile worker. Never have 

 we seen the eggs of fertile workers to 

 be of account to raise drones, they are 

 so few, yet we think their drones as 

 good as any. 



1. If you were to use the Langstroth 

 hive, and cultivate the common black 

 bee only, and not use the extractor, 

 would you use eight or ten frames — in 

 the brood chamber? 



2. How many colonies of bees can be 

 kept in one place profitably, if the local- 

 ity is -A fair one for bees? 



3. Why does the color of the Italian 

 Bees efiect their habits of industry, or 

 why are tiie dark colored ones superior 

 to the hicjh colored ones'! If dark col- 

 ored ones are superior, why are not the 

 black bees superior to either ? D. W. F. 



Answer: — 1. Ten frames would be 

 preferable; but one who keeps black 

 bees only, and does not use the extractor, 

 is wasting valuable time. 



2. It would be diflScult to overstock 

 a good location. We could not venture 

 to give t!ie exact number, without know- 

 ing more about the location. 



3. The color is not every thing about 

 Italian bees. They are a different race 

 from the blacks, — as much so as the 

 Berkshire hog is diflferent from the old 

 style " prairie rooters." The Italians are 

 a superior race. 



Is there any chemical process for 

 bleaching wax? If so, please give direc- 

 tions. E. D. Clabk. 



Answer. — We do not know the most 

 recent method of bleaching wax. A few 

 years ago the modus operandi was to have 

 the wax put in the shape ofvery thin sheets; 

 to dip tliese in water containing muriatic 

 acid, and to finish the bleaching by submit- 

 ting the wax to the action of the dew for 

 several days. 



