idy?. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



tied down you will find them generally little inclined to flght, 

 or indeed to do anything. They have sometimes been hauled 

 some distance in the section of the tree without being fastened 

 or confined iu any way, remaining in a kind of dazed condition 

 In and on the log. If they are moved only a quarter of a mile 

 or so, there is some danger that a few will return to the old 

 spot. The rougher the treatment they receive in the felling 

 of the tree the less trouble there will be about their returning 

 to the old spot. 



2. If you do not find it inconvenient for yourself, you can 

 probably get the consent of the bees to have the hives close 

 together in a straight row. Even if some of the bees enter the 

 wrong hives, it will make little difl'erence, fur when a worker 

 returns laden from the field, she is pretty sure of a kind re- 

 ception in any hive. In one respect, however, there is danger, 

 and that is with respect to young queens returning from their 

 wedding-trip. Their entrance into the wrong hive generally 

 means the ruin of the colony to which they belong. Some say 

 that painting the entrances of the hives different colors will 

 enable the young queen to identify her own home, and Sir 

 John Lubbock has proved quite satisfactorily that bees dis- 

 tinguish colors. Something should be done to prevent the 

 appearance of a straight row with all the hives looking ex- 

 actly alike. Almost any object or objects in front of the hives 

 will help in this regard. A tree growing close in front, a post 

 before every second or third hive, anything to make one part 

 of the row look different from the others. Your idea of hav- 

 fng the hives in pairs will help much. It is practically mak- 

 ing them twice as far apart as they otherwise would be. Put- 

 ting a board between each two, as you suggest, will hardly do 

 any good, but putting a board between each pair will. If 

 there are as many boards as hives, and all looking alike, then 

 there might as well be no boards. 



3. It might not be the wisest thing to teach anything 

 different from the text-books. People are very strong in their 

 prejudices with regard to what they have already learned, 

 otherwise it would be utterly impossible for such outlandish 

 spelling as we have, to continue for a day. Let the scholars 

 spell according to the spelling-book, but there will be no harm 

 in your telling them that a movement has begun, and that 

 many editors, college presidents, professors and others have 

 stopt using " ed " for " t " in the last syllable of some words. 

 Your patrons could hardly make any objection to your uSing 

 the better spelling yourself, and when writing on the black- 

 board. 



4. Sow about the time farmers in your locality think best 

 to sow red clover, putting it in a little deeper than red clover 

 seed. It will be no harm to sow as thick as red clover, but 

 less seed to the acre will do, as a single stalk of sweet clover 

 covers a good deal of ground. 



Comb'Honc}' Management — Paint for Hives. 



1 In the July 30 and Dec. 31 (1896) issues of the 

 American Bee Journal, Mr. J. A. Golden gives a plan for keep- 

 ing both the colony and the swarm at work together in the 

 surplus receptacles and preventing increase. What are the 

 disadvantages if this plan as compared with the plan recom- 

 mended and practiced by Dr. Tinker, and described by him in 

 his work, " Bee-Keeping for Profit." 



2. Do you think a paint made of hydraulic cement and 

 skimmed milk would do for bee-hives? General LeDuc, once 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, recommended this paint for 

 farm buildings, and said that it is very durable. The color is 

 said to be a creamy brown. The paint is made by mixing one 

 gallon of sweet skimmed milk with a full quart (or a little 

 more) of the cement. If the color is not objectionable, I do 

 not see why this is not a good paint for hives. It is certainly 

 very cheap. If 1 try it, I think I will paint the covers with 

 ordinary white paint. E. B. 



Answers. — 1. After studying over the matter for some 

 time, I am inclined to say I don't know, and leave Mr. Golden 

 to make the answer, as being more familiar with this plan. 



2. I have no practical experience in the matter, but from 

 what I've read I have a favorable opinion of the material you 

 mention. Generally the color of paint on a bee-hive makes 

 little difference, for usually the hives stand in shade. 



Keeping Seelions Clean on llic Hives. 



Do you employ any other means than exact spacing and 

 tight wedging to keep your sections clean ? If so, I haven't 

 heard or read of them, and would like to know them now. 

 This staining of sections is a great bother with us toward the 



end of the season, and altho we may scrape them, wo can 

 never get them to look "just right." Using tallow and other 

 fatty substances has been suggested, but I feel a little doubtful 

 about the effect such stuff would have on the nice, polisht 

 sections, and whether ink from the stamp would adhere to the 

 wood. What do you know about these things ? A. B. 



Answer— The tops and bottoms of ray sections are not 

 protected from the bees in any way. If taken off early in the 

 season there is very little discoloration. If left on until after 

 the honey-flow, the bees take great delight, apparently, in 

 varnishing the whole surface with glue. But this varnishing 

 period comes with a flow of darker honey, such as I don't want 

 in sections, if indeed there is any flow at all. So when the 

 flow of light honey stops there has been little varnishing done, 

 and at that time all sections are generally removed, whether 

 filled or not. I think there may be a good deal of differ- 

 ence in localities as to the amount of propolis gathered, but I 

 am inclined to the opinion that in all localities the glue nui- 

 sance troubles less in the early part of the season than later. 



Requeening an Apiary. 



The queens iu my new apiary are like the colonies— from 

 good to bad. Would it pay me, do you think, to invest any 

 money with queen-breeders ? The reason I put it thusly is 

 because I did invest last year, and the queen, which was a 

 tested one from a very reliable breeder, certainly proved her- 

 self to be no better than some of the good ones I had. She 

 either was nothing more than a hybrid herself, or mine are 

 Italians, one and all. In case you should think it best to 

 get new blood, I want to say that the first of May is the 

 earliest I can get such queens on accouut of the cold in cross- 

 ing the Continental Divide. Would queens do me much good 

 procured at that time for the honey season which opens July 

 1, or earlier? You will understand that I couldn't afford to 

 buy enough queens to requeen the whole apiary, but would 

 have to breed from the bought ones. Colorado. 



Answer. — I don't believe I'd try to get the stock changed 

 in time to make any impression on the honey crop of next 

 season. To do that you'd have to get the queens so early that 

 there would be chance of much loss, and, besides, the new 

 queens would cost more than later. With some of them there 

 would be loss in introducing, and that would cut into the 

 honey crop. Better wait till later in the season when queens 

 can cross the Divide with more comfort and safety, procure 

 one or several from which to breed, get some young queens 

 bred from them in 1897, just what you can conveniently 

 accomplish, but hold chiefly to the view that you are getting 

 these new queens in 1897 so as to have them on hand in good 

 season, and in good condition, to use in 1898. Of course, you 

 would keep in mind all the time to suppress a poor queen 

 whenever there was opportunity. 



A Ne'w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 



American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 



subscriber who sends us 20 cents. It is called "The Wood 



Binder," is patented, and is an entirely new and very simple 



arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 



Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 



Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 



reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 



get It yearly. 



^--•"-^^ 



The Alslke Clover Leaflet consistsjof 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 cents ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 



for 70 cents. 



•*-•-* 



Xlie Xanies and Addresses of all yourjjbee- 

 friends, who are not now taking the Bee Journal, are wanted 

 at this office. Send them in, please, when sample copies will 

 be mailed to them. Then you can secure their subscriptions, 

 and earn some of the premiums we have offered. The 

 next few months will be just the time to easily get new sub- 

 scribers. Try it earnestly, at least. 



:NO'w Is tlie Xime to work for new subscribers. 

 Why not take advantage of the offer made on page 45 ? 



