I8y7. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



2. In this country no formal action has been taken as has 

 been the case in some other countries to have a standard hive 

 adopted. Or, rather, it is a standard frame that has been 

 adopted In England and in parts of Europe. One reason why 

 it is difficult, is that the immense area included in the United 

 States makes the climate and temperature differ more than 

 the difference between the climates of tAfo separate nations in 

 Europe. Considering from the standpoint of what is most 

 popular and most used, it may be pretty safe to say that the 

 standard frame In this country is one 17*^ .i9}^ inches, outside 

 measure. As to hives, there are probably more 8-frame dove- 

 tail hives made at the present time than of any other. 



Tlie Comb-Lcveler anil Its Use. 



Can you give me some idea as to what Mr. B. Taylor's 

 comb-leveler is like ? and at the same time inform me why 

 combs in extracted sections need to be leveled at all ? Why 

 not return them to the supers in the shape in which they leave 

 the extractor ? Won't the bees do the requisite leveling ? 



S. A. 



Answer. — The comb-leveler looks something like a tin 

 box not so very far from the size and shape of a pound section. 

 It is placed over a lamp, then when a section is placed over it 

 the heat melts down the comb until a gauge set at the proper 

 place prevents the wood of the section from going any lower. 

 The melted wax runs off into a dish which is part and parcel 

 of the leveler. The essential principle is a hot level surface to 

 melt the comb, and some provision to catch the melted wax. 



In the reply to another question you will see the reasons 

 given for leveling. Decidedly the bees will noi cut down the 

 comb where it comes too close to the separator or to another 

 comb, but will promptly build the comb to the adjoining sur- 

 face. Neither will they clean off the edges of the comb if they 

 be daubed with bee-glue. And very decidedly it will not do to 

 " return the sections to the super in the shape in which they 

 leave the extractor," unless there's something in your climate 

 that prevents the small amount of honey left in the combs 

 from granulating. They must be cleaned out hy tlie hecx. 

 However, you probably did not refer to this part. To answer 

 fully the spirit of your question, if the combs are perfectly 

 clean, and so built that a space of '4 inch will be left between 

 the comb and the nearest surface, I do not believe there is any 

 good reason for leveling the comb. 



, •Questions on Contraction, Swarming, Etc. 



1. In running exclusively for comb honey in one-pound 

 sections in S-frame dovetailed hives, would you advise con- 

 tracting the brood-chamber? If so, how much, and when ? 



2. Will not contraction encourage swarming ? If so, how 

 is the best way to prevent it as much as possible, when no 

 increase of colonies is desired, and at the same time not inter- 

 fere with honey-gathering ? 



'4. In hiving swarms on the old stand, where no increase 

 of colonies is desired, will it do just as well to hive them on 

 stnrters of foundation as on full sheets ? 



■i. How is the best way to get all the bees out of the par- 

 ent colony into the swarm hived on the old stand '? I do not 

 care to keep the old colony. 



5. Would you advise taking the super off the parent col- 

 ony and placing it on the hive containing the swarm as soon 

 as the swarm is hived "? If so, is there not danger of the 

 queen going into the super ? 



6. Would it be necessary for me to get queen-excluding 

 honey-boards ? I have none, and I would like to get along 

 without them? J. S. P. 



Answers. — 1. No, I wouldn't contract to less than S 

 frames. But I would let the bees have a second story before 

 the harvest, giving it as soon as, or before, they fill the one 

 story. Just what is the best thing to do after that I'm not 

 entirely sure, but in most cases, so far, I've taken away one 

 story when the honey-flow begins. 



2. Yes, when you lessen the brood-nest you are doing 

 something to promote swarming. I don't know how to prevent 

 it, but the plan outlined in the previous answer seems to work 

 pretty well if supers are put on a little in advance of the 

 honey-flow. 



a. No; because in that case you'll be pretty sure to get 

 too much drone-comb built. 



4. That's easy as rolling off a log. Just lift out the 

 frames one by one, and brush off every last bee. Just as like 

 as not you may now feel like asking what you are to do with 



the frames of brood after brushing off the bees. If you have 

 no need of them to strengthen up weak colonies, pile them up 

 four or five stories high over some colony. Such a colony will 

 not give you a good yield of section honey, but it will give you 

 a lot of brood-combs filled with honey. You can extract the 

 honey, but you'll find a lot of such combs on band the next 

 spring to be good capital. 



5. No, if you don't use excluders don't put the supers on 

 the swarm for a day or two, so the queen can get started to 

 laying in the brood-chamber. 



6. Queen-excluders are nice things to have, but it is not 

 necessary for you to use them to keep the queen out of supers. 

 The past summer I had a lot of excluders lying idle; but I 

 didn't use excluders under supers. 



T Supers and Pollen. 



Does not the use of T supers cause more pollen to be put 

 in sections than by the use of section-holders ? B. 



Answer. — The only possible reason I can see why there 

 should be any difference, is that with section-holders the sec- 

 tions are farther from the brood-nest by the thickness of the 

 pattern slats. I never used section-holders largely, but I've 

 produced tons of honey by means of wide frames, and so far 

 as the bees are concerned they are the same as section-holders. 

 If the pattern slat makes less pollen in section-holders than in 

 T supers, then there ought to be still less in wide frames. But 

 I never observed any difference between wide frames and T 

 supers as to pollen. In fact, I never had much trouble with 

 either. 



Cliansins Bees from One Hive to Another. 



I would like to know if it would work all right to remove 

 bees in the spring from their hives into other hives ? For in- 

 stance, I go to No. 1 and put it just behind the stand and put 

 a clean hive on the stand, then lift out the frames, bees and 

 all, and place them in the same position in the clean hives as 

 they were in the old hive; then clean out hive No. 1 and go to 

 No 2, and repeat the operation, and so on through the yard. 



D. S. 



Answer. — I've done as you propose to do in hundreds of 

 cases, and I think always with good results. Of course, you 

 might do harm by taking a cool day for the work, so that the 

 brood would be chilled, but it must never be done unless warm 

 enough for bees to fly freely. Look out that y(Ju don't start 

 robbing. 



May Not be Qucenless — Feeding in Winter. 



1. I have my bees on the summer stands, in 8-frame 

 Langstroth hives. Last November we had a very hard frost, 

 such as I never knew before. At that time I found a dead 

 queen outside of a hive. Do you think I can safely introduce 

 a queen this month, or wait till May ? or will there be a lay- 

 ing worker in the hive at that time ? 



2. Will cool sugar syrup, fed in cool weather, cause the 

 diarrhea? Bees commenced brood-rearing two weeks ago, 

 and are getting pollen from the willows, but a cool spell stopt 

 brood-rearing. Yesterday the bees flew as in summer. The 

 first honey-flow comes here from crab-apple. Red clover, Al- 

 sike and white clover grow well. I sowed a patch of sweet 

 clover this winter, and wonder how it will do. 



T. W., Lewis Co., Wash., Feb. 1. 



Answers. — I. Don't be in too much of a hurry about that 

 colony in front of which you found the dead queen. It is 

 quite possible that they have a good queen now. The dead 

 queen may not belong to that colony, or it may bo an old 

 queen that the bees superseded. They may have reared a 

 young queen in the fall, and may have still left the old queen, 

 which has now died of old age. There is little danger of lay- 

 ing-workers until much later in the season. Even if you 

 know they're queenless for a dead certainty, let them alone 

 till bees begin their spring flights. After the weather gets 

 warm enough so bees fly every few days, you can decide 

 whether they are queenless, by looking to see whether they 

 have any brood. 



2. Yes, feeding syrup in cold weather is not desirable. If 

 it seems to be a necessity at any tim^, give syrup hot. Alw; ys 

 try to have on hand enough extra brood-combs of sealed hoi ey 

 to meet any emergency. 



