1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



break down the edges ; indeed, there is no need to do anything 

 nnless it so happens that at some point the surface of the comb 

 fails less than ,'4 inch from the nearest surface, in which case 

 it must be cut away or the bees will build the comb to the ad- 

 jacent surface. 



2. I don't know enough about the mill in question to give 

 an opinion. 



3. With some people it might work all right, but I'm 

 afraid that in a good many cases the wire would be left in the 

 honey when placed on the table, an<l some incorrect Enelish 

 result. If we can get the deep cells they are now talking 

 about, and use them for botton starters, there will be no need 

 of wires. Indeed, I have very little trouble with ordinary 

 foundation for bottom starters. 



The Right to Sow Sweet Clover Seed. 



1. Has a bee-keeper a right to sow sweetclover seed along 

 the roadside of his neighbors' land, without getting into trouble 

 with them '.' 



li. Do the supply dealers keep heavy brood foundation in 

 stock, in sheets lOxlS inches, outside measure? 



Reader, Wisconsin. 



Answers. — 1. That depends upon your laws. It's a ques- 

 tion for a local lawyer or justice of the peace rather than for a 

 bee-paper. There are laws in perhaps most of the States 

 iigainst sowing seeds of certain plants along the roadside, or 

 iveu upon your own land. You ought not to be allowed to sow 

 Canada thistles on any part of your own land, for if you do 

 yonr neighbors are likely to be injured by it as well as your- 

 self. But if there is a law against your sowing sweet clover, 

 you should respect the law while it e.Kists, and use your best 

 efforts to have such a foolish law repealed ; unless, indeed, it 

 may be advisable to violate the law with the express purpose 

 of testing its constitutionality. Earnest men in your State 

 are trying to undo the mischievous legislation that has been 

 done, and it might be a good thing if Mr. France would tell 

 ns just how matters stand now, and the proper attitude for 

 bee-keepers to take. 



2. Sheets of foundation 10x18 are not generally kept in 

 stock, if ever, but you can have foundation cut that size with- 

 out extra charge. 



Iluulins Bce$ — Methods of Increase. 



1. On page ST, you say, "When placed on the cars let 

 frames run parallel with the track ; on a wagon they should 

 run crosswise." Why '? Why not crosswise on wagon tracks '? 

 or why not parallel on track and wagon ? What difference 

 does it make '? 



2. What, in your opinion, is the best method for increase, 

 allowing the bees to swarm, increase by division, or build up 

 from nuclei '.' Last season I made an increase by taking six 

 frames with adhering bees, moving them to another location, 

 keeping the old queen on the same stand with two frames and 

 tilling the hive up to eight frames, with full sheets of 

 foundation. What do you think of this method ? 



3. On page 102, about moving bees, I find that if one 

 places a slanting board in front of each hive there is little or no 

 trouble about the bees returning to their stands. I have tried 

 this in moving hives from two feet to a mile. I once moved 

 six hives of bees a mile, and used the board, but very close to 

 the entrance, for two days and then moved it about six inches 

 out. Going back the next day after I had moved them, I 

 found about one-half cupful of bees on an old frame, the next 

 day they had all disappeared, returned I suppose to their new 

 stand. J. D., New Orleans, La. 



Answers. — 1. If you pick up a hive having itsfiamesrun 

 from front to rear (most of them run that way in this country, 

 although many aiross the sea run the other wayi.if the frames 

 are hanging loose you can shake them from their places by 

 swinging the hive from side to side, but can do little to stir 

 the frames by swinging it from from front to rear. You can 

 break a comb out of a frame much more easily by swinging 

 the frame from side to side than you can by swinging it end- 

 wise. In a railroad car there is a gentle rocking from side to 

 side, but often a terrific bumping front to rear. A car is 

 bumpt on the end, not on the side. So place the hive in posi- 

 tion to stand the bumps. See? In a wagon it's different. The 

 jerking and jolting is from side to side, principally, just the re- 

 verse of the railroad car. 



2. It's very much a matter of conditions and circumstan- 

 ces. What's best for one may not be best for another. Apian 

 that you are thoroughly familiar with, whose details you can 



carry out in the best manner, may be better for you than a 

 second plan, which second plan might be a good deal better if 

 you were equally familiar with the manner of carrying it out 

 properly. For many, nothing is better than natural swarm- 

 ing, while for others the issuing of a natural swarm is a sort 

 of nightmare. Rightly carried out, your plan is a good one. 

 3. The plan is an entirely successful one when it succeeds 

 perfectly. Sometimes, however, for reasons ftisily understood, 

 bees will come out around the board and go back to the old 

 place just as if no board had been in the way. 



Section Widlii and Passageways. 



1. You have spoken of thin combs in sections less than 

 one-pound; I wish to start right, therefore, what width sec- 

 tion would you use in wide frames with separators? 



2. Is it an advantage to have center passageways from 

 each section and row of sections ? T. 0. 



Answers. — 1. That's a question I don't know enough to 

 answer. With my present light I think if I had to adopt a 

 certain size and agree to stick to it, I should say sections 1% 

 inches wide. But I should want the privilege of changing to 

 another size if I wanted to, and on that account, if no other, I 

 should not want to use wide frames at all. A T super can be 

 used for sections of any width, and if 1% should not be en- 

 tirely satisfactory it could be changed to 1%, which is per- 

 haps the most popular at the present time. 



2. It is doubtful if there is any sufficient advantage in 

 having any central passage iu separators, the usual passage at 

 top and bottom being sufiicient. If, however, separators ij-f 

 wide should be used with 4 '4 sections, then it might be nec- 

 essary to have some additional passage. 



The Colony That Loaft. 



Edward H. Beardsley asks, on page !I2, about a colony 

 that loaft after being increast to unusual size by the accession 

 of another colony. Your proposed plan of dividing that col- 

 ony would probably have been successful. If you ever have 

 the like case again you can proceed in this way : Take from 

 the hive all the combs and shake from them about half the 

 bees, fiuding the queen and leaving her on the old stand with 

 frames of foundation. That would be about the same as hiv- 

 ing the swarm there, only it would be stronger in bees. The 

 brood with the bees that were left adhering should be put in a 

 new hive in a new place, and a queen or a queen-cell given 

 them, letting them build up Into a good colony. 



You seem a little afraid that when you removed the hive 

 from which the swarm had issued, it reduced the old colony 

 too much, " for only two of the old ones workt a bit in the 

 supers." Probably that was all right. P. Schachinger, a Ger- 

 man authority, estimates that when a colony of 20,000 bees 

 stores a pound of honey a day, one of 40,000 bees will store 

 four pounds. That is, the storing is not in exact proportion 

 to the size of the colonies, but greatly in favor of the larger. 

 Now suppose there were 45,000 bees in that colony about the 

 time of swarming. If you had gotten them about equally 

 divided between the swarm and the mother colony, making 

 22,500 in each, you might have gotten as much surplus from 

 one as the other. Suppose it was a little more than a pound 

 from each, that would make a little more than two pounds a 

 day from the two. If the old one were reduced to ."i,000, and 

 40,000 were in the new hive, then you'd get no surplus from 

 the mother colony, but you'd have four pounds a day from the 

 swarm. Would you rather have two colonies give you three 

 pounds, or one colony give you four? All you want of the 

 old colony is to have enough bees left in it so the brood will 

 not get chilled. C. C. M. 



A New 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. 



•*"»-*- 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offer on page 138. 



