1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



263 



aDswer all, and my time would be largely taken up in that 

 way. To refuse an answer In a single case may seem hardly 

 the right thing, but when it comes to talcing up in that way 

 an entire day or two each week, it's sopiewhat different. I'm 

 not a gentleman of leisure, but am kept very busy with the 

 work of three apiaries and more side-shows than I can well 

 manage. 



Please send all the questions about bees you like, and I'll 

 do my best to answer so far as I know enough, but alwdyn 

 7iame the pai)cr for which I write, in which you want to see 

 replies. 



1. The shortest answer is that it won't work. At least I 

 have failed to make anything of the kind work satisfactorily. 

 One trouble is, that at the time of swarming queens will get 

 through the perforated zinc, and off goes a swarm. Yes, I 

 know that it's generally considered that a queen cannot get 

 through perforated zinc, but you let them get the swarming 

 craze, and you may find out differently. At no other time 

 perhaps will the queen-excluder fail, for at no other time will 

 the queen make such desperate attempts to get through. 

 Another trouble is that half a dozen swarms will get into one 

 huge cluster, hang for hours and sulk, then perhaps ail go 

 into one hive, unless indeed some virgin queen gets into the 

 lot and goes off with them. It's barely possible you may find 

 it to work differently with you; but what I have mentioned is 

 about the way with me. 



2. You may count that the laying queen would be killed, 

 with rare exceptions. It isn't a question how long you could 

 leave off the zinc, for whenever you find it safe to leave it off 

 for a day, you may feel safe in leaving it off altogether. It 

 will not do to leave off the zinc till all the queens but one are 

 killed. Then you can leave it off altogether. 



3. It will hardly be necessary to examine them at all. If 

 the old queen is still in the hive after the time she wants to 

 swarm out, she will probably not lay an egg, so looking for 

 brood wouldn't tell much. But you may count pretty cer- 

 tainly, without looking at a comb, that the old queen will be 

 disposed of in about a week after first trying to swarm. Then 

 there will be a high time among the young queens that are 

 left, and If none of them succeed in getting out it will be some 

 time before the number will be reduced to a single one, and in 

 the meantime the colony will be badly disturbed. 



Colonic§ Infested witli Wax-Worms. 



1. I have 17 colonies of bees, of which 4 or 5 colonies 

 have a worm or a grub, as you may call it. This worm is 

 from 14 to % of an inch long, and entirely sealed over. What 

 do you call it ? 



2. How does it get into the hive ? 



3. How long is it in the hive before injuring the bees? 

 •±. flow can I get rid of it, and keep clear of it ? 



A Readek, Sanilac Co., Mich. 



Answers. — Before I forget it, I want to mention that 

 you are making a mistake in not having a good text-book on 

 bees and reading it over so as to be thoroughly familiar with 

 It. That would give a full answer to the question you have 

 askt, and a thousand others, and you wouldn't take many 

 times the price of the book for what you would learn from it. 



1. It is the wax- worm, the larva of the bee-moth — galleria 

 cereana. 



2. The moth lays its eggs in the hive on the combs or in 

 the cracks about the hive, and from these eggs come the larvae. 



3. It commences its injurious work just as soon as it is 

 hatcht from the egg, for it eats the wax, but its work of 

 destruction increases with its size. In warm weather three 

 or four weeks are necessary for full growth, but in cool 

 weather the change Is more slow. 



4. The best thing is to have strong colonies of Italian 

 bees. With such you need pay no attention to the worms. 

 Even a weak colony of Italians will keep their combs clear of 

 worms, and a strong colony of blacks will hold its own pretty 

 well. But a weak colony of blacks will often succumb to the 

 worms. 



m I m 



lloldy Combs — Feeding ^ugar Syrup — Feeding 

 Outside. 



3. How far from the apiary need I put the feed for bees, 

 and be sure they will not start robbing, if I should feed out- 

 side ? C. B. 



Answers. — 1. The bees will clean them out, as you will 

 see by answer to the question from " Concord, N. H." But if 

 you wait to give them to a swarm, they may be getting more 

 moldy, and if they're too bad a swarm will desert. Better put 

 them in the care of bees as soon as you can. You can give 

 one or two to a colony, or perhaps a better way will be to put 

 the hive containing them under another hive containing a 

 good 2oIony. If you close up the upper entrance so the bees 

 can get in and out only by going through the hive that con- 

 tains the dirty combs, you'll make a sure thing of it; but 

 they'll be likely to do fair work even if there should be an en- 

 trance higher up. 



2. Possibly it might be done, but It would be a very 

 troublesome way. If you want to feed in the hive and haven't 

 any feeders, try the crock-andplate plan. Fill a crock or 

 other vessel half full of granulated sugar, or put in a less 

 amount if you like. Add as many pints of water as you had 

 of sugar. Lay over the crock two thicknesses of woolen 

 cloth or five or six of cheese-cloth, and put over this a plate 

 upside down. Put one hand under ths crock and the other 

 over the plate, and quickly turn the whole upside down. Set 

 It on the top of the brood-frames, and set an empty hive-body 

 or super over, covering up so no bees can get in from outside. 

 Of course the bees must have free access from below. 



3. Sugar syrup isn't as bad as honey to start robbing. 

 You can put it witiiin a rod of the hives, and perhaps there 

 might be no trouble if nearer. 



Placing Bees Near a Line Fenee — Selling Comb 

 Honey. 



1. I have a few hives from which the bees died this win- 

 ter. The combs are some moldy at the bottom, and almost 

 half of the cells are filled with dead bees. How can I get 

 them out, or will the bees clean them out when I put a swarm 

 in them ? 



2. When feeding bees sugar syrup, can it be put Into sec- 

 tions and laid In the supers? 



1. Is there any law prohibiting a man from keeping bees 

 on his own ground ? or how far must they be kept from the 

 line of your neighbor, if he objects ? 



2. I still have about 450 pounds of honey on hand. 

 What is it worth ? Mine Is all white clover honey. I like the 

 Bee Journal, and do not know how I could get along without 

 it. G. W. K. 



Answers. — -1. Each State has its own laws, and I doubt 

 whether your State (Iowa) has any specific law on the subject. 

 It's a question, however, to ask of some lawyer or justice who 

 has a copy of the State laws. The peculiar circumstances of 

 each case have much to do in deciding what is right. In some 

 cases you might make trouble by having your bees quite a dis- 

 tance from your neighbor's line, while In others there might 

 be no trouble with the bees upon the line. Try to think what 

 you would want done if you were in his place. If his dwelling 

 is close to the line, better keep the bees as far away as you 

 can conveniently, perhaps two rods or so. With a close board 

 fence six feet high, there ought to be no trouble right close to 

 the line. 



2. Look at the market quotations that appear weekly in 

 the American Bee Journal, and you'll find out the prices in 

 several of the leading cities. If you can sell at home for con- 

 siderable less, that will be your best plan. Freight, commis- 

 sions, etc., bring down prices when you ship away, besides the 

 risk of a good deal of breakage. You will notice that prices 

 are lower than last fall, and it is seldom a good plan to hold 

 over comb honey from one season to the beginning of the next. 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 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 20 cents ; 100 for 35 cents ; or 200 

 for 60 cents. ^ 



■White Clover Seed.— We have quite a quantity of 

 White Clover Seed on hand that we will send you at a bargain. 

 A little of it goes a good ways. It usually retails at 25 or 30 

 cents per pound, but we will mail you 2 pounds for 40 cents, 

 or for sending us one new subscriber to the American Bee 

 Journal for a year. ^ 



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 268. 



