ISi^'i 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



279 



destroyed all cells. Why did they swarm ? or why did they 

 prepare queen-cells when they already had the capt cell I 

 gave thptn ? 



2. Will a queenless colony of bees accept a queen at the 

 entrance of the hive, as the queen hatches? That is, lu cut- 

 ting out cells some of them would hatch in my hand and I let 

 them crawl out into a queenless hive. 



My bees are doing splendidly. They have been bringing 

 in honey for over 30 days. 



3. Some of the queens reared from yellow mothers are as 

 black as can be. Will the black queen from a yellow mother 

 mated with a yellow drone produce yellow bees ? The only 

 solution I can guess at is, that the spring has been cool. This 

 Is my first experience in artificial increase. 



New Berne, N. C. 



Answers. — 1. The two colonies that swarmed were in the 

 same condition as any colony that casts a second swarm. 

 They had a young queen just emerged, and a number of young 

 queens .just ready to emerge, and what perhaps had still more 

 to do with the case, they had probably quite a stroiig force of 

 field-bees, and these were busily bringing in honey. Under 

 such conditions any colony would swarm that half knew its 

 business. 



A queenless colony will nearly always prepare not merely 

 a single queen-cell, but a number of them, and your giving 

 them one would not change their instinct in that respect. If 

 you had given a dozen queen-cells to each one they probably 

 would have started others. 



Now I'll answer a question or two that you haven't askt. 

 You might have had better results by proceeding differently. 

 Instead of putting the queen on a new stand, you ought to 

 have left her on the old stand, putting the queenless part on 

 the new stand. It is not necessary to fasten in the bees for 

 2-t hours. Most of the field-bees would go back to the old 

 queen, and that would be all right. At the end of 24 hours 

 they would be reduced in numbers, no honey coming in, and 

 feeling meek enough to accept thankfully a queen-cell from 

 you. Even if they started other cells they would be destroyed 

 as soon as the first hatcht. 



2. Generally they will. 



3. It is a common thing for queens reared early in the 

 season in cool weather to be darker than those reared later, 

 just as you supposed. But their workers may be just as light 

 as any. Some of the imported queens are very dark. 



Not Flyins Mucli — Traii$rcrring — Preventing Foul 

 Brood. 



1. March 10 I bought a colony of bees in a Langstroth 

 hive, paying .S5 for them. At first they seemed all right. On 

 warm days a good many were flying out, but for the last two 

 or three weeks they have not flown much. Some warm days 

 they fly pretty well, but most of the time they do not go out, 

 but loaf around on the alighting-board. Tlie man that I 

 bought them of told me to feed them every day to get the 

 queen to laying, so from the first I put a feeder on the frames, 

 and every night (with a lantern for light) I put in syrup made 

 from granulated sugar. Was it wrong to open the hive on 

 cool nights, if only for a few seconds? If the queen is lost or 

 dead, is it any fault of mine? There seems to be plenty of 

 bees, and no dead ones around the hive. What is the matter 

 with them ? 



2. I have a colony in a box-hive, the top of which is easy 

 to get off, but the bottom is nailed tight. When I transfer 

 them can I drum them out from the top, or will I have to in- 

 vert the hive and get them out from the bottom. 



3. I saw in a copy of the Bee Journal that carbolic acid 

 and tar placed in a little box with the cover perforated aud 

 put under the frame in a hive was a sure cure for foul brood. 

 Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep the acid and tar in every 

 hive, so as to prevent foul brood ? Perhaps It would keep the 

 bee-moth out, too. Bridgeport, Conn. 



Answers. — 1. It isn't easy to say without knowing more 

 minutely about the case. Possibly the colony is all right. 

 AVhen bees have the first chance in spring, they make a big 

 time flying out, no matter if they can't do anything but to fly 

 around and come back again. After that they are more sav- 

 ing of their strength, and don't do much flying except to some 

 purpose. If there is nothing upon which the bees can forage, 

 you ought not to expect them to fly much. It isn't well to 

 open a hive when it is cool, but probably you didn't do much 

 barm by opening it for a few seconds. But don't do so any 

 more. Let bees alone when it's cool, unless they are in dan- 

 ger of immediate starvation. And it's about as comfortable 

 to starve to death as to freeze to death. If the queen was all 



right your opening the hive would probably not result in her 

 death, altho it might have some tendency in that direction. 



2. You can drum out just as well without inverting, and 

 probably better. The only object in inverting the hive is be- 

 cause the hive is open at the bottom and not at the top. But 

 I'm a little puzzled to know how a box-hive can have its top 

 easily removable. Perhaps, however, the combs are fastened 

 to bars, and not directly to the top. 



3. Not much attention is paid to the use of drugs either 

 for the cure or prevention of foul brood in this country, but 

 across the big pond they pin their faith no little to them, 

 many making a practice of constantly using something like 

 naphthaline or carbolic acid as a preventive. It can at least 

 do no harm, unless so strong as to be oflensive to the bees. It 

 Is doubtful whether it would do any good to keep out moths. 

 The microbes or bacilli of foul brood are not of animal growth 

 like moths, but vegetable. 



A Plan of Dividing a Colony. 



Having a colony of Italian bees which I wish to divide, in 

 order to get two or more queens from the Italian mother, can 

 I proceed in this way, viz.: After fixing a division-board in 

 an empty S-frame hive, take six frames out of the old hive, 

 putting three on each side of the division-board, and making 

 the entrance of each on the opposite ends of the hive ? How 

 long should the bees be confined ? The remaining two frames 

 I would leave in the old hive with the queen. I suppose, of 

 course, that the three frames of bees would each rear a queen. 

 If you do not approve of the above, kindly suggest a better 

 plan. C. M. M. 



Answek. — Your plan will work all right, the only trouble 

 being that you're not as likely to get good queens as if they 

 were reared in a strong colony. I should prefer this plan : 

 Take two frames with the queen and adhering bees, and put 

 them into another hive on a new stand. That leaves the old 

 colony strong to rear queens cf the best character. A week 

 later put the queen with her two frames back on the old 

 stand, and put your hive with the middle partition where the 

 old queen has been. The bees being now queenless will mostly 

 stay wherever put. Perhaps you may do well to leave only 

 two of the frames in each nucleus, giving the other frame 

 from each to the old queen. If the weather should be at all 

 cool at any of the time, you will find quite an advantage iu 

 having the two nuclei in one hive. Be sure there is no com- 

 munication inside between the two compartments, and on each 

 side put the brood-frames close to the division-board, which is 

 best to be not more than H or % inch thick. 



Questions About Swarming. 



As swarming time is drawing near, I would like to ask 

 you a question or two concerning the same. I have only a 

 few colonies, being a beginner. I am interested in them, and 

 wish to learn all I can. 



1. Can a person tell within a day or two, at most, when a 

 swarm will issue ? Some tell me they will issue leaving only 

 capt queen-cells ; others say the young queen is always hatcht 

 first. 



2. After a swarm issues, should all the queen-cells but 

 one be cut out immediately, or in a day or two ? 



3. Do second swarms ever come off accompanied by more 

 than one queen ? If so, please explain it. J. M. O. 



Answeks — 1. No, you can't tell for sure within a day or 

 two. During the swarming season, when you find a colony 

 that has a good laying queen with a number of sealed queen- 

 cells, you may feel pretty sure it will swarm within a week, in 

 fact generally within a day, but you can't always be sure, for 

 sometimes they seem to change their minds and give up 

 swarming. As a rule, the colony swarms with the old queen 

 as soon as the first queen-cell is sealed. It would be a very 

 unusual thing to wait till the young queen was hatcht. 



2. Very few bee-keepers practice cutting out queen-cells 

 after a swarm issues. 



3. Sometimes quite a number of young queens will come 

 off with the last after-swarm. I hardly know what there is to 

 explain about it. The bees seem to have given up the idea of 

 keeping the young queens confined in their cells, all are 

 allowed to emerge, and being free they are more likely to go 

 with the crowd than to stay in the hive. 



C7° This is a good time to work for new subscribers. 



