1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



343 



CONDUCTED BT 



rmt. O. O. MIT.T^EIi. MARMnaO, ILL, 



LQuestlODS may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



Sweet Clover in an Orcliard. 



Will sweet clover be injurious to an orchard ? As it is 

 such a vigorous grower, it has seemed to me that it might iu- 

 jure fruit trees by taking the moisture from them, like alfalfa. 



Ohio. 



An'swku. — The same objection that holds against any 

 growing crop in an orchard will hold against sweet clover. If 

 kept cut down or fed down, it would be neither better nor 

 worse than grass of the same growth. 



Against Adulteration — Perhaps too Crowded. 



1. I have never heard anything about stopping adultera- 

 tion in New York State. When they get ready to do so, I will 

 be ready to help with all I can do, if I have to work out nights 

 to get funds to help put it down. 



2. I have four colonies of bees this spring ; three are 

 doing splendidly, but the other one hangs around the entrance, 

 and partly stand on their heads, fluttering their wings. What 

 is the cause ? New York. 



Answers. — 1. The thing that you can do most appro- 

 priately and effectively to put down adulteration, if you have 

 not already done so, is to send a dollar to Tir. A. B. Mason, or 

 to Geo. W. York, to make you a member of the New Union, 

 which is especially designed to put down adulteration. Every 

 dollar that goes in as a membership fee will help the chances 

 for a systematic attack upou the whole adulteration business. 

 If New York be the best point for first attack, no doubt that 

 will be selected, but wherever the attack is made, it will pave 

 the way to be followed up in other States. 



2. Probably if you open up a larger entrance, or raise the 

 hive on little blocks, the bees will get down off their heads 

 and fold up their wings. The colony is probably strong, the 

 entrance contracted, and the hive too warm, so a sufficient 

 number of bees is detailed to stand at the entrance and fan 

 with their wings so as to cool off the hive. 



A '• Sweet Sixtcen's " Dozen Questions. 



1. If a ripe queen-cell is inserted in a hive that has just 

 cast a swarm, will the bees tear it down, or will the queen- 

 cell hatch and the young queen tear down the remaining cells ? 



2. Are pure Italian drones any differently markt than 

 hybrid drones ? 



3. Are drones reared from the (laughter of a pure Italian 

 queen that has mated with a hybrid drone as good as those 

 reared from a purely-mated Italian queen. 



4. How would it work to have queen-cells started in a 

 queenless colony, and have them tinisht in the upper story of 

 a colony containing a laying queen below, with a queen-cii- 

 cludlng honey-board between, and not under the swarming 

 impulse, as per Mr. Doolittle's plan ? 



5. Would a virgin queen be accepted in a colony that has 

 just cast a swarm 7 



(>. Is there any safe way to Introduce a virgin queen to a 

 full colony or nucleus? If so. how can I do it? 



7. Are the bees of queens brought from the North to the 

 South any more apt to be hardy than those brought from the 

 South to the North ? 



8. Which will produce the best results, oatural swarming 

 or artificial ? 



9. Will the bees be just as gentle, as good workers, and 

 as hardy if pure Italian leather-colored bees are crost with 

 pure yellow 3-banded stock or 5-bauded stock, as either race 

 would be if alone ? 



10. Does it improve the stock to buy Italian queens from 

 different breeders and mix.them with pure Italians ? 



11. How can I determine as to whether a queen Is bred 

 from a purely-mated mother when she Is mated with a hybrid 

 drone ? 



12. Are drones bred from the daughter of a pure Italian 

 queen that has mated with a hybrid drone, as pure as those 

 reared from a purely-mated Italian queen ? 



F. C, Gait, Mich. 



P. S. — This is my third year In the bee-business. I am 

 16 years old, and am intensely interested in bees. 



Answers. — 1. Bees are somewhat freaky, and sometimes 

 tear down cells of their own starting, while others are allowed 

 to stand, but, as a rule, if you insert a queen-cell in a hive 

 from which a swarm has just issued, it will be allowed to go 

 on to maturity, providing it is older than any other in the 

 hive. Whether the young queen which emerges from the cell 

 of your inserting is allowed to kill all her rivals or be forced 

 to issue with a swarm, depends upon circumstances, chiefly 

 the strength of the colony. The main point in the question is 

 that the bees will treat the cell you insert about in the same 

 way as if it had been one of their own construction, but prob- 

 ably it will not be quite so sure of being undisturbed as if it 

 had been present from the start. 



2. They are likely to have more yellow on them, but the 

 marking of drones is not as constant as that of workers. 



3. The drone is practically of the same blood as his 

 mother, no matter what the mating may have been. 



4. Sometimes all right, and sometimes all wrong. The 

 chances of success may be increast by making the separation 

 from the brood-nest greater. Lay a cloth or a piece of tin 

 over the excluder, merely allowing the bees to go up through 

 the outside perforations, or else have three or four stories and 

 have the cell in the upper story. 



6. Generally. Perhaps always, if the " princess," as the 

 English call her, is young enough. Indeed a young queen just 

 out of the cell will be accepted in any colony, even if a laying 

 queen be present, but she will likely be killed when she is a 

 few days old if a laying queen is present. 



6. Simply take one just out of the cell and place it right 

 on the brood-comb among the bees. You may also succeed 

 with one of any age, in the following manner : Make sure 

 that there has been no unsealed brood In the hive for 48 

 hours; go to the hive just after bees have stopt flying in the 

 evening, and quietly drop the queen on top of the frames, 

 allowing her to crawl down. 



7. The probability is that there is no difference noticeable. 



8. That's a question for each one to settle for himself. On 

 page 291 Prof. Cook says : "We used to hear a good deal 

 about dividing bees, or artificial swarming, but in these latter 

 days I think very few attempt any increase except by natural 

 swarming." Apparently the good Professor thinks because 

 little is said about it nowadays it is little practiced, a conclu- 

 sion that is hardly warranted. We used to hear much about 

 the advantage of movable-frame hives, and nowadays little is 

 said about it, but it does not follow that " very few " use such 

 hives. On the very next page C. Davenport, who produces 

 honey on a large scale, says : "In producing comb honey, 

 instead of allowing natural swarming I prefer dividing, or 

 artificial swarming, and I can by this means obtain better re- 

 sults with less work," but he thinks the inexperienced may do 

 better with natural swarming. Last year I made an increase 

 of 121, and had only two or three natural swarms, one of 

 which sailed away while I was trying to get it into the hive. 

 Neither do I think Mr. Davenport and myself are alone in this 

 matter. But some of our best bee-keepers prefer natural 

 swarming. 



9. I think likely, but X don't know. 



10. Yes, providing you don't get inferior stock. 



11. Y'ou can't do it all. 



12. If this is the same as question 3, you have the answer 

 there. If you mean drones from a queen whose mother was 

 Impurely mated, then the drones are not pure. 



A Neiv 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. 



.*- •■ ♦- 



NO'W is the Time to work for new subscribers 

 Why not take advantage of the offer made on page 346 ? 



