i8y7. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



391 



my original colonies have simply done nothing In the supers. 

 I am thinking of doubling up all of these (two together) this 

 fall, putting a mat between and leaving the empty hive with 

 contents right on top until spring, when they will be ready for 

 swarms, unless there Is too much brood in the combs. 



R. P. J. 



Answers. — 1. A thick, black coating accumulates in the 

 nozzle of the smoker. Try cleaning that out. 



2. If I understand you, you'll simply set one hive with its 

 contents on top of another, having a mat between, but leav- 

 ing a free passage from one hive to another. Won't it be just 

 as well without the mat ? The bees will be likely to work 

 into the upper story, and there will be no use for the mat dur- 

 ing the winter. There will be some danger that the bees will 

 fight. Less danger if you double right away while bees are 

 storing. Make the one to be moved queenless two days or so 

 before uniting, and they'll not be likely to fight, and the 

 queenless bees will stay better where they are put. It will 

 make matters still more secure if you put between the two 

 hives a piece of rather stiff paper, leaving a hole hardly big 

 enough for a single bee to get through. The bees will remove 

 the paper at their leisure. 



Use or Queen. Trap and Enlrance-Guard. 



Will the entrance-guard do the work it is represented to 

 do? How do you handle the queen when she gets in this en- 

 trance-guard ? My wife is going away for a week, and I am 

 in business in town, and what I want is something that will 

 prevent my bees getting away, as I have only one colony now, 

 and am anxious to catch the first swarm that goes out. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — The general testimony is that a queen cannot 

 pass through the perforated zinc of the queen-trap, and that 

 if a swarm issues you will find the queen in the trap. When 

 you find the queen there, put her and the most of the bees 

 into a new hive, setting them on the old stand, and putting 

 the old hive with the brood on a new stand. Brush half the 

 bees off each comb, or what is perhaps safer, brush the bees 

 clean from half the combs. Sometimes the bees will run off 

 the combs, and a big lot will be clustered in the hive, so you 

 must be on the lookout. The idea is to get about half the 

 bees that are in the hive. If you could be sure the weather 

 would be warm, even less bees would do, for all you want is 

 just enough so the brood will not chill. 



Putting Bees into a Sliipping-Cage— Tliresliing 



Italian Clover — Carniolan Bees — Wild 



Parsnips. 



1. What is the best way to get queen and bees into a 

 shipping-cage ? 



2. I have a plat of Italian clover ; can I save the seed to 

 advantage by threshing like timothy on a barn-floor, or will it 

 stay in chaff like red clover ? I thought probably as the seeds 

 are large, I could get a portion clean of chaff. 



3. What do you know of the Carniolan bee as a comb- 

 honey producer ? I have the Italian, black, and all shaaes of 

 hybrids now. Which is the best, the pure Italian, the Car- 

 niolan, or just as they are ? I can rear Italian queens from 

 good stock at little expense, and good queens, too. Shall I 

 weed out the black blood ? I produce comb honey. 



4. Now that wild parsnip affair. You can't take garden 

 parsnip seed and grow anything poisonous out of it by necloct 

 or any other way. However, there is a weed somewhat re- 

 sembling the parsnip, commonly called " wild parsnip ;" I 

 have seen it growing in Monroe county. I cannot give its 

 botanical name; however, if it will be of any interest to the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal, I will collect a sample 

 and send it to Washington and report. I will close by saying 

 that the Doctor can't eat this weed and stay here without an 

 antidote, and that quick. W. Virginia. 



Answers. — 1. Push 'em in back end foremost. Pick for 

 the rather young bees that are filling themselves with honey ; 

 take up by the wings while their heads are in the cell, lift the 



finger or thumb that has been keeping the cage closed, with 

 the thumb and finger thrust the tall of the bee into the open- 

 ing, and with another finger push her in, promptly closing the 

 hole again. Some use a green leaf instead of the thumb to 

 keep the hole closed. You can use the leaf as a kind of valve, 

 pushing in the bee at one edge of the leaf, when it will spring 

 back again. At least that's the way I understand it, for I 

 haven't had much practice in that line. 



2. I've no experience threshing Italian clover. Who can 

 tell us? 



3. Practically, I've no experience with Carniolans. Their 

 advocates claim that they are superior, but they are hardly 

 gaining in popularity, and the majority of honey-producers 

 prefer Italians. Probably your best plan is to keep your bees 

 much as they are, gradually replacing the blacks (especially 

 those that do poor work) with the best honey-gathering stock 

 of lighter color. You'll probably find that a good deal of black 

 blood will remain among your bees for a long time. 



4. No doubt you have the correct idea, that there is noth- 

 ing poisonous about wild parsnip, but another plant closely 

 resembling it is poisonous. 



Pie-w Union and the Bee Journal.— In order 



to help our subscribers, and also the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union at the same time, we have decided to offer a year's 

 subscription to the American Bee Journal and a year's mem- 

 bership dues in the New Union, both together., for .SI. 75. 

 But it must be understood that in order to get this rate, all 

 arrearages of subscriptions must be paid, and the SI. 75 rate 

 to apply on advance subscription. 



Now send us your orders, and we will attend to turning 

 over the SI. 00 membership fee to the New Union, on each 

 subscription to the Bee Journal as per the above offer. This 

 ought to add 500 members to the New Union by June 1. If 

 it does, our contribution will be just .S125. 



Now, if you want to see the New Union succeed in its 



grand work, in the interest of all. the bee-keepers, come on 



with your cash. General Manager Secor is just aching to do 



his part whenever he sees sulHcient funds in the treasury to 



pay the bills. 



*-»-*■ 



The Horse— Ho-w to Break and Handle.— 



This is a pamphlet of 32 pages, giving complete instructions 

 for breaking and educating colts, teaching horses to drive, 

 and for use under the saddle, together with many instructions 

 which have never before been publisht, and which are the re- 

 sult of the author's experience covering a period of 20 years. 

 By Prof. Wm. Mullen, with whom the editor of the Bee Jour- 

 nal is personally acquainted. Price, postpaid, 20 cents ; or 

 given as a premium for sending us one new subscriber to the 

 Bee Journal for the rest of the year at 50 cents. 



A PJe'w 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. 



■* . »■ 



Back PJunibers Since Jan. i.— We are able to 



supply complete sets of the Bee Journal since Jan. 1, 1897, 



to any who may desire, at two cents per copy. There are a 



number of new' readers who perhaps would like to get some of 



the first numbers of this year, to complete their volume for 



1.897. We shall be glad to furnish them as long as they last, 



at two cents each. 



< . «» 



Xlie nicEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

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

 scribe for it. See offers on page 389. 



