454 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 22. 



" It does seem as if good honey ought to bring more, but 

 the fact Is I had to come down on the price to meet my com- 

 petitor across the way. I bought a lot at 12 cents, and was 

 selling it out at 15, but my customers would come in and say 

 they could buy the same thing across the way for 12, so there 

 was nothing to do but for me to come down." 



So the bee-keeper who has workt hard for his crop, suffer- 

 ing a failure for the two previous years, is practically de- 

 frauded out of one-sixth of his recompense by the man who 

 sells for the first offer that is made — because bees work for 

 Lothing and board themselves! 



See that your honey is put up in good shape to go on the 

 market, find out something as to its real value, then insist on 

 getting what it is worth. — Iowa Homestead. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DTt.. O. O. S£ir.LER, AfyUtEAtJO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.l 



Reqiicenin^ — Qucen§ from tlic South and North. 



1. I have some hives in my apiary in which the combs are 

 built so crooked that I cannot remove the frames. As I wish 

 to requeen the whole apiary, I would like to know the best 

 way to find the queens in such hives. I have been told to 

 open the top of hive and smoke at the entrance and drive the 

 bees on top of the frames so that I could find the queen run- 

 ning on top of the bees. Is this plan practicable ? 



2. Would it be advisable to requeen in July after bass- 

 wood flow is over ? 



3. Would Italian queens shipt from the South do well in 

 this climate? Central New York. 



Answers. — 1. The plan you suggest may work. Perhaps 

 you may succeed better if you leave the hivecovered and smoke 

 at the entrance and pound on the hive. Then when you lift 

 off the cover you may find the queen among the bees on it. If 

 you fall otherwise, you can drum the bees entirely out of the 

 hive. 



2. Yes, you can requeen almost any time, but it will be 

 done more easily before the harvest is entirely over. 



3. Yes, there seems to be no particular difference between 

 bees reared in the South and the North. 



Swarmins-Fevcr — Dividinsr Colonics. 



1. I have a strong colony that seems to have contracted a 

 fatal case of swarming-fever. They have swarmed two and 

 three times a day for nearly a week. They were hived first on 

 full sheets of foundation, and later on starters, but acted the 

 same in both cases. Shading did not seem to help the matter. 

 What do you think is the trouble, and what treatment would 

 you advise should such a case occur again ? 



2. I have tried dividing according to the methods advised 

 in the books — i. c, taking the queens and part of the brood to 

 a new stand, and scarcely enough bees remained on the new 

 stand to make a decent nucleus. How do you manage it? 



Minnesota. 



Answers. — 1. In spite of shading, heat may be at the bot- 

 tom of the trouble. Something depends upon the make-up of 

 the hive, some hives being so constructed that it is difiicult to 

 give a colony air enough. If you have dIOiculty of the same 

 kind again, sprinkle the hive with cold water after hiving, 

 raise the hive a half inch or so by putting blocks under the 

 corners, and for a day or two leave the bees partly uncovered 

 by raising the cover a little or leave it slid to one side. As an 

 additional precaution, and one that is by many considered an 

 Infallible preventive of swarming, give the swarm a comb of 

 brood. 



2. Bear In mind that all field-bees of an active colony are 

 likely to return to the old stand, and govern yourself accord- 



ingly. If you put the queen on a new stand, supposing you 

 want to divide the colony about evenly, take half the combs 

 with adhering bees and put on the new stand, then brush off 

 into the new hive the bees of one or two frames more, perhaps 

 from two or three. Brushing off is better than shaking off, as 

 in shaking you will leave some bees on the comb, the very ones 

 you want to get, for they are the youngest, and will stay any- 

 where. 



But I doubt the advisability of putting the queen on a new 

 stand. It is better to have the bulk of the field-bees with her, 

 and these will always adhere to the old location. Various 

 plans may be used to have the bees apportioned to your liking. 

 Set the hive on a new stand, then put the queen with two 

 combs and adhering bees on the old stand, and you will be 

 sure of having plenty of young bees on the new stand. Then 

 in a day or two, after some of the flying bees have markt the 

 new location, return part of the frames to the queen. 



If you are anxious that the queen-cells reared shall be of 

 the best quality, and you should be anxiius for this, it may be 

 well to follow another plan. Take the queen with two combs 

 and adhering bees, and put on a new stand. That will leave 

 nearly the whole strength on the old stand, and you may rely 

 on their starting better queen-cells than would a weak nucle- 

 us, especially if cool weather should come. After five or six 

 days the feeding of the young queens will be over, and you can 

 then let the hives swap places, letting the queen have the old 

 stand, and if you like you can give her some of the combs from 

 the other hiye. 



— — ^ 



Honey that Seems to be '^ Working." 



I have a barrel (50 gallons) of honey that is " working." 

 It doesn't seem to be sour, but a thick froth works to the 

 bung, which I have kept loose. I take a spoon and skim it off, 

 and it looks clean and nice. I fill it up, and the next day I 

 have the same thing to do over. I have a small house in the 

 apiary, enclosed with gauze wire, where I extract, and I pre- 

 sume the rain has blown in. I have a 20-gallon can with a 

 faucet, in which I keep honey at least a week before barrel- 

 ing, always drawing from the bottom, and never drain, so the 

 water and all impurities are on top. Would just a little water 

 sour it? Will it clear itself if I continue to skim. If not, 

 what is best to be done with it ? If I make it into vinegar, 

 where would I be likely to find sale for so much ? 



Louisiana. 



Answer. — The little pollen that is floating in the honey 

 acts as yeast, and a little thin fermentation sets in. If you 

 will just let it alone and give chance for evaporation, it will 

 probably right itself in a little while. Evaporation takes place 

 more rapidly in an open vessel than in a barrel. It would 

 probably be better not to add fresh honey from time to time as 

 you have been doing. 



It would be difficult to dispose of large quantities of honey- 

 vinegar except in the large markets, yet undoubtedly a fair 

 market could bo gradually workt up almost anywhere by a lit- 

 tle persistent effort. 



^ — .— ^ 



Straigiitcning Crooiied Combs. 



In the spring I bought four colonies in Langstroth hives 

 in which the brood-comljs are so crooked as to make it impos- 

 sible to lift one out. For instance, in one of them the comb 

 starting at the top of frame one ends with the bottom of frame 

 five. I want to got these colonies upon straight comb before 

 winter. I have eight other colonies in Langstroth hives with 

 straight combs in good condition. The 12 hives are all the 

 same size, and frames, if built straight, would be interchange- 

 able. Swarms have issued from the four colonies first men- 

 tioned. What would you advise ? Bees usually fly here until 

 January, when rain does not prevent, and some white clover 

 is in blossom until that time. Tacoma. 



Answer. ^It is largely a matter of mechanical genius for 

 each particular case. Where the case is as bad as you men- 

 tion, one (tomb being attacht to five frames, it's a good deal 

 like transferring from a box-hive, and yet with a little pa- 

 tience you may get along all right. With a long knife cut 

 down at the sides of the hives, freeing all the combs from their 

 attachment to the sides. Then turn the hive upside down and 

 dump out the whole business. Commence at the side where 

 the combs are straight, or where they are most nearly straight, 

 if there is any liilierenee, and cut the comb free from the 

 frame to which It has the least attachmiuit, bend It into place 

 and tie there with common wrapping-twine. If some of the 

 combs are too badly out of line, there is nothing left but for 



