189', 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



519 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. anXtER, XIARJEXGO. ILL. 



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



Transferrins Bees. 



1. I have a colony of bees in a tall box-hive, and wish to 

 transfer to a regular dovetailed hive. Can it be done now ? 

 If so, how shall I proceed ? The hive I will use has two full 

 sheets and six half sheets of brood foundation. I might pos- 

 sibly take a frame or two of honey from a new swarm if 

 obliged to. I'd rather feed if necessary. 



2. This colony sent out a swarm (its first and only one) 

 July 3. If any bees are left in the hive, will they be apt to 

 start any queen-cells ? or is it too late in the season ? 



New York, July 26. 



Answers. — 1. The best time to transfer your colony was 

 already past when your letter was written, that is 21 days 

 after the colony had swarmed. Your best plan is to leave the 

 colony where it is till fruit-bloom next year, and many are 

 coming to the opinion that you will do still better to wait till 

 the bees swarm, hive the swarm in the hive you desire, and 

 then 21 days later, when all worker-brood has hatcht, empty 

 the old hive. 



2. Queen-cells, as a rule, are started before a swarm issues, 

 and are sealed at the time of swarming. So by the middle of 

 July there was probably a young queen laying in the hive 

 from which the swarm issued July 5. Of course there is 

 always some chance of failure and consequent queenlessness. 



^ — ^ 



Several Que!»tions About Bees. 



I am very thankful for the information I received 

 through the American Bee Journal in regard to queen-rearing. 

 I got more information from one copy of it than I got from 

 two books that cost yi.2.5 each. I don't see how any one can 

 do without the American Bee Journal and be successful with 

 bees. I dislike to impose upon good nature, but I would like 

 to ask a few more questions. 



1. I made my own hives, and the frames are 113^x11}^ 

 inches, which makes them near the size of the Langstroth 

 frame, except it is deep and short. My hive is 12}^xl2Jix- 

 12)^. If I make the second story larger, so as to get as many 

 one-pound sections in them as the regular size hive, will the 

 bees work as well in them ? 



2. If a colony becomes queenless at this time of the year, 

 and the bees rear a queen, will she be mated ? 



3. Will it cause bees to rob if fed on honey at night ? 



4. Is cheap molasses a good food for bees in summer ? 



5. Will bees rob when honey is flowing ? 



6. Will bees rob in the night, or any more in the day, by 

 being jammed together 1 



7. I bought one untested queen from a Florida dealer. 

 She is a bright Italian, and the young bees are large, sleek, 

 black bees, but not like the regular black bee. What is she 

 crostwith? Vikgisia, July 26. 



Answkrs. — 1. They will work in your sections all right, 

 altho perhaps not so well as over the common size, for you 

 have a smaller surface for sections to be placed over. Your 

 hive being smaller, you can hardly have as strong colonies, 

 and strong colonies are the ones that do the best work in 

 sections. 



2. There is no trouble about drones being plenty enough 

 any time up to heavy frosts. 



3. Not if there is no feed exposed the next morning after 

 the bees are flying. 



4. Almost anything they will take will do to give them 



when bees are flying every day, but better not give them 

 enough to have it stored in the combs, just enough so It will 

 be all used up in brood-rearing. 



5. Generally not, altho you may start robbing even in a 

 honey-flow, if you allow brood-combs standing around un- 

 protected. 



6. By being " jammed together " you probably mean hav- 

 ing the hives placed very close. There Is little danger from 

 this source, even if the hives should be touching. But it isn't 

 a good plan to have more than two hives at a time jammed 

 together. You may have a dozen hives in a straight row, the 

 first and second close together, then after a space of perhaps 

 four feet, the third and fourth close together, and so on ; but 

 if the whole 12 are placed close together instead of being in 

 pairs, there is likely to be a good mixing of bees, and some 

 danger that young queens will enter the wrong hives on re- 

 turning from their bridal trip. 



7. Hard to say. Very likely with the common black bee. 

 Don't be worried about sending questions. Glad to get 



them. That's what this department is for. 



One or the ITIint§. 



I enclose blossoms of two plants, also sections of the same. 

 No matter what other flowers are in bloom at the same time, 

 these plants are covered with bees from morning to night. It 

 is not uncommon to see 12 to 15 bees on a single stool of one- 

 half dozen stems. Please give what information you can as 

 to their worth as a honey-plant. They are not common here. 

 I have seen them only in one small locality. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — It is one of the mints, but I don't know enough 

 about honey-plants to say which. The mints are much valued 



as honey-plants. 



m I m 



Piitlins Pollen in the Sections. 



I experienced considerable trouble and loss this year on 

 account of ray bees putting pollen in the sections, and I would 

 like to know if there is any way I can overcome this annoy- 

 ance in the future. In many cases the cells were filled out 

 with honey and capt over, and it could only be detected by 

 holding the section to the light. It was a colony of Carnlolan 

 bees which contained the sections referred to. How can I 

 remove the pollen ? or will the bees themselves attend to it if 

 I break the cappings and stir it up '? 



If that is a feature of the Caruiolaus, do not bother with 

 any details, as this is my last year with such stock. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — I'm sorry to say I don't know enough to help 

 you out very fully. Sometimes bees put pollen in sections 

 with no apparent reason, at least none that I could see. The 

 comfort is that it is not a common occurrence, and whatever 

 the cause may be, it is not likely to occur next year. I doubt 

 whether the Carnlolan blood has anything particular to do 

 with it. There is no satisfactory way to get the pollen out of 

 the sections. If it is in such quantity as to make it unfit for 

 eating, as is probably the case with you, there is not much for 

 you beyond the poor consolation of knowing that those sec- 

 tions will make excellent food for your bees. If you uncap 

 them and leave them on the hive long enough, at a time when 

 bees are not storing, you may find the bees gradually working 

 out the pollen, and you would have the empty combs left to 

 be filled another year, but they might not by that time be very 

 desirable for section honey. 



The McETOy 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. 



