i6y7. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



663 



off one-half the crop. What is your opinion ? — [Don't worry 

 about the river. A little matter of 4U0 yards won't trouble 

 the bees.— Ed,] U. L. S. 



Answer. — Bees don't generally do much comb-building 

 late in the season, but will build if it is needed. You ought 

 to have fed before this, but it isn't too late if you feed right 

 away. If the weather is warm enough for the bees to take 

 the feed, they'll build all the comb necessary. Better warm 

 the honey to be fed, and if it's very thick add a little water 

 while heating, so it will be thoroughly mixt. Don't have more 

 than one pint of water to five of honey, and be sure not to 

 burn the honey. Burnt honey is about as good for winter feed 

 as poison. But it may be fed almost boiling hot. 



Likely a Quecniess Colony. 



I have a colony of bees which were transferred from a 

 box-hive to one of the latest hives about July 25. They had 

 previously swarmed twice, but seemed fairly strong when the 

 change was made. For the past several weeks they have 

 been very inactive, and on examination I found a lack of 

 comb and but few bees. The bottom-board of the hive was 

 littered with small particles of comb, probably from capping. 

 I surmise the lack of prosperity is due to the wax-worm. In 

 fact, I found several small white worms among the powdered 

 comb. Please suggest treatment for the worms. If they are 

 the cause of the trouble. Is it possible that the queen was 

 destroyed in changing hives? If so, would that affect the 

 strength of the colony as indicated above ? 



"New Member." 



Answer. — Instead of its being true that the lack of pros- 

 perity is due to the wax-worm, the reverse is more likely true, 

 that the presence of worms is due to the lack of prosperity. 

 In all probability the bees were queenless, became weak and 

 discouraged, and then allowed the worms to take more or less 

 possession. You may have killed the queen in transferring, 

 but it is more likely that they never had a laying queen after 

 swarming. For after a colony swarms, a young queen suc- 

 ceeds to the throne, and it happens sometimes that she is lost 

 on her wedding-trip. If that happens the colony is hopelessly 

 queenless, and it is only a question of time when it will fade 

 away to nothing The best thing you can do is to unite the 

 bees with another colony, one of the weaker ones, and yet 

 they are of little value on account of their age, especially as 

 so late in the season there is little or nothing for them to do, 

 and they will only help eat up the stores without living long 

 enough to help gather next spring. 



Colony De§crling-— Prevention of Swarming — 

 Dumniie§. 



1. I have an 8-frame Simplicity hive that had a super on 

 and I took it off, and it was empty. I noticed that the bees 

 had workt well and were a good, strong colony. When I lifted 

 the super off I saw there were no bees in the hive. The 

 frames are well filled with sealed honey, no brood, and not 

 one bee In the hive, and the hive is as clean as a new pin. 

 The brood-chambers with bottom-board weighs 50 pounds, so 

 you see it was well filled. What was the trouble ? What did 

 the bees leave the hive for? Did you ever hear of such a 

 thing before? 



2. Can you inform me how Mr. Dandant keeps his bees 

 from swarming ? 



3. What are the dummies spolfen of in] the bee-papers ? 

 How are they used, and for what purpose ? ,'1 _ Mass. 



Answers. — L. In the spring of the year it is not a re- 

 markably unusual thing for a colony to desert its hive, leav- 

 ing plenty of stores and more or less brood, such colony per- 

 haps always being weak. But the supposition is that the case 

 you mention was during or after the honey harvest. I never 

 before heard of a strong colony deserting its hive during the 

 working season, leaving it full of honey and everything in 

 good condition, and cannot give the least hint as to the rea- 

 son. I yield the floor to any one who can. 



2. The principal reason the Dadants give for the small 

 number of swarms they have, is the size of their frames and 

 brood-chambers. They usetheQuinby frame, and their hives 

 have a capacity equal to 12 or 14 Laogslroth frames. 

 - - 3. Take a board the size of a brood-frame, nail on it a 

 top-bar, and you have a dummy. It may be anywhere from 

 an eighth of an inch to an inch thick, and its chief use is to 

 fill up a vacancy in a hive. If a man wants to use only eight 

 frames in a 10-frame hive, and desires to have his bees work 



In supers at the same time, it will not do to take out two of 

 the frames without putting in something to fill their place, 

 for the bees would at once build In comb to fill the vacancy. 

 So the dummy comes into play. Oftener, however, a dummy 

 Is used in a hive which has its full complement of frames. 

 Especially is this the case where frames with flxt distances 

 are used. Suppose you have eight frames in a hive, all spaced 

 at flxt distances, the hive being entirely filled with the eight 

 frames. It will be a difficult thing to get out any of the 

 frames, but if the hive is made wide enough to take in the 

 eight frames and a dummy besides, the dummy will easily be 

 withdrawn, and then it will be an easy matter to take out the 

 frames. 



Doubtle§8 a Queenless Colony. 



We had one colony of bees in a box-hive and transferred 

 it to a frame-hive last spring. We tied the brood-comb in the 

 frames and the bees seemed to do well for awhile. In August 

 I thought they were not doing well, and on examination I 

 found moths in the old comb, and bees all clustered on two 

 small frames of comb. I did not examine them, but as they 

 seemed to have too much room I placed them in another hive 

 (as this one was not made right) with a division-board, confin- 

 ing them to the two combs, and fed for a week, then lookt at 

 them. They had abandoned the old comb and commenced 

 building on the other side of the hive, so I took out the old, 

 empty comb and placed a division-board next to the frame of 

 new comb and kept feeding. They seemed to carry pollen, 

 and workt well until the last few days they don't see-n to be 

 carrying pollen. I examined and find they have no brood, but 

 are storing honey in their new comb. What is the matter? 

 and what shall I do? There are drones. Florida. 



Answer — The indications are that your bees are queen- 

 less. I confess to feeling somewhat puzzled to account for 

 their deserting the old comb and building new, unless the old 

 combs were so badly infested with worms that they deserted 

 them entirely. There is probably nothing you can do with 

 them now, for a colony that had become reduced to two combs 

 In August, even if it grew no weaker, would not be worth 

 fussing with. What bees are left might be united with 

 another colony, but they're hardly worth the trouble, for they 

 are probably so old that they will not last mucli longer. 



Bees Killing Eaeli Other. 



I received some untested queens June oO, in good condi- 

 tion. I introduced them all right; and they were fine, large 

 queens, and they beat anything at breeding I ever saw. I 

 told my neighbors if the 5-banded queen produced 5-banded 

 workers I wouldn't take five dollars for her. But she didn't 

 do that, but she did produce beautiful 3-banders, and they are 

 hustlers, too, so I would hardly take five dollars for her, tho 

 her bees have one fault — they will kill off all the black bees in 

 their colony, which was a strange thing to me. 1 was glad of 

 that, for I wanted them all yellow ones ; but they didn't stop 

 at'that, they got to killing their own bees, and I put an empty 

 super on, and they quit. I took It off again, and they have 

 gone at it again like wild fire. I will have to put on the super 

 again or make two colonies out of it. The trouble is, there 

 are too many bees for an Sframe Langstroth sized hive, and 

 it is full of honey b3sides. It is not a case of robbing, as some 

 would think, and they are not diseased, but right in their 

 prime. Tenn. 



Answer. — The case is an utter puzzle to me. It does not 

 seem possible that bees would kill off any of their number be- 

 cause of being crowded. Many times colonies that were 

 strong have been so crowded with bees that they could not all 

 get into the hive, and in plenty of cases the combs have be- 

 come so crowded with honey that the queen had no room to 

 lay, but no one has ever reported in such a case that it re- 

 sulted in the bees killing off one another. If a hive becomes 

 overcrowded with bees, a swarm is likely to result if at the 

 proper season for swarming, and at other times the bees would 

 merely hang out. If part of the bees are black and part 

 Italian, that ought to make no difference. I wouldn't like to 

 be too positive about the case, but I think close investiga- 

 tion will discover some disease present where workers are 

 killing off their own sisters. If there is no mistake about the 

 addition of more room stopping the killing, and then its start- 

 ing again when the extra room was taken away, then it is 

 just possible that the greater heat and lack of ventilation 

 might help to make the disease more violent. It is to be hoped 

 that we may hear fully the outcome. 



