1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



693 



Use screens at the entrance and on the top of the hive. 

 Shut the bees up in the evening, when all are In, then move 

 to the desired location, and keep the bees closed in the hive 

 until the next evening; just before sundown give them their 

 liberty by removing all of the screens. But few bees will re- 

 turn to the old location. ISe sure to give plenty of ventilation. 



Riverside Co., Calif. 



CONDUCTED BT 



DR. O. O. SHILLER, MAJtMIiGO, ILL. 



IQuestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direot.l 



Test for Adulterated Honey. 



What is an infallible test for detecting cane-sugar or 

 other adulterant in both comb and extracted honey, whether 

 added direct or by feeding to the bees ? Honey-Eater. 



Answer. — That's a thing more easily askt than answered. 

 To detect adulteration in honey is not even an easy thing for 

 experts or chemists, and as yet there Is probably no way by 

 which, with ordinary appliances, you can make an infallible 

 test. Until lately our government chemists had no infallible 

 test, but as progress is constantly being made, it is not impos- 

 sible that some easy test may be found for the laity. 



Not a Good Plan of Transrerring. 



Is this the new or the old way of transferring bees ? A 

 neighbor of mine was telling me about the moth being in his 

 hive, and he tried transferring the bees to a new hive. This 

 is the way he did it : He took the new hive and set it by the 

 side of the old one, and poured molasses on the alighting-board 

 of the new hive to coax the bees in. They did not seem to be 

 the coaxing kind, as he has no bees now. Subscriber. 



Answer. — If there was any patent on this method of 

 transferring bees, the patent expired long ago, but it is a very 

 successful way of transferring bees. The only trouble is that 

 the combs are not transferred at the same time as the bees, so 

 the bees never stay transferred, but basely desert the new hive 

 just as soon as the supply of honey is exhausted. 



Bad Effects of Sorghum and Cider Mills 

 and Moving Bees. 



-Uniting 



What should I do with my bees? I have lost about half 

 the bees in every colony, the result of visiting sorghum and 

 cider mills, which are in operation here. I have 85 colonies, 

 75 of them half a mile from town, and 10 at home, in town. 

 I expect to move the 75 colonies to my home in town next 

 winter. All the colonies have plenty of stores. Would it be 

 a good thing to double them up now, before I remove them, 

 and afterward extract tSe honey from the other hives not in 

 use ? Illinois. 



Answer. — Altho I have a very keen sense of the unjust 

 injury you have suffered, having in former years had some 

 personal experience in the matter, I'm not certain I can be of 

 use to you. It ought not to be possible that a man's bees can 

 be ruiued or even decimated by a cider-mill or something of 

 the kind, leaving the beekeeper utterly helpless to protect 

 himself. But such is the apathy among bee-keepers as to 

 proper legal protection, but very likely what has beeTi will 

 continue to be, and the question at present is merely what 

 shall you do with your colonies that have suffered. 



From my own experience in the matter, I should say that 

 It Is quite possible that a careful inspection will show that the 

 loss of bees Is much less than supposed. Very likely most of 

 the colonies have enough bees remaining to winter through 

 all right. If they have not, they should be united. If some 

 are strong enough, they should be left, uniting only so far as 

 necessary. Neither is It necessary that in every case two 

 colonies should be made into one. Suppose you find three 

 colonies, each having about two-thirds as many bees as you 

 think necessary. Instead of uniting two of the colonies into 

 one, divide one of the colonies between the other two, thus 

 making two colonies out of the three. Whether the uniting 

 should be done before moving, or after, depends upon the 

 time of the moving. If convenient, better move them at once, 

 then unite. For if they are united in a strange place before 

 they have had time to mark locations, there will be no trouble 

 about th^ir going back to the wrong hive. 



Probably you will do well to save at least a part of the 

 combs from the extractor, to be given to the bees next spring. 

 For usually you will find empty combs in the hive in the 

 spring, and it's good economy to put sealed comb in their 

 places. 



Location for Bees — Moving Tliem. 



1. Is a location with an abundance of basswood and but 

 few other honey-plauts, a safe place to establish an apiary 

 with reasonable assurance of a crop every year? 



2. I have 25 colonies of bees which I wish to move about 

 100 rods. What time in the year, and what time in the day, 

 is the safest? 



3. Is there any plan I can adopt to prevent them from 

 returning to their old home ? The bees are to be moved from 

 the sun into the shade. Utah. 



Answers. — 1. Such a place might te considered pretty 

 safe for an apiary. Basswood does not always yield, it is 

 true, but the same thing is true of white clover and other 

 leading honey-plants. So far as yet learned, sweet clover 

 seems to be an exception to the general rule, yielding honey 

 almost every year. 



2. Better move them as soon as they have stopt flying en- 

 tirely for the season, as nearly as you can guess at it ; for you 

 can never be entirely sure that a warm spell may not come 

 next day, but you can make a pretty good guess at it. The 

 idea is to have the bees moved at a time when they will not 

 fly again for a long time, for after long confinement they mark 

 afresh their location, no matter what time of day they are 

 moved If it is cool enough so they will not fly. If the tempera- 

 ture is such that bees undisturbed would remain quietly in 

 their hives in the middle of the day, but would fly out upon 

 the hives being disturbed, then take them In the evening. 



3. Remove all stands from the old location, and make it 

 look as unlike home as possible. Even this may not be neces- 

 sary at this time of year. 



No Robbing — Differing Tempers. 



1. I bought a colony of bees last spring, and divided 

 them, making two. They have not stored enough honey to 

 winter them, and while I was away one colony just up and 

 skipt. What caused that? 



The yellow jackets have been quite bad this summer. 

 Early in the summer the bees got to robbing, and the colony 

 that left kept it up all summer. While I was gone the hive- 

 entrance was contracted to keep the yellow jackets out, and 

 the next day the bees left. Was it because they couldn't get 

 into the other hives ? 



2. It was the colony with the old queen that left, and 

 they were as gentle as could be desired, while the other is so 

 cross I can hardly go near them. What causes the difference ? 



Oregon. 



Answers. — 1. It is just possible that you were mistaken 

 as to where the robbing was, and it is possible that the colony 



