778 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 9. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 DR. C. O. Jltn-iER, AlASMNGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



Building in Circular Sections— Hinging tlie Bot- 

 tom-Board. 



1. Can bees be induced to fill out perfectly on all sides 

 with comb a circular section four Inches in diauneter, inside 

 measurement? 



2. Have you ever tried the experiment of hinging the bot- 

 tom-board of a hive at the back end so that you can lower or 

 raise the front end at pleasure '? Of course the bottom-board 

 must fit on the Inside of the side boards, the latter projecting 

 below it. W. H. L. 



Answers. — 1. I have no doubt they could. 



2. I have never tried the experiment myself, but a good 

 many years ago I saw such hives in use. The hive stood on 

 four legs, and I believe the intention was to let the bottom 

 slant down so the worms would roll down on the ground when 

 they fell on the floor. Needless to say, it was a failure In that 

 respect, and It could hardly have an advantage in any respect 

 that would not be overbalanced by the disadvantages. 



Working for Honey vs. Increase. 



I have as many colonies as I care to keep. I work for 

 comb honey exclusively, and cannot prevent swarming, and 

 as there is not much sale for bees here I think I will hive the 

 swarms in shallow extractlngsupers so they will not have 

 much room for honey in the brood-chamber, and will be com- 

 pelled to put most of the honey in the sections. Then in the 

 fall I will Ifill the bees and reader the brood-combs into wax. 

 What do you think of the above plan ? Will it be necessary to 

 put queen-excluders over theseshallow brood-chambers to keep 

 the queen out of the suctions? Ohio. 



Answer. — Your plan Is much like that practiced by John 

 F. Gates, and he reports great success. He lays stress, how- 

 ever, on having very strong colonies for his breeders, that is, 

 theones from which the swarms issue. Instead of killing the 

 bees In your shallow hives, you will probably do much better 

 to follow Mr. Gates' plau and unite the bees in the fall with 

 the parent colonies. With shallow hives, you may count pretty 

 surely on the queen's going up into the extracting-super unless 

 you use excluders. 



Best Hive and Fixtures for Producing Comb 

 Honey, and for Extracted. 



1 have 180 colonies, and not an empty hive. My frames 

 are Root's Simplicity. 



1. What hive and fixtures are best forcomb-honey produc- 

 tion ? 



2. And what hive is best for extracted honey-production ? 

 8. Is it best to use queen-excluders for producting ex- 

 tracted honey ? Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. Taking into consideration the fact that one 

 bee-keeper prefers one kiud, while another prefers something 

 different, each one alike successful, the probability is that 

 there isn't after all ?nuch dIfTerence, and whatever one has 

 already on hand Is likely the best thing for him, and surely he 

 should not make a change unle's he can see some decided ad- 

 vantage in so doing. In the main the difference In hives and 

 fixtures are not so much for the comfort and convenience of 

 the bees as for the bee-keeper. 



Perhaps the Important question is not so much the kind of 

 hive as the size. Clearly a hive may be too large or too small. 

 Hive a swarm in a hogsiiead, and It Is doubtful whether sec- 

 tions placed thereon would ever be filled. Hive them in a peck 

 measure and they may lill a lot of sections, but will hardly 

 celebrate their next anniversary. Somewhere between the 

 hogshead and the peck measure ought to bo a size best suited. 



As to where that point lies there has been much controversy. 

 At one time there was a tendency to smaller hives than had 

 been used, but latterly the tide seems to run the other way. 

 If you hive a swarm next summer in a <)-frame hive, it may 

 give you more surplus than If hived in a 12-franie hive, con- 

 sidering merely the one season's crop, but you must consider 

 also the future, and especially the well-being of the colony 

 through the coming winter. 



Left mainly to itself, it is doubtful if an S-frame hive will 

 always have stores enough for winter, if indeed it has bees 

 enough. In the hands of a man who pays little attention to 

 his bees, a 10-frame hive is safer. That's equivalent to say- 

 ing that for the majority of bee-keepers an 8-franje hive is 

 too small. On the other hand, the man who attends very 

 closely to the wants of his bees, may be satisfied with an 

 8-frame hive. He sees to it that they are properly supplied 

 with winter stores, and perhaps will tell you that practically 

 he considers neither the 8 nor 10 frame large enough, except 

 it may be during winter, providing he cellars his bees. Dur- 

 ing the spring he allows his colonies two stories, and when the 

 harvest comes one story is removed, but the room is rather in-' 

 creast than diminisht, for abundant room is given in supers. 

 At the close of the harvest the super room is replaced by the 

 second story returned, not to be removed till the next harvest, 

 unless wintering In th.') cellar makes it advisable to reduce to 

 one story for the sake of easier handling and having the hives 

 occupy less room in the cellar. 



Now you haven't a direct answer to your question, but 

 from the data given perhaps you can decide what is best for 

 you. 



2. When working for extracted honey, it is not necessary 

 to crowd the bees so much in the brood-chamber to get them 

 to work in the super as it is when working for comb honey, so 

 it is pretty generally agreed that 10-frames are few enough 

 for extracted honey, and some prefer more. 



3. It is neither pleasant nor desirable to extract from 

 frames that contain brood, so it is better to make sure that the 

 queen keeps below by using a queen-excluder. It is also con- 

 sidered by some that the hon3y is not quite so nice and white 

 when extracted from black combs, and so by means of an ex- 

 cluder they keep the queen below, and for extracting keep a 

 set of combs that have never been used for brood. 



Foul Brood Treatment. 



I have had bees on a small scale for over 50 years, and 

 have not had or seen a case of foul brood, urtil now. I think 

 I have at least two colonies that contain foul brood, and as it 

 is too late in the season to try to cure them now, what would 

 you advise me to do with them ? Tbey are full of bees and 

 heavy with honey, as they have gathered no surplus this sea- 

 son. It they would live until the first flow of honey in the 

 spring, I think 1 could save them. In your opinion will the 

 treatment adopted by Wm. McEvoy, and publisht in the Bee 

 Journal in 1893, effect a cure ? Is it reliable? Mr. McEvoy 

 says that it is wholly unnecessary to wash or otherwise disin- 

 fect the hive, but advises to burn up the frames. 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — Mr. McEvoy is a man who has had a very un- 

 usual opportunity for becoming thoroughly acquainted with 

 foul brood, and according to all testimony he has been 

 very successful in Its treatment. The A. I. Root Co., while 

 placing confidence in Mr. McEvoy, would not agree with hin 

 as to using hives without any tieatment. Their plau would 

 be to put the hive in a tank of boiling^water, or else to wet th« 

 inside with kerosene and burn It out. 



Swarming in Midst of Honey-Flour. 



In this locality my experience has been that when a swarm 

 has been hived in the month of May or June, in nine cases out 

 ten it will swarm In about 2 I days, which brings it just In the 

 midst of our main honey-flow, which Is basswood and white 

 clover, consequently we get scarcely any surplus honey from 

 either. Uow had I best proceed to prevent a prime swarm 

 from casting a swarm ? I use the Sframo dove-tailed hive. 

 Uo you think that a 10-frame hive would be better ? 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — I think your experience must be very excep- 

 tional. Indeed It Is probable that in general not one in 10, if 

 Indeed on« In 50, prime swarms casts a swarm three weeks 

 after being hived, and nine in ten Is something I never before 

 heard of. 1 wish you had told us whether other bee-keepers 

 In your locality have the same experience. And I wonder 



