i6y', 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAU. 



823 



staid, sober, matter-of-fact articles In the bee-journals would 

 dream of the manner In which he can flavor his speeches with 

 anecdote and illustration. For instance, he was telling how 

 some old man was working himself all but to death that his 

 children might not be compelled to begin at the foot of the 

 ladder as he had done. Mr. Doolittle askt him if he had not 

 enjoyed himself when he began house-keeping in an humble 

 way, and he and his young wife had workt cheerfully and 

 happily as month by month they added to the comforts of 

 their home? The old man was silent a minute and then 

 admitted, ' They were the happiest days of his life.' ' Would 

 you rob your children of this happiness?' askt Mr. Doolittle. 

 I don't suppose Mr. Doolittle knew it, but it brought tears to 

 my eyes, so clearly did it bring back those happy days when 

 wife and I began house-keeping in an humble home built by 

 my own hands, and ' workt cheerfully and happily as month 

 by month we added to the comforts of our home.'" 



Messrs. Chas. Dadant & Son — the old, reliable, and ex- 

 tensive comb foundation makers, and also for years regular 

 advertisers in the American Bee Journal — had this to say in 

 a letter dated Dec. 13 : 



" By the way, we are making our usual annual review of 

 correspondence, and we find that the American Bee Journal 

 is again at the head, among bee-papers, as an advertising 

 medium. This shows that you are following the right track, 

 evidently. Best wishes. We are all well as usual." 



Mr. S. T. Pettit is one of Ontario's oldest and most ex- 

 perienced bee-keepers. He is also a man of fine abilities and 

 great usefulness in other lines as well. In the Canadian Bee 

 .Tournal for December Editor Hoitermann had this kind ref- 

 erence to Mr. Pettit and his qualities as a honey-producer : 



" We have handled large quantities of both extracted and 

 comb honey, and by means of exhibitions and otherwise have 

 had large opportunities of seeing and knowing of the skill of 

 leading bee-keepers in Canada for taking a first-class article 

 of comb honey, and we believe we are safe in saying that Mr. 

 S. T. Pettit stands at the head of the list in the country for 

 producing the best and most comb honey per colony. His 

 yield per colony for the last 20 years we also believe to be 

 ahead of any one else." 



We have the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with 

 Mr. Pettit, and are sure that the best bee-keepers in Ontario 

 appreciate him and his sterling worth both as a bee-keeper 

 and a Christian gentleman. 



CONDUCTED BY 



OH. O. O. MXLLER, ifARENGO, ILL. 



[QuestloDS may be mailed to tbe Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.l 



Questions on Bee-management. 



Would it be advisable with a 10 or 8 frame hive with pro- 

 lific queen, to add an upper brood-chamber about three or 

 four weeks before the honey-flow, and when putting on the 

 second one take six or seven frames from the lower one and 

 put in the upper, and give comb on full sheets of foundation 

 in their place ? Xow, when these have all hatcht out, it will 

 be about the time of the honey-Bow, within four or five days, 

 and I would then take the upper story off and give them two 

 supers with sections and full sheets of foundation. In this 

 locality there is no trouble with a good colony getting two 

 supers of honey, and with some two and over, where very 

 strong, but when more than two it is generally taken in Sep- 

 tember, and is very dark and sells cheap. 



All honey in supers finisht by about Aug. 10 is fancy 

 white (sweet clover) in looks and flavor, and from Aug. 10 to 

 Sept. 10 it is fancy amber; and then comes the late and dark 

 Bow from asters, smartweed, etc. 



Now, by using the method described, could I not get two 

 supers of white and one of amber, and then crowd them down 



to fill the brood-chamber for winter supplies with the late 

 dark flow ? It would put a stop to brood-rearing, by their 

 crowding the queen early in the fall, but with a very full hive 

 of bees and plenty of stores for winter, do you think there 

 would be a larger mortality among the old bees ? 



None of my 8-frame hives have less than 30 pounds of 

 honey, and th3 lOframes have 40. I take off the supers 

 early, where I can, and have only fed one colony this fall (an 

 8-frame one) ; this was a young Texas queen and nucleus 

 made June 2, and very prolific ; they gave me 60 iUiiX}^ 

 sections of honey. I gave the last super (No. 3) with 12 sec- 

 tions to give them room when I took off the second one, but 

 they filled the 12 and were still full of brood and bees down 

 below, so I took out a frame from below and put on a super, 

 and gave them uncapt sections in a small holder, so it would 

 run, and they had to take it down below and gradually crowd 

 out the queen. Did I use the best method of making them 

 provide for winter ? Northern Illinois. 



Answer. — In the main, you're on the right track. Before 

 the honey-flow comes, it is well to let the queen have all the 

 room she will occupy. But be on the lookout for breakers. 

 If you're not careful you may do a lot of mischief by dividing 

 forces too much when you give a second story early, thus 

 scattering brood too much and getting it chilled. Work ac- 

 cording to the strength of your colony. A very strong colony 

 can stand a good deal, especially if the weather is warm, but 

 if a colony isn't very strong, and you divide it in two stories 

 as you propose, and then there comes a cold, wet time, very 

 likely you'll wish you hadn't meddled with it. Keep on the 

 safe side. A very safe plan is to put your second story below, 

 letting the bees work down at their own sweet will. No risk 

 in that. But if the colony is strong, you may hurry up mat- 

 ters a little by putting a frame of brood in the lower story. 

 You will see that the point is not to get the brood scattered 

 too much. 



But it isn't a good idea to crowd the queen late in the sea- 

 son. What need ? When you take off sections give back that 

 second story, putting it under the other, then the bees can 

 work down and occupy as much of it as they need without 

 crowding the queen. If you winter them in the cellar, the 

 lower story can be taken away late in October. 



Removing Pollen from BrooiNCombs. 



How is pollen to be removed from brood-combs ? I united 

 two swarms and had the combs extracted. In this operation 

 the pollen was not removed. Upon advice, I used sweetened 

 water and let the same sour, which resulted in the removal of 

 a portion, with water from the faucet, but it did not seem sat- 

 isfactory. Nutmeg. 



Answer.— It would have been a good thing if, after the 

 souring had began, you had encouraged it by sprinkling the 

 combs so the fermentation would have loosened up the pollen, 

 and then by still further soaking you might have thrown the 

 dissolved pollen out with the extractor. If that can't be done 

 now, you can go to the opposite extreme, keep the combs in a 

 dry and warm place, as overhead in the kitchen, and when 

 the pollen is dry enough it may rattle out. I have an indis- 

 tinct recollection of some one giving something that may be 

 still better, and possibly some one may tell us what it is. 



Transferring Bees from Trees. 



I have several colonies of bees ih trees in the woods that I 

 wish to transfer to frame hives. Can I do it in the spring, as 

 soon as it Is warm enough for bees to fly well, if I cut out 

 enough honev and brood-comb to fill the frames, and then put 

 the bees in and leave them a few days until they get the 

 comb fastened, and then move them home ? Maine. 



Answer — If the bees are less than a mile away, the prob- 

 ability is that when yon move them they'll go back to the old 

 place, if the business is done after they commence flying in 

 the spring. If they are moved a mile or two there will be 

 little likelihood of such trouble. Possibly there might be such 

 a thing as your cutting off the part of the tree that contains 

 the bees and letting it down carefully with ropes so as not to 

 break the combs, keeping the bees in these gums through the 

 winter at home, and then transferring in the spring or else 

 leaving them in the gums till they swarm. 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 813. 



