Feb. 6, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



91 



The reason for askinjf is, that haviriff tried my caged (|iiccn 

 (with qncen-cxcludiiifj zinc) over several colonies, I found 

 that (at least in October) the bees did tiot seem to molest the 

 ((ueen, at least for the two or three days that I allowed them 

 access to her. Having one not-disposed-of queen, I thought 

 I would risk her, in a very small cage, with excluding zinc, 

 above the frames. But, after about a week, when I went to 

 examine my queen, I found her dead. Was the cage too 

 close? Or was there any other reason for starving that 

 queen 7 I don't know. Oueen-breeders ought to know more 

 about it, and if they do I should like to know. 



MONTKK.M.. 



Answers. — 1. Don't you think a good queen-catcher is 

 already invented ? Strain the bees through excluder zinc, 

 and the workers will go through, leaving the queen and 

 drones. One way is to have a ([ueen-excluding honey-board 

 fastened to the bottom of a hive-body. Set this on the top 

 of a hive that contains a frame of brood, then shake all the 

 bees into the strainer. It is a rare thing, however, that it is 

 necessary to resort to anything of the kind. It sometimes 

 happens that you may look over the combs for an hour with- 

 out finding the queen, and I confess to you that I don't 

 know why. It may be that the queen is hid somewhere in a 

 cell ; it may be that she is in some corner of the hive, off the 

 combs entirely. So if you do not find her the second time 

 looking over the combs it is economy to shut up the hive 

 and leave it half an hour or more before attempting further 

 search. 



2. I'll tell you a trick worth two of finding whether a 

 queen is present after she has stopped laying. It is to find 

 whether eggs are present before it is time for her to stop 

 laying. If eggs are present in September I don't care to 

 know anything more about it till the next spring. I may 

 mention incidentally that you may often find in September 

 sealed brood and eggs but no unsealed brood. It seems that 

 the queen continues laying for some time after the bees 

 cease nourishing the brood. 



3. I have kept a good many laying queens caged over a 

 normal colony, sometimes several in one hive, and I am not 

 sure that I ever lost any of them. But at least in one case, 

 when half a dozen queens were caged over a colony, the 

 reigning, free queen was killed. But these caged queens 

 were in wire-cloth cages ; and if I understand you correctly, 

 yours were in cages of excluder-zinc. I should expect to 

 have frequent loss of queens in such a cage. You ask if 

 the cage was too close. I don't suppose that had anything 

 to do with it. I have had queens by the hundred caged in 

 small wire-cloth cages for ten days at a time without loss, 

 and if your cage had been larger the result would probably 

 have been the same. It is possible that cool weather may 

 ha ve had something to do with the case ; also the place where 

 the queen was. If she were on top of the frames and 

 the weather cool, the cluster would shrink away from her 



and she would be deserted, even if no other queens were in 

 the hive. 



Improvlns: the Stock Preventing Bees from Hylnj? In 

 Winter. 



The climate of northwestern Washington is not just 

 perfect for bees. The summers arc rather cool, very .seldom 

 getting above 'fO degrees in the heat of the day, and quite 

 cool morning and evening, with much cloudy, rainy weather. 

 Bees swarm very little, not more than 25 percent at the most, 

 according to my I'xperience. The winters are mild, usually. 

 The bees fly nearly every day, so far this winter, and they 

 consume a great deal of honey. 1 lost some last winter 

 from starvation before I knew it. The most experienced 

 bee-man that I know in this country says that Italians do 

 not do as well as black bees ; they do not rush out and get 

 chilled in a cool wind or caught in a shower of rain, as 

 much as the Italians. 



1. I wish to improve my bees all I can, and would like 

 to know what strain to breed, Italians, blacks, Carniolans, 

 or what '.' 



2. I also wish to know what I can do to keep the bees 

 from Hying so much through the winter. There have been 

 times when the roof of the shed and the ground were fairly 

 covered with chilled bees, and when they were apparently 

 dead, if we picked them up and warmed them in the kitchen 

 they would revive and tly to the hive. The colonies get 

 weak from loss of chilled bees, then a cold snap in February 

 ends them. I expect to lose several colonies out of my 40 

 before spring. Washington. 



Answers. — 1. I'm afraid I can't tell any more about it 

 than you can. The testimony of your experienced bee- 

 friend looks in the direction of blacks being better than 

 Italians. If blacks winter better, and if they store as much 

 as Italians, then the blacks are preferable. But wintering 

 alone should not decide the question. If you could have 

 a fair test of the two kinds side by side for a series of years 

 you could more easily decide. Suppose you had ten black 

 colonies and ten Italians to start with. Give them the 

 same treatment, and the lot that at the end of the series of 

 years has given the most honey for the whole time may be 

 voted the best. You will understand that if there were no 

 winter losses of the blacks and some loss of the Italians 

 that it might be that the Italians might store enough more 

 than the blacks to make up for more than the winter loss. 

 And again they might not. 



2. You may do something toward preventing the bees 

 from flying out by shading their entrances. If you will 

 watch the matter you will find that a colony in the shade 

 will not fly out so soon as one into whose entrance the rays 

 of the sun are shining. Place in front of the entrance a 

 board, or boards, of sutflcient size to darken pretty thor- 

 oughly the entrance. 



MAIL BOX TESTS. 



Teader-hearted raea .should not serve 

 on the committee, i Each member should 

 be furnished with 

 a heavy club and a 

 dose of nerve tonic 

 Before knocking 

 the samples all 

 over the hall, in- 

 struct janitors 

 where to ship the 

 remains of those 

 that fall. If there 

 is more than one 

 survivor, it is a 

 sign you are not 

 hard hitters. Write to-day 

 for description and prices. 



BOND STEEL POST CO., 



Adhian, Mich. 



Please mention Bee journal -when "writing. 



20HENS 



working steadily at one time can- 

 not hatch Sit many chicks as 

 one of our SiW-etrg size 



J Successful IncubaLtors. 



You'll knitw exactly why when 

 you read a copy of fur l.'i8-pnce 

 ail It for f.->ur cents, Knt^ (■<»iali eucsin hve 

 flifferenl Den Moines I iieiibiittir I'o., 



lacffuatfes. Rox 7H l>es Miiini-f, la. orHiix?!^ JIuffalo.X. Y. 



Please mention Bee journal when -writinft. 





A Good Year with the Bees. 



I am recovering slowly from the effects of 

 the runaway I had last February. I was able 

 to do the most of the work in tlie apiary. My 

 bees (145 colonies, spring count) did very 

 nicely the past season. I have sold over $goo 

 worth of honey, and over $500 worth of bees, 

 witliin one vear, and have about loo colonies 

 left. 



Our last Minnesota bee-keepers' convention, 

 at Minneapolis, was a success — the best we 

 ever had. C. Theilmann. 



Wabasha Co., Minn., Dec. 30. 



Dealing with Misrepresentations. 



Are not persons liable to prosecutions for 

 damage who publish damaging reports against 

 any business where there is no truth in them? 

 If one should publish in the papers that 

 Mr. A. or B. was in the habit of mixing 

 sand with his sugar and thereby injuring 

 his trade, is he not liable for damage? Or of 

 a miller, that he was mixing shorts with the 

 best brands of his flour, by which his sales 

 were greatly reduced, could not that miller 

 maintain an action in court for damage? 



Again, if such person were to make a gen- 

 eral charge against the whole class of millers 



WeutLikeHotcakes 



A Nebra.ska customer when orderinfr a new 

 supplj- of our fine Alfalfa honey in W-pound 

 L-ans, sail!: "The last I got went like hot- 

 cakes." So it does. 



More people might do well if they would 

 order this honey, or basswood. and sell it. It 

 not only goes off '• like hotcakes,'' but it is 

 mighty good on hot cakes. 



See hone\"-offfrs on iiaue 82. 



GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 



144 & 1411 Krie Street. 



I iiiCA(;(). ii.r.. 



In Olden Days 



men were broken on the wheel, 



now they buy 



Electric Steel Wheels, 



and save money. They tit any 

 wagon. Made with either stag- 

 LTPretl orsiraight spokes. Let us 

 tt'tl you hi>w to make a low dowr. 

 wiivrnn with any size wheel, any 

 wiiithtire. Calalotr teU^. It's free. 



Electric Wheel Co.. Boi 16, Quincy, IN. 

 Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing. 



WANTED 



iS to 125 colonies of bees in 



some location where I can 



have room for 3 apiaries, withia 100 miles of 



Chicago—in Indiana, Michigan, or Wisconsin. 



Address. W. FILMAR, 



6A4t 100 Biuce St., Londox, Ont., Cax. 



