March 13, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



169 



Questions and Answers. 



CONDUCTKD ItV 



«K. C. O. MIJ.LHH, Alnronffo, 111, 



(The QtteBtlons may be mailed to the Bee Jourual office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will anHwer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mall. — Editor. 1 



Honey from Box-Hives. 



On pag(^ 10 iiistnictioM is givoti to melt Cdinbs of lionoy 

 taken from box-liivcs, witli the hint tlial tlio melting will not 

 improve tin' quality of tlio lioncv. A muoh better way is to 

 get out the major part of thc> honey Ijeforo there is any melt- 

 ing. Sort over the combs, and crush them, then jjive the 

 honey time to drain out in a warm place. 



I would not have made this correction if it had nut been 

 for the '"after-thinking" my good brother Hasty gave it, pa<;e 

 122. It is a comfort for me to l<now that such sharp eyes are 

 upon my work, and that an occasional slip will thus do less 

 mischief. Never mind the " know-it-all style," Uro. Hasty ; 

 give us the truth. C. C. Mili-ek. 



Questions Answered Before. 



What is the new style section D. H.Metcalf calls attention 

 to on page 61? 



Please describe "Golden's combination comb-honey hive," 

 with plan or system, as mentioned on page 57. 



California. 



Answer. — You will (ind these questions answered a week 

 or two ago as fully as I could answer them. 



Moving Bees 60 Rods. 



I have about 100 colonii's of bees, and I want to move 

 them 60 rods. They are within the corporation, and the 

 people are getting stung and bothered around the wells and 

 watering-places. I have plenty of water for them, but they 

 go elsewhere. I would like to know when would be the best 

 time to move them. Tliey are packed with chaff, with a shed 

 over them. Do you think they will come back home again ? 



Illinois. 



Moving the bees 60 rods may and may not make a differ- 

 ence about their troubling wells and watering-places. If a 

 good watering-place is afforded them near by, they may not 

 care to go a great distance, otherwise they will not mind a 

 distance of 60 rods. There will be less trouble about their 

 going back to the old place if moved right away than if moved 

 after they have begun to fly freely. But the unpacking and 

 disturbance will not benefit the bees. Better wait till the 

 weather gets a little warmer, say the middle of April : then 

 when you are expecting a warm day, shut them up the even- 

 ing before, move them in the forenoon without trying to 

 handle them carefully, pound on the hives till they roar, then 

 open the hives and set boards in front of the entrances. 



Driving Staples in T Supers. 



I am in trouble. Can you help me out ? 

 How can I drive in staples like the enclosed witliout bend- 

 ing them all crooked? I've got to use such staples for T-tin 

 rests, and I can't succeed in driving in a single one properly. 



As they are to be used with supers having a bee-space at the 

 top, they must be bent at right angles after being driven in. 

 How can I bend them without losing them in the wood ? 



I thought that you could help me because you used the T- 

 supers yourself. It you do not use bent staples for T-tin rests, 

 will you please tell me what you use ? 



Please, please do not answer through the American Bee 

 Journal. I can't wait so Ions. Xo doubt the answers appear 

 by turns there, and I'd have to wait weeks. Wisconsin. 



Use a big, heavy hammer — no toy affair — so that vou will 

 not drive alternately one side then the other, and if the face of 

 your hammer is not broad enough you might use the sidi' of 

 the hammer. Drive the staple in to the proper depth, then by 

 one or more blows of the hammer bend it over while you hold 



lirinly against the staple tlie l,,uk edge of a »aw or something 

 of that kind ; then draw out the saw and linlsh driving in the 

 staple. 



If I should do as you say, and not make answer In tho 

 American Bee .lournal, that would practically bar me out 

 from making any answer at all. anil you wouldn't want that, 

 would ycju ? For you see, the ,-amo reason that woulil make It 

 ilesirabh^ for you to havi? your answer by mail would make 

 others want theirs by mall, aiirl it would Ijardly ilo for me to 

 make fish of on(! and fowl of another. And if I .should answer 

 all by mall I'm afraid you'd have to wait longer than you do 

 now, for such letters would have to take second place, and 

 with so many I'm afraid I would get several weeks behind, 

 whereas at presi^nt llie Editor pays me for answering them and 

 they take first place. All such lettiTsare answered as promptly 

 as possible, ami I try to manage so there shall be no diday in 

 getting them to Chicago, and I suppose effort is made to get 



hem in print in tin' lirst number possible after they are re 

 •eived. .So theri> is not the long delay you suppose. In some 

 cases, however, it may happen that if the i|uestlon is seni 

 direct to me the answer will get into print a week sooner that 

 if it is sent to Chicago. 



Requeenlng Dlvidins: Colonies Rearing 

 vanized iron and Honey. 



Queens -fiaN 



1 . r have the crossest bees that ever were — there is no end 

 to the fight there is in them. Last summer they kept sentries 

 at the doors and windows all the time, and woe be to the 

 stranger or neighbor who might visit. I tried to be as gentle 

 with smoke and handling as i)0ssible, but sting they would. 

 Now I know the Doctor will say. " Kill the queen." Is that so. 

 Doctor? 



2. Well, then, I am after you for the shortest way to fill 

 up her place again. 



3. One more question: How and when to divide for in- 

 crease, and how to give queenless part a queen or queen-cell. 

 I think it is best for me to divide for increase ; it gives less 

 trouble in watching swarms to double the colonies, as less is 

 all I want: I am after the honey. 



4. Do you think it the best way to put an extra hive on top 

 of a strong colony with excluder between, near the time of 

 honey-flow, or would you put extra below ? 



5. Is it best to rear queens in a full colony ? Would a 

 strong half-colony not do as well ? 



6. How many sheets of foundation or starters would vou 

 give a swarm at first? 



7. How would this plan do for securing a few fertile 

 queens, and to have them on hand when needed? I divide a 

 10-frame empty into 4 sections, by division-boards, each 

 apartment to have an entrance of its own. then place in each 

 section a frame with bees, brood and queen-cell, and another 

 with honey ; then let the queen get fertilized before using., 



8. Will galvanized-iron tanks injure the quality of honey 

 if standing in them for a time ? North Dakota. 



Answers. — 1. No, I'm not so sure I would say to kill the 

 queens. I'm a little afraid I can't trust you to do them justice. 

 Sometimes it seems that all the bees in the apiary are crosa 

 when it's only the bees of one colony, and it would hardly do 

 to start with a gun after queens till very sure just which are 

 the guilty onps. or which is the quilty one. Watch closely the 

 behavior of different colonies, and you may find there is just 

 one colony which has bees that follow you all over the apiary. 

 So long as you arc nowhere near their hive they may not 

 molest you, but if you go at all near the front of their hive 

 they promptly make an attack and keep it up until you leave 

 the apiary entirely. Neither will it always do to issue a ver- 

 dict of guilty upon one single count. There may be some 

 special reason why a colony is very cross today without it being- 

 irretrievably bad. But if it has established a permanent repu- 

 tation for viciousness then off with the head of the queen. 



2. Rear queens in nuclei, and use them as needed. 



3. As a leading object with you is to prevent swarming, 

 do your dividing a little before there is danger of swarming, 

 but not necessarily before any preparations for swarming are 

 made. How best "to divide is a very hard question. What is 

 best for one may not be best for another. You will do well to 

 try different ways and then decide what is best for you. One 

 way is to take from a colony all its brood but one frame, and 

 to take that away two or three days later. Take the bees 

 with half the combs, and brush them off the other half, of 

 course being sure that the queen is left in the old hive. Start 

 a new colony with these combs, and give them a laying cjueen 

 after a day or two. The queen may be given in the usual 

 manner in an introducing-cage, or if she is given from a 



