266 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL 



April 24, 1902. 



drone-brood in any of the other colonies, and no other bees 

 within 10 miles. 



1. What would you have done under those circum- 

 stances ? 



2. If, as I think is most likely, there is no fertilized 

 queen in about a month, how would you treat that colony ? 



3. If. about two or three weeks earlier in the season 

 than this (April 6), you found a strong colony to be queen- 

 less, without laying workers, would you send for a queen, 

 or unite it with a weaker colonj- ? If the latter, how would 

 3'ou proceed ? If you would not send for a queen, why not ? 



British Columbia. 

 Answers. — 1. You do not give the time, but, of course, 

 it was earlier than the date of your letter, which is April 6, 

 and if the seasons are about the same as in northern Illi- 

 nois (you are very much farther north, but you are on the 

 Pacific Coast), I should have united the queenless colony 

 with the weak one, or perhaps with two weak ones. 



2. Unite it with one having a good queen. 



3. Unite it with a weaker one, perhaps by simply plac- 

 ing one colony over the other with paper between, and a 

 very small hole in the paper to allow passage from one 

 story to the other. I would not send for a queen, because 

 there would be only old bees in the colony very likely, and 

 rapidly reaching the limit of their lives, so that the prospect 

 of building up a good colony by adding a queen would be 

 not the best, and in the long run there would be a greater 

 gain to give some weak colony a better show. 



< » » 



Prevention of Swarming wlien Producing Comb Honey. 



I have all the bees I want, and run for comb honey. 

 How can I best prevent any increase? 



No%v, Doctor, I am sure you have about the same number 

 of colonies year after year. Please give your best plan. I 

 feel sure all big bee-men have a good plan, yet I have never 

 seen a good explanation of any plan. Indiana. 



Answer. — It is somewhat doubtful that any bee-keeper 

 has a plan entirely satisfactory to prevent swarming when 

 working for comb honey. One way is to allow the bees to 

 swarm once if they will, then in the spring to unite so as to 

 reduce to the desired number. Another way is to have all 

 queens clipped, and when a colony swarms kill the old 

 queen. About eight days later listen in the evening by put- 

 ting your ear to the hive, and when you hear the young 

 queen piping go to the hive the next day and destroy all 

 remaining queen-cells. Another way is more radical, and 

 prevents swarming : As late as you can without risking 

 swarming, take from the colony all its frames of brood and 

 leave it on foundation or starters. 



Stimulative Spring Feeding. 



I work for comb honey, and want my colonies strong 

 when the honey-flow comes. The books say, '• Stimulate 

 brood-rearing by feeding." You said not long since, in 

 answer to some one's question, that " spring feeding is a 

 two-edged sword, a good thing for beginners to let alone." 

 What is the danger? And how can I feed, if at all ? or 

 must I wait until I am a veteran ? Ohio. 



Answer. — I don't know whether you should wait till 

 you are a veteran, or whether you are in that class who 

 should never practice stimulative feeding at all. If the 

 latter, it will, I feel pretty sure, be some comfort to you to 

 know that you will have myself for company. I do not feed 

 anything in the line of honey or other liquid food to stimu- 

 late brood-rearing, and I do not believe I would gain any- 

 thing bj' it. If my bees have enough stores, there is little 

 danger but they will have all the brood the bees can cover, 

 and what more do I want ? But it would not be right for 

 me to insist that every one should have his shoes made on 

 my last, although I think it very likely that you and I are 

 alike. Some, however, may have a week or more of nice, 

 warm weather, when bees can fly freely, and yet gather 

 nothing, and in such a case brood-rearing may cease en- 

 tirely. For such persons it may be decidedly advisable to 

 feed so as to keep up brood-rearing. 



As to the danger, there is danger that the inexperienced 

 will feed and excite the bees to flying at a time when it is 

 chill}' and windy so that too many bees are lost. If advis- 

 able to feed at all, and the feeding isdone at a time when it 

 is warm and bees can fly freely, it does not matter such a 

 great deal how you feed. A good waj' is to uncap or mash 

 down the capping of the .sealed honey in the hive. 



I said I do not need to give any liquid food, but I do 

 often offer the bees a substitute for pollen, and I am not 

 sure but it stimulates as much as the liquid food, at the 

 same time being safer. If I didn't do it for any other pur- 

 pose, I'm not sure but I would do something at it for the fun 

 of seeing the bees tumbling around in the meal. You may 

 take almost any kind of ground grain — I use mostly ground 

 corn and oats, which is easy to get — put it in a shallow box, 

 have the box tipped a little to one side, and as ofien as the 

 bees work down the feed to a level turn the box around. 

 When the fine part is worked out, the cattle or horses can 

 have the rest. As soon as the bees can get plenty of nat- 

 ural pollen, they will desert your meal. 



Spraying Near End of Blossoming. 



There are a number of orchards near my apiary, and as 

 soon as the bloom falls they are going to spray with ar- 

 senic. Now, as a matter of course, there will still be more 

 or less blossoms on the trees that the bees can get at. Is 

 there anything I can do to prevent their being poisoned? 

 I have thought of closing their entrances with wire netting ; 

 and I might, if it is absolutely necessary, take some of them 

 to the cellar. Colorado. 



Answer. — It is possible that removal to the cellar 

 would be advisable. If the owners of the orchards are in- 

 telligent, however, nothing of the kind will be necessary, 

 for it has been decided at the experiment stations most con- 

 clusively that it is only a waste of time and material to 

 spray while any blossoms are yet on the tree — not only a 

 waste, but absolutely detrimental to the blossoms without 

 doing any good whatever. 



Management for Extracted Honey. 



I am working for extracted honey, and use supers the 

 same as bodies, that is, 2-story hives with an excluder be- 

 tween. 



I have about SO colonies in hives one story only, to top 

 out with empty hives. No comb foundation. 



Would you recommend putting the empty hive above or 

 below ? Or would it be better to give some combs and some 

 empty frames to each story ? California. 



Answer. — I don't know. Something depends upon 

 what you want. If you would rather not have any swarm- 

 ing, then put the empty story below with the queen in it. 

 If you would rather have the bees swarm, then put the 

 empty story above, leaving the brood below with the queen 

 there. Another thing ought perhaps to be considered : It 

 is claimed by some, and denied by others, that you will 

 have finer honey if you extract from combs in which brood 

 has never been reared. There is probably little doubt that 

 there is a difference, however little the difference there may 

 be, and if you want the finest quality of extracted honey 

 you may prefer to put the foundation above, leaving the 



queen below. 



.*-•-♦. 



Equalizing Colonies in the Spring— Increase. 



I would like to get your best method of equalizing col- 

 onies in spring, and the best method of making increase 

 without swarming. 



I have 40 colonies — some at home, others scattered 

 through the country — which I propose to run this season for 

 increase only. I want to increase to 200. I am willing to 

 feed some, if profitable. We have fruit-bloom, perhaps 

 white clover, always sweet clover, and a fall bloom if sea- 

 sonable. I would like to increase early, about May, so as to 

 build them up strong. Indi.\n.\. 



Answer. — The quickest way to equalize colonies is to 

 take from the stronger ones all the brood and bees they 

 have above the average, and that will yield enough to bring 

 the weaker ones all up to the same level. But unless your 

 colonies are strong enowgh to average at least four Lang- 

 stroth frames of brood to the colony, I should strongly ad- 

 vise against that method of equalizing. Instead of that it 

 is better not to equalize all at once, but to take the stronger 

 ones first. Suppose your colonies vary from weaklings 

 having only one frame of brood each, up to those having 7 

 or 8 frames of brood. Take brood from the strongest, re- 

 ducing them to 4 frames each. Then give a frame of brood 

 to each colony that has 3 frames, and, after that, if you have 

 any left, give two frames to each colony that has two, so 



