May IS, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



313 



bees when convenient, although there is little danger in 

 takinjf from colonics with queens if yon do not laki- too 

 larfje a proportion from any one colony. The safer way, if 

 not to slow, is to take brood without bees. I may say, how- 

 ever, that in my own practice it is rarely the case that I 

 take brood without bees, and the few exceptions are f.,'ener- 

 ally because I cannot tind the (jueen in the colony from 

 which I take the brood. Of course, the queen must always 

 be found if the bees are taken, otherwise she mif^'^lit be 

 taken with the bees. 



If you have the material to spare in other colonies, you 

 may make the colony with your choice queen so strong; that 

 it may require two or three stories to hold the frames, or 

 you may do with only one story. The colony will now be 

 made (lueenless, but at least si.\ days must elap.se after piv- 

 inp the last brood to the colony, else you may have queens 

 reared of the wrongf stock. Take two frames with the (|ueen 

 and adhering bees, put them in an empty hive and set on a 

 new stand. Nine days after you have made the colony 

 queenless you will form your nuclei. Into each hive put two 

 frames of brood with adhering' bees from the queenless colo- 

 ony. There will be some honey in the frames you use, and 

 it will be an additional advantag'e if you can give each 

 nucleus another frame containing some honey. The bees, 

 being queenless, will not be much inclined to desert their 

 new localities, but you can help matters by plugging up the 

 entrance with green leaves. A day or so later you may 

 open the entrances, and if you happen to forget it no great 

 harm will come, for the green leaves will dry and shrivel so 

 that the bees themselves will open a passage. 



If you use up all the material of the queenless colony, as 

 probably )'OU will, there will be nothing left on the old 

 stand. Take the hive that now contains the queen, put it on 

 the old stand (of course you will till the hive with combs or 

 foundation), and put in its place one of the nuclei. 



Nothing has be said about queen-cells. They will be on 

 different parts of the combs, some of them where you want 

 them, but mostly where you do not want them. Cut them 

 out, where wronglyly placed, and see that each nucleus has 

 at least one good cell — better have two or more in each 

 nucleus — the cells being between the combs and centrally 

 located, so there is no danger that they will get chilled. You 

 may fasten each cell in place by pinning it on with a slender 

 wire nail or a pin 1 '2 inches long ; and it is still better to 

 fasten it on by means of a staple an inch wide, or wider, 

 making sure that in no case the cavity of the cell shall be 

 punctured. 



In two week examine each nucleus for young brood or 

 eggs, and if you find none a mature queen-cell may be given, 

 provision for such queen-cells having of course been made 

 in advance. Whenever the young queen is laying, you may 

 build up the nucleus to a full colony in the manner already 

 given. 



•-•-• 



Comb Honey Wanted Instead of Increase— Buying Hy- 

 brid Bees Foundation in Sections. 



I have 17 colonies of bees, 11 of which I think contain 3 

 or 4 frames of brood now, the remaining 6 being weaker. 



I have intended following the plan Mr. Doolittle out- 

 lined in his book on " Scientific Oueen-Rearing." of stimu- 

 lating brood-rearing by reversing the brood and supply- 

 ing them with honey inside the brood-nest. My object is to 

 secure as much comb honey this summer as possible, instead 

 of making an increase. 



1. When would you advise me to begin active opera- 

 tions here, where our main honey-flow is from sweet clover, 

 although we have some white clover? 



2. Would it be possible for me to build up all of these 

 colonies by equalizing the brood in the manner you described 

 in the last number of the American Bee Journal, or would it 

 be good to follow Mr. Doolittle's plan of uniting the weak 

 colonies, by which I understand that I would have 3 less 

 colonies for the production of surplus. 3 of them forming 

 nuclei. 



3. Under these circumstances, if I should buy bees, 

 would it be best to buy full colonies, or nuclei ? That is, 

 would I be able to build up nuclei purchased now, so that 

 they would produce surplus this season ? 



4. I notice an advertisement in the Bee Journal of hy- 

 brid bees for sale. Would it be well to purchase such bees, 

 or would they be objectionable for some reason ? 



5. Will you please tell me what amount of foundation 

 you use in section-boxes? It should not extend entirely 

 from the top to the bottom of the box, should it ? 



Illinois. 

 Answers. — 1. So far as the season of the year is con- 



cerned, there is little danger that you will begin too soon, 

 but there is danger that you rjiay begin before the bees are 

 strong enough to be meddled with. Take a colony that has 

 no more bees than just enough to keep warm what brood it 

 has, put a frame of honey between two of its frames of 

 brood, and you will have a lot of chilled brood. So don't be- 

 gin until you have so strong a force of bees that they can 

 take care of more brofxl than they are already covering. In 

 many cases that will mean not to begin at all. for an ambi- 

 tious queen under favorable circumstances may keep all the 

 cells supplied with eggs that the bees can care for. 



2. I don't know, for I am not sure from what you say 

 how strong yours are. You say your strongest colonies con- 

 tain three or four frames of brood. If by that you mean 

 there is brood in three or four frames, that's a very uncer- 

 tain quantity. For it sometimes happens that when there 

 is brood in four frames, the two central frames will each 

 have a patch three to six inches in diameter, while in each 

 outside frame there will be a patch much smaller, the brood 

 in all four not being as much as one frame would easily 

 contain. If, however, you have three or four frames well 

 filled with brood, say three-fourths full each, then there 

 ought to be no trouble in bringing all up to full strength 

 for the sweet clover, and perhaps for the white clover. At 

 any rate, if you follow the instructions on page 266, you will 

 do nothing with the weakest till all the others are strong : 

 and if you find that crowds too hard on the time of harvest 

 you need not do anything at strengthening the weakest. 



3. I don't know. It depends on the strength of your 

 colonies, and the strength and number of the nuclei bought. 

 If honey is your object, perhaps you will do as well with 

 what you have. 



4. Hybrid bees are often objectionable on account of 

 their tempers. But they may be good workers, and it is not 

 hard to change them to Italians ; at least you need not in- 

 crease from them, and then you will not be getting any 

 more on your hands. 



5. The top starter is i's inches wide and i'( inches deep. 

 The bottom starter is 3~/s wide and -=s deep. That makes the 

 starter extend clear to the bottom, of course, but there is a 

 space of something like '+ inch between the two starters. 

 About the first thing the bees do in the section is to fasten 

 the two starters together. 



Introducing Qiueens. 



As I have received queen-bees from a large number of 

 different queen-breeders in the last IS years, also this 

 spring, I should like to ask in regard to one I received a few 

 days ago. When the queen was shipped he also dropped a 

 card requesting me to kill all escort bees. 



1. Why would he advise me to kill the bees ? Do you 

 think he has any bee-disease in his apiary ? 



2. If removing the bees is any advantage, at what time 

 should they be removed ? When you put the cage in the 

 hive, or when you remove the plug in the cage ? 



Wisconsin. 



Answers. — 1. It is not likely that he instructed you to 

 kill the escort bees because they were diseased. A man dis- 

 honest enough to send diseased bees would be dishonest 

 enough te keep quiet about it. The probability is that he 

 believed that the presence of strange worker-bees would 

 hinder the cordial reception of the queen ; and it is quite 

 possible his belief is correct. The deportment of the queen 

 herself has something to do with her reception, and she may 

 not be so ready to make friends with strange bees so long 

 as some of her own daughters are at her side. Besides, the 

 bees of the queenless colony might have some animosity to 

 the strange workers, which would make them less friendly 

 to the queeu. In most cases, however, the queen will be re- 

 ceived kindly without her escort being killed. 



2. If the escort is to be killed, it should be done before 

 the cage is put in the hive at all. 



Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep- 

 ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the 

 names and addresses of such as you may know do not now 

 get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample 

 copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper, 

 and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of 

 success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe, 

 send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of 

 the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for 

 such effort. 



