June 20, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



409 



Questions and Answers. [ 



CONDDCTKD BY 



D». O. O. MIKI^liU. Afareng-o. HU 



iTbe Qnestloas may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when be will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers br mail. — Edxtok.1 



Swarming Indications. 



When should one begin to watch bees for swarming-? 

 and at what time of the day are they most likely to come 

 out? Ohio. 



Answkk. — There can be no fixed rule. It is a matter of 

 conditions rather than a matter of the almanac. I don't 

 know enough to tell exactly what the conditions are ; but 

 before a colony thinks of sending- out a prime swarm it 

 iiuist be strong, and there must be a good yield of nectar. 

 As you are probably in a white clover region, you may be- 

 gin to watch for swarms as soon as the bees get to work on 

 white clover. A prime swarm will not usually issue more 

 than three hours before or after the middle of the day. An 

 after-swarm may issue as much as six hours before or after 

 noon. Probably you will find that nearly all the swarming 

 will occur between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 



Getting Increase and Transferring. 



I have 7 very strong- colonies in large box-hives. I want 

 some increase without regard to surplus of honey. I intend 

 to let them swarm, hive the swarm in a frame hive on the 

 old stand, set the box-hive back after four or live days, open 

 the box-hive and divide equally (as nearly as I can) in two 

 parts — bees, brood, stores, and queen-cells — and put in 

 frame hives. Will this work ? Ohio. 



Answer. — Yes, it will work, but you may expect a 

 messy job with so much brood and honey present. If you 

 are not after honey, you would have a more equal division 

 not to set the swarm on the old stand (which will make the 

 swarm very strong, leaving the mother colony proportion- 

 ately weak), but to put the swarm on a new stand. Then 

 there is a likelihood that it will swarm again in about eight 

 days, and 21 days after the time when the prime swarm 

 issued you can transfer with no worker-brood in the way. 



Oxide of Zinc for Hive-Covers. 



I saw an article in the American Bee Journal in regard 

 to commercial oxide of zinc being so good to cover hives. 

 Can metal roofs, that are leaky, be patched with that ma- 

 terial ? How would the oxide ground in oil do ? If you 

 know of anything really No. 1 for patching up old, leaky, 

 rusty, tin roofs that can't be soldered, please let me know 



it. MiSSOUKI. 



Answer. — I don't know, and respectfully refer the 

 question to be answered by any one of the fraternity who 

 can answer. 



Introducing Queens at Swarming-Time. 



As I am just a novice in the handling of bees, I wish to 

 ask if at swarming-time one could move the old hive to a 

 new location, and, waiting until all the old bees had gone 

 back to the old stand (if they will go back), then introduce 

 a queen to what were left in the old hive ? Would there be 

 any danger of her getting killed ? Nebraska. 



Answer. — Introduction of queens is such an uncertain 

 matter that there is almost always some danger, but if all 

 queen-cells are removed and the new queen is introduced a 

 day or two after the swarming, you will have the danger 

 reduced to a minimum. 



Referring to the implied doubt in your parenthesis, it 

 may be said that there is no room for doubt, that wlien, 

 after swarming, the mother colony is removed to a new 

 stand, and the swarm put on the old stand, the field bees 

 will return to the old stand unless you take some special 

 precaution to keep them on the new stand. But it will be a 

 day or two before they will all have returned. 



The Use of the Queen's Sting. 



I herewith send you some clippings that I think arc 

 good information for the public, except several linen that I 

 will draw my pen around. I do not recollect ever seeing 

 them in the American Bee Journal. If there is any truth 

 in it .some of the readers will certainly know. How one 

 would find out I am anxious to know. Ohio. 



Answer. — The sentence referred to reads as follows : 



"Tli« stintr is an ortfan of use to the queen-bee in (lis|>oiiini;or 

 rivals, thoij^'li luitinly used in depositing eggs in their proper position 



durinn tlic workiii;,' season." 



The writer of that sentence is not alone in his belief, 

 though what ground there may be for the belief I do not 

 know. In the scientific part of Cheshire's work one would 

 expect to find a pretty full exposition of the subject if any- 

 thing were positively known about it, but there is only one 

 possible reference to it, which is in these words : 



" It has been remarked that the decided curvature of the i|ueen's 

 stint,', in contrast to the strai^'hlness of that of the worker, is intended 

 to five her such an advanta;,'e in ciiinbat, that, while her sting is ap- 

 plied, her antai;onist should be powerless to reach her, so that a queen 

 duel may not be fatal to both ; but the curvature appears to me rather 

 to refer to matini,' and ovipositing', as the extremity of the sheath can 

 be turned far more completely out of the way through its deviation 

 from the straight line.'' 



That can hardly be understood to mean that the sting- 

 is a help either in mating or ovipositing, but rather that its 

 curved shape makes it Less a hindrance than it otherwise 

 would be. 



Getting Brood-Combs Built. 



This is my first year with bees. I have Danzenbaker 

 hives. If at the close of the white honey harvest I double 

 the brood-chamber, putting full sheets of foundation in the 

 upper story, will the bees build comb suitable for brood- 

 rearing next spring ? If not, how shall I best proceed ? 



Michigan. 



Answer. — Bees will build comb only as they need it. 

 If, after white clover, there is a sufficient income from 

 other sources, they will build all the comb they need to 

 occupy. If they gather nothing, they will do little more 

 than to daub the foundation with propolis so as to make it 

 less fit for use. The simple rule is to give foundation when 

 they need more room, whether it be early or late. 



Alfalfa in Tennessee. 



Does alfalfa yield honey the first year? I sowed some 

 two years ago ; it came into bloom, but the bees did noth- 

 ing with it. Last fall I sowed alsike, which has not fared 

 much better, and buckwheat this spring, that bloomed 

 nearly a month ago, with like result. Tennessee. 



Answer. — As far east as Tennessee you will probably 

 find that alfalfa yields no honey the first nor the twenty- 

 first year. It seems strange that a plant that stands so 

 very high as a honey-yielder west of the Mississippi, should 

 be of no value in that regard farther east. As to alsike and 

 buckwheat, you may find them behaving differently other 

 years. 



Only One Night to Denver.— By going over the Chicago & 



North- Western and Union Pacific railways, you will need to spend only 

 one night on the road from Chicago to Denver. There is a daily train 

 leaving Chicago at 10 a.m. on the C. & N. W,, and leaving Omaha, 

 Nebr., over the Union Pacific at 11:30 p.m. of the same day. This 

 train arrives in Denver at 2 p.m. the following day. That is, by start- 

 ing from Chicago at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, you will arrive in 

 Denver at 3 p.m. the next day, or Wednesday, Sept. 3, inample time for 

 the first session of the National Bee-Keepers' convention, which begins 

 that evening. 



Now as to rates : The round-trip price at that time from Chicago 

 to Denver will be .?25. By going over the route mentioned, the regu- 

 lar sleeping-car rate would be only .*;i.OO, because of being only one 

 night on the way. 



There is also another saving by taking the C. & N. W. and Union 

 Pacific. There is a Pullman tourist car on this train from Omaha, in 

 which the charge for a double berth is only ?1.50 to Denver. As no 

 sleeping-car accommodations are rcc|uired on this train east of Oir.aha, 

 it will be seen that one can go comfortably by this route for a very 

 small sum. 



We may say that Dr. C. C. Miller and the Editor of the American 

 Bee .Journal expect to go over the route indicated, starting at 10 a.m 

 on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Who will join us ? 



