July 3, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



425 



saTiie when neaririff the close, allowing the bees to finish 

 up the season in an extractinj,'' super, would it be likely to 

 work satisfactorily 7 If not, why not '! Nkw Yokk. 



Answkk. — I should expect the plan to work satisfac- 

 torily if there was a sullicient harvest to fill both the ex- 



. ■:.,.. 1. . 1 .1 •.: v,..» -.c .1 : i ,„^Yi 



some rep 



on empty frames 



Keeping Ants and Moths Out Superseding ttueens. 



1. How can I keep moths and ants out of my hives ? 



2. Can I get them out after they g^et in ? If so, how ? 



3. What makes the bees come out and seem to lly in 

 front of the hive as if they wanted to go in ? 



4. If a queen is superseded is it advisable to requeen, or 

 will the bees rear one? 



3. How can I tell when she is superseded? Main'K. 



ANvSvvers. — 1. A moth can go wherever a bee can, so 

 there is no possible way to shut the moths out without sliut- 

 ting the bees out. But you may depend upon the bees to 

 keep them out. With a strong colony of Italians you need 

 not give the least thought to moths ; even a weak colony of 

 Italians will not be troubled much. A strong colony of 

 blacks will take pretty good care of itself; but a weak col- 

 ony of blacks is in much danger. Better have Italians, and 

 keep them strong. 



2. Take a sharp-pointed nail and pick open one end of 

 the gallery of the worm, then start at the other end of its 

 burrow and chase it along till it comes out, and then dis- 

 patch it. 



3. They are trying to fix in their little heads the loca- 

 tion and surroundings, so that when they come home in a 

 hurry from the field with a load they need not spend any 

 time in hunting for their home, but make for it in a bee- 

 line. It is only the younger bees that you will find thus 

 "marking their location." 



4. If the bees supersede their queen the only thing for 

 you to do is to let them alone. A young queen is always 

 reared before the superseding. 



5. Clip 3'our queens' wings; then if you find a queen 

 with whole wings you will know she has been superseded. 



It will pay you to study well your text-book. 



Why Don't They Swarm?— Swarms Leaving After Being 

 Hived. 



1. I have a strong colony of bees which I have been ex- 

 pecting to swarm. To-day (June 8) I examined the hive 

 and find no queen-cells, but worker-larva; and drone-cells. 

 Thej- are storing honey in brood-frames and supers. What 

 is the reason they do not swarm ? 



2. What is the reason for a swarm leaving a hive after 

 being successfully hived ? South D,\kota. 



Answers. — 1. Sometimes tees appear to get so much 

 interested in a strong flow of nectar that they can not spare 

 time for such matters as swarming. Sometimes certain 

 strains of bees are so little given to swarming that if they 

 have plenty of room, are well ventilated and well shaded, 

 they will seldom swarm, whatever the conditions may be. 

 If you have such bees, be thankful. 



2. The chances are that they are too warm. See that 

 there is abundant ventilation, perhaps leaving the cover 

 partly off for a day or two and having the hive raised on 

 blocks, and providing good shade. Some take the swarm 

 into a cellar for a day to let it cool off. 



Prevention of Swarming More than Once. 



1. What are the best methods of swarming after in- 

 creasing once ? 



2. What is the best method of artificial increase by 

 dividing ? 



3. Can swarming be prevented by the use of queen- 

 traps ? Washington. 



Answers. — 1. When the prime swarm issues hive it and 

 put it on the old stand, putting the old colony close as pos- 

 sible beside it. A week later remove the old colony to a 

 new location at least six feet away. That will weaken it 

 down at about the time the young queens will be emerging, 

 and that weakening, together with the fact that no honey 



will becoming in (because the field-bees have all joined the 

 swarm) will so discourage the old colony that there will be 

 small chance for further swarming. 



2. That depends upon circumstances, and it would take 

 too much room to give all the plans here. In late numbers 

 of tliis journal you will find the question answered more 

 than once, and it may be repeated here that perhaps for 

 most persons the nucleus plan will prove as good as any. 

 When you have succeeded in getting' a young queen to lay- 

 ing in a nucleus, gradually add brood to build it up, unless 

 it be early enough in the season so that it will build up 

 without any help. 



3. No. The (jueen can not leave, but the swarm will 

 issue all the same, generally returning, and after a week or 

 ten days a young queen will emerge and the old one will 

 be killed. Then, theoretically, after several days more, all 

 the young queens but one having been killed, the trap 

 should be removed to allow the young queen to make her 

 bridal trip, and all would be serene and lovely. Practically, 

 it is a failure. It will do no harm for you to try it in a few 

 cases and see how it works with you. 



Bees Killing Each Other Off. 



I have 3 colonies of bees and they seem to be killing 

 each other off. There are hundreds of dead and dying bees 

 outside of each hive. At first I thought they were robbing 

 each other, but that does not seem to be the case. It looks 

 to me as if they were killing off the young bees, both drones 

 and workers. What is the reason ? and what can I do about 

 it ? I think they have plenty of honey. I thought perhaps 

 they wanted to swarm, but the weather was not favorable. 



Washington. 



Answer. — If they are not robbing or starving. I don't 

 know what the trouble can be, unless they are poisoned. It> 

 the latter case, the probability is that you can do nothing. 



Kankakee Co., 111., as a Honey Locality. 



I am a beginner in the bee-business, and have 54 colo- 

 nies—quite a beginning. Two things I did right, I am sure, 

 fori bought the " A B C of Bee-Culture " and subscribed 

 for the American Bee Journal. My bees are nearly all pure 

 Italians. I am thinking of putting in all my time caring 

 for the bees, and would like to increase my apiarj' to 200 

 colonies, or more, if I find it can be made to pay. May I 

 ask you a question or two ? 



1. Is this county (Kankakee) a good honey-producing 

 territory ? 



2. In what section of Illinois is the largest honey-yield, 

 per colony, obtained ? Illinois. 



Answers. — 1 and 2. I am sorry to be obliged to say I 



don't know the right answer to either question. If any 



one has the information I will gladly yield the floor. Some 



one in that region who has had experience, or who has had 



opportunity for observation for a series of years, may be 



ready to report as to the character of that county ; but I am 



not very hopeful as to obtaining a reliable answer to the 



second question. 



.*-•-»■ 



Starting with Bees in Mississippi. 



I have been keeping bees for something less than a 

 year, and as my limited experience, supplemented by such 

 scraps of arbitrary information as I am enabled to gather 

 from the natives here, is somewhat at variance with state- 

 ments made in the papers, and other advanced sources, I 

 beg permission to state my case so far, and ask to make 

 such comments as you see fit. that I may know where to 

 look for improvement. 



In this section " patent gums " (as hives are called) were 

 unknown until I came, and I was assured that bees never 

 would work in them. But wild bees are very abundant here, 

 and when any one wants honey (which is when they develop 

 sufficient interest in life to want anything), they simply go 

 a little way from their homes in the woods and cut a bee- 

 tree. 



Well, I bought 5 colonies of bees last December from up 

 the road, and when they reached me all the combs were 

 broken out of the frames and lay in a mass of honey, bees, 

 etc., on the bottom-boards. I was too busy at the time to 

 give them any attention further than to place them on 

 stands and let them alone. During March they all swarmed 



