July 17, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



457 



bees. Fasten them in the hive for 24 hours, then pound on 

 the hive before opening it. L,ook out that you don't 

 smother them. 



S. Yes, unless the youn^f ijuecn can lly out she will be .i 

 drone-layer, if she lays at all. 



Size and Style of Hives 



May be Lazy Bees 

 Cure. 



-Bee-Stlng 



1. What size and style of hive would you use in Iowa, 

 running- chielly for comb honey ? I have 6 colonies of bees, 

 3 in American hives and 3 in Langstroth hives. Which do 

 you think is the better ? 



2. I have a colony of bees that do not work as fast as 

 the other colonies. What is the matter with them? The 

 supers are not on, and the hives are light, but there are 

 plenty of bees. 



3. The best remedy for bee-sting's I ever had is Cham- 

 berlain's Pain Halm, applied frequently. Iowa. 



Answkks — 1. You will probably find that the hive with 

 the regular Langstroth frame (17;.sx9's) will suit you best ; 

 but as you have both kinds side by side, you can decide for 

 yourself better than any one else what will best suit you. 

 But try and decide before you have many more on hand, for 

 you will find it a very troublesome thing to use more than 

 one kindof frame in the same apiary, unless you treat them 

 as box-hives. Whether you should have eight or ten frames 

 is a question not easily answered. ( )n the whole, the proba- 

 bility is that the larger hives may be better, unless you ob- 

 ject to the weight. The smaller hives require a good deal 

 closer attention. 



2. It is hard to guess what is the trouble. It is barely 

 possible the bees are queenless. The queen may be very 

 old and poor. The bees may be of lazy stock. 



3. After you have had stings enough you will probably 

 not give a rap for any remedy, but will quickly give a slap 

 on your leg to kill the bee and wipe the sting out of your 

 hand, and then go right on with your work. 



Rearing Queens Under Superseding Conditions. 



I notice that some breeders say their queens are reared 

 under the superseding condition of the colony. 



1. How could they have enough colonies superseding to 

 rear many queens ? 



2. When a colony wants to supersede a queen do they 

 kill her and then build queen-cells, or do they build cells 

 and make her lay in them ? 



3. If they ijuild the cells after the egg is layed in it, 

 why should the queens be any better than the one reared 

 by removing the old queen from the hive ? 



4. How can I find out when a colony is going to super- 

 sede the queen ? I should like to find one in this fix, as I 

 want to rear a few good queens for my own use, but as I do 

 not bother the brood-nests much this time of the year, I am 

 afraid I should not find any superseding their queens ? 



5. I have only 25 colonies, and they were all Italianized 

 last year. Do you think they would be apt to supersede a 

 queen this year ? 



6. What do you think of queens reared from the cells 

 formed when the bees swarm ? I have an idea that I could 

 next year force some of my best queens to lead out swarms 

 early by stimulating, and giving them sealed brood so they 

 would be strong colonies. Mississippi. 



Answers. — 1. A superseding colony can only rear one 

 queen to completion, but it can start or continue a number 

 of queen-cells at the same time, and one lot can be taken 

 away and another lot given time after time. 



2. They start queen-cells with the queen present, just 

 as they do when they are preparing to swarm, only a 

 smaller number. 



3. The cell is built before the egg is laid in it ; but I 

 know no reason why a cell built for superseding should be 

 any better than the best cells started under favorable cir- 

 cumstances when the queen is removed. 



4. Look to see whether they have started queen-cells, 

 and then guess whether it means superseding or swarming. 



5. Sometimes a queen may be superseded before she is 

 a year old, but in that case the superseded queen is poor. 

 Usually queens are not superseded till three years old. 

 Among 25 colonies you may expect about eight queens to 

 be superseded every year. 



6. Swarming cells are as good as can be had. If they 

 are not of best stock you can inoculate them with larv;e 

 from your best queen. 



Piping of the Queen 



NIce-LookIng Apiary 

 sis, Etc. 



Bee-Paraly- 



1. Can a person hear the queen pipe when standing by 

 the hive ? 



2. How can I make my apiary look very nice? Also, 

 where can I get any kind of dwarf shrub or bush that does 

 iiot grow to exceed four feet in height ? 



3. How long does a queen remain in the hive after she 

 hatches ? and suppose the weather is too cold for them to 

 swarm after she is hatched, what then ? I have heard that 

 the bees kept the two queens apart until swarming-time. 



4. What are the first symptom of bee-paralysis ? 



I have a colony that I have been watching, and some- 

 times I see bees that are hanging out, start hopping around, 

 and then fall off the hive dead. Iowa. 



Answkks. — 1. (ienerally speaking, no ; but on a very 

 still evening a queen may be heard when you are standing 

 some little distance from the hive. The rifiht way is to go 

 to the colony after bees have stopped flying in the evening, 

 and put your ear tight against the hive. You may then 

 hear the free qneen piping in a shrill voice, and the queens 

 yet in their cells quahking in reply, in a coarser voice. 



2. It is not well to have anything like a bush four feet 

 high in an apiary. It would only be in the way, without 

 giving a satisfactory shade. Perhaps nothing is nicer than 

 to have spreading trees with a velvety sward beneath. If 

 you do not care for expense, you might prefer a cement 

 pavement to the sward, in which case there would be no 

 grass growing up in front of the hives to trouble the bees. 

 If you cannot have the trees, you can have the vines on a 

 trellis overhead, the trellis being high enough so you can 

 walk freely beneath. For immediate results you can have 

 vines that grow from the ground in a single season, such 

 as hops or wild cucumber, at the same time having some- 

 thing more permanent coming on, as grape, Virginia 

 creeper, trumpet-vine, etc. 



3. Don't take the hearsay of those that know little about 

 bees, but get a good text-book, and it will enlighten you on 

 this and many other questions. You seem to think a young 

 queen comes out with the swarm. That is true only of 

 after-swarms. The old queen comes out with the first or 

 prime swarm, and perhaps eight days later the first young 

 queen emergies. If the bees contemplate furtherswarming, 

 they stand guard over the young queens in the cells, pre- 

 venting the free queen from destroying them. A cold, wet 

 spell may prolong this. 



4. The bees you saw hopping about was perhaps the 

 first symptom you might notice, unless it would be bees 

 making a trembling motion with their wings, the other 

 bees appearing to drive them out, some of the diseased bees 

 being black and shiny. 



-» • » 



Requeening— Bisulphide of Carbon. 



1. In requeening would it be a safe way to place say 2 

 combs of brood and young bees on the old stand, and the 

 young queen with them, placing the old colony on top, with 

 a wire screen between, for say 36 hours ? Then allo-v them 

 to pass down through a bee-escape, after which place the 

 balance of the brood below, and remove the old hive ? 



2. Would you allow a hybrid colony to escape general 

 destruction whose bees have put up 120 Danz. sections of 

 honey to date, about one super being apple or fruit bloom, 

 the balance white clover? 



3. I requeen to Italianize as the stock has run down, 

 many too vicious little blacks. Here the surplus usually de- 

 pends on buckwheat, and we have frequent swarms then. 

 These are old queens and bees that usually die off at all 

 events, in a few months. Why does not this method do the 

 requeening, year after year, and what comb they make if 

 taken care of is a help for the next season ? Is not this 

 method (of requeening) just as profitable as to bother with 

 rearing queens, requeening. and all that ? Of course new 

 blood will have to be added year after year to meet the 

 black stock and keep it in subjection. 



4. In using bisulphide of carbon, do you stack up the 

 supers and place the carbon on top ? How long does it re- 

 quire ? 



5. How would it work to close up a cellar tight, and 

 place it in there to destroy ants ? or would the gas it gener- 

 ates remain in the corners thereof and wait for a lighted 

 lamp to blow the house up ? Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — 1. Y'ou are hardly explicit enough. You do 

 not say just what bees are on those two frames that are 



