July 24, 1902, 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



475 



In the case of the "shook" swarms, they have done 

 just as well as natural swarms, but not taking bees fr<jni 

 them the brood alone would not build up the other cohjiiies 

 as quickly as the other way. Cai.u'oknia. 



Answkk. — I thank you for the further trial of fasteninp 

 the <iueeti on foundation in a lower story, and it seems to be 

 thorouffhly settled that tlie plan is not a success with you. 

 Of course you are rif^ht in usinjf the plans that are success- 

 ful, and I think your plans will be (generally successful, as 

 others have u.sed them with success. 



You do not say specifically just what you do with the 

 brood when you shake off all the bees, except that you put 

 it over other colonies. Do you put all the brood over one 

 colony, or do you give it to more than one colony ? It has 

 been claimed that when it has all been put over one colony, 

 that colony with its double load of brood would not after- 

 ward swarm. How has that been in your experience? An- 

 other thiny ; When all the brood is taken from a colony, 

 leaving empty frames or foundation, does such colon)' never 

 swarm out ? 



Using a Mothy Hive. 



Did 3-ou ever have a colony thrive in a hive which has 

 been cleaned of webs, moths, etc. Michigan. 



Answer. — Don't you think you're pretty hard on me to 

 ask a question that will bring out whether I have been so 

 very careless as to allow combs to be filled with "webs, 

 moths, etc.?" Well, since you insist upon it, I may as well 

 own that I have had all degrees from the mildest to the 

 severest cases. If you mean did I ever have a colony thrive 

 in a hive in which the colony had allowed the moth to get 

 ■the upperhand so that most of the combs were filled with 

 webs and cocoons, I must answer no. If you mean did I 

 €ver have a colon)' thrive in a hive that was given to them 

 in that condition, yes. Take a very bad case, only that 

 some parts of the comb are still left, dig out the %vorst 

 bunches of webs, place the hive under or over a strong 

 colony, and see how nicely the)' will clean it out so as to be 

 habitable. Even a swarm put upon wormy combs, if the 

 case is not too bad, will make things all right. If the moth 

 has made too much headway the swarm will be likely to 

 evacuate. 



(lueenless Colony. 



I have a queenless colony, and I am fearful of losing 

 them ; they are quite yellow or a hybrid strain, I should 

 judge ; they have been queenless for 4 weeks. I got them 

 out of a bee-tree, and there is where I lost the queen. I put 

 in a frame of larvet^' but they did not build a queen-cell on 

 the frame I put in, but on another frame. Do they transfer 

 larva: themselves, or is it on an old cell that they built out 

 of the brood that I put in the frame when I felled the tree ? 

 It seems to me that it ought to be hatched out before this 

 time. I put the frame in about a week ago to supply them- 

 selves with a young queen, and when I looked a week later 

 I found this queen-cell started on another frame, so I am 

 puzzled to know what to do about it. Washington. 



Answer. — It is not likely tha:t the bees transferred a 

 larva, and there would be nothing strange in their starting 

 a queen-cell from brood taken from the bee-tree. But as 

 the cell has not yet hatched out four weeks after the loss of 

 the queen, you may count that thequeen in the cell is dead. 

 Having had brood given them at two different times, it is 

 not impossible that a young queen may be in the hive (a 

 queen-cell is sometimes so inconspicuous as to be missed), 

 and in that case any queen you give them will almost cer- 

 tainly be killed, so look out. Before giving them a queen 

 it will be well to give them frames of brood to see if they 

 start cells. If they start none they have a queen. 



Selling Honey— Having Bee-Hives all Alike— Electric 

 Hive-Heater. 



1. Enclosed I send you an account of sale, and may the 

 bee-papers find and advertise a honey-deaier that can give 

 higher prices. Bees increase here very fast, about 300 to 

 1000 percent per year, but hardly any sales for queens or 

 colonies of bees. 



2. I think it would be an advantage, or desirable, to 

 have the inside of the bee-hives all alike. I have some 

 Langstroth-Hoffman frames that where the top-bar rests I 



on the tin rabbets some of them are thicker than others, 

 and the one above smaller. The bees glue them together 

 and kill the bees between thcin. liee-keepers should agree 

 on a certain size frame and a manufacturer that makes 

 them, otherwise bee-keepers should refuse to buy them. 



.^. I think with the Electric Heater virgin (jueens and 

 drones can be made to come out. Glass and tar-paper work 

 about as well in the sunshine. Cami-oknia. 



Answers. — 1. The account of sale dated June 27 shows 

 that the honey was sold at 3 '4 cents, certainly a discourag- 

 ing price if the honey was of prime quality, as to which no 

 mention is nia<le. The advertising colomns of the bee- 

 papers are always open for placing of advertisements of 

 reputable dealers. That is about all that ought to be asked 

 of them. 



2. You are quite right. Having two dimensions such 

 as you mentiou is an unmitigated nuisance. There is more 

 or less uniformity among the leading manufacturers, and 

 where there is fear of undesirable variation it is only the 

 right thing for the man who orders to stipulate as to dimen- 

 sions, and then refuse the goods if they are not of the de- 

 sired dimensions. The difficulty in such cases is that there 

 is no particular tribunal to settle just what dimensions 

 should be used, and it is quite possible that manufacturers 

 would be glad of there being some authority to tell them 

 just what dimensions should be used. Every one, however, 

 has the right in any and every case to order explicitly just 

 what he wants, whether it be in accord or not with that 

 which is most in vogue. Only in most cases it will cost a 

 little more for goods that are not standard. 



3. I suppose your idea is to excite the queen and drones 

 to fly earlier in the day than the usual time, a thing which 

 is recommended by Dzierzon. Will you please tell us ex- 

 plicitly just what you mean as to Electric Heater, glass and 



tar-paper. 



♦-•"• 



Bees Eating Foundation Other Questions. 



I have been keeping from 10 to 15 colonies of bees for 

 several years, just for the pleasure they give me in looking 

 after them. I live in the buckwheat belt, and hundreds of 

 acres are being sowed now which will begin to bloom by 

 August 10. It always produces an abundant flow of dark 

 honey which sells readily at 16 cents per pound. My bees 

 last year averaged 40 sections from buckwheat alone. This 

 year I sowed the buckwheat June 10. It is now almost a 

 foot high (July 8), and will bloom in a few days, which will 

 make the season much longer. Please answer the follow- 

 ing : 



1. Why do some colonies go into sections and just liter- 

 ally eat the foundation ? 



2. Would you advise feeding at night at this time of the 

 year? I use Boardman feeders, and if I use them in the 

 daytime it starts a rumpus. 



3. I have all my queens clipped, so when a swarm issues 

 I simply let it go back. What will be the result when a 

 young queen is hatched ? 



4. Bees here will need no sections for two or three weeks, 

 but will it do any harm to put supers on now to be ready for 

 the honey-flow when it does come ? 



5. In making 2 colonies from one. should the queen be 

 left on the old stand or taken to the new place ? 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — 1. You will not likely find this to occur 

 when the bees are very busy storing. When bees have 

 nothing to do they are a little like mischievous puppies. 

 Better not leave sections on after the flow stops. The thin- 

 ner the foundation the worse the bees are about gnawing it. 



2. Y'es, if you are obliged to feed this time of year, it is 

 better to feed at night if you use an entrance-feeder like the 

 Boardman. If you use a top feeder, like the Miller, it makes 

 little difference. 



3. When it comes time for the young queen to fly, a 

 swarm will issue with the young queen, and must be hived 

 or it will abscond. 



4. It will do no great harm, but the sections will not be 

 quite so nice and white. In some cases the foundation may 

 be gnawed. 



5. Nearly all the field-bees will go to the old stand, 

 and they will do better work at storing if the old queen is 

 with them. Very little storing will be done at first at the 

 new stand, and by the time there is a good force of field- 

 workers there the young queen ought to be ready to encour- 

 age them. 



