Aug. 7, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



505 



two queens which I have saved from that lot have beautiful 

 yellow workers which are as gentle as one could desire. (I'.y 

 the way, the drones are much more yellow than those of tlio 

 old niother-cjueen.) I believe, therefore, that the worker 

 takes more strongly after the father, and that we shall have 

 to control mating if we ever get the results that are possible. 



WORKING I'OR NO INCRKASK. 



I should like to get the composite opinion of bee-kee|>- 

 ers on this plan : Clip the queen ; let the colony swarm if it 

 wills, allowing the queen to get lost, or take care of her in 

 any way one may wish ; let the bees return to the hive ; si.\ 

 days later cut out all but one good cell, and then push the 

 colony for section-work. Worcester Co., Mass. 



Questions and Answers, l 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. C. JUILLBR, Olareago, ni, 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



The Use of the Queen's Sting. 



On page 409, " Ohio " asked whether the chief use of the 

 queen's sting is in ovipositing, and my reply leaned 

 strongly to the negative. My attention has been called to a 

 different view expressed by no less an authority than T. W. 

 Cowan. In his excellent work, " The Honey-Bee," he says 

 in speaking of the queen's sting, page 81, " Dewitz, Vogel, 

 and others, have pointed out that it is not only analogous to 

 an ovipositor, but is actually used for this purpose by the 

 queen-bee." (See also Grimshaw, B. B. J., 1889, p. 514.) I take 

 pleasure in recording my change of belief. C. C. M. 



A Case of Laying Worker. 



What is the cause 5 or 6 eggs in a cell ? My husband 

 and I have looked over this colony for 3 hours and cannot 

 find a queen, and we are quite positive there is no queen, 

 but the cells are laid with eggs, and there are lots of bees, 

 in some of the cells there are two young bees formed. Is 

 there any danger of foul brood in a case of that kind. 

 Should we try to throw the brood out with the extractor ? 

 Where there is more than one bee in a cell would they de- 

 cay ? Ontario. 



Answer. — You have on hand a case of laying workers. 

 The best thing to do is to break up the colony and give 

 combs and bees to other colonies. The brood that is present 

 will produce only drones. You will find it cheaper to break 

 up the colony and make a new one than to straighten up 

 this one. 



Requeenlng— Extracting— Yellow Sweet Clover. 



1. I subscribed for the American Bee Journal for 3 

 months, and my time expired, I think, but I would like to 

 have the paper continued. Would I be entitled to an Italian 

 queen as a new subscriber, if I sent SI. 00 ? 



2. I have 3 colonies in which I cannot find the queen, 

 and that will not accept a queen-cell, will cut it out, but 

 they won't draw a cell. They go on storing the honey same 

 as the othfers. One of them draws out some cells about '2- 

 inch long, caps them over, and in a few days cuts them out. 

 I have tried everything I know, and would like some advice 

 as I do not like to exterminate them. 



3. I think I shall have more than a ton of honey in my 

 apiary that I could extract. Shall I do it, and then let the 

 bees build up for winter ? 1 have sown buckwheat, and we 

 have a good deal of goldenrod in the fall, so I am undecided 

 what to do, whether to let them work in the supers or to ex- 

 tract. 



4. Will sweet clover seed grow from the first bloom, or 

 does it have to be cut and gathered the second crop like 

 other clover ? 



5. Is the yellow sweet clover earlier than the white ? 

 and does it produce white honey ? I would like something 



that would give work for the bees about the firHt of June, 

 for that is the most critical time for us here, for we want 

 our little workers strong when the basswood comes. 



Nkbkaska. 

 Answkhb. - 1. By the terms of the advertisement it will 

 be seen that to secure a premium queen one already a sub- 

 scriber must send in a sub.scription of another who has not 

 been a subscriber; it is not your own subscription that 

 counts, but that of a new subscriber whom you have secured. 

 You are not barred out, however, even if you do not secure 

 a new subscriber, for, according to one clause, you will see 

 that not being in arrears, if you send in Sl.SO you will get 

 the premium queen and the American Bee Journal for one 

 year. 



2. Try giving them from another colony a frame of 

 brood with adhering bees, of course being careful to see 

 that you do not take the queen along. 



3. Better be on the safe side. You can extract later, if 

 necessary, but make a sure thing of winter stores. 



4. Seed from the first crop of red clover is not obtained 

 because at that time bumble-bees are too scarce to fertilize 

 it. Sweet clover being fertilized by hive-bees, the first crop 

 is all right. 



5. It is earlier, and it makes light honey. 



Removing Granulated Honey from Combs. 



I have about 40 Hoffman frames with as beautiful comb 

 as one could wish to see, but during winter the honey granu- 

 lated. I wish to know if there is any safe way of taking 

 the granulated honey out, without melting the combs. 



New Brunswick. 



Answer. — M. M. Baldridge gives this plan : Sprinkle 

 the frames with water and give to the bees. As often as 

 the bees lick them dry, sprinkle again. 



Dark-Colored Wax and Foundation. 



Do bees that feed on buckweat honey produce dark-colored 

 wax? If not, what is the cause of dark-brown-colored comb 

 foundation ? Ontario. ZJ 



Answer. — Foundation is not dark-colored because the 

 wax was made from buckwheat honey, but because in some 

 way the wax became dark after the bees were through with 

 their part, such as having it melted in an iron kettle. 



A Beginner's Troubles and Questions. 



I cannot tell queen-cells from any other. We have had 

 bees for 3 summers, and I never saw a queen that I know 

 of. I am very much afraid of them. My husband is in 

 California this summer, and I am the only one to care for 

 the bees. I thought I had done something to boast of when 

 I got courage enough to put on supers. We had only 3 col- 

 onies when they were put into the cellar. A good many 

 died, and we did not know the cause, whether for lack of 

 food or not, we did not dare to look. 



1. Two of the colonies sent forth 2 swarms apiece in June, 

 and the other one, a small colony, has not swarmed ; they 

 seem to be working the best. The last two swarms gave 

 me trouble, and that is the reason I sought information. 

 When No. 1 came out it settled in two different trees ; I 

 shook the smallest number until I got it to go over on the 

 other tree with the rest. I then hived them. In about a 

 half hour they were out again and settled on a grapevine 

 all together, and I got them in once more. 



2. This time they stayed in 9 days. I had set it beside 

 the old hive ; the fourth day when at daybreak I went to put 

 on a super I saw a great tumult going on in it, and in the 

 old one that it came out of. and it was kept up until the 

 ninth day, when I noticed there were no bees going in and 

 out, as there had been, but they had done quite a little work 

 in making comb and laying eggs. The foundation comb 

 had loosened, or they had gnawed it until the most of it lay 

 on the floor of the hive, and the work they had done was 

 without foundation comb. 



3. There has been more noise in the 3 old hives, until 3 

 days ago. I supposed by the racket that was kept up in the 

 old hives they must have gone back to the old hive they 

 came out of, and that the queen would not receive them all, 

 but made them divide up and some go in the other old 

 hives ; the hives were side by side, still the first 2 new 



