Oct. 9, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



649 



Questions and Answers. ^ 



CONDUCTED BY 



£>R. C. C. MII.I.HR, Afarenoro, 177, 



[The Questloas may be mailed to the Bee Journal office^ or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers bv mail. — Editok.1 



Granulation of Syrup-Miller Feeder. 



1. In feeding- sugar syrup to bees it granulates in the 

 cells of one of the combs. Is this harmful ? If so, can it be 

 prevented ? 



2. Do you tind the Miller feeder the most convenient 

 thing for feeding small <|iiantities of sugar syrup to nuclei, 

 or to stimulate brood-rearing in a colony ? If not, what do 

 you find more convenient .' Illinois. 



Answeks. — liranulating is bad, because the bees can- 

 not utilize the granules, and it is about the same as wasting 

 so much sugar. Acid in the syrup will prevent granulation 

 — an even teaspoonful of tartaric acid for every 20 pounds 

 of sugar, stirred into the syrup about the time the sugar is 

 dissolved. The tartartic acid is first dissolved in a little 

 water. Another year, however, feed early enough so that 

 no acid will be needed. If you feed early and give as much 

 water as sugar, the bees will furnish their own acid (formic) 

 better than you can do it for them. To be sure, you can 

 have it thin when you feed late, but in that case there is 

 danger that the bees will not have time to evaporate it. 



2. For feeding a small quantity each day, I know noth- 

 ing more convenient. In that case put in sugar enough for 

 a number of days, and then all you have to do is to put in a 

 little water each day. It is less trouble to put in water than 

 syrup. 



ftueen Rearing Propolis in Wax. 



I have concluded to try rearing a few queens, so I com- 

 menced studying my text-book on the subject, but as usual 

 I run on a snag about every paragraph. 



1. In the first method I find " a cell-building colony to 

 be preferred above all others. . . .is one having a queen 

 which it is trying to supersede. . . .one or more will he found 

 in a large apiary." Please let me know how the " find " is 

 made. 



2. In the next method I am directed to " select. .. .a 

 frame of eggs almost ready to hatch." How can you tell 

 when a bee-egg is " almost ready to hatch ? " 



3. Some days ago I removed the queen from a colony 

 and pinned two sealed queen-cells from another colony to 

 one of the combs. Two days later I found the cells torn 

 open and the queens destroyed. I also found 3 new queen- 

 cells started. I opened them, removed the embryo queens, 

 and placed in the jelly at bottom some of the smallest larva? 

 I could find from an Italian colony : but the bees destroyed 

 them also. What was the trouble ? 



4. How are queens reared now fertilized ? I have not 

 seen a drone about my apiary for two months. 



5. When a queen is superseded, does the dowager resign 

 peaceably, or does the princess have to fight for her 

 throne? If the abdication is voluntary, what becomes of 

 the old queen ? Does she just go off and die ? 



6. Can you tell if wax is adulterated with propolis, or 

 does it matter ? Mississippi. 



Answers. — 1. If you look in a hive and find queen-cells 

 started, only one, two. or three in number, and especially at 

 a time when bees are not inclined to swarming, you may 

 consider such a colony as trying to supersede its queen. 

 You will generally find superseding colonies among those 

 with queens quite old. 



2. I don't know. But if you find a considerable number 

 of eggs in a comb, and very small larva; also, you areprettv 

 safe in concluding that there are in the comb eggs nearly 

 ready to hatch. According to some authorities, I believe, 

 eggs that are lying flat on the bottom of the cells are those 

 ready to hatch, while eggs just laid stand on one end. 



3. I infer from what you say that you gave the cells at 

 the time of removing the queen. In such a case the bees 

 may be relied on to destroy the cells, for they are not yet 

 aware of their queenlessness. Either wait till the bees are 



fully conscious of their queenlessness, or else put the cells 

 in a cell-protector of some kind. 



You say you o^^n^r/ the ci'lls and removed the embryo 

 queens, from which I infer tin; cells were sealed. In that 

 case the jelly present would be utterly inappropriate for a 

 young larva, if indeed it would suit any larva, and the bees 

 would be sure to cast out the larva of your placing. 



4. There can be no fertilization without drones; but I 

 venture to guess that plenty of rlrones have been in your 

 apiary within the past two months, even if you have not 

 seen them. 



.T. It is not .so very uncommon a thing to find the old 

 queen still in the hive after the young queen is present, 

 sometimes both laying eggs at the same time, so the abdi- 

 cation seems to be peaceable. Just where the queen goes to 

 " shullle off this mortal coil." I don't know. 



6. I think propolis would show in wax by its color. If 

 melted, the propolis would separate from the wax on cool- 

 ing, and settle to the bottom. 



Moving Bees to Cuba. 



Bees have done only middling well this year, it has 

 been so wet, and not very warm except at times ; about 2 

 weeks ago we had a few warm nights. 



I have about 60 pounds of honey not capped over yet. 

 and the bees are working on goldenrod and sweet clover. 

 The mice got in and destroyed 3 nice colonies last winter. 

 I just had a new queen and placed in one of the colonies and 

 they had built up nicely ; that left me with only one colony. 

 I had 2 swarms, the last one in July. The June swarm has 

 done as well as the old colony. I may get a few sections ofif 

 the last one : I have had 90 off so far from the other two. 

 The fact is, I have been kept so busy this summer I do not 

 get time to see them more than once a week. 



I have a notion to go down to Cuba this fall. I have a 

 tract of land at LaGloria, and I want to go down and see it. 

 From all accounts it is a fine country, a good place for bees, 

 and I thought I would take along the few colonies I have, 

 and get started. How would you advise taking them, in a 

 full hive, or only a frame or two of brood with the bees on ? 

 Sometimes I think I would divide the brood-frames, and put 

 new queens on them so as to double them up. How would 

 that work? Pexnsylv.\nia. 



Answer. — I'm not sure about it, but incline to the 



opinion that it will be as well to take them in full colonies, 



making sure there shall be no lack of ventilation, and then 



do the dividing and giving fresh queens after you get the 



bees through. 



-* • »■ 



Qiuestions on Wintering Bees Outdoors. 



The time of honey-gathering is nearly at a close, for 

 this year, and the time for preparing our bees for winter 

 is near at hand. The one subject of most practical interest 

 is how to prepare our bees for winter, as we in this country 

 winter out-of-doors; so my questions will be along this line, 

 as there are various ways of preparing for winter. There 

 are some principles involved which I would like to under- 

 stand. One is this : Will bees go better up or down for their 

 stores in winter? 



For wintering in single brood-chamber hives: 



Plan No. 1. — Leave the hive on the summer bottom- 

 board ; place over the frames thin domestic or burlap ; put 

 on an empty super filled with chaff or cut straw ; place 

 sticks or cobs under the cloth on the frames to give the bees 

 passage over the frames. 



Plan No. 2. — Like the above, with the addition of a T 

 super, empty of course, under the hives, the bottom-board 

 giving space for bees to cluster under their stores. 



Plan No. 3. — Giving space of 1 '2 or 2 inches above the 

 brood-frames; hive on the summer bottom-board 3 inches 

 deep, well packed above. Will they get their stores from 

 below all right ? 



1. Would it not be an improvement, on all three ways, 

 to put dummies in place of outside frames, and let them ex- 

 tend to the bottom-board, virtually making a double-walled 

 hive, letting them extend up in No. 3 to make the desired 

 space above ? 



2. Would a super-board be better on top, over the brood- 

 frames, than the cloth ? It would give '4 inch space over 

 the frames ; and place the super and packing on it. 



3. Should all the honey be in the top brood-chamber, or 

 in both alike ? 



