JDec. 11, 1902. 



THE AMERICAN BEE .lOLIRNAL. 



793 



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Qiuestions and Answers. 



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CONDDCTUD BY 



DK. O. O. MII.I^KIt. Afarencro, 111. 



[The Qaestlona may be mailed to the Bee Jourtial office, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers bv mall. — Editor.! 



Prevention of Swarmlns. 



I see a g'ood deal about brushed swarms, and piling up 

 the brood several stories high. I have not tried that plan, 

 but have practiced putting nearly all the brood over an ex- 

 cluder at intervals of about 3 weeks, which, on the whole, 

 was very successful in preventing swarming ; but the diffi- 

 culty was that I was obliged (or thought so) to look over all 

 the frames so put up, .S or 10 days after, in order to cut out 

 any queen-cells that were started, which of course, took up 

 much time. 



1. Is it necessary to do that ? 



2. If they were not cut out what would be the conse- 

 quence ? 



3. If a virgin queen managed to squeeze through, I have 

 had laying queens, in two cases, pass backward and for- 

 ward through separators. Would it not result in swarming 

 or the death of the old queen ? British Columbia. 



Anwkks. — 1. I don't know. I hardly think so. 



2. I don't know that, either. I think there would be 

 queen-cells started in some cases, and these might be de- 

 stroyed before maturing, and in some cases be allowed to 

 mature. Just what would happen if a virgin queen 

 should be in the upper story with a laying queen below I 

 don't know, and I wish some one who has had experience 

 would tell us. In some cases she would likely be killed, 

 possibly in all. 



3. In the first place, I do not believe (although there is a 

 bare possibility I may be mistaken) that a virgin can get 

 through a queen-excluder that she cannot get through after 

 she gets to laying. The thorax of a virgin, I think, is just 

 as large before laying as after, and it is the thorax that 

 hinders going through. Let a perforation be large enough 

 to allow the passage of the thorax, and I am pretty sure any 

 queen will have no trouble in getting her abdomen through, 

 no matter how heavy with eggs. I admit that a virgin will 

 make more desperate efforts to go through than a laying 

 queen, and that a virgin will squeeze through if she possibly 

 can, while a laying queen in most cases will not try so hard. 

 But let the perforation be small enough so that a laying 

 queen cannot squeeze through, and she cannot squeeze 

 through the same aperture when a virgin. Suppose, how- 

 ever, the perforations are large enough for a virgin to 

 squeeze through. She would in'most cases be killed — I've 

 had that happen always in the early part of the harvest. 

 Toward the last of the harvest, if the queen should be old, 

 the young might supersede her. It is possible swarming 

 might occur, but my guess would be no swarming. But I 

 don't know, and will be glad to learn from those who have 



had experience. 



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Unfinished Sections-Placing Bees Near a Sidewalk. 



1. I had quite a number of unfinished sections at the 

 end of the season. Part of them I put on the hives, and 

 the rest I fed back at the entrance, but the weather was too 

 cold and the honey was not carried into the sections but was 

 stored below. Nearly all that was not capped in the sec- 

 tions was carried below. Can I keep these partly-filled sec- 

 tions to use next season ? If so, how should they be kept ? 



2. I live in a small village on the north side of a street 

 running east and west. In front of my lot, six feet outside 

 of the fence, is a row of hard-maple trees, the sidewalk be- 

 ing between the trees and the fence. If I should put my 

 bees in the shade of these trees, say one rod inside of the 

 fence, with the entrances of the hive turned to the north, do 

 you think they would bother people going along the side- 

 walk ? Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. There are some who say a section left with 

 some honey in it may be used the following season, but I 

 think the majority would agree with me that no section 



should be used next year that has even the smallest particle 

 of honey left in it from this year. It must be cleaned cut 

 clean, and that by the bees. I would rather melt up a sec- 

 tion than to use it next year if the bees have not cleaned it 

 out this year. It is just possible that next year the bees 

 may clean them out sulTiciently if they are put where the 

 bees can rob them say in a pile with an entrance larg'e 

 enough for one bee at a time, water being sprinkled into 

 the cells to dis.solve the grains, or the sections being pre- 

 viously kept in a damp cellar, so that the bees would leave 

 no granules. 



2, Probably not, especially if the trees come down 

 pretty low and are pretty close, while it is all open on the 

 north side. It might be a good deal better, however, to 

 have a tolerably close fence five or six feet high to prevent 

 the flight of boes in wrong direction. 



Preventing Honey Granulation. 



My honey is of very fine quality, but candies so quickly 

 and hard I cannot obtain sale for it. Will heating prevent 

 candying? If so, what amount of heat can I employ with- 

 out injuring the quality of the honey ? It is pure apple- 

 blossom honey, and of exquisite flavor. Califor.nma. 



Answer.— It is difficult to answer. Some honey candies 

 more quickly than others, no matter what is done. Heating 

 will not prevent candying again, unless it be sealed up as 

 in canning fruit. It is possible that allowing it to be very 

 thoroughly ripened before extracting would make a differ- 

 ence. Keeping it in a hot place, say in the neighborhood 

 of 100 degrees for a good many days after extracting, might 

 also help. If you heat it don't heat beyond 160 degrees; 

 better still if not heated beyond 130. 



The Buffalo Convention Report is issued in pamphlet 

 form, size 6x8'2 inches, 80 pages and cover. Besides a full 

 report of the proceedings of the 32d convention of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association, held in Buffalo, N. Y., 

 Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901, it contains fine half-tone portraits 

 of all the officers and directors of the Association ; also the 

 Constitution, a list of the membership up to the end of 

 1901, and the two latest bee-songs—" The Hum of the Bees 

 in the Apple-Tree Bloom" and "Buckwheat Cakes and 

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 Association. Of course, all members of the Association 

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 who are not yet members, but who should have this valuable 

 Report. Better send for a copy, if you have not yet re- 

 ceived one. Price, postpaid, 25 cents, or with the American 

 Bee Journal one year— both for Sl.iO. Send all orders to 

 the office of the American Bee Journal. Better order soon, 



before all are gone. 



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Honey as a Health-Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3 '2x6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains " Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes " and " Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we arc using it ourselves. 



Prices, prepaid— Sample for 2 cts.; 10 for 10 cts.; 25 



for20cts.; SO for 35 cts.; 100 for 60 cts.; 250 for S1.25 ; 500 



for $2.25: 1000 for $4.00. If you wish your business card 



printed at the bottom of the front page, add 25 cts. to your 



order. 



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Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



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 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

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