810 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 18, 1902. 



Questions and Answers, l 



CONDUCTBD BY 



Z>R. O. O. AIILLBR, Afai-eneo, 111, 



[The Qaestlons maj be mailed to the Bee Journal ofSce, or to Dr. MlUer 



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



Doctor to send answers bv mail. — Editok.1 



Orowing the Basswood for Bees. 



1. When is the best time and the best way to plant bass- 

 wood seed ? 



2. What will be the best time of the year to transplant 

 basswood trees ? 



3. How old is the basswood before it blooms ? 



4. Will it pay to plant 2 or 3 acres with basswood for 

 the bees to work on ? Wisconsin. 



Answers. — 1. Raising basswood from seed is, I think, 

 generally considered a troublesome thing, and I have never 

 seen any account of any one making a great success at it. 

 A row of about 25 trees runs from ray honse to the public 

 road, and every spring a number of seedlings spring up, 

 but never live to the next year. This year I saw hundreds 

 of them when they were two or three inches high, and I've 

 just been out to look over the ground and I cannot find a 

 single plant. What becomes of them is a mystery to me. 

 Judging from the freedom with which these have sprung 

 up, I should say it best to plant in the fall, covering the 

 seed from a fourth to half an inch. 



2. In Wisconsin I should transplant in the spring. 



3. I don't know. Perhaps ten years. Plants that shoot 

 up from the stump of a tree that has been cut down will 

 bloom in less time than those starting from seed. 



4. With low priced land it might pay well. 



Pilling! Comljs with Honey. 



Is there any demand for a feasible method of filling 

 honey or syrup into combs ? Ili,inois. 



Answer. — Probably not. At one time it was more or 

 less common to fill syrup into combs with which to feed bees, 

 and some excellent plans for that purpose were devised, but 

 such improvements have been made in bee-feeders that it is 

 somewhat doubtful that any one would care to fill syrup in 

 combs. 



Swarms Crawling Out After Hiving- 

 Extracted Honey. 



1. I have 40 colonies of bees, and last summer when they 

 were swarming almost every young swarm would come out 

 over the new hive one, two and three times before I could 

 get them to stay. What was the cause of this ? How can 

 it be stopped ? 



2. Which is the best way to handle bees for extracted 

 honey, to let them swarm naturally, and then let the young 

 colonies store section honey, or build colonies, say about 

 one colony from two old ones, or divide them in half, or 

 shake them off the combs in a new hive ? This year I let 

 them swarm, and extracted from the old ones, and put sec- 

 tions on the new colonies. I got 80 pounds of extracted 

 honey, per colony, in spite of all the cold, wet weather. 



Wisconsin. 



Answers. — 1. It is quite possible that the new hives 

 were too warm, because too close. If that was the trouble, 

 the way to prevent it would be to give more abundant ven- 

 tilation. When the swarm is first hived, see that the hive 

 is shaded in some way, raise the hive from the bottom-board 

 an inch or so by blocks, and for a day or two raise the cover 

 or shove it partly off, so that there may be a free circula- 

 tion of air through the hive. It is a good thing in any case 

 to take these percautions with newly-hived swarms. 



2. It is a hard thing to say what is best for each individ- 

 ual. The plan which has already proved so successful in 

 your hands may be best for you, although you can only be 

 sure about. it by giving both. plans a trial under the same 

 conditions. That will not be a.very hard thing for you to 

 do. 



Bee-House for Winter— Text-Book on Bees. 



1. I am new in the bee-business, and have 7 colonies. I 

 want some advice about my bee-house. It is 7x16 feet, paper 

 on two sides, shiplap over that on the inside. There are 

 two windows on top. Is that a good place to winter bees in 

 this State? 



2. What does a text-book cost ? Is that the right name 

 for it ? Washington. 



Answers. — 1. Such a house so constructed that the bees 

 can fly freely whenever the day is warm enough, will very 

 likely give good results in the State of Washington. My 

 judgment in the case, however, is not worth nearly so much 

 as that of some one who has had personal experience some- 

 where near you. 



2. On page 815 of this journal you will find prices given 

 of such text-books on bee-keeping, as " Bee-Keeper's Guide," 

 " Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," " A B C of Bee-Culture," 

 and others. By all means, secure one or more of them. 



Management for 



Large Hive for Extracted Honey. 



Can a hive 8 feet square, for one or more colonies of 

 bees, be made profitable for extracting honey ? If so, how 

 should it be built ? Any suggestions you may make will be 

 greatly appreciated. Iowa. 



Answer. — I never heard of such a hive, and I doubt the 

 advisability of building a hive equaling in capacity thirty 

 or more ordinary hives. The only suggestion I have to 

 ofi^er is, "Better not try it." 



\ % The Afterthought. » 



Tbe "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlassea. 

 By B. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



prevention of swarming. 



C. P. Dadant handles the prevention of swarming in a 

 masterly manner. If there is a spot where I might rub in a 

 little it is this. Mere space alone counts very little as a 

 repressive. It must be comb space, and not only that, but 

 comb-space, abundant comb-space, convenient to the center 

 of the brood-nest. Even this, unless they have had it for a 

 good, long while, may not suffice. 



I think that perfect wintering the winter before helps 

 on repressive measures greatly. That is, colonies which 

 have come up rapidly from mere remnants swarm much 

 worse than those which have been strong all the while. 

 Page 665. 



good queens and better ones. 



And Yon Yonson, getting one too many systems into 

 his head (if not two too many) thinks to rear queens the 

 size of horses by rearing them in the barn — whence he 

 could ride thera oil the Gallup down the Alley. His conclu- 

 sion that all good queens are good, but better ones may be 

 a little better, is an unanswerable .conclusion. On that 

 basis our warring breeders ought to be able to make peace. 

 Page 690. 



this do, and thy bees shai.1. live. 



First, plenty of good food ; second, plenty of bees ; third, 

 good shelter. Yes, sir, Mr. Dadant, this do and thy bees 

 shall live. Page 679. 



MOVING BEES. 



On page 685, I think Wm. M. Whitney's experience in 

 moving bees worth remembering, the outcome being so dif- 

 ferent from what one would expect. No precaution at all, 

 and yet everything came out all right — no going back, no 

 quarreling. He doesn't say, in regard to one of the moving 

 troubles, whether he looked right sharp or not to see. Some- 

 times part of the hives get a great deal more than their 

 share of the bees, with other hives correspondingly depleted. 

 My guess is that it was being shut up quite awhile, under 

 circumstances tending to make them kind o' mad, that 

 helped them to forget so well. It's quite a distance, 130 

 rods ; so they were bundled off quite a journey as captives. 

 It,^might have been^diiferent had it been 130,feet instead^of 



