Jan. 24. 1907 



American Hee Journal 



find colonies that consume an excep- 

 tionally large amount of stores, so we 

 should, if anything, err on the side of 

 too much stores. 



Mr. Deadman — If wintering in the 

 cellar, we would only have that much 

 more to carry in and out. Twenty-five 

 pounds in the fall is ample to last till 

 we can examine them in the spring. Put 

 the light colonies to one side in putting 

 them out in the spring, and feed tliem. 



Mt. Hershiser — How do vou feed 

 late? 



Mr. McEvoy — Lay oil-cloth over the 

 frames and on this set sealers upside 

 down with sugar syrup. Pack those in 

 the super and they may take down 20 

 pounds in one night. 



Introducing Queens. 



Mr. McEvoy — Introduce in a folded 

 cage on the comb. Where queens are 

 allowed to eat their way out, they are 

 killed, sometimes; but where introduced 

 on the comb, they are always all right. 



"Is it advisable to put new queen in 

 the hive before taking out the old one?" 



Mr. Couse — To introduce an imported 

 queen, take away all the brood and eggs, 

 and then introduce the queen to the 

 broodless and queenless bees. 



Mr. Holtermann — Simply take out the 

 old queen and put the queen-cage and 

 all right in, and the candy is eaten 

 away and queen introduced. 



Mr. Timbers — The bees should be tak- 

 en out of the cage first, because in many 

 cases the bees in the cage cause the 

 queen to be balled. 



_Mr. Armstrong removes the queen to 

 his own cage before introducing. 



"What is the best time to introduce a 

 queen?" 



Mr. McEvoy — In August, unless it is 

 necessary to introduce at some other 

 time. To introduce a queen in a super, 

 shut the bees off from the brood-cham- 

 ber with a fine screen for 48 hours. Then 

 set the super off on another stand and 

 introduce a queen quite successfully. 



Mr. Evans — For introducing leave the 

 cork in the cage for 24 hours, if the col- 

 ony is strong. Then remove it and let 

 them eat out the candy. If it is a weak 

 colony, take out the cork at once. To 

 introduce valuable queens, it is safer to 

 introduce in a nucleus. 



Unfinished Business. 



A vote of thanks was tendered Messrs. 

 Holtermann and Holmes. 



A tribute was given to William 

 Couse, who has been secretary for 21 

 years. 



Mr. Holtermann — I have known him 

 for 25 years, and always found him sin- 

 cere in everything. He has served the 

 Association well, and we regret that, so 

 far as he personally is concerned, he is 

 to remove from the office of Secretary. 



Mr. Sibbald— I started to work for 

 him when II years old. Mr. Couse loves 

 the Association, and dislikes to give it 

 up, though the work is a sacrifice in 

 view of his other work. 



Mr. Couse spoke well-chosen words of 

 appreciation, recollecting when D. A. 

 Jones told him he was to be secretary 

 of the Association. His ambition has 

 been to serve the Association to the 

 best of his ability. He has the greatest 

 asset a man can have for the time spent 



— that is, friends. He was fortunate to to many of the men who had been 

 have had men who always aimed to do President while he was Secretary of the 

 the best. He spoke a word of tribute Association. 



s:^ 





Bocfor Millers j^^ 



Send Questiono either to the office of the American Bee Journal, or to 



Dk. C. C. Miller, Marengo, III. 



^W° Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Getting Straight Brood-Combs 



I am new in the bee-business, and find 

 some things I do not understand. I have 5 

 colonies, 3 from swarms in 1906, and 2 from 

 1905. They are all in patent 8-frame dove- 

 tailed hives except one in a lOframe hive. I 

 find lots of trouble in changing the frames, 

 or getting them out, for the bees do not build 

 the combs straight. Would it pay me to 

 take out the old combs in the spring and put 

 in full sheets of foundation, mostly worker- 

 comb? Should I put in full sheets of foun- 

 dation in the new colonies — those iust start- 

 ing? I want to start right, and I depend 

 mostly upon the American Bee Journal and 

 the " A B C of Bee-Culture " for my guides. 

 Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — I think there is no patent on 

 the dovetailed hive. The patent on the mov- 

 able frame expired some years ago. 



Tes, it will pay to have new combs built for 

 the sake of having them movable, but that is 

 probably not necessary. The likelihood is 

 that at least some of your frames can be 

 lifted out, and then by a little cutting you 

 can get the others out, and crowd each comb 

 into its own frame. If you can not do so, 

 you can cut the combs as much as necessary 

 to get them into the frames. A good time to 

 do this is after the bees begin work on fruit- 

 bloom. But I wouldn't put them on frames 

 of foundation till swarming time, and then 

 you can hive all swarms on full sheets of 

 foundation. I have always had my frames 

 full of foundation, and if I had it to do over 

 again I would do the same way again. 



ttueenless Colony- Making Honey 



Granulate-Shade for White 



Hives-Ventilating Hives 



1. What is the best to do in spring with a 

 queenless colony that is strong and has 

 plenty of honey? 



3. What is the best thing to do with honey 

 to make it granulate! Is it usually shipped 

 in the granulated form? 



3. Is shade necessary with large hives 

 painted white, and run for extracted honey, 

 with from 2 to 3 supers to the hive, and good 

 ventilation ? 



4. Would you advise putting an inch piece 

 between the hive and bottom-board at the 

 sides and back end ot hive? Ontario. 



Answers. — 1. First let me tell you what 

 not to do. Don't give it brood from some 

 other colony and have it rear a queen. One 

 reason is, that while it is rearing a queen it 

 will be getting weaker all the while, there be- 

 ing none but comparatively old bees present, 

 and it will be a long time before any young 

 ones will be ready for work. Another reason 

 is. that in early spring you will find so many 

 failures in queen-rearing, and often will suc- 

 ceed only after giving brood the second or 



third time. Still another reason, and a suffi- 

 cient one of itself, is that these early-reared 

 queens are very likely to tie worthless. There 

 are three things you can do: Vou can send 

 South for a queen ; you can unite with the 

 colony a weak colony having a good queen; 

 or you can break up the colony and distribute 

 combs and bees to other colonies, especially 

 to the weaker ones. If your other colonies 

 are in good condition, and if you are anxious 

 for increase, send for the queen. If you have 

 a weak colony, unite it with the queenless 

 one. Even it you are anxious for increase, 

 this may be better than to send for a queen, 

 as the very weak colony will be very slow 

 about building up, and is not of very much 

 value except (or its queen. If you haven't 

 any such weakling, you are pretty sure to 

 have two or more that are under the average, 

 and if you divide the bees among these you 

 will be putting the force where it will do the 

 most good, and will very likely have as many 

 colonies and as many bees in the fall as if you 

 had sent for a queen. You can put a combful 

 of these bees in any hive in the spring with- 

 out any precaution whatever, as they will 

 unite peaceably. 



There is a factor to be considered in the 

 case that may decide in favor of sending off 

 for the queen. It maybe that your stock is 

 not up to the mark, and that by sending off 

 you can get a queen of much better quality. 

 In that case the queenless colony gives you 

 the chance. 



2. Cold favors granulation; so you may 

 hasten it by keeping in a cool place. Occa- 

 sional stirring also helps. Probably most of 

 the honey shipped is not granulated; but 

 very much of it becomes granulated before it 

 reaches the consumer, unless pains is taken to 

 reliquefy it. 



3. I think not for the bees, although pleas- 

 anter for the bee-keeper. It depends a little 

 upon what you mean by good ventilation. I 

 should want a space of at least '4 inch the en- 

 tire width in f(ii7i story. 



4. I suppose you mean for wintering in cel- 

 lar. Yes, it is quite important in some way 

 to have plenty of ventilation in the cellar, 

 and if there is no opening for ventilation ex- 

 cept the hive-entrance, a strip to raise the 

 hive an inch or more from the bottom-board 

 is a good thing. My bottom-boards are 2 

 inches deep, and then in summer 1 fill part of 

 the depth with a sort of rack. 



Control of Increase, Introducing 

 Queens, Etc. 



Last season I had a fairly good honey crop. 

 The bees wintered without loss. I put out 12 

 colonies and increased them to 20, the yield 

 of extracted honey being much over 100 

 pounds from each colony, spring count. But 

 for the American Bee Journal it would not 

 have been half that. I have been doing my 

 best for a few years (with the aid of some of 

 the writers in the American Bee Journal) to 



