April 4, 1907 



American Hae Journal 



strong. You will see that the answer I have 

 given to your first question runs in this line. 

 If your bees are all divided up by excessive 

 swarming, you can not expect much surplus. 

 But by proceeding according to the first an- 

 swer you will keep nearly all the force with 

 the first swarm, and that's the one that will 

 give you the honey. A couple of days after 

 hiving the swarm, you will take the surplus 

 arrangement from the old hive and put it over 

 the hive containing the swarm. 



Dental Wax 



What is the difference between dental wax 

 and ordinary beeswax, if any >. If so, how do 

 you prepare the dental wax? 



Rhode Island. 



Answer.— I don't know. I think the prin- 

 cipal ingredient is beeswax, but I suspect 

 other things are also in it. Perhaps some of 

 our dentist friends will tell us. 



Protecting Bees With Tar- Paper 



How can I protect my bees after putting 

 them out of the cellar, with tar-paper* and 

 when should it be put on, when taken off 

 and what is accomplished for the benefit of 

 the bees? Xowa. 



_ Answer.— Whatever protection of the kind 

 IS given should be given iustassoonas pos- 

 sible after the bees are taken out, as it is 

 iikely to be colder then than afterward The 

 time for taking off depends upon the weather ■ 

 no harm to leave it on until fruit-bloom or 

 even till the first bloom is seen on clover The 

 advantage is that the bees are kept warmer 

 especially cold nights. Just how much that 

 advantage is it would be hard to say, no re- 

 ports being yet given as to comparative re- 

 sults with and without protection. While 

 probably very few practise such protection, 

 some think it wise to protect supers throueh- 

 out the season. 



Profiably Bee-Moth Larvae 



What is the matter with my bees' They 

 are golden Italians. I just ordered the queen 

 from Florida. I see from 3 to a dozen young 

 bees, which look as if they were just hatched 

 dragged out on the alighting-board every 

 morning. Some of them are not yet quite 

 dead. The ground in front is covered with 

 dead bees. They are not starved for they 

 have honey in the hive. What is a remedy ? 



Arkansas. 



Answer.— If you will examine the frames 

 you will likely find that the larva; of the bee- 

 moth have built their galleries through the 

 combs, not killing the young bees in the cells 

 but injuring them enough so the older bees 

 throw them out. Probably they will come 

 out all right if you will let them entirely 

 alone, but if you like you can help the bees to 

 clean out the unwelcome intruders. Take a 

 pin or a sharp-pointed nail and prick a hole 

 in one end of the silken gallery; then begin 

 at the other end, tearing open the gallery as 

 you go, and the worm will pretty soon crawl 

 out, and then you have your choice as to 

 what death you wish it to die. One way is to 

 let it drop on a hive-cover and then mash it. 



Getting Straight Comb from Starters 

 in Wired Frames 



My boy and myself wired about 200 Hoff- 

 man frames with the intention of putting in 

 full sheets of brood foundation. Suppose I 

 put in only starters an inch or 2 in depth ; 

 will I get reasonably straight combs, or will 

 the bees build on one side of the wires? In 

 other words, having wired frames is it neces- 

 sary to use full sheets in order to get straight 

 combs? New York. 



Answer.- Some claim that when there is 



only a starter in a wired frame, the bees wil 

 build down their comb so as to make the wire 

 come in the septum of the comb. I would 

 not like to be too positive about it, having 

 had little direct experience in the matter, but 

 I tfdiilt- that without foundation they steer 

 the septum .'traight for the center of the 

 earth, and if the wire happens to come in that 

 line it will be in the septum, ortherwise not. 

 Whether your frames are wired or not, with 

 an inch starter you may count on reasonably 

 straight combs, except that they will be some- 

 what corrugated, provided hives are level 

 from side to side. But are you willing to run 

 the risk of having as much drone-comb as the 

 bees are likely to build without foundation? 

 In the long run, I suspect you will find it 

 economy to fill the frames with foundation. 

 .\t any rate, it may be well for you to fill 

 most of your frames full, trying only a few 

 with starters, and if you succeed well with 

 the starters you can work on that plan after- 

 ward. 



Taylor Comb-Leveler 



I send you herewith a picture of the Taylor 

 Handy Comb Leveler. Is it necessary to use 

 one on bait-seclions? I see no mention of 

 such a contrivance in any of the bee-books. 

 What is your opinion of it? California. 



Answer. — I have made considerable use of 

 the Taylor Handy Comb Leveler, and con- 

 sider it a very fine thing. But the statement 

 in the advertisement that you enclose, which 



GtHEf t AlVitW 





QoTror^'^^^ 



says concerning unfilled sections left over at 

 the close of the season, that " without being 

 leveled they would be practically worthless " 

 is altogether too sweeping to be true. An 

 unfinished section that is clean generally 

 needs no leveling. But when the surface of 

 a section is soiled or glued, then the leveler 

 is a nice thing to melt away the objectionable 

 part. It is also good where a section is too 

 thick and would be built to the separator. 



Bee-Song Souvenir Postal Cards. — 



We have issued in colors, 3 bee-song postal 

 cards for bee-keepers, each card having one 

 of the following songs, about 23.ix3;'4 in size, 

 also with illustrated heading on each card: 

 "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey," "The Bee- 

 Keeper's Lullaby," and the " The Humming 

 of the Bees." The first two cards have small 

 pictures of the authors of the words and 

 music. This makes 4 souvenir postal cards 

 we have now issued for the use of beekeep- 

 ers, the first being the " Honey-Bear " card. 

 Prices, by mail, are as follows: Sample cards, 

 3 cents each ; 7 for 20 cents, or 10 for 25 cents. 



€xp€rien€e$ I 



Eapl> nuii-Blooiii 



The bees have come through the winter so 

 far all right. They have been quite busy 

 carrying in pollen from the elms and the 

 maples. I don't know whether they get any 

 honey. Plum, cherry, and peach trees are 

 almost in bloom — just ready to burst out. If 

 frost holds off we will have a fine lot of 

 bloom. Some of the soft maples were in 

 bloom a couple of weeks ago, but the frost 

 killed all of it. D. C. McLeod. 



Pana, 111., March 25. 



Japan Clover Not Favored for Bees 



On page 194, Dr. Miller asks who can and 

 will tell " Pennsylvania" about Japan clover 

 as a bee-plant. It is now about 23 years since 

 'Japan clover made its appearance here, and I 

 have never seen a bee working on it. Being 

 a bee-keeper I have observe clofely what 

 plants are honey-yielders, and I am sure that 

 Japan clover is worthless as a honey-plant, 

 at least in this locality. There may be places 

 where it yields, as you know some plants are 

 good honey-yielders in some localities and 

 worthless in others. It is a low-growing an- 

 nual, and is a splendid fall-grazing plant, 

 always maturing an abundance of seed to re- 

 seed itself, no matter how closely grazed. 



Tupelo, Miss., March 9. J. D. Kowan. 



Expects Early Swarming 



I live in the northwest corner of Grayson 

 Co., Tex., and I think this country is very 

 good. But last year was hard on bees here. I 

 got some surplus honey. I have Italian bees 

 and like them very much. Fruit-blooming 

 time is here, and the bees are singing their 

 sweet songs and are storing some honey. 

 They are rearing brood in great quantities, 

 and it nothing happens they will be swarm- 

 ing by April 25, and that is pretty early for 

 this country. 1 rear my own queens, and 

 have had good luck with them. I have all 

 my colonies with young, prolific queens for 

 this season. Alfalfa and cotton are our main 

 honey-plants. 1 am keeping bees on a small 

 scale, as I think that no one should jump into 

 the bee-business before he knows what he is 

 doing. I think every farmer should have a 

 few colonies of bees, as they are not in the 

 way, and they will bring him some sweet re- 

 turns. C. E. Alexander. 



Gordonville, Tex., March 4. 



Keeping Moth-Worms Out of Brood- 

 Combs 



On page 215, " Michigan " asked how to 

 keep moth-worms out of brood-combs. My 

 way is to take out the combs, clean off the 

 frames, then wrap them up in newspapers 

 about 3-ply, and tie them up closely. I have 

 kept them for 3 years and had no moth- 

 worms. W. H. HOBERT. 



Fairport, Iowa, Feb. 16. 



Construction of Bee-Cellars 



I will give a description of my bee-cellar 

 that I am putting the finishing touches on, 

 and ask a criticism of its construction, if you 

 find anything that calls for it. 



The basement is nearly 8 feet deep, with 

 brick walls. The floor is concrete, 6 or S 

 inches deep, and then finished with one inch 

 of cement. The side-walls are cemented 

 about 6 feet in height. The size is 1430x22 

 feet, north and south, with one window in 

 each end. I have a board chimney 8x10 inches 

 out ofeach window, and on the outside extend- 



