May 16, 1907 



American ^ee Journal 



417 



one else. Most of them want to work 

 for themselves in our country, and I 

 have to take the other side of it, and 

 use their hands and my ability. We can 

 not get experienced bee-keepers — they 

 all want to work for themselves. 



Dr. Bohrer — Well, you have to pay 

 for such as you do get, don't you? 



Mr. France — I have had students for 

 several years, who attend our State 

 Normal School, and during the vacation 

 I can get them at reduced prices, pay- 

 ing about So cents to $i.oo a day and 

 their board; but if I have to go outside 



of that class of labor I have to pay 

 more. The man who is living across 

 tlie road from mr has charge of the ex- 

 tracting and cisin^. He goes with me 

 from one apiary to the other; he does 

 the handling of Ihe machinery, etc. I 

 give him $2.00 a day and his dinner; but 

 he extracts about 4,000 pounds a day, 

 and rides 6 or 8 miles a day. It has been 

 suggested that the Information Bureau 

 ask for such bee-keepers, so if you know 

 of any, let it be known. 



Pres. Dadant — We will now hear from 

 the Committee on Resolutions. 

 (Cuntiaued next week.) 



v<r: 



ocfor Nilleils 



Send Questions either to the otlice of the American Bee Journal, or to 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 

 ' Dr. Miller does nut answer Questions by mail. 



Wintering Bees in Danzenbaker 

 Hives, Etc. 



I use the Danzenbaker hive and winter my 

 bees on the summer stanJs. X expect to got 

 6ome shallow Ddozenbaker frames filied wtlh 

 buckwheat honey. Then when I pack the 

 bees for winter I want to gire each colony 

 some of these frames in a super. 



1. Would I have to give them a full super, 

 or could I just as well haog 3 or 4 frames in 

 the center and leave the rest of the super 

 empty? 



2. Would that extra space to keep warm 

 be more of a detriment than the honey would 

 be a help* 



S. Would I still have to put a super of 

 packing on top of all, or could 1 pack on each 

 side of the 3 or 4 frames of honej ? 



4. If so, how should I do it? 



5. Would it be better to put the super of 

 filled shallow frames, whether 3 or 4 or a full 

 super, under the brood chamber, and let the 

 bees take it up as needed ', 



6. If I did this, should my outer winter-case 

 ■come clear to the bottom of all, or just to the 

 bottom of brood body* 



7. To make it still better, if they were your 

 bees, what would you do different from any 

 of these suggestions? 



8. I am giving my bottom-boards, super- 

 covers and escape-boards 2 heavy coats of 

 paint all over top and bottom. Is this a good 

 plan ? 



9. What is the best foundation-fastener one 

 can get for full sheets or for full sheets an J 

 bottom-starters in sections^ 



10. How hig-h from the ground is it best to 

 have the hives i We have quite a bit of wind 

 here, but not strong enough to blow a hive 

 over. Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — 1. You can do either way. 



2. That depends. With a colony none too 

 strong and abundant honey in the brood- 

 chamber, it might bo more of a detriment. 

 With a rousing colony and a bare possibility 

 that the stores in the brood chamber might 

 run out, it would be an excellent precaution- 

 ary measure. 



3. You could pack on each side. 



4. On each side of the frames of honey put 

 a dummy, having spacers either on the frames 

 or on the dummies so that there would be no 

 danger that in packing a dummy might be 

 crowded up too close to the honey ; and then 



pack each side just as you would pack an 

 empty super. 



5. I don't know. I'm not sure but it 

 would ; only in that case you must be careful 

 you don't start robbing when the under story 

 is first given. 



6. Not very material ; but it would be a lit- 

 tle better to come clear down. 



7. I'm not sure I've anything better to sug- 

 gest, unless it would be to have the honey 

 stored in frames the same size as those in the 

 brood chamber, and then have all the honey 

 in the brood-chamber. 



8. Yes. 



9. 1 suppose you mean for fastening foun- 

 dation in sections. Perhaps you can have 

 nothing better than the Daisy fastener. 



10 That depends somewhat upon location. 

 In some places in the South, hives must be 

 stilted up to keep ants out. In this locality, 

 and probably in your locality, no such neces- 

 sity exists, and it is better to have the hives 

 merely raised enough so they will not suffer 

 from the moisture of the ground, the bottom 

 of the hive being 3 10 6 inches above the 

 ground. That makes it more convenient for 

 any returning bees that drop on the ground 

 in front of the hive, and it is also more con- 

 venient for the bee-keeper to sit beside the 

 hive. 



Taxing Bees-Sowing Sweet Clover 



Seed-Numlier of Colonies 



to toe a Bee-Keeper 



1. Are bees assessable? Does a man have 

 to pay taxes on them after he gets a certain 

 number of colonies' A man here said they 

 were taxable, and I ttim to remember seeing 

 in the American B;e .lournal that they were 

 not. 



3. Can one be prosecuted for sowing sweet 

 clover along the couotry road? 



3. About how nja II v colonies of bees must 

 one have to be a bee i<eeper — not an amateur 

 bee-keeptr! Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. In Illinois they are assess- 

 able the same as any lener property, whether 

 one has 1000 colonics i-r only a single colony. 

 Why should it neit \v so? I don't know 

 whether the law is ;t;i different in Missouri. 



2. I never heani 1: any law that would 

 make such sowin^^ u criminal offense. At the 



same time, it there Is a strong prejudice 

 amon^ your neighbors against having sweet 

 clover on the roadside— a prejudice which is 

 by no means uncommon — I think 1 would not 

 sow any seed except on my own land. After 

 your neighbors learn that you can utilize 

 sweet clover for pasture and hay, their preju- 

 dice may ba overcome. 



3. As generally used, the word " bee- 

 keeper " applies to any one who owns bees, 

 whether a single colony or a thousand. It 

 would perhaps be better to limit the word to 

 designate one who takes care of bees with 

 some degree of skill, the number of colonies 

 having Utile or nothing to do in the case. 

 An amateur bee-keeper is one who keeps bees 

 largely for the pleasure of it, no matter how 

 many colonies he has. 



Rearing Queens for Home Use 



1. I will probably need 10 to 20 queens this 

 summer. To buy them Js rather expensive, 

 and to wait for the bees to swarm is too late; 

 besides, I don't want them to swarm it 1 can 

 help it. Some think good queens can not be 

 reared in a queenless colony. What Is your 

 opinion? 



2. Would the following plan be profitable! 

 Divide a colony according to the Alexander 

 plan, put the queen in the lower and the 

 brood in the upper story, then place a honey- 

 board between to get cells started. 



3. How long would it be necessary to let 

 the honey-board remain to get cells started? 



4. Is it likely that the bees would destroy 

 the cells after the honey-board was removed 

 if a queen-excluder were put on ' 



5. Is there danger that the bees would 

 swarm if the cells were left until sealed? 



6. VVouldn't the cells he as well off in a 2 

 or 3 frame nucleus after they were sealed as 

 in a full colony? Iowa. 



Answers.— 1. Rightly managed, I believe 

 as good queens as any in the world can be 

 reared in a queenless colony. 



2. Your plan will work if there is a strong 

 force of bees in the upper story, but it isn't 

 the best way. If I understand you correctly, 

 a board cuts off all communication between 

 the lower and upper story, and, with no nec- 

 tar coming in, the bees will be to some extent 

 in a discouraged condition. Better take a 

 little more trouble and have the very best 

 queens obtainable. 



3. Probably 2 days will be long enough. 



4. Sometimes they would. There is more 

 danger of it with an energetic young queen 

 than with an older one. The best is to have 

 in the hive below a queen that the bees are 

 about to supersede. 



5 No, cells in the upper story over an ex- 

 cluder will not cause the colony below to 

 swarm. 



C. Probably they generally would; but if 

 a cold spell should come they would be better 

 off in a full colony. There is no particular 

 object in putting them in nuclei as soon as 

 they are sealed, for any number can be put 

 in an upper story over an excluder, and they 

 are quite safe there until about 10 days after 

 the colony was made queenless in which the 

 cells were started, and having the cells in the 

 upper story doesn't hinder the working of the 

 colony belnw, unless they are working in 

 sections. Better keep the cells in a full col- 

 ony just as long as you can. The matter of 

 good queens is so important that it pays to 

 give them the best chance possible. About 

 the only place in which it pays to economize 

 is in the place where the young queen has to 

 wait to be fertilized and to begin laying. A 

 nucleus will do tor that perhaps just as well 

 as a full colony. 



Amerikanisclie Bienenzuclit, 



by Hans Buschbauer, is a bee-keeper's hand- 

 book of 13S rages, which is just what our 

 German friends will want. It is fully illus- 

 trated, and neatly bound in cloth. Price, 

 postpaid, 61.00; or with the American Bee 

 Journal one year— both for S1.7o. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



