June 20, 1907 



545 



American ^ac Journal j ^g^ 



growth and progress liacl Lx-cn made in 

 25 years. It is 23 since I came from 

 tlie Kast into tlie West. The growth of 

 tlic industry as a whole is simply re- 

 markahle, when you think of it, the 

 way it has spread and the way it has 

 been reaching out, the growth of a fac- 

 tory here, a factory there, and factories 

 do not grow for the production of any- 

 thing unless there is a demand. The 

 factories sometimes push ahead and in- 

 troduce new things, and I think that 

 the manufacturers of bee-supplies have 

 done more for the country than any 

 otlicr class of individuals, or more for 

 the bee-kecpcrs of the country than any 

 other class of individuals, owing to the 

 fact that they have pushed to the front. 

 They have pushed to the front some 

 things that are worthless from my stand- 

 point, but they are not worthless from 

 the standpoint of other people, and 

 therefore they are good. If a man puts 

 to the front anything people want, he is 

 a benefactor. When- -we think about 

 the things that were not in existence, 

 that were not obtainable 25 years ago, 

 that are a help to the bee-keepers to- 

 day, it would take the whole afternoon 

 to tell about them, and these things 

 have come to us on account of the push 

 and energy of a half a dozen men in 

 the United States. Some of our people 

 say they have gotten rich, and are bloat- 

 ed bondholders, and have got more fac- 

 tories and great institutions, and they 

 have done great things, and they ought 

 not to be permitted to speak. They 

 have gotten rich, they have made a few 

 dollars, but the bee-keepers of the 

 United States are millions of dollars 

 better off than they would have been 

 had these people not existed. 



Age When Queen Does Best Work. 



"How many think a queen does her 

 best work in the first year?" 



Pres. York — All who think so, raise 

 your hands. 3. How many think a queen 

 does her best work in her 2d year? 9. 



Dr. Bohrer — I do not raise my hand 

 in either case, because I do not know. 

 My observation has taught me not to 

 be positive about that. 



Dr. Miller — Maybe somebody thinks 

 the 3d year. 



Pres. York— All who think the 3d 

 year raise your hands. I do not see 

 any one on that. 



Dr. Miller — ^With that in view you 

 may add one more to the 2d year. I 

 did not vote. I know now ! 



Pres. York — You wanted to see which 

 way it was going? 



Introducing a Queen to a Laying- 

 Worker Colony 



"How shall we successfully introduce 

 a queen to a colony with laying work- 

 ers?" 



Mr. Wilcox — We don't want to. 



Dr. Miller — One way is to introduce 

 a virgin queen just out of the cell. Al- 

 most invariably, if not invariably, she 

 will be accepted. 



Mr. Whitney — I asked that question, 

 because last season I had a little ex- 

 perience with a laying-worker colony, 

 and I had a great deal of trouble. I 

 was removing some queens from other 

 colonies for requeening, and I thought 

 I would use those to test that laying- 



wurker colony, .•mil 1 introduced one 

 in the usual way, kept her until I 

 thought she hatl been recognized by the 

 bees, and then I let her free. They 

 killed her in a few minutes. Then I 

 tried another plan. I took the bees 

 all out and shookthem on the ground 

 at a distance, carried the combs back 

 and introduced .mother of the same kind 

 of queens, and the bees came back and 

 killed her. I look the frames out of 

 the hive-body .'ind put them into supers. 

 I filled up the luwer story with frames 

 of empty comb and put the queen in, 

 put a queen - excluder over her and 

 set the super of laying workers right 

 on top, and they accepted the queen. 

 But I guess it would have been Ijctter 

 if I had broken up the whole business. 

 I think that is the better way. 



Mr. Wilcox — I said I did not wish to, 

 and i do not ; but I have done it a 

 great many times by introducing a comb 

 of hatching brood and about 48 hours 

 after introduce another comb of hatch- 

 ing brood, and those hatching bees us- 

 ually destroy the laying workers, or they 

 cease to be laying workers, and will 

 accept a queen or queen-cell. It will 

 not work every time, but it does in a 

 majority of cases. Sometimes I try the 

 third or fourth time. Meanwhile they 

 are hatching their bees. 



Mr. Whitney— I had forgotten that. 

 I tried that very thing. I put in one 

 frame and then another, but they did 

 not produce any queen-cells at all, and 

 I just adopted the other plan. 



"What percent more honey can be se- 

 cured with the Danzenbaker than with 

 other hives?" 



A Member — Not any more. 



"Which is best, to increase by natural 

 swarming or artificial?" 



Dr. Miller — It depends altogether up- 

 on circumstances, the man and his de- 

 sires. 



Mr. Abbott— Locality? 



Dr. Miller — Yes; a great many things 

 come in. 



Hives in Cellar — Putting Out Bees. 



"Should hives be set on an incline 

 forward in the cellar? What are the 

 conditions indicating the proper time to 

 set them out in the spring?" 



Dr. Boher — Yes, I would say to the 

 first; and second, any day in March that 

 is warm enough for the bees to fly out. 

 That is in central Kansas. Farther 

 north it would perhaps be too soon. 



Mr. Taylor — .\s I set them I would 

 not incline thcni. I set them directly 

 up one on another. As to taking them 

 out, Mr. Wheeler speaks of when he 

 sets them out, they gather into the hives 

 that are not their own. I can tell him 

 how to prevent that. Do not take them 

 out when it is warm enough for the bees 

 to fly. Take them out rather early in 

 the season, and taken out when it is 

 too cold for them to go out of their 

 hives. I generally take them out about 

 the last of l\Iarch and they are quiet, 

 just as quiet out there on their stands 

 as they would be if they had been there 

 all winter; and when it becomes warm 

 enough for them to fly they begin to 

 fly just as they would in the spring if 

 they had been out there in the winter, 

 and we have.no difficulty with their 



■drilling,' as it is called, or swarm- 

 ing out, or anything of that kind. 



Mr. Thompson — I would like to ask, 

 in the case of drifting in the spring, is 

 there danger of carrying foul brood at 

 that time if there is any foul brood in 

 the yard? 



Mr. 1 aylor — I don't know, but I 

 should think very likely there would be. 

 Mr. Kimniey — Two years ago I took 

 my bees from the cellar, carried them 

 out and put them on the stands on a 

 bright, warm, sunshiny day. J mmediat e- 

 ly upon my moving them out, I nar- 

 rowed the hive-entrances so I thought 

 I would prevent any robbing, and they 

 flew out and went back of their own 

 accord, seemingly every bee in its proper 

 hive. Last spring I took them out on a 

 cool day and they staid out 2 days. I 

 took them out Friday, and on Sunday 

 morning the air was full of bees, and 

 they "drifted" right into that corner of 

 the' yard, and this corner had scarcely 

 any. That is an actual experience. 

 Mr. Taylor — Locations must differ. 

 Mr. Wilcox — I will say, in answer to 

 that question, I agree with Mr. Taylor 

 emphatically. I put my bees into the 

 cellar without bottom-boards, and con- 

 sequently they stand level. If the bot- 

 tom-boards were on I would prefer they 

 should be slanting, so that the bees in 

 a warm spell might clean out the dead 

 ones more easily. But in carrying them 

 out in the spring I find it more con- 

 venient to move them while the tem- 

 perature is going down. For that rea- 

 son I carry them out between 4 o'clock 

 and bedtime, and if they fly a little before 

 dark all the better, but if they do not, 

 they take their chances in the morning. 

 It may be a foggy, wet day, in which 

 case it would be bad for them, but other- 

 wise it is all right. 



Miss Wilson — We commence carry- 

 ing out ours in the morning and carry 

 them out as fast as we can. When we 

 close the entrance dow-n to a small eri- 

 trance we have had no trouble with their 

 mixing. 



Mr. Kimmey — Perhaps I would bet- 

 ter say I did not close the entrances, 

 and perhaps that is the secret. The 

 year before I was careful to close them, 

 but having carried them out and leaving 

 them from Friday to Sunday, left them 

 open. I have the bottom-boards off 

 all winter. 



Mr. Taylor — In regard to closing the 

 entrance, I think it is of prime import- 

 ance that the entrance be closed up to 

 say an inch just as soon as they are set 

 out. As surely as you leave the en- 

 trances wide open, when a warm day 

 comes robbing will be begun ; but if 

 you close them up to about an inch, vou 

 will never hear anything about robbing. 

 Mr. Pease — On that same theory, set- 

 ting bees out in the spring and closing 

 the entrances to prevent their robbing 

 or drifting, as I understand the ques- 

 tion, if bees are wintered outdoors, with 

 what we call a small opening, in the 

 spring when our bees come out, does 

 the same theory apply to close the en- 

 trance to prevent bees from drifting or 

 mixing when they take their flight in 

 the spring? 



Mr. Taylor — They arc not apt to drift 

 if thev are out all winter. 



