66o 



September, 190. 



American Hee Journal 



page 208, that E. P. Adams "says he was 

 at first disappointed with the plan, and 

 had stated so, as the queen in the weak- 

 er colon}' was almost invariably killed 

 and the 2 colonies merged into one be- 

 low. He has since found, however, that 

 the lower colony must be really a strong 

 one ; it does not matter much how weak 

 the upper one may be, so long as it has 

 a laying queen. He puts them together 

 in the evening, or toward evening, when 

 thev have about ceased to fly, and with- 



out using smoke or jarring them at all. 

 To assist in this he makes all possible 

 preparation early in the day, placing the 

 iiueeu-cxcluder on the top of the strong 

 colony, leaving off the cover, etc. He 

 is also careful that the weaker colony 

 is in proper shape, the hive-body made 

 loose on the bottom-board, and all readv 

 to be lifted and placed on the top of the 

 other. He says that these points all go 

 toward the success of the plan, and that 

 he is highly pleased with the results. 



Docior Millers (§ 



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

 DR. C. C. MILLER. Marengo, 111. ,~ia 

 Dr. Miller does fiot answer Questions by mail. I'CS 



Late Swarms 



1. Why don't my bees swarm? If 

 they have swarmed we don't know it. 

 They were very weak when we put them 

 out in the spring. They come out once 

 a day and have their "play," as I call 

 it, but go back in again. 



2. Would they need to be fed if they 

 swarmed now, or would they gather 

 honey enough for themselves? 



MlNNES0T.-\. 



Answers. — As you say, they were 

 weak, it may be that is sufficient reason 

 for their not swarming. It is possible 

 that the poor season may have some- 

 thing to do with It. It also may happen 

 that a strong colony in a good season 

 may be good enough not to swarm. A 

 number of my colonies make no ofifer 

 to swarm each year, and I wish they 

 were all of like mind, ily biggest yields 

 come from these non-swarming colo- 

 nies. 



2. If there is a good fall flow they 

 ought to get their winter stores; other- 

 wise not. In any case it is good prac- 

 tise to feed when a swarm is first 

 hived. If bad weather should happen 

 at the time, it would be a setback with- 

 out such feeding. 



Too Many Drones 



1. I bought a colony of bees last 

 spring, and there are now about as 

 many drones as worker-bees. We would 

 like to know how to get rid of the 

 drones. 



2. How can we prevent so many 

 drones being reared? 



South D.'^kota. 



Answers. — i. Excluder-zinc in some 

 form will help out. If you have not a 

 regular drone-trap, use enough exclud- 

 er-zinc to close the entrance at a time 

 of day when the drones are flying out. 

 Then in the evening you can easily 

 catch them, feed them to the chickens. 



or dispose of them in any way you like. 



2. The easiest way to prevent a large 

 number of drones is not to have much 

 drone-comb in the hive. To make sure 

 against it. a great many think it best 

 to have frames filled with worker- 

 foundation, thus securing worker-combs 

 in all the frames. If you have frames 

 largely filled with drone-comb, supply 

 their places with better. If there are 

 patches of drone-comb, cut out and fill 

 the holes with worker-comb or worker- 

 foundation. You may also slice the 

 heads off sealed drone-brood, or sprinkle 

 salt or salt-water on the unsealed brood. 



If the drones are as numerous as you 

 indicate, I'm afraid it may be a case 

 of laying workers. See if the sealing of 

 worker-cells, instead of being flat, is 

 raised like little marbles. If so. it is a 

 case of laying-workers, and the best 

 thing is to break up the colony. 



Few Drones- Dividing Colonies 



1. My bees have had no drones to speak 

 of this season, except on 2 or 3 days, 

 when I saw 4 or 5 flying from 2 of the 

 hives, and the bees killed them right 

 away. What was the cause? 



2. Will bees do all right if put in a 

 nucleus without any queen? 



3. I think I would rather have the 

 American Bee Journal every week than 

 to have it monthly. 



4. How often can I divide a colony 

 of bees and have them do well? 



Nebr.^ska. 



Answers. — i. The absence of drones 

 may be due to the poorness of the sea- 

 son. Keeping drones is a sort of luxury 

 that bees indulge in when they are pros- 

 perous, and when forage is scarce they 

 do not feel they can afford it. 



2. No. They would, to be sure, rear a 

 queen, and in time build up into a full 

 colony, but a queen started in a nucleus 

 would be likely to be a poor one. They 

 should at least have a sealed queen-cell 



given, and then they are likely to be all 

 right. 



3. I would rather have it daily, and 

 would be willing to give as much for a 

 good daily bee-paper as I give for a 

 daily newspaper — yes, more. But there 

 are not enough who would be willing 

 to pay a fair price for a daily bee-paper, 

 and so no publisher could in all proba- 

 bility afiford to publish it. And I sup- 

 pose the publishers thought the number 

 who want a weekly bee-paper is very 

 small compared with those who want it 

 monthly, so you and I must be satisfied 

 with it one-fourth as often. But the 

 American Bee Journal costs so little 

 now that we can aflford to take another 

 bee-paper or two besides. 



4. That depends altogether upon cir- 

 cuinstances. In a very poor year once 

 is too often, unless one is careful to feed 

 well, and no feeding is quite so good, 

 either, as getting the natural stores 

 from the flowers. In an extra-good sea- 

 son you might divided a colony as soon 

 as the flow began, and each part might 

 be ready to be divided again in a month, 

 perhaps in less time, and that might be 

 kept up if the flow should keep up. 



Moths in Hives 



How can I get rid of moths in my bee- 

 hives? The bees are not working well, 

 for the moths bother them. 



Washington. 



Answer. — There is no cure for moths 

 better than bees. A strong colony is 

 not likel}' to be bothered with them, 

 whereas a weak one, especially if it has 

 a lot of combs more than it can cover, 

 will have lots of trouble. But there is a 

 big difference in the kind of bees. A 

 weak colony of Italians will keep off the 

 moth where blacks would succumb. Hy- 

 brids are nearly, if not quite, as good as 

 Italians. So if you get in some good 

 Italian blood, your trouble will probably 

 disappear. 



Bees Hanging Under Brood-Frames- 

 " Go-Backs "Supers 



1. I have several colonies that hang 

 in great numbers under the brood- 

 frames, so as to show at the entrance. 

 What does it mean? Should I smoke 

 them up into the super or let them 

 alone ? 



2. When I have "go-backs," should 

 they be put on alone, or will it do to 

 have another super under them ordi- 

 narily? 



3. How often should supers be looked 

 after, or rather examined, as to how- 

 far they are filled? 



4. Do you prefer putting an empty su- 

 per under or over a half-full on-e? I 

 mean right during a good flow. 



5. Would you contract a wide en- 

 trance during a cool spell in summer? 



New York. 



Answers. — i. t)ne thing it means is 

 that the colony is strong. If they are 

 clustering out during the middle of the 

 day, it may mean that there is nothing 

 afield for them to do. If a colony clus- 

 ters out while others are at work, it 

 may mean that they are about to swarm, ' 

 or it may mean thev are lazv. In anv 



