October, 1907. 



American l^ae Journal 



honey is taken away, if any is left, and 

 in its stead will be given a cake of hard 

 dry candy. The robber-trap, with its 

 gang of mischief-makers, is now put 

 down cellar where it will be cool, and 

 where there will not be much danger 

 of suffocation. Strips of broken sec- 

 tions, or any pieces of wood not more 

 than one-eighth inch thick, are now 

 carefully slid between the cover and 

 hive-body containing the confined bees. 

 One of these is placed at each of the 

 four corners. This will make a gap of 



w^.- 



one-eighth inch between the cover and 

 the hive, or a crack just too narrow for 

 the bees to pass through. This is to 

 give the -bees ventilation; and a cellar 

 is just the p'.ace to put a lot of confined 

 bees. After being confined for two days 

 they may require to be fed. We would 

 advise keeping them shut up for a week, 

 or better, take them to an out-yard or 

 some location about two miles away 

 from the scene of their recent pow- 

 wows. Give them a queen or queen- 

 cell, and let them start house-keeping." 



^^ 



Docfor Miller^ 

 %esfioii-Ba 



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



DR. C. C. MILLER, Marengo. 111. 



Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Feeding Back Honey in Shallow 

 Frames 



1. I have a number of shallow frames 

 of honey, and no extractor. I wish 

 to feed them back to the bees. What 

 is the best way to do it? 



2. Some of these frames, which were 

 left in hives and put in a room upon be- 

 ing taken from the hives where they 

 were made, have become infested with 

 wax-larvx. I have fumigated them with 

 bisulphide of carbon. Will it be all 

 right to use these to feed back? 



Iowa. 



Answers. — i. I suppose the frames 

 are the same in size as those of the 

 brood-chamber, only not so deep. While 

 it would be better if they were full 

 depth, it will work very well to use 

 them in place of full-depth combs, put- 

 ting them in at the sides. Very likely 

 you can not thus dispose of them all 

 this fall, but they will come in very 

 handy in the spring, when you will take 

 out any combs that are emptied, or 

 nearly so, and put in shallow ones. 

 Of course, you must look out that they 

 do not get too close to the brood-nest, 

 for it would make trouble if brood 

 should get into any of them, and they 

 must be removed before the queen has 

 a chance to lay in them. 



2. Yes. 



their first return from the fields. To pre- 

 vent this, screen them in the hive for 

 a day or so, then just before opening 

 the entrance thump good and hard upon 

 the hive so the bees will be excited and 

 mark the location when they come out. 

 .\ board placed in front of the entrance 

 for them to bump against when they 

 come out will also help. If you wait 

 till they have stopped flying for a week 

 or so, they will stay pretty well wher- 

 ever they are put without any precau- 

 tion. 



To answer fully your other questions 

 would exceed the limitations of this de- 

 partment, which is meant to supplement 

 the teachings of a book of instructions 

 in bee-keeping, and not to take its 

 place. If I should take up several pages 

 telling all about making increase, the 

 old subscribers would raise a hornet's 

 nest about my ears for taking up room 

 with stuff that might be copied from any 

 good bee^book. If you cannot have a 

 paper and a book, too, let the paper 

 go and get the book. You'll find a 

 whole lot of things in it, any one of 

 which will be worth the price of the 

 book; and when you have become famil- 

 iar with it there will still, most likely, 

 be questions you would like to ask, and 

 ' such questions will be answered most 

 cheerfully in this department. 



Getting Rid of Ants 



Moving Bees-Preparing for Winter 

 — Increase 



Some time ago I bought 5 colonies of 

 bees. What is the best way to move 

 bees from place to place? to prepare 

 them for winter? to increase my stock. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — If bees are moved as much 

 as a mile there will be little or no 

 trouble about their returning to their 

 old location. If moved only a few rods, 

 with no precaution, nearly all the field- 

 bees will return to the old location upon 



I have a colony of bees that are mi.xed 

 with black ants. I saw some on the 

 hive last spring as soon as warm 

 weather commenced. Taking off the lid 

 to see if there were any honey in the 

 supers, I found that there looked to be 

 almost as many ants as bees. How can 

 I get them separated without killing 

 the bees? I am a beginner and have 

 read about ants being troublesome, but 

 know no way to get rid of them. 



New Jersey. 



Answer. — The probability is that there 

 is not so thorough a mixture of ants 



and bees as you suppose, for unless the 

 bees are exceedingly weak they will not 

 allow the ants anywhere inside the 

 brood-nest itself. Very likely you use 

 quilts, or in some other way there is 

 a chance for the ants to find shelter 

 somewhere where the bees can not reach 

 them. When I used quilts, the ants 

 seemed quite fond of making their 

 nests on top of the quilts, perhaps 

 mainly for the sake of the warmth to 

 be found there. With board covers that 

 afford no such protection from the at- 

 tack of the bees, the ants keep their 

 distance. Logically, the thing to do is 

 to avoid making any such shelters 

 where the bees can not get at the ants. 



Sometimes the ants have their nests 

 outside, and annoy the bees by trying 

 to get in. In that case, trace them to 

 their nest, take a crowbar and make a 

 hole into the nest, pour in 2 or 3 

 tablespoonfuls of bisulphide of car- 

 bon, and cover up quickly. If too 

 much trouble to get the bisulphide, gaso- 

 line will do some good. 



Whether the nest be inside or outside, 

 you may poison the ants. Take 2 thin 

 little boards, put a piece of wood J/^-inch 

 thick or less (a piece of section is 

 right) between the 2 at each side, and 

 that will allow the ants to get between 

 them but keep out the bees. Now put 

 Paris-green or some other poison mixed 

 with honey between the little boards, 

 but not near enough the edge for the 

 bees to reach it, and place where it 

 will be convenient for the ants. 



Ants in Hives 



What is the best remedy for ants in 

 bee-hives? Ohio. 



Answer. — Prevention is better than 

 cure. Have no place in the hive that an 

 ant can go and a bee can not. If the 

 ants have nests outside, pour bisulphide 

 of carbon in their nests. Gasoline will 

 also answer pretty well. 



Ventilating Hives -Tiering Up Hives 

 in Wintering Replacing Brood- 

 Combs 



1. To give ventilation to a dove- 

 tailed hive on a reversible bottom, 

 would any harm come from sliding the 

 hive backward until there is a bee- 

 space between outside edge of back of 

 bottom and inside edge of back of bot- 

 tom, or would sliding the hive for- 

 ward be better? 



2. To what extent would you advise 

 tiering up hives for outside wintering, 

 say not more than 2 or 3 high? 



3. To utilize all room on my 20-foot 

 platforms ne.xt season, is it advisable 

 to place hives 6 inches apart, with en- 

 trances alternated north and south? 



4. I wish to replace all of the brood- 

 combs next spring with frames of full 

 sheets of foundation, leaving the 2 

 best combs for the outside ones. Is 

 this going it too strong, provided I 

 do it when fruit-bloom is on? Iowa. 



Answers. — i. Sliding back would 

 make the bottom-bars rest on the rim 

 of the bottom-board, and the bees 

 would glue the two together, so slid- 

 ing forward would be better. When 



I 



