96 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



•am to furnish this new hive with full sheets of 

 foundation. 



2. I would like to know what causes my bees 

 to get angry each time I open a hive and apply 

 a little smoke. Do all bees do this? 



3. Are 8-frame hives as good as lO-frame 

 hives when running for comb honey? Do they 

 winter as well as the 10-frame? 



4. Are the 10-frame Jumbo hives better for 

 wintering than the 10-frame dovetailed? Are 

 the Jumbo better than the 10-franie standard 

 hive when running for extracted honey? 



5. Can you give any information as to 

 where I can get any 12-frame dovetailed or 

 other hives? 



6. I would like to know which way is best 

 to arrange the hives. Arrange them all on 

 separate stands, or all on one stand? 



ILLINOIS. 

 Answers. — 1. The best time to transfer bees 

 is when they are making some honey. You 

 must, of course, save the brood, whether you 

 save any of the old combs or not. At a time 

 when they are beginning to make honey, say 

 about June 1, smoke your box hive, then in- 

 vert it, placing another hive or box of about 

 the same size on top of it, mouth to mouth. 

 Put the movable frame hive on the old 

 stand. Drive the bees out of your old hive by 

 drumming it with a club for a few minutes. 

 Make sure the queen goes with the bees. 

 She usually does when the bulk of the bees 

 go. Then throw your driven bees in front 

 of the movable frame hive, just as if they 

 were a natural swarm. After that you can 

 either fix the old hive on top of the movable 

 frame hive, with an excluder between, or you 

 may place the old hive by the side of the 

 swarm, but it must have some bees left to take 

 care of the brood. At the end of 3 weeks, the 

 brood will all be hatched out and you can drive 

 out the rest of the bees and unite them with 

 the bees in the new hive. It is a good plan, 

 10 days after making the first drive, to ex- 

 amine the box hive and destroy the queen- 

 cells. Lengthy directions for transferring 

 bees are given in the revised Langstroth book, 

 the "Hive and Honey Bee." 



2. Probably you gtart to open the hive be- 

 fore smoking them. The first thing to do, be- 

 fore you open a hive, is to give a few puffs of 

 smoke at the entrance, for the door guards are 

 apt to become angry otherwise. Some bees 

 require more smoke than others. If they 

 are smoked enough to compel the bees to fill 

 themselves with honey, they become very 

 peaceable. 



3. It depends upon the manner of man- 

 agement in both cases. Dr. Mill , in his 

 most successful management of 8-frame hives 

 used 2 stories for breeding. 



4. Yes, by all means, as they have more 

 honey above the cluster proportionately. They 

 are also better for extracted honey, because 

 they give more room for breeding. 



6. They may be made to ord , but are not 

 listed in the ordinary catalogs 



6. Separate stands are best. When you 

 have several colonies on one stand and you 

 handle one of them, it is apt to jar the oth- 

 ers slightly and anger the bees. If you have 

 them on a solid stone or concrete foundation 

 there is no jar and it makes no difference. 



Frost in Hives — Sugar Candy — Clip- 

 ping Queen's Wings 



1. I have my bees in a stone house and 

 every warm day the wal»:r runs out of the 

 hives and freezes in an iric. : on the bottom 

 of the hives. The inside of the hives seems 

 to be covered with frost. What causes this? 

 I had my bees in the same place last year and 

 they did fine. There is a sorghum mill on 

 the farm and I noticed the bees were quite 

 busy around there last fall. Do you think 

 this has anything to do with the water run- 

 ning from the hives? 



2. I melted sugar and made a hard candy 

 and turned over the frames next to the bees 

 for them to cat. Was this advisable? 



3. I see a question was asked, "Is it ad- 

 visable to clip the queen's wings wh' n produc- 

 ing section honey ?" You answered, "Yes, 

 certainly." W^hat is the idea in doing this? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. Your hives are evidently more 

 moist than last year. That is, the food must 

 be more watery. The sorghum mill might ex- 

 plain it. It is possible, also, that your stone 

 building is colder than it was last year. To 

 remedy this, at least in part, place absorb- 

 ents, such as woolen rags or dry leaves, 

 over the cluster, after having removed any 

 impermeable covering that may be placed 

 over them. The moisture arising from the 

 breath and perspiration of the bees will then 

 be absorbed by the moisture absorbents. 



2. Yes, that ought to remely the trouble to 

 a certain extent, as sugar candy incites less 

 perspiration than liquid food. Di you ever 

 notice that when you drink much water you 

 perspire more and pass more urine? Did you 

 ever notice that when the weather is cold and 

 you do not perspire you are compelled to pass 

 more urine? The more watery food tlie bees 

 consume, the more moisture they produce. 



3. The only benefit in clipping the queen's 

 wings is the prevention of he escape with a 

 swarm. It is usually worth while. 



Mice — Shaking for Foulbrood — Cellar 



Wintering 



l.I have 9 colonies of bees, 4 I left out- 

 side and 5 I took in the cellar; 2 of those in 

 the cellar are in one hive, per your plan. 1 

 have trapped 6 mice this winter on the front 

 porches of the hives. One mouse refuses to 

 come out. I can see him by holding the lamp 

 just right. 



2. Six of my 9 have American foulbrbod. 

 Would you shake in fruit bloom or clover 

 bloom? 



3. I moved my 5 on Novemoer 1. Was that 

 too early this year? 



4. If I face t' em to the north will they 

 not put in a longer day's work? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. You might give poison to that 

 mouse. 



2. Wait till clover. 



3. I think they could have flown later, and 

 they would have been better for that later 

 flight. 



4. No, unless there is something unusual 

 about the exposure. 



Cupule 



I am very much interested in your plan 

 for raising queens, as given on page 308 in 

 the September number. But I don't know 

 what you mean by cupule. Also I would 

 like you to tell me where cupules can be 

 had, and the cost. Also where the punch you 

 speak of at the same time can oe had. I will 

 send for them both. WASHINGTON. 



Answer.- — The cupule is a cell cup similar 

 to those used in the Doolittle syst ra. You 

 will find the Barbeau method described at 

 length, with cuts, in the July, 1919, number 

 of the American Bee Journal. That which is 

 contained in the September number is addi- 

 tional information on the same subject. The 

 one completes the other. 



The dictionary explanation of the word "cup- 

 ule" is: "A concave or cup-shaped depres- 

 sion, as in a level surface.*' The word is 

 therefore correct. 



Mr. E. Barbeau, of St. Eustache, Quebec, is 

 the only man selling the implements of the 

 Barbeau system. \Vrite him. 



As to the price of cell-cups, they are 75 

 cents per hundred, and may be had of al- 

 most any dealer in supplies. A queen-rearing 

 outfit of the Doolittle system is worth about 

 $C. This outfit is generally used only by 

 queen breeders. 



Increase 



I am a novice at the bee business. I have 

 had bees for three years. Last year I made 

 my increase by taking combs of brood and a 

 queen to make my new colonies. I use 10- 

 frame hives. I have sixteen colonies. Next 

 spring I would like to increase to about 

 twenty-five colonies and get honey, too. What 

 method of increase would you recommend? I 

 want to make my increase the last of May, as 

 the clover flow begins the 15th of June. 



INDIANA. 



Answer. — It is out of the question to give 

 you a detail of the best plan to make increase 

 in this department. Here is a simple method: 



Divide each colony that you wish to use for 

 increase into two larts, before swarming time. 

 Put half of the brood and more than half of 

 the young bees into a new hive on a new 

 stand. Give these a new queen, leaving the 

 old queen on the old stand. Fill the empty 

 space in both hives with frames of comb, or, 

 if you have no comb, with comb fou dation in 

 full sheets. 



There are many other ways. A half dozen 

 different ways, adapted to diflferent conditions 

 are to be found in the book "A Thousand 

 Answers to Beekeeping Questions." 



Bees Dying 



1. I have, or "d have, four stands of bees 

 in 8-frame hives, with plenty of honey tor 

 winter. I put them in their winter quarters 

 December 1, in boxes, one hive in a place, 

 on the south side of the house, with the south 

 side of the box open. I have just one swarm 

 and another is about all d ad. I have the 

 Italian bees and I noticed the swarm that died 

 turned black before they died. Did they have 

 a disease, or what was the matter? 



2. There was 20 pounds of honey lift in the 

 hive. Would it be all right to leave it in the 

 frames and use it for bees next swarming 

 time? NEBRASKA. 



Answers. — 1. Your colonies must have been 

 weak, for they ought to winter well in outer 

 boxes with the south side open. Perhaps you 

 transported them to the south side of the 

 house from another spot, in December. In 

 that case they would lose many of their field 

 workers who would go back to where they 

 stood before and get lost. Their turning black 

 is no evidence of disease. It i^ because they 

 lose their hair. This is often the case with 

 bees that die in winter. 



2. Unless there is foulbrood in the comjs, 

 the honey is all right to use for other colo- 



Feeding in Spring — Dysentery 



1. I winter bees out of doors, by packing in 

 case similar to, Mr. Barber's, page 21, and ow- 

 ing to winter beginning about two months 

 earlier than usual, it will be necessary to 

 spring feed some weak colonies, which I have 

 all in one case. I have some ex^iacted honey 

 taken from my own bees last fall Tiiis has an 

 unpleasant flavor and was not put upon the 

 market. It is candied, or granulated. Will 

 this be good to feed? Should it be heated, and 

 can it be fed from a stand in the yard, al- 

 lowing the weak colonies only t") have access 

 to it on warm days of early spring? 



2. Would it be well to allow access to rye 

 flour during early spring, also pienty of water? 



3. Can any harm come from feeding the 

 above, even when fruit bloom is on? 



4. When is a colony most likely to have 

 dysentery, and is there a common remedy — or 

 what is best to do? NEBR/vSKA. 



Answers. — 1. It is all right to feed. But it 

 is much better to put it inside of the hive, 

 right over the cluster, especially if it is granu- 

 lated. When the granulation is very coarse 

 there is sometimes a little honey lost, but that 

 is rare. 



2. Yes. To attract them to rye flour, in a 

 box outside, put some old combs over it Pack 

 the flour tightly ia the box, in a little lump. 

 Have water with floats, in some handy, shel- 

 tered spot. Some scientists say that flour is 



