1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



131 



' DR. MILLER'S ANSWERS ' 



Answered by the Editor during the illness of Dr. Miller. 



It en addressed stamped envelope is enclosed with the questions 

 asked^ a copy of the reply to be published will be mailed to the en- 

 quirer. Some questions require too lengthy answers to be available 

 in this department. In such case the enquirer will be referred to the 

 proper authorities or treatises. In many cases if the enquirer will 

 read the questions of the previous numbers he will find exactly what 

 he seeks. 



2. March, April or May. Sometime before 

 fruit bloom. 



3. Aluminum combs arc still an experiment. 

 They have some very good points and some de- 

 fects. The pro and con will not be ascertained 

 positively before they haVc 2 or 3 years of trial. 



4. You may keep them right close to build- 

 ings, if the line of their flight does not inter- 

 fere with people or animals. As a rule it is 

 better to place them in the orchard, or along a 

 fence, in the shade if possible. There should 

 be no occasion for people or animals to pass 

 within 50 feet of the front of the hives, unless 

 there is some obstruction, such as a hedge or 

 low shrubs in front of them. 



Transferring 



1. I would like to know the best time to 

 transfer bees from some old hives into new 

 ones, and the best way to do it. 



2. In placing hives on a bee-stand, how 

 close together would you place the hives ? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. If your bees are in movable- 

 frame hives, the only thing to do is to lift 

 the combs from the old hive into the new one, 

 placing the new hive on the exact spot occu- 

 pied by the old one. If you have to trans- 

 fer from box hives, you had jetter wait until 

 fruit bloom. Then smoke the bees, overturn 

 the hive, placing some emp*y oox on its stand: 

 drive the bees, by drumming, into another 

 box and afterwards transfer c . the combs con- 

 taining worker brood into frames, fastening 

 them in with either twine or wire clamps. 

 Put the new hive on the stand, shaking onto 

 it all the bees. You may also transfer by 

 driving the bees out at swarming time, and 

 hiving them into a movable-frame hive, setting 

 the old hive by the side of the new one. In 

 three weeks, when all the brood has hatched, 

 all the remaining bees may De shaken in front 

 of the new hive. 



There is a great deal of careful labor re- 

 quired in transferring bees and if you wish to 

 do much of it you had better get a good book 

 of instructions. You will find explicit instruc- 

 tions in the Langstroth-Dadant book, pages 

 309 to 315. They are too lengthy to be given 

 fully in the question department. 



2. You may place the hives very close to- 

 gether. But for convenience it is better to 

 place them in twos, 3 or 4 feet away from 

 other colonies in the same row, and the rows 

 about 10 feet apart. The location you can dis- 

 pose of should determine the space you will 

 use. 



working on the pussy willows. Our winters 

 here are mostly rain, with temperature from 

 45 to 60 degrees, with perhaps a total period 

 of two to four weeks when the temperature 

 will drop to 32 and 20 above. Last winter, be- 

 fore I saw how my bees came through I had 

 ordered some double-walled hives to use, in or- 

 der to avoid the more cumbersome cases with 

 the attendant packing, and the point I desire 

 to make is, under these conditions, would you 

 advise the use o^ a large hive like the modi- 

 fied Dadant (single-walled), without further 

 protection, instead of the double- walled hive, 

 where you wish to avoid swarming as much as 

 possible? WASHINGTON. 



Answers. — 1. The advice to place the old col- 

 ony, which has cast a swarm, by the side of 

 the swarm, is given in locations where the 

 heat of summer induces the old colony to 

 swarm again. If your location is, as I believe 

 it is, with moderate temperature in summer, 

 it is as well to leave it as nature dictates. 

 There is a possibility of losing too many bees 

 out of the old hive and having its brood 

 chilled if you place either above or by the 

 side of the other. It would fare just as 

 well above the other as on the side. 



2. We use the Dadant hive with very little 

 more protection than you mention, here in this 

 cold country, where the thermometer goes 

 down to 20 degrees below. The results that 

 you have had are secured here also, in spite 

 of low temperatures, when the cold spells do 

 not last more than a month without giving the 

 bees a Sight. The packing cases or outside 

 cases have proven too expensive for us, al- 

 though there are seasons when we would wish 

 to have them. But the average season here is 

 sufficiently irregular to give the bees a flight 

 about once a month, in spite of the cold 

 northern winds that come from time to time. 



Wintering 



1. I keep ten of my colonies in the city, and 

 in order to keep that number it is necessary 

 for me to place them closely side by side, tak- 

 ing my chances on loss of queens. You rec- 

 ommend after a prime swarm comes off plac- 

 ing it on the old stand and putting the mother 

 hive alongside of it for seven or eight days 

 and then putting it in a new location. This is 

 impracticable, on account of my colonies be- 

 ing so close together; would the same results 

 follow by placing the mother hive on top of 

 the new one facing the same direction, with a 

 bottom-board between the two hives, of course? 



2. Last year (1918-19), I made outside cases 

 for each of my hives while on a former loca- 

 tion, allowing about 4 inches space between the 

 case and the hive bodies. I packed this space 

 with chaff and my bees came through in great 

 shape — very strung. That winter (1918-19) 

 was a very mild winter. Last fall, on account 

 of desiring to place them in the new location, 

 1 neglected to make cases for the new colo- 

 nies and did not pack the old ones. This year 

 we had the coldest weather we have experi- 

 enced since 1893, the temperature dropping to 

 5 dgrees above zero during two nights and 

 standing on an average of about 12 to 15 de- 

 grees above zero for two weeks. I was afraid 

 I would lose some, if not all, of my colonies, 

 but every hive came through and they are now 



Afterswarm 



Last summer I had one swarm come out 

 which I hived ; then on the 9th day the bees 

 came out in a big swarm, but went back in the 

 hive again ; did the same trick again on the 

 12th day. What was the trouble with them? 

 WISCONSIN. 



Answer. — Have never seen anything of the 

 kind, except with secondary swarms, or after- 

 swarms, when the young queen goes out to 

 mate. But it usually takes place before the 

 12th day. It is rarely a large swarm. 



What Price to Pay for Bees 



1. What is a fair price to pay for an ordi- 

 nary swarm of bees in liox hive? 



2. What is a fair price to pay for an ordi- 

 nary swarm of bees in standard hives? 



3. Do you not think it best to requeen these 

 swarms this spring? ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. The price of a swarm in a 

 hive depends upon the strength of the swarm 

 and the time of purchase. If by swarm you 

 mean colony of bees in a box hive, it may be 

 worth from $4 to $8, accordinp to its size, its 

 supplies in honey and the time at which you 

 purchase it. The most favorable time to buy 

 is spring. 



2. In a movable-frame hive the value of the 

 swarm depends upon the size of the hive and 

 also the conditions enumerated above. A colony 

 in 10-frame Langstroth hive is wurlh more than 

 in 8-frame. A colony in Jumbo hive is also 

 probably worth more than one in Langstroth 

 hive, since the hive is larger. Besides, a ques- 

 tion which is not raised in the case of box 

 hives should be considered here. The colony 

 in movable-frame hive may be pure Italians, or 

 hybrids, or blacks. In box hives they are usu- 

 ally black bees. So a colony in movable-frame 

 hive may be worth from $3 to $20. Straight 

 or crooked combs will also make a difference. 

 The value depends also somewhat on the de- 

 mand. 



3. That must be left to the judgment of the 

 apiarist. The colonies that have vigorous, pro- 

 lific Italian queens had better be left till after 

 the honey crop without change. For the oth- 

 ers, your judgment is better than mine. 



Moving Bees — Aluminum Comhs 



1. Can bees be transported in a car 20 miles, 

 and what part of the day would be the best 

 for such work? 



2. What time this spring would be the best 

 to buy them? 



3. Would you advise me to buy the alumin- 

 um combs, which I see advertised in your pa- 

 per? Are they any better than others? 



4. How far away from buildings should bees 

 be kept? MINNESOTA. 



Answers. — 1. Yes. and much further. In 

 early spring it may be done at almost any 

 time of the day» but early morning is best. 



Beginner 



1. When is the best time of the year to 

 transfer bees from trees to hives ? Should a 

 person move hive soon after hiving, or leave 

 it there awhile? 



2. If you were going to start in the bee 

 business anew what kind of hives would you 

 prefer? 



3. Which do you like the best, 8 or 10-frarae 

 hives? 



4. Which would be the best for the beginner, 

 to raise comb or extracted honey? 



5. What are some good honey flowers? 



6. When is the best time of the year to plant 

 wild buckwheat and clover? 



7. What is a good plan for removing bees 

 from hollow trees or hives? 



8. What style and size of smoker would you 

 prefer, and what do you use for fuel? 



KANSAS. 

 Answers. — 1. Spring is the best time, be- 

 cause the hives are lighter. If you wanted to 

 kill the bees for the honey, fall would be best. 

 The hive may be moved just as soon as the 

 bees have gathered together, as they are very 

 much excited and will remember the new loca- 

 tion more easily. 



2. The deeper frames, no matter whose make. 



3. Ten-frame hives are probably best. 



4. Extracted honey requires less constant at- 

 tention, after you have your supers built. You 

 use the same supers over and over again. 



6. In your State, alsike, white clover, sweet 

 clover and wild field flowers. 

 6. Probably spring. 



