170 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



Deep Brood-nest Vs. Shallow Super? 



Do you think it would be advisable to 

 change from the regular deep brood-nest (L. 

 size), to the divisible brood-nest (shallow su- 

 pers) ? I am bothered in getting bees to go up 

 into the supers when I have no bait combs to 

 put in them, and I think a deep super is too 

 much to give them at one time. If I take a 

 comb from the deep brood-nest and put it in 

 the shallow supers they build a comb on the 

 bottom of it and fill it with honey and brood, 

 and I can't return it to the brood-nest without 

 destroying this comb. TEXAS. 



Answer. — Your inquiry reads as if you took 

 a comb from the brood-nest and placed it in 

 the upper story without placing another frame 

 in the lower story. Of course the bees will 

 build down under it, to fill the space in the 

 brood-nest. You should replace that frame 

 with another containing comb foundation, or at 

 least starters. 



Very few people like the shallow brood-nest, 

 the average Langstroth hive being shallow 

 enough. Yet, a very extensive beekeeper of 

 Texas, Mr. Louis SchoU, uses these shallow 

 stories. We prefer a deep brood-nest and a 

 shallow super. But in any case, it is well to 

 have either combs or foundation to use in your 

 upper stories, 



Wire in Foundation 



I have been very much interested in the dif- 

 ferent systems of wiring given in the February 

 number of the American Bee Journal and 

 Gleanings. I bought some frames once that 

 were wired from corner to corner with one wire 

 lengthwise, close to the top, but they were the 

 most miserable things I ever had anything to 

 do with. The foundation would buckle in the 

 center above where the wires cross, as there is 

 very little give to tight wires stretched in that 

 way. 1 want to get rid of that by bringing the 

 cross wires closer to the top. I have been 

 thinking that it would be practical to make 

 foundation with fine wires put in vertically, say 

 1 or 2 inches apart, fine enough so they could 

 be rolled right in as the foundation is made; 

 perhaps fine copper wire would be best. This 

 would help to keep the foundation from stretch- 

 ing. With foundation with these wires in, it 

 would be only necessary for the beekeeper 

 to wire his frames horizontally. 



COLORADO. 



Answer. — Your suggestion of wires put in 

 vertically was put in practice by the Van Deu- 

 sen people in their flat-bottom foundation for 

 a long time. The proof that this was not very 

 practical is in the fact that after selling it for 

 years the Van Deusen people have' stopped 

 manufacturing. 



tion is, why do bees carry out brood in Feb- 

 ruary when they have plenty of stores? 



INDIANA. 



Answer. — I would judge that the queen is 

 very prolific and laid eggs to the edge of the 

 cluster in mild days. Then this brood got 

 chilled when a cold night came. 



Queen Regulating Sex 



When I see thousands of worker bees 

 emerging from a frame and not a single drone 

 amongst them, and again see hundreds of 

 drones hatching from a space evidently allotted 

 to them, with no workers, and 1 know that one 

 queen lays the eggs in each batch, I wonder 

 how does she regulate the laying to keep the 

 sexes separate. Can you tell me? ^^^j^^^q 



Answer. — It has been advanced that the 

 shape of the cell has something to do with the 

 fertilizing of the egg, as it is laid; since we 

 know that the eggs that hatch as drones are 

 unfertilized, and only the eggs that hatch as 

 females (workers or queens) are fertilized as 

 they pass by the spermatheca. But a queen 

 sometimes lays eggs in queen cells. Then how 

 does she know that these eggs must be fertil- 

 ized to bring the right sex? I will have to 

 return the question to you, for I don't know. 



Bees Carrying Out Brood 



I have one stand of bees that is acting very 

 peculiar; they are carrying out worker brood 

 that is still in the grub state, but perfect; 

 they have about 35 or 40 pounds of honey and 

 it is not because they are starving, but they arc 

 weak. The most of them froze out this winter. 

 The cause was water or frost got into the 

 brood-nest, but not any more than the rest, 

 and I don't understand the reason. My ques- 



Miscellaneous 



1. How many revolutions in a minute does 

 the cage of an extractor have to run to ex- 

 tract the honey from comb when all things are 

 normal? 



2. Does -the law compel bees shipped from 

 Michigan to Wisconsin to be inspected? 



3. Will you give me full details of the con- 

 struction of your new 2-inch space bottom- 

 board? 



4. Would it hinder my bees to go one-half 

 mile to a basswood grove, or should I place 

 them in the grove? 



WISCONSIN. 



Answers.-t-I. One hundred and fifty revolu- 

 tions are sufficient when the honey is not cold 

 or too thick. But extractors usually revolve 

 at greater speed. In many cases they revolve 

 faster than necessary, 



2. We are not quite sure of the law in this 

 respect. Write to S. B. Fracker, State Ento- 

 mologist, Madison, Wis., for positive informa- 

 tion. 



3. The bottom-board is made of 6 pieces of 

 ^-inch stuff; 2 pieces 22^x2, one piece 12!^x 

 2, and 3 pieces 7J^xl3J^. The 2-inch pieces are 

 for sides and back end, the others form the 

 bottom. It makes a box 2 inches deep, open 

 at one end. A bottom rack is used in the 

 summer to prevent the bees from building 

 down; it is taken away for wintering. This is 

 made of 2 pieces ISxlJ^, and 21 pieces lO^jx 

 H-xH. The latter are nailed, ladder-fashion, 

 Yi inch apart on thej<-inch sides of the two 

 large pieces and are allowed to project at the 

 ends about an inch. This bottom-board is for 

 an 8-frame hive. Change the sizes to fit a 

 larger one. 



4. That distance is just about right. They 

 would go several miles to the basswood, but it 

 is better inside of a mile. 



Transferring 



I have been trying for some months to pur- 

 chase bees near home, and all I have been able 

 to get is four swarms in nail kegs. I have 

 never handled bees, only to help hive a couple 

 of swarms. Please tell me how to transfer 

 these bees into modern hives without losing 

 them. WASHINGTON. 



Answer. — The proper time to transfer bees 

 is during fruit bloom, or at any time when 

 they are harvesting honey and the hive is still 

 light in weight. 



Drive the bees from the box, or gum, or keg, 

 into any kind of a box by drumming them. 

 Set the box containing the bees on the stand. 

 Take the hive containing the combs into a 

 house and cut the combs containing brood 

 and fasten them in frames. To fasten them 

 in, we use wires of the width or height of the 

 frames, bent at the end about half an inch, 

 so as to drive the bent end into the edge of 

 the frame. Put those combs in a hive, and 

 enough dry combs or comb foundation to fill 

 it and shake the swarm in front of it, on the 

 old stand. In a week you can remove the 

 wires, as the bees will have fastened the 

 combs in place. 



Feeding 



I bought a barrel of New Orleans brown 

 sugar to feed my bees this April and May. 

 Do you think it will make good feed, and 

 would two parts water to one of sugar be all 

 right for spring feeding? T^.s"??!, '^ 

 rather strong tasting. MlSbOUKl. 



Answer. — The brown sugar will probably do 

 for spring feed, though I doubt whether there 

 is any advantage in it in the cheapness over 



the white granulated sugai. It would probably 

 not be healthy for winter. 



Two parts water for one of sugar will di- 

 lute it too much. For winter we use two 

 parts sugar for one of water. The spring feed 

 may be diluted much more than the winter 

 feed, but one part of sugar or one and a half 

 parts to one of water will be plenty liquid 

 enough. Warm it up before giving it to them. 

 It will be better. 



Some beekeepers in Northern Michigan ui- 

 lute sugar very thin and feed it to their 

 bees outside. 1 his will do where there are no 

 bees belonging 'to other people in the neigh- 

 borhood. When sugar is very much diluted, 

 it may be fed outside without "causing any 

 other excitement than a light honey crop would 



do. 



Requeen — Full Sheets 



1. I have two colonies of bees, A and B. 

 Colony A has proved to be the strongest and 

 best honey gatherers. Now I want to requeen 

 colony B with a queen or queen-cell from A. 

 Will you please tell me how to do this? 



2. I read in the American Bee Journal that 

 full sheets of foundation should never be given 

 to a new swarm. How, then, shall a new 

 swarm be given full sheets of foundation? 



NEBRASKA. 



Answer.s. — 1. Kill the queen of B, take all 

 its brood away and give it one or two, or per- 

 haps three combs of brood from A. Make sure 

 that there is plenty of very young brood, larvje 

 not over 3 days old. B will then rear a queen 

 from this brood. The number of combs of 

 brood to be given B is according to its 

 strength. You must be sure that they have 

 more than enough bees to cover the brood 

 well, and plenty of honey. In a time of dearth 

 it is well to feed the colony that is rearing 

 queens. This must not be done until you are 

 sure there are drones to fertilize the young 

 queen. If it is done when the colonies are 

 strong, it will be well to inspect your queen- 

 rearing colony in the morning of the tenth day 

 after making it queenle-^s and destroy or take 

 away all but one queen-cell, unless you want 

 them to swarm, which is not desirable under 

 those circumstances. 



2. The statement made by M. G. Dadant was 

 not sufficiently explicit. It will not do in hot 

 weather, to give all foundation in full sheets 

 to a swarm, as the weight of bees is likely to 

 break down some of it. But if you give them 

 two or three partly «uilt combs they will clus- 

 ter on those mainly, and the balance may be 

 full sheets of foundation. If you have no built 

 combs on hand, you may take one or more 

 from the colony that swarmed, exchanging them 

 for full sheets of foundation. 



Wintering — Protecting Neighbors 



1. I have five colonies of bees and winter 

 them outside. One of these is very uneasy. 

 They come out on cold days and fly when no 

 sun is shining. Many fall on the snow and die. 

 I darkened the entrance, but that did not stop 

 them. . 



2. I live in town and have close neighbors. 

 Sometimes my bees bother them. Do you think 

 it would help any to plant grapes around my 

 bees. A board fence would make it rather 

 warm in summer and does not look good in 

 town. IOWA. 



Answers.— 1. They may be suffering from 

 bad honey that clogs their intestines unduly. 

 In that case you must see more or less of their 

 discharges around the entrance. When they 

 are in very bad shape they discharge their feces 

 upon one another and the colony soon dies. On 

 the other hand, the colony may be strong 

 enough that the least disturbance causes them 

 to fly, especially if the weather is not very cold. 

 In that case they will carry dead bees out try- 

 ing to clean their bottom-board when they 

 ought to be iiuict. In the first case they will 



