1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



171 



probably die out before warm weather. In the 

 second case the colony must be verystrong. It 

 is impossible to say which is the case, on the 

 description you give. 



2. Yes. planting grape vines is a very good 

 thing. But in the mean time you will have 

 more or less trouble with the neighbors, who 

 can hardly be blamed for feeling irritated if 

 the bees are cross. We suggest erecting a 

 screen fence between the apiary and the 

 neighbor's lot. I have seen in Peoria an apiary 

 close to a neighbor's back door, screened with 

 1-inch mesh chicken netting to the height of 

 about 10 feet. The bees do not like to fly 

 through this netting and so take a different di- 

 rection for their flight. That ntakes all the 

 difference. Try it and let us know how it 

 works. It may not work in all cases alike. 

 Don't fail to plant your grape vines anyhow. 



Two Queens in One Hive — Introduc- 

 ing — Shipping 



1. Can you have two queens in a two-story 

 brood chamber during the honey season by the 

 aid of an excluder between the two stories? I 

 should think a laying queen above and a laying 

 queen below would build colonies very strong 

 and gather a good surplus. 



2. For increasing two hives from one (three 

 in all) by aid of nuclei and introducing queens, 

 what do you think of the following: Put two 

 queens in cages on or between frames of hive 

 to make the two nuclei from , and leave them 

 there with plenty of honey to eat for three 

 days so that they will acquire hive odor. Then 

 take six frames of adhering bees and put in two 

 different hives, introducing one of these caged 

 queens to each three frames, by taking cork 

 out of one end and putting in a little plug of 

 foundation, and placing amongst the three 

 frames? 



3. If you shipped about ten colonies from, 

 say Washington to Oregon, Idaho or Montana, 

 what would be the best and cheapest way of 

 shipping them? 



4. Will a pound of bees and a queen re- 



ceived in March make any surplus before end 

 of the season? 



5. What is one of the safest ways of intro- 

 ducing a queen to two-frame nucleus made by 

 dividing? 



6. Could one have a two-story brood chamber 

 and give the queen more room by raising the 

 brood from the first story as she lays it, to the 

 second, replacing first story with empty combs? 



WASHINGTON. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, but in practice you may 

 find it unprofitable. Try it. 



2. It will work all right. A chunk of honey 

 will be still better than a piece of foundation as 

 stopper of the cages. 



3. Freight would be the cheapest. But it is 

 doubtful if this mode is advisable on less than 

 carload lots. Railroad companies charge enor- 

 mous rates anyhow. Probably it will be best 

 to ship by express. 



4. That depends on so many circumstances 

 that it would be impossible to reply knowingly. 

 Some people have succeeded in getting a very 

 fair crop from bees by the pound. But it would 

 probably be best to get two-pound lots. 



5. Introducing queens by the method recom- 

 mended by all shippers is the safest, unless you 

 introduce the queen to bees that are just hatch- 

 ing. Keep the queen caged in the hive 48 

 hours, then release her by letting the bees eat 

 to her through the candy or by replacing the 

 stopper of the cage with a little honey cap- 

 pings. 



6. Yes, that is a very good way, if you do 

 not mind the work. 



Swarming — Young Bees Dead 



1. I have a colony that I've had on hand for 

 15 years. They are always in first-class condi- 

 tion, and if any honey is gathered I can al- 

 ways "bank" on that colony having a good por- 

 tion of it. During that time they have never 

 swarmed or prepared for swarming. I have 

 transferred them two or three times in order 

 to give them new comb and hive. Why haven't 

 they swarmed? 



2. During the last two weeks of August most 

 all of my colonies were carrying out young 

 bees, larvw a week old to winged insects just 

 ready to come out for work. I don't think it's 

 because they were dead, for the winged ones 

 were alive, some being old enough to crawl 

 about for awhile. 



3. Along the middle of June I had a very 

 nice swarm come out and settle on a cedar 

 tree. After they were nearly all settled I pre- 

 pared to hive them, but noticed they were all 

 at work like a bunch of wqrms, and seemed to 

 be very dissatisfied, so I sprayed them with 

 water to quiet them, which did the trick O. K. 

 Then I put them into a hive and they began 

 killing each other, and by night there was near- 

 ly a quart measure full of dead bees in front 

 of the hive. The bees in the parent hive did 

 the same thing, and by night the ground in 

 front of their hive was covered with dead bees. 

 This swarm came out about 4 o'clock p. m. 

 They went to work next day and have the hive 

 about filled with honey. Why the killing? 



4. I had two good swarms to issue from one 

 hive this season. Later I noticed the parent 

 hive wasn't working, so I opened it and found 

 it vacant; no bees there, yet there was some 

 honey and brood, and bee eggs and capped 

 brood, all alive save some few of the younger 

 larvas. Now that "gets my goat," but maybe 

 you can enlighten me. MISSOURI. 



Answers. — 1, It may be that size of hive, 

 amount of shade and other circumstances, com- 

 bined to make the bees satisfied without swarm 

 ing. But I suspect there's something in the 

 blood of those bees that makes them approach 

 non-swarmers. If I were you I'd be thankful 

 to have them and would breed from them. 



2. Quite possibly they were casting out 

 drones at the annual slaughter of drones. 



3. Possibly another swarm attempted to 

 unite with them. Swarms generally unite 

 peaceably, but sometimes not, especially if one 

 does not have a normal queen. 



4. It is possible that after the issuing of 

 the swarms the parent colony failed to have a 

 laying queen; either having a drone-layer or 

 no queen at all, but developing laying workers. 



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