278 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



might still have mure swarms than he wanled 

 if he did not look after their other require- 

 ments, such as giving them plenty of surplus 

 room, shade and ventilation. 



.9 Those men who use very long hives prob- 

 ably do it to produce bees to sell by the pound, 

 and ciueens, instead of surplus honey. 



10. A hive with only one frame and glass on 

 both sides is very useful to learn natural his- 

 tory. It must be kept covered when not in- 

 spected. Try it. 



11. Yes. One or more. 



12. By removing all the cells that he wants on 

 the tenth day after making the colony queen- 

 less. Read some good text book. 



Number of Pounds of Bees to Hive 



How many ])0unds of bees should I put to 

 the hive for good results in starting an apiary 

 by buying bees by the pound? ILLINOIS- 



Answer. — A pound of bees with a queen, put 

 upon full combs, often give good results. But 

 much depends upon the crop and the season. 

 It would be better to have two pounds with a 

 (jueen. The more the better, as a matter of 

 course. 



Sugar Candy for Bees — Moths 



1. How much water do you put to a pound 

 of sugar for feeding bees in a Thale feeder? 



2. The comb in the hive of bees I have is 

 as black as coal, and on investigating it 1 

 found moths in them. I cut out two big 

 patches in the comb. Was that the right thing 

 to do? What makes the combs black? Should 

 the bees be transferred to a new hive willi 

 foundation in it ? If so, when should it be 

 done, and how? 



:i. In watching the bees the other day I saw 

 a couple of bees pulling a long piece of straw 

 in the hive. Is that a natural thing for the 

 bees to do? 



4. Would it be all right to feed flour for 

 pollen till the trees get in bloom? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. Half a pound of water for each 

 pound of sugar. For spring feeding you can 

 make it thinner. Feed it warm if possible. 



2. If the combs are black and there are 

 moths in it, your colony ii probably worthless. 

 If not, it should be transferred. The comb is 

 black from the discharges of the drones, the 

 travel of the bees and the rearing of brood, 

 for many years past. 



Directions for transferring are given on page 

 25 of the January number, also on page UG of 

 the March number. 



3. No, they don't use straw to build their 

 combs, nor to sleep on. Some mischievous ur- 

 chin, likely, had tried to drive the straw in 

 there and they were trying to pull it out 



■1. Ves. 



Hives Tainted With Foulbrood 



If hives were tainted with foulbrood three 

 years ago and not used since that time, would 

 they develop foulbrood again if not treated ? 

 How would it do to use a painter's blow t(jrch 

 for disinfecting them? We can boil frames, but 

 not hives. 



Answer — Hives tainted with American foul- 

 brood are said not to be, and might not be un- . 

 safe, but if they are unsafe after the bees are 

 removed from them, all experiments indicate 

 that they would still be unsafe after three 

 years. A painter's or tinner's torch is very 

 efficient in singing either the frames of the 

 hive body, and it takes but a very short time 

 to do it. In that way we remove all suspicion 

 of danger. Indications are that hives which 

 have contained brood diseased with European 

 foulbrood would be entirely safe after that 

 length of time. 



worked nearly every day this winter. Would 

 it be best to add another super with frames 

 and starters? The hives my bees are in are 

 8- frame, home-made hives, and I wish to 

 transfer them to 8-frame Hoffman hives later. 



TEXAS. 

 Answer. — Since you want to transfer those 

 bees into other hives, we would advise you 

 to put the new hives on top of the old ones 

 and drive the bees and queen up into them by 

 smoking and drumming. After the queen oc- 

 cupies the upper hive, you might place a 

 queen excluder between the two stories. When 

 the brood is all hatched from the lower story, 

 which will be in 21 days after driving them into 

 the upper hive, you may remove that lower 

 story and cut out the combs. You may get rid 

 of every bee in that hive by putting it at the 

 top of the other for a day. with a bee-escape 

 between the two. Use full sheets of founda- 

 tion in the new hive, well fastened with wires, 

 and you will have straight all-worker combs. 



Temperature for Bees* Flight 



Will you kindly tell me what temperature 

 has to be reached in winter to induce bees to 

 make a flight? WYOMING. 



Answer.— For tliglit in winter the tempera- 

 ture should be about 50 degrees in the shade. 

 At 55 degrees the bees fly comfortably, provid- 

 ed it be not windy. We have seen bees fly 

 when the thermometer was about 40 degrees 

 in the shade, but many were lost, because they 

 became chilled when they alighted in a shaded 

 spot. Much depends upon the amount of 

 breeze and sunshine. W'hen the sky is over- 

 cast with clouds, with an occasional burst of 

 sunshine, the thermometer varies quickly and 

 many bees are lost. 



Hives — Transferring — Ants 



1. I am just starting in the bee business; 

 have 8 hives in boxes; want to transfer them 

 to modern hives this spring. Which is the best 

 8, 10 or 12-frame hives? 



2. When is the best time to transfer them? 



3. The ants have been giving me much trou- 

 ble. How is the best way to keep them out? 



4. I have them in a house 6x12, 5 to the side. 

 They seem to be in tine shape. Would you let 

 them remain in the house, or would you take 

 them out this spring. The house is well ven- 

 tilated. , 



5 What is the best plan to keep the moths 

 out? ALABAMA. 



Answers.— 1. Opinions differ as to size of 

 hives, but 12-frame hives are none too large 

 for prolific queens. Some use 2-story 8-frame 

 hives. 



2. The best time to transfer is during fruit 

 bloom, or at the beginning of the honey crop. 

 See the replies in March number. 



3. The ants do not get inside of healthy colo- 

 nies. They gather on top, where there is 

 warmth. If you can find their nest, outside, 

 pour a little gasoline into it and set fire to it. B? 

 careful not to have the gasoline can near when 

 you strike the match. Kerosene, salt, powaered 

 sulphur, dry ashes, are all recommended to 

 keep the ants away. 



4. A bee house is all right to keep bees, if 

 each colony has its seiiarate entrance in the 

 wall. 



5. To keep out the moths, keep your colonies 

 strong. Weak colonies will be invaded by the 

 moths, especially if they are queenlcss. Strong 

 colonies never fear the moths, though one or 

 two may manage to get in occasionally. 



Introduce Starters — Transferring 



I have Ijought 11 swarms of bees, and as llie 

 man I got them from didn't use starters, tluy 

 have built the comb in crosswise. It will have 

 to be cut in order to get it out. How am I to 

 do this? They have heavy stores, as they have 



Non-Yielding Colonies 



I have a |)roblcm that I have tried to solve 

 for the past three years. 



I have four colonies on the top of a hill, 

 about 75 feet above the surrounding country, 

 about half a mile from Grand Rapids, and there 

 is no shade and no chance for any. 1 use sun 

 boards raised 4 inches above the top of the 

 cover by four blocks on corners, which gives 



ventilation under the board, which is large 

 enough to keep the sun off the sides of the 

 hive except in the early morning and late 

 in the evening. 



There is plenty of sweet clover in the neigh- 

 borhood to give a good surplus, but I don't 

 get a pound, and not half of my bees swarmed 

 last year. 



They go into winter quarters in good condi- 

 tion and come out in the spring healthy and 

 strong. My winter cases allow 3 inches of 

 straw for jiacking all around and on the top. 

 Now, can you tell me why I don't get a sur- 

 plus and more swarms? There are no other 

 bees kept within four miles, as I have made 

 quite a careful investigation to find out. If 

 this is a sticker will you please tell me how I 

 can improve the present conditions? I am 

 probably not an expert judge, but I think my 

 winter cases and sunboards are about the best 

 I can use under the circumstances. What do 

 you think? 



I use the J^xl2 inch entrance in winter and 

 about 1*4x12 inch in summer. 



MICHIGAN. 



Answer. — Your management, as stated, ap- 

 pears correct. Perhaps the weather, moisture, 

 etc., have not been propitious in the years that 

 you mention. Perhaps, also, your colonies have 

 too much drone comb and rear drones enough 

 to use up the surplus. Examine your combs; 

 see how much brood your bees rear in the 

 spring months; see that they have enough 

 honey to breed plentifully. If the queens do 

 not fill the brood chamber with brood in May- 

 June, perhaps you had better change them. 

 Get Italian bees, if you make a change. 



Bees Fed in Cellar 



Please tell me whether I should start my 

 queen bees laying eggs for brood by beginning 

 to feed them with honey in bottom feeder be- 

 fore taking them out of the cellar, say about 

 three weeks, so as to have young bees hatching 

 about the time I put them out, so as to prevent 

 spring dwindling. WISCONSIN. 



Answer. — I have never found it advisable 

 to feed the bees in the cellar, except when 

 they were short, and this with very dry food, 

 preferably sugar candy or granulated honey. 



When we feed bees to produce brood, there 

 is very soon a great restlessness among the 

 bees of the hive. As soon as the eggs begin to 

 hatch, they want to go after water for the 

 food which they give them. They stir about 

 and many are lost. 



It is perhaps not always so, for I have heard 

 the late Mr. Hall, of the Province of Ontario, 

 assert that his bees always came out of the 

 cellar in fine shape and with hatching brood. 

 But if you wish to try it, better do it only on 

 one or two colonies, as an experiment. If 

 your bees had good honey when put into the 

 cellar, they should not have spring dwindling, 

 if taken out only when the weather is so that 

 they can fly regularly. 



Crimson Clover 



Is crimson clover a good honey plant? 



ALABAMA. 



Answer. — Crimson clover is not grown in the 

 North, but it is reported in Pellett's ''American 

 Honey Plants" as of good yield in the South. 

 Bonnier, in France, gives it third place as a 

 honey yieldcr, and the British Bee Journal 

 states that it is about on a par with buckwheat. 

 It is listed by Niswonger as more important 

 llian wliilc clover, in Kentucky. 



Winter Losses 



Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, lost 9U per 

 cent of her bees the last winter, and as yet we 

 have found no market in which to purchase an 

 adequate supply till too late in the season for 

 any honey. The honey seemed to granulate in 

 the hives and the bees actually starved with 

 ample stores in each box. Packing, winter pro- 

 tection of every kind used was seemingly of no 

 avail. 



The colonies that came through the winter 

 best were in old-fashioned high boxes. I have 

 looked at but one of them thus far that had no 

 living bees in. and modern boxes by the hun- 



