(ILEANINC.S IN BEE CULTURE. 



5;."; 



./. .1/. (.'., lAi.—li is quite a comiiion practice 

 to place two swarms together in the same hive. 

 As a general rule, only one queen is killed. 



1>.E.B.,N. 1'.— You can put other bees on 

 the combs coming from hives on which bees 

 died the previous winter. The fact that the 

 said combs contained candied honey will do no 

 harm— at least for spring or summer use. 



G. IT'. S.. iris.— The question as to whether 

 bees are taxable property or not is one that can 

 not be answered by yes or no. It all depends 

 on the law of your State in reference to the 

 matter. If you consult some attorney he will 

 probably be able to tell you. 



D. B. n.. TT'rt.s;!.— It does little tf any good to 

 put any th'ng on a bee-sting, for the reason 

 that the applied remedy can not reach the 

 depth of the wound. It is usually best to leave 

 it entirely alone. The more it is tinkered with, 

 the worse it will become. 



M. E. U.. Mich.— The fact that you find the 

 bees fighting at the entrance, with dead bees in 

 front of it, is pretty good evidence that there 

 has been robbing In that hive. Possibly the 

 entrance is too large for the size of the colony, 

 and should be contracted. 



J. B. W., Tex.— The dandrufl-like particles 

 that you found in front of the entrance are 

 probably the scrapings from the combs, or 

 small pieces of cappings taken off when the 

 honey is uncapped. When the bees have no 

 use for this surplus wax they will carry it out 

 at the entrance. 



H. E. M., J/uZ.— Referring to your inquiry 

 regarding the swarm of bees that came out and 

 went back, and did the same thing next day, 

 we would state that, in all probability, the 

 queen was not able to follow. If her wing was 

 defective when the swarm issued she would 

 crawl out at the entrance, and, failing to fly, 

 would crawl back into the hive, followed soon 

 after by the bees. 



P. D. S., Pa.— Swarms will very often 

 come out the second and third time as you 

 have described. You can usually make them 

 stay the first time by giving them a frame of 

 unsealed larva from some other hive. Then 

 in hiving swarms it is always advisable to 

 leave a very wide entrance, and leave the cov- 

 er tilted just enough so as to give a strong cir- 

 culation of air through the hive. When they 

 get quieted down, then the cover may be closed 

 over, and all will go well. 



ir. L. S., Fa.— It is usually best to introduce 

 queens just as soon as they are received in the 

 mails. A queen may live in the cage one day 



or ten days; but It is not safe to take any risk, 

 ll is not necessary to requeen a swarm unU-ss, 

 perhaps, the queen is an old one and should be 

 replaced. Unless you desire to rear queens It is 

 not necessary nor advisable to maintain dromes 

 in the hive. They should be kept out with the 

 Alley trap, or, bettor, all drone comb should be 

 cutout early in the season, and thus save the 

 waste. 



/. C, P'^r;.— If your bees do not work to any 

 extent in sections, inverting the hive would do 

 little if any good. It is usual to put in what is 

 known as a bait section— that is, a section with 

 comb partially drawn out from last season. The 

 bees will usually enter and store honey in this, 

 and from this branch out to other sections; but 

 unless the brood-nest Is pretty well crammed 

 with honey, bees will not enter the supers Until 

 the lower part of the hive is filled you can not 

 get them to go above, and not in any event 

 unless honey is comin«r in at a good rate. 



J. S. E., W. Fa.— It is proper to give the bees 

 more room, but not toward the latter end of the 

 season, when it is evident that clover bloom 

 and basswood are drawing to a close. You can 

 also place a crate of partly filled sections from 

 one hive on to another. This is often done by 

 practical bee-keepers— that is. the crate is given 

 to a colony that is stronger, and more likely to 

 finish out the season. For particulars in regard 

 to the matter, see " liow to Produce Comb 

 Honey," in the catalog we are mailing you, p. 

 33. You can divide a colony in July, as you 

 state, and, by paying attention to feeding, get 

 them both in fine condition for winter. Better 

 be careful about increasing too fast. Bees will 

 increase fast .enough, usually, during the 

 swarming season. The eight- frame hive seems 

 to have the preference now. and it may be made 

 to take a large colony by using two brood- 

 chambers. 



E. C, N. H. — Regarding the queen and 

 drone trap, which you have doubtless received, 

 we would state that, by the directions on the 

 end of the trap, you will see that a queen can 

 be caught in the upper compartment, the trap 

 detached, and placed among the flying bees of 

 the swarm now in the air. We have sometimes 

 attached the trap to a common garden -rake, 

 and held it in midair until the bees had cluster- 

 ed upon it. Or a better way is to detach the 

 trap from the parent hive and put another 

 hive in Its place, with dry combs or frames of 

 foundation. Put the trap on this hive and 

 the swarm will return. As soon as the bees 

 are in the hive, let the queen run in at the 

 entrance. If there was a super on the parent 

 hive, put that on the new hive, and then the 

 new swarm is ready for business. The old 

 hive may be removed to another location. For 

 fuller particulars on this question see our A B 

 C of Bee Culture. 



