APRIL 15, 1914 



311 



Heads of Graiiri frcoim Differeet FieMi 



Questions Regarding Dr. Miller's Honey Crop 



1. Would not Dr. C. C. Miller's honey oroi) be an 

 interesting subject for discussion on the relative 

 merits of the eight or ten frame hives for section 

 honey 'I 



2. How about " shaking energy " into the bees 

 by Dr. Miller tearing the brood-nest to pieces every 

 veek or ten days to destroy queen-cells? 



3. With this method to prevent svi^arniing, and 

 not wishing any increase, how does he get his young 

 (luei ns ? 



4. How many supers did he have at one time on 

 tliaf colony that made 384 lbs.? 



•5. How many swarms did come out on him in 

 spite of destroying the queen-cells every eight or ten 

 days? 



(i. About when did the honey-fiow begin, and 

 when did it cease ? 



Predericktown, Mo., Feb. 20. JA.S. Bachler. 



1. Yes, that's a very interesting subject; but I 

 l:?,rdly know how we can compare two things if we 

 have only one of them to compare. There were no 

 ten-frame hives in the apiary. It is true, however, 

 that up to the time of putting on supers there was 

 no chance for the queen to be crowded in perhaps 

 any of the hives. When any queen had no longer 

 room in one story, she either had two stories, or 

 empty combs were exchanged for full ones, the latter 

 being put where they would do most good. Neither 

 \i, it certain that there was any crowding after su- 

 pers were put on, for abundance of super-room was 

 given, and I think that gives more room in the 

 brood-chamber. All things considered, however, my 

 guess would be that if any one has not on hand a 

 supply of eight-frame hives he would do as well or 

 better to use ten-framers. 



2. I've had no very indubitable proof that any 

 energy was added by the shaking. Certainly I did 

 no shaking in any case where I thought it would do 

 nut to shake. If any one enjoys shaking I don't 

 believe it does any great harm, although it's possible 

 the bees might do just a shade better without it. 

 Then, again, may be they wouldn't. I don't know. 



3. Raise 'em in nuclei from best stock only, and 

 then stick 'em in wherever needed. Besides, there 

 was the superseding. Please get it into your head 

 that there is no need of swarming to have young 

 queens, for in the natural course of events every 

 queen is superseded, and, of course, superseded by a 

 young queen. 



4. I don't know. Eight was the highest number 

 on any hive at one time, and such hives were very 

 sc&rce. I wonder why you ask about 384. Three 

 colonies did better than that, one of them yielding 

 402. 



5. I don't know. I've just looked over the first 

 20 numbers, and 7 of them actually swarmed. Pos- 

 sibly the general average was more than this, for it 

 was about the worst year for swarming I ever knew. 

 But, of course, no swarm was hived as a swarm. 



6. Began about June 6, and closed somewhere 

 about Sept. 20. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Painting; Is it Done Chiefly for Looks? 



If one takes the attitude that painting hives or 

 buildings is done chiefly for looks it seems to me 

 that he has to stand alone against almost the whole 

 world. Our great railroad companies not only paint 

 the wooden but even the iron bridges; in fact, every 

 thing is painted regularly. If this is all being done 

 for the looks only, it is time that we should find it 

 out. 



I have hives that have been painted for twenty 

 jears, and they are all in good condition. I'he cor- 



ners have not opened up a particle. An unpainted 

 liive will open up at the corners, and become badly 

 warped, in three to five years in this climate. I 

 think Mr. Doolittle's story of the unpainted house 

 tliat lasted so long is like the man who used tobacco 

 all the time and yet lived to a good old age. That 

 •nan does not know how much longer he might have 

 lived if he had not used tobacco. 



MOVING AinARIES SOUTH. 



Moving bees south in the winter seems to me a 

 great scheme. In my locality, in September, when 

 the honey-flow is over, the colonies are in the best 

 of condition to keep right at storing honey ; but the 

 flow stops with the hives full of bees, mostly young 

 bees too, and I have to leave from forty to fifty 

 pcunds of honey for them to live on through the 

 v'inter and spring. Now, if I move south, ten 

 pounds or so would be enough, probably, and I 

 could extract perhaps thirty pounds per colony more, 

 which, at 8 cts. a pound, would amount to $2.40. 

 This would probably pay for moving the bees south 

 and back again in May, and then the honey secured 

 ill the south would be all gain. The trouble would 

 be to find suitable locations. 



Brush, Col. Daniel Danielson. 



[In your figures regarding moving bees south and 

 back again you do not take into consideration the 

 risk of accident on the way, or of having bad sea- 

 sons in the South when the bees get little or no 

 honey, but have to be fed considerably. When these 

 possible losses are all figured in as overhead ex- 

 pense, so to speak, the profits one year with another 

 are less. But, at the same time, there are great 

 possibilities in the plan. Of this we shall have more 

 to say later on. — Ed.] 



Don't be in a Hurry to Condemn Your Own Lo- 

 cality 



On page 895, Dec. 15, 1913, H. F. Wilson speaks 

 of Central Oregon as being a good bee country. 

 Now, for the benefit of such people as are in a fairly 

 good place, and are making a little each year from 

 their bees, I want to say, be slow about condemning 

 your own countrj' ; don't sell out and move to a 

 new field before making a thorough investigation, 

 and don't forget that any country will have its dis- 

 advantages as well as its advantages. I have kept 

 bees in Indiana and Washington, besides in Central 

 Oregon, and I am sure either place is as good as 

 this. We have no foul brood, neither sweet clover 

 nor white clover. Sage furnishes nectar once in 

 about four years. Whenever it rains on alfalfa 

 after it" blooms there is no honey from the blossoms 

 that get wet. 



Redmond, Ore. C. H. Miller. 



Camera Tripod to Support the Hive Close to Clus- 

 tered Swarm 



I have had swarms settle on all kinds of places, 

 such as on the top of rail fences, the trunk of a 

 ti'ee, top of a fencepost, etc. I do a little in photog- 

 raphy, so have a fairly heavy camera tripod on 

 hand which I have constructed into an artificial 

 swarming device. 



I first bored a hole in the center of a spare bot- 

 tom-board; then a small bolt fixed it solid on top of 

 the tripod. I then get the hive for the swarm on 

 top again, and adjust it to height by the thumb 

 screws in the legs; put the entrance in contact with 

 the cluster, and — there you are. I find it the easi- 

 est, surest, and most satisfactory method of catching 

 a swarm I have seen or heard of. 



Arthur T. Harper. 



Minnedosa, Manitoba, Can., Sept. 3, 



