204 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A. 



C 



Zl 



u^ 



y. Z., e 1- 



wein, la. — 



Is this a 



good time to 

 start with bees 1 

 What would be the 

 probable cost ? 



A. This is the 



very best time 



of the year to 



start, not with the bees themselves, but 

 with a preparatory study to fit yourself for 

 the work with the bees in April or May. A 

 beginner having had no previous experience 

 or having no knowledge of the subject at 

 all, is quite likely to make some mistakes — 

 mistakes that are expensive. No amount of 

 study will take the place of actual experi- 

 ence, it is true; but a little reading in ad- 

 vance will ordinarily prevent most of these 

 early mistakes. Bees need very little care, 

 it is true; but the care that is given should 

 be the right kind. 



As to the cost, that will depend somewhat 

 'upon the way in which you desire to start. 

 We do not advise any one to start with more 

 than one or possibly two colonies. In almost 

 every instance, if some one writes us for ad- 

 vice, saying that an apiary of thirty or forty 

 colonies can be bought for a very low price, 

 we advise buying but one or two, for the 

 bees increase so rapidly that there is really 

 no need of buying a large number at the 

 start. Only an experienced beekeeper 

 should undertake to buy an apiary outright. 



Iowa is one of the great honey-producing 

 states, and we see no reason why you should 

 not succeed, whether you keep bees as a side 

 line, or, later on, take them up as a main 

 business. 



0. P. H., Floresville, Texas. — How may queens be 

 introduced to bees in pound packages before ship- 

 ment? 



A. The queen may be merely dropped in 

 with the other bees; but if you wish to be 

 doubly sure that she will not be molested 

 see that the bees in the package come from 

 two different sources. They will then have 

 two different colony odors, and will, there- 

 fore, not offer to injure the queen. 



C. A. C, Lincoln, Del.— My bees are all in ten- 

 frame hives, and are run for comb honey. I also 

 look after the bees belonging to a neighbor who has 

 two eis:ht-frame colonies. H© " just wants a little 

 honey," but does not care for any increase. Last 

 fall I put in two young Italian queen.s for him. By 

 next spring they will, no doubt, be needing more 

 room ; and, having two more eight-frame hives and 

 supers, I thought Dr. Miller's plan of a two-story 

 brood-chamber would be a good one to follow. I 

 have his book, "Fifty Years Among the Bees," but he 

 gives many plans. I should like to have him answer 

 the following questions: 



1. Can the two stories remain during the heavier 

 and early part of the main honey-flow, say up to 

 July 1, and then reduce to one story? I have no 

 extractor. 



2. In reducing the number of combs, how can 

 I let the brood hatch out and at the same time keep 

 bees from storing honey in the cells so T can have 

 those combs for next year, thus keeping the number 

 of colonies down to two ? 



3. Next year, would the plan of building up work 



GLEANED by ASKING 



3 



E. R. Root 



^^^^^^^^^^ 



1U 



M.^RCH, 1917 



all right if all or 

 nearly all of the ex- 

 tra frames contain- 

 ed drawn comb in- 

 stead of foundation? 

 4. I do not see 

 how one can run 

 for comb honey with 

 only two colonies 

 without making 

 some increase, or 



having some p'.ace to distribute combs, as in the 



shaken -swarm plan. 



5. If I were to leave the colonies in two stories 

 most of the summer I would have a lot of the combs 

 full of honey with no honey in the supers. Is this 

 true ? 



6. When giving another sto^ry for brood, do you 

 think it would be safe to put super foundation in 

 two upper and two lower outside frames? These 

 frames would probably be filled with honey, and this 

 then could be cut out for bulk comb honey. Would 

 the bees put pollen in them ? My friend has two 

 shallow-frame supers and three comb-honey supers. 



7. With ordinary young or year-old Italian queens, 

 is it possible to keep two stories for brood after the 

 main flow opens, or is it necessary to reduce to one 

 story in order to get bees into the super ? 



8. How would it be to reduce the amount of room 

 with division-boards, so that there would not be over 

 twelve combs in all ? 



9. I have just seen Gleanings for December 1. 

 Is the plan given in second paragraph, page 1130, 

 necessary ? Would it not be advisable to use some 

 baits ? 



10. Please explain the plan of cutting out the cells 

 and placing them in hives, as given in " Fifty Years 

 Among the Bees," page 262. 



11. With this method is any nucleus or nursery 

 necessary? 



12. In this same book, page 263, what is done 

 with the old hive ? Could each swarm be hived on 

 three or four combs and then each old colony iinited 

 with a swarm put in the place of each ? 



Dr. Miller replies: 



1. Yes, you can leave the extra room as 

 long as you like. 



2. I know of no way to keep the bees from 

 storing honey in cells as fast as young bees 

 emerge from them, provided they have any 

 honey to store. But you may accomplish 

 your purpose in this way: Take the extra 

 story of brood, and set it on top of the upper 

 super that is on the old hive, giving 

 this story on top a bottom-board and en- 

 trance of its own, so that there is no com- 

 munication between the two hives. All the 

 field bees will join the lower hive, leaving 

 only young bees that will gather scarcely 

 more honey than they will consume; and 

 in three weeks you can take the upper hive 

 away, brushing all its bees in front of the 

 lower hive. 



3. Yes, drawn combs will be as good as 

 if not better than foundation. 



4. Neither do I. But if there's no other 

 place for them, they might be piled on a 

 stand of their own, with barely bees enough 

 to take care of them, these bees to be 

 united later with the full colonies. Or you 

 might keep the combs without any bees, 

 fumigating them occasionally. But the very 

 best way to keep combs thru summer is in 

 care of bees. 



5. No. In a good season a strong colo- 



