September, 1917 



G f. E A N T N S IN B K E C U I. T U R E 



715 



HEADS 0FnGMl!O [?PQM^GG rDIFFERENT FIELDS 



I know this is a cnido urrangenieiit, and 

 my object in writing this is to draw out tho 

 modus opei'andi of some fellow who knows 

 a better way. 



Each year when I receive a new catalog I 

 look thru it to see if I can not find some 

 kind of apparatus for li(juefying honey, but 

 it is never there. What I want is something 

 that is not too expensive nor too complicated 

 — something that requires neither an elec- 

 trician nor a civil engineer to operate, and 

 something that will do the work without my 

 hel{) nights to keep its feet warm. 



When candied honey is reduced to the 

 liquid state a slight scum will rise. It is 

 best to skim this off and use it for bee food; 

 for if put into the cans without skimming 

 this foam will rise to the top and give a bad 

 appearance. 



By all means we should jnit our honey on 

 the market in the best possible shape. It 

 will not only help us to get a better price, 

 but will also help our brother beekeepers. 

 A poor quality of lioney on the market runs 

 down the price of all honey; a fine quality 

 brings the price up. S. E. Miller. 



Rhineland, Mo. 



The Rearing of In the morning, get an 



Queens in an empty box with a loose 



Out-Apiary. bottom, and a little 



water. See that the 

 cell cups are all ready, and go to a colony 

 that is pretty strong. If the bees are in the 

 super, all the better. Take out three frames 

 of sealed brood along with the adhering bees, 

 and put them in the empty box; also a frame 

 of honey if the other frames contain none. 

 Then shake two frames of bees off from the 

 combs that have unsealed brood. Space the 

 frames about an inch apart; sprinkle them 

 with the water, and cover, being sure the 

 queen is left in the old hive. Remove the 

 mother colony to a little distance and put 

 in its place the divided portion. About half 

 an hour after graft the cells and insert 

 them between the spaces previously made. 

 Be careful not to use too much smoke. Lift 

 the cover gently to avoid exciting the bees 

 which will be hanging in the spaces. In the 

 evening take out the frames with the grafted 

 cells and brood along with the bees and i)ut 

 them in tlie super of the mother colony after 

 replacing it in its old position; or lift the 

 hive with the cells and brood; place it on 

 top, with a honey-board between. If a gen- 

 eral requeening is intended, more than one 

 lot can be grafted. Start killing on the fifth 

 and continue until the ninth day if the 

 apiary is large. After grafting count the 

 cells. If not sufficient, graft some more. 



On the tenth day put cells in protectors. 

 For keeping them warm, tack wire cloth on 

 the bottom of a super and put it on toj) of a 



strong colony, and cover; then inclose the 

 cells in protectors and place them in the 

 sui)er, using as fast as needed. If at home, 

 the cells can stay until next nu)rning before 

 transferring to the (lucenless swarms. The 

 cells are then distributed in the middle of 

 the brood-nest, between the sealed brood of 

 the queenless colonies, so as to avoid chilling. 

 In about twelve days after giving the cells, 

 the queens should should be laying. It's not 

 necessary to use royal jelly if the larvae are 

 well fed. I have had better results without 

 the jelly, and very few failures if the larvae 

 are put in carefully. If no honey is coming 

 in, feed the cell-building colony with a slow 

 feeder. 



A HAJSTDY QUEEN-CAGE. 



To use this queen-cage, place it on a top- 

 bar of a frame; raise one end about half an 

 inch and put the queen under. It is used 

 mostly during swarming time, when the cells 

 are destroyed and the queen caged for ten 

 days. 



Medina, O. J. E. Thompson. 



After Removing Brood, 

 When Can the Bees 

 Start in the Sujiersf 



If one frame of 

 sealed brood is re- 

 moved from a col- 

 ony having five 

 brood, I should like to know how long it 

 would take the colony to be in condition for 

 gathering. I ask this in order to know when 

 I should draw from the strong and when I 

 should not. To illustrate: Suppose my best 

 colonies have reached the stage of ' ' five 

 brood;" but, perhaps, owing to a poor 

 spring or poor wintering, they need all the 

 remaini)ig time to get into condition for sur- 

 plus. How much time will it need.? and how 

 much more time after removing one brood 

 to bring it into the proper condition, all 

 things being favorable? J. H. Fisbeck. 



St. Louis, Mo. 



Dr. Miller replies: 



Upon first thought your question seemed 

 a stumper; but upon studying it over 

 it doesn 't seem so hard. Evidently you 

 have in mind that when brood is drawn 

 from a colony that colony must have 

 a certain time to recover before it is fit 

 to do super-work. It is true that taking 

 brood or bees from a colony diminishes its 

 force of storers. Of course, there might be 

 a case when taking away two or three 

 frames of brood would make the difference 

 lietween swarming and not swarming, thus 



