April, 10'. 



G L K A N T N n S IN BEE C U L T U R K 



247 



per of the bees bciiij]: injured wlioii nrsenic 

 is usimI; but, if applic<l wlieu the petals first 

 besiii to fall, there is danger of poisoning 

 some of the bees. 



Combs Built Crosswise in Frames. 



Question. — How can I fi.x the conib.s that are 

 l)uilt from one frame to another so I can handle 

 them? A. J. Hulse. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — Cut each comb loose wliere it is 

 attached to the adjacent frame and then 

 fasten it Avithin its own frame by tying it 

 in place with cord wrapped around the 

 frame. If the first frame can not be re- 

 moved from the hive without tearing the 

 comb to ]iieees, cut all comb attachments on 

 each side of the hive, then invert the hive 

 and push out all the comb at once. After this 

 is done, by beginning at one side each comb 

 in turn can be cut from the neighboring 

 frame and fastened within its own frame. 



Number of Colonies for Pollination. 



Question. — How many colonies will be neces- 

 sary to insure a good setting of fruit in a 500- 

 tree orchard ? AVilliam Wadsworth. 



New York. 



Answer. — Much depends upon Aveather 

 conditions during the blooming period, more 

 bees being needed when the weather is un- 

 favorable. In the West some recommend 

 one colony per acre of orchard, but in the 

 East it will be better to have at least two 

 colonies per acre and more will be better. 



Strengthening Weak Colonies With Young Bees. 



Question. — If young bees are shaken from a 

 comb taken from a strong colony in front of a 

 weak colony, will they be kindly received on en- 

 tering or will they be killed? Ella C. Miller. 



Washington. 



Answer. — Usually these young bees are 

 kindly receiA'ed early in the season, especi- 

 ally if there is nectar available. Not many 

 bees should be added to the weak colony at 

 a time, for if the number of invading bees 

 is too large there is liable to be trouble. 

 Later in the season, especially after the 

 honey flow, it would not be safe to add 

 young bees in this way, and sometimes even 

 in the spring it may cause trouble. You 

 can easily tell how the young bees will be 

 received by trying only a few at first. 



Stimulative Feeding in the Spring. 



Question. — Is there any advantage in stimula- 

 tive feeding for colonies that are not short of 

 stores? W. M. Hathaway. 



Michigan. 



Answer. — In your locality stimulative 

 feeding for spring brood-rearing would not 

 often be advantageous. If the bees have 

 an abundance of stores they will expand 

 their brood about as fast as weather condi- 

 tions will permit. Stimulative feeding is 

 sometimes needed to keep up brood-rearing 

 for a later honey flow in localities where 

 the main hdney flow comes sometime after 

 the natural spring brood-rearing period, as 

 in some parts of the West and South, but 

 where the honey flow comes early this is not 

 often needed. 



Bees Carrying Out Brood. 



Question. — Why do my liecs carry out some of 

 the undeveloped brood? T. L. Millard. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — They are probably short . of 

 stores. It will be well to open the hive to 

 sec if they have any honey. If not, they 

 should be fed at once. Brood is sometimes 

 carried out from other causes, such as being 

 chilled, but especially in the spring the 

 carrying out of brood is often the result of 

 famine. 



To Get Rid of Crooked Combs. 



Question, — If I put my old crooked built-to- 

 gether combs in the upper story and new combs 

 and frames of foundation below, will the queen 

 go below to lay eggs? If so, will they put honey 

 in the old crooked combs or abandon them? 

 Indiana. E. H. Lenning, 



Answer. — You will no doubt get better re- 

 sults by placing the chamber of new comb.s 

 on top of the old brood-chamber. It will 

 be better still if at least one comb in this 

 new brood-chamber is old and dark. Queens 

 ■ usually prefer old dark combs, and in the 

 Standard hives they are more inclined to 

 work upward into a second chamber, when 

 more room is needed, than to go into one 

 placed below. When the queen is found 

 above, an excluder should be placed between 

 the two stories to confine her in the new 

 brood-chamber. Some time after the brood 

 has all emerged below, the lower brood- 

 chamber can be taken away. It should then 

 be practically free of honey. If it were left 

 on top, the bees would fill tlie crooked combs 

 with honey instead of abandoning them. 

 You could smoke the bees out of the old 

 brood-chamber into the new, and then put 

 a queen-excluder between, before the queen 

 could go back if you prefer to have the 

 ncAv brood-chamber below; but, if founda- 

 tion is used in the new brood-chamber, bet- 

 ter* combs will be built if in the upper story. 



To Keep Brood-chamber Free of Honey. 



Question. — For comb-honey production how can 

 I keep the brood-chamber free of early honey to 

 give the queen plenty of room to lay, and reduce 

 the desire to swarm without extracting the honey ? 



New York. Harold Edwards. 



Answer. — Usually the trouble is in not 

 having enough honey in the hive in the 

 spring.. Sometimes when they seem to be 

 crowded, great slabs of sealed honey will 

 disappear within a week and the combs 

 filled with brood. Since it requires nearly a 

 comb of honey to make a comb of brood, 

 this early honey is usually not in the way 

 of rapid brood-rearing in the spring if the 

 colonies are strong. When the brood-cham- 

 ber does become crowded with too much 

 honey or even before, they should be given 

 a second story of old dark combs if these 

 are available. If these combs are partly 

 filled with honey all the better, for the 

 honey may be needed later. Combs heavy 

 with honey can be lifted up into the second 

 story and emptv combs put in their place 

 below. At the beginning of the honey flow 

 most of the brood can be put in one story 

 and the other taken away. 



