February, 1909. 



American Vee Journal 



dearth of honey? There was at least 2-3 of 

 the sections that showed no comb construc- 

 tion. What was the reason? The old hive, 

 which tlie year before had weighed 76 pounds, 

 now weighed but 64 pounds. Of the other 

 tw-o, one weigTied about the same, and the 

 other about 10 pounds heavier. I would like 

 to know my mistakes, and the remedy. 



South Dakota. 



Answers.— I. I can only guess, and the first 

 pess that comes when a swarm deserts after 

 having made a start at building is that there 

 was too great heat. The remedy is to shade 

 the hive and give plenty of ventilation by a 

 large entrance, or some other way. 



2. I am not sure whether I understand cor- 

 rectly, but as I understand it, you left the 

 supers on till time to go into winter quarters 

 and then found less honey in them than there 

 had been previously. There was nothing un- 

 usua in that. If supers are left on after 

 the harvest closes, in a little while the bees 

 will begin to carry the honey down into the 

 brood-chamber. Next time take the supers off 

 when the harvest is over. There are various 

 reasons for difference of weight in different 

 colonies, and of the same colony in different 

 years. 



Keeping Honey— Extracted vs. Comb 

 Honey. 



1. Can honey from this year be kept till 

 next year without spoiling? 



2. I have a notion to run my apiary for 

 extracted honey. Is there more profit than 

 running for comb honey? 



3- What book can I buy that explains the 

 work about extracted honey? Ili,inois 



Answer.— I. Yes, there is no trouble "in 

 keeping extracted honey over, and even 

 comb honey may be kept in a dry and warm 

 place. 



2. Some find it more profitable to run for 

 one kind of honey and some for the other. 

 It depends upon kind of honey, markets, etc 

 and a good deal depends upon the bee-keeper' 



3- Root's A B C and X Y Z," Dadant's 

 Ivangstroth, Cook's "Manual," or almost 

 any of the other books on bee-keeping ought 

 to help you out. 



Probably Mostly Italian — Giving 

 Queen vs. Superseding. 



1. What kind of bees are the enclosed > 



2. Do bees that requeen themselves do as 

 well as bees that are given a new queen? and 

 what becomes of colonies that are not inter- 

 fered with m the least, except to put on su- 

 pers, take off the surplus honey, etc.? Is 

 that a good plan, or is it necessary to re- 

 queen to obtain best results? 



A Beginner. 

 Answers. — i. It is not easy from seeing a 

 few bees to tell what they are. The first 

 cross between black and Italian blood will 

 show workers all the way from those having 

 3 yellow bands to those having none, so if 

 you should show a few of these with 3 bands 

 to the best judge in the world, he couldn't 

 say whether they were pure Italians or hy- 

 brids. Besides, when bees are sent flat in a 

 letter and mashed in the mails, it is still 

 harder to tell. I should guess that the bees 

 you send are mostly Italian blood. 



■ ^u ^^r ^^^^ ^^^ '^^ **'^ ^'S^* ^'"'^' '* 'S all 

 right for them to requeen themselves. I'd 

 give money if my bees would never swarm and 

 leave me to do nothing but to attend to the 

 supers. I'd be glad to leave the requeening 

 to themselves. 



one else. Generally, it is not a hard ques- 

 tion to answer, the orthodox answer being 

 to commence with 2 or 3 colonies. With that 

 number you can't lose very much, no matter 

 how many foolish things you do with them, 

 and you have a lot of practice with 2 colo- 

 nies. Generally, too, there is only a little time 

 that can be taken from other pursuits, and 

 these latter cap not be intruded on too much. 

 Your case is different. Most of your time 

 will be at the disposal of the bees, and some 

 of it would not be fully occupied with only 

 2 or 3 colonies. Also, you have been doing 

 some advance study that fits you for un- 

 dertaking more than the average beginner. I've 

 an idea, too, that a retired preacher is safer 

 than the average to trust with bees. So I'd 

 venture the guess that you'd be quite safe 

 with 25 colonies, and even though you might 

 make some bad work with a larger number, 

 might gain enough additional experience with 

 50 to pay for all the mischief you'd do with 

 them. 



2. That depends. If you start with 10 

 colonies, get 3 new hives for each colony. 

 You will possibly have 2 swarms from each 

 colony, and you will want to transfer frooi 

 the old hive. If you don't need them all, 

 they will be good"" for another year. This 

 with the idea that you will care more for 

 increase than for honey. If you start with 

 25 or more, get 2 new hives for each colony, 

 counting on doubling your number and get- 

 ting a fair crop of honey. 

 '^ 3. If you had left out that Miller frame, 

 I'd have said from any supply dealer. I'm 

 not sure that any one makes the Miller frame 

 but the G. B. Lewis Co. 



5. You've made out a pretty good list, and 

 you'll want a veil, and — but say; I tell you 

 what to do: write for a catalog to each- one 

 of the supply-dealers that advertise in this 

 journal. You'll tell then better than I can 

 tell you what you best have, as also the 

 cost, and you'll be interested in looking 

 thera over. 



Effect of Tarred Paper on Bees — Foul 

 Brood. 



1. Is tarred paper injurious to bees and 

 honey? 



2. What is foul brood, and what are some 

 of the methods of curing it? 



Perhaps these questions seem silly, but I 

 am only a boy 14 years of age, and know 

 hardly anything about bees, and have only 

 2 colonies, so need the coaching of an ex- 

 perienced apiarist. Massachusetts. 



Answers. — i. Not in general. If honey 

 were kept for a time directly in contact with 

 paper strongly impregnated with tar, it would 

 probably hurt the flavor, but wrapping tarred 

 paper about a hive would not produce any 

 such result. 



2. Your question is one of exceeding im- 

 portance, and if you are wise you will not 

 rest satisfied until you are well informed as 

 to foul brood, for at any time it may come to 

 pass that foul brood, or something that you 

 fear is foul brood, may appear among your 

 bees, and you should be ready for it. But 

 there is not room in this department to tell 

 you all about it, and you will find much upon 

 the subject in back numbers of this journal, 

 as well as in most of the books devoted to 

 bee-keeping. 



Starting in the Bee-Business. 



1. How many colonies could I safely man- 

 age the first year? The limit. 



2. The first year I shall have to buy my 

 colonies, and they may be had in all sorts of 

 hives, getting them somewhere in this com- 

 munity. But the new swarms, etc., I desire 

 to start in the best hives. How many hives 

 ought I to have on hand, to have each one 

 fully equipped for a good season? 



3. Where can I get one hive fullv set up as 

 a sample, from bottom-board, hive-body. Mil- 

 ler frames, super, etc.? When can I put in 

 my order, and for the balance I shall need 

 in the flat ready to set up, according to 

 sample ? 



4. What other supplies shall I need, as 

 smoker, tools, sections, foundations, etc.? 



5. About what will be the total cost? 



I want to go into the business for pleas- 

 ure and profit, too. Iowa. 



.\nswers.— I. You've asked too hard a ques- 

 tion, and I wish I could refer it *o some 



Changing Bees on Home-Made 

 Frames to Hoffman. 



I have 5 colonies of bees in standard 8- 

 frame hives. Three of them have home-made 

 frames of common lath, and the combs are 

 bulged, and very uneven. Which would be 

 the best way to change them in the spring 

 without setting them back too much? I would 

 like to give them proper frames. Would I 

 have lo break up the colonies in order to 

 change them to Hoffman frames? I am win- 

 tering them in the cellar, and have 4 thick- 

 nesses of burlap over them. They seemed to 

 be doing well until now, but with the way 

 the frames are I can not do anything with 

 them, without tearing the combs to pieces. 

 They were that way when I bought them last 

 spring. I had 2 swarms last summer, but no 

 surplus. They seem to have plenty of stores 

 to carry them through. Minnesota. 



Answer. — What is to be done depends upon 

 w'hat shape the combs are in. It may be that 

 they are somewhat bulged and uneven, and 

 yet so that by a little cutting they can be 

 straightened out all right. In that case, as 

 the combs are probably of the right size, 

 they can be cut out and put into the right 

 kind of frames without setting back the bees 



at all. Do the work at the time of fruit- 

 bloom, when bees are busy at work, and will 

 rapidly mend the cut places. If the combs 

 are built crooked in the frames, so that you 

 can not get them into good frames, then 

 wait till the bees swarm, and 21 days later 

 you can cut out the combs and melt them up. 



Transferring Bees. 



I have 2 colonies of bees in S-frame hives. 

 The bees have built the hives so full of bur 

 and brace combs that they can scarcely get 

 into the supers, and they have all these bur 

 and brace combs full of honey, so that it is 

 almost one solid chunk of honey. 



1. Is there any way in which these bees 

 can be taken or driven out and transferred 

 to a hive with straight fiUed-out combs, 

 though empty, and then feed them? How can 

 I get them out? Should I wait till they 

 swarm? 



2. What caused them to build this way ? 

 They had empty supers on at the time, al- 

 though they didn't have any empty comb for 

 baits, j nst 3-cornered starters. I have 1 5 

 colonies, but only these 2 have built this 

 way. Iowa. 



Answers. — i. It is not entirely clear what the 

 trouble is. If it's only brace and bur combs, 

 then the only thing to do is to pry up the 

 super and scrape off the bur-combs. But when 

 you speak in one place of transferring' to a 

 hive with straight iiUed-out combs, that looks 

 as if the combs were built crooked. If the 

 combs are built crooked, then you are to 

 straighten them, cutting apart where necessary, 

 and forcing each comb into its own frame 

 and fastening it there with strings till the 

 bees build it there. If the combs are too 

 crooked for that, then you must transfer. 

 Wait till the bees swarm, and 21 days later 

 cut out old combs and melt them up, adding 

 bees to the swarm. 



2. If it is merely a case of bur-combs, 

 there is probably too much room between 

 hive and super — -^-inch is about right. Of 

 course, the bees will build in bur-combs again 

 so long as they have too much room, no mat- 

 ter how often you may scrape them out. 

 If too much room is not the trouble, I don't 

 know what it is. 



Stories About Bees. 



In a recent article in one of the leading 

 magazines, a writer of some prominence makes 

 the following statements concerning the 

 orange-growing region of Florida : 



"Every tree (orange) is alive with honey- 

 gatherers; but they get drunk with delight, 

 and it is said that they do not make as much 

 honey from orange blossoms as from some 

 common weeds. * * » i know of nothing 

 like it in the North, except when the lindens 

 are in blossom, and then you get it, for the 

 bees ivill zvork in the lindens all night." 

 (Italics are mine.) 



In the same article two other statements are 

 made that seem strange to me: 



"Seventy-five great pines, 50 feet to the 

 first limbs, surround my house. In midwinter, 

 when these are in bloom, whole swarms of 

 bees are up there at work, and pine honey is 

 not so bad after all. It has a taste of figs." 



"I have a neighbor who has devoted himself 

 to bee-keeping, and does as well here in winter 

 as he does in Ohio in the summer — that makes 

 a whole year of it." 



From these statements it would seem that 

 bees are accustomed to work in linden trees 

 all night, that they store honey from pine trees, 

 and that bees in Southern Florida gather honey 

 in the winter to such an extent as to make it 

 practTcable and profitable for an Ohio bee- 

 keeper to own and operate apiaries in both 

 States — working the Northern apiary in the 

 summer and the Southern in winter. 



I am not an old hand at the business, hav- 

 ing kept bees but 5 years; so I expect to learn 

 new things about bees. However, I have read 

 4 or 5 bee-books, including "Langstroth," "A 

 B C," and "Forty Years Among the Bees,** 

 and I also take and read the 3 bee-papers pub- 

 lisheu in this country, and in them all I have 

 seen no mention of pine honey, or of bees 

 working at night. About bees storing honey 

 in Florida in winter I know nothing, having 

 never been there; but I wonder what the 

 Ohio bee-keeper did with those Florida bees 

 in the summer. 



Will you kindly inform me how much of 

 truth there is in these statements? 



Peoria. 



Answer. — The writer is not so far off as you 

 probably think. 



It is just a little uncertain what he means 

 when he says that bees working on orange 



