March, 1909. 



American Hee Joarnalj 



that the wayfaring man could not fail to under- 

 stand. I understand that sometimes there is 

 trouble caused by the foundation buckling. 

 with a result of irregular combs, and we wish 

 to avoid this. Virginia. 



_ Answer. — If you happen to have *' Forty 

 Years Among the Bees," you will find the 

 matter very fully treated at page 87, and illus- 

 trations also given. Of course, I could not 

 copy the 3 pages there given in the limits 

 of this crowded department, but will say that 

 the foundation is cut to the full inside width 

 of the frame, and about one-half inch deeper 

 than the inside depth. The upper edge is 

 crowded into the saw-kerf in the top-bar, and 

 wedged there by the usual wedge now gen- 

 erally furnished with frames. The lower edge 

 is held between the two halves of the divided 

 bottom-bar. If you have not the divided bot- 

 tom-bar. let the foundation be cut to come 

 down just to the bottom-bar, and fasten to the 

 bottom-bar with melted wax. Then the founda- 

 tion-splints are put in vertically, one something 

 like an inch from the end-bar, and the others 

 distributed at equal distances. 



You are right that there is trouble with 

 buckling, and if buckling is avoided by having 

 the foundation come down without quite reach- 

 ing the bottom-bar, then there is stretching at 

 the top. so that brood is reared there, or else 

 the queen does not use the upper rows of 

 cells at all. With foundation-splints you can 

 have perfect worker-cells from top to bot- 

 tom, without any danger of buckling, and brood 

 clear up to the top-bar. 



Colony from a Tree in Winter. 



There was a bee-tree cut down this winter. 

 I took the bees and put them into a hive, 

 and have been feeding them granulated su- 

 gar. They are building comb. Would they 

 work without a queen ? It was cold weather 

 when I found them, so I didn't try to find 

 the queen. Iowa. 



', Answer. — Their building comb is a pretty 

 sure sign they have a queen. 



Fastening Foundation in Hoffman 

 Frames without Wiring — Equaliz- 

 ing Brood in Spring — Preventing 

 Foul Brood — When to Put 

 Out Cellared Bees. 



1. Is there any way of fastening full sheets 

 of foundation in regular Hijffman brood-frames 

 without wiring them? 



2. What is meant by Dr. Miller's founda- 

 tion-splints? How do you use them? 



3. What is the difference between a Langs- 

 troth hive and a regular dovetailed hive? 



4. Why is an 8-frame hive better for comb 

 honey than a lo-framc? 



5. Do you use thin or extra-thin foundation, 

 and full sheets in the section-boxes? 



6. What kind of machine would you recom- 

 mend for one who intends to produce consid- 

 erable comb honey, to fasten the foundation 

 in the sections? 



7. Is it a good policy to equalize brood in 

 the spring? 



8. What kind of a wax-press do you use, 

 or would you recommend for one who intends 

 to keep from 60 to 75 colonies? 



9. What arc the best measures and means 

 to prevent foul brood from breaking out in 

 your colonics? 



10. In case foul brood sh»^>iilft break out 

 among my bees, or in my neighborhood, could 

 we bee-keepers in southtrn AHnnesota get a 

 foul brood inspector? To whom should we 

 make application? 



11. What is the best time in this locality 

 to put out the bees in the spring? 



Minnesota. 



Answers.— I." Yes, foundation splints ,take 

 the place of wiring. With horizontal wiring 

 an generally used, if the foundation comes 

 clear down to the bottom-bar thert* will be 

 sagging or buckling. Whclher the foundation 

 comes clear down or not, there is more or less 

 stretching of the foundatifui at the upper part 

 of the frame. These cells jiroduccd by this 

 stretching will not be used by the queen for 

 worker-brood. If she lays in them at all, she 

 lays dronc-cggs. lioth these troubles are 

 avoided by using foundation splints. 



2, They are merely splints of w<iod 1-16 of 

 an inch square and % or 'A inch shorter than 

 the distance from top to bottom-bar. They arc 

 put into hot beeswax until the moisture is 

 fried out of them, and then while barely 

 warm enough for the wax to be melted they 

 are lifted out of the way and pressed into the 

 foundation by means of the wet edge of a 

 thin board. Five splints are put in each frajnc 

 vertically, one in the middle, one about ^ inch 



from each end, and another midway between 

 each splint and the middle. For best results 

 they should be given to the bees at a time 

 when honey is coming in freely. Otherwise 

 the beer, will gnaw a passage next the bot- 

 tom-bar. 



3. A Langstroth hive is one with frames 

 ^7H^9H- A dovetailed hive is a Langstroth 

 hive with dovetailed or fingered corners. 



4. I don't know that it is. At least not 

 always. Perhaps tlie reason 8-frame hives are 

 so much used is because there is less room in 

 the hive, as bees "are more quickly crowded 

 into the super. But unless 2 stories are used 

 before the harvest, there is not a chance to 

 have as strong colonies in 8-frame as in 10- 

 frame hives. There is more danger of the 

 bees starving with 8-frame hives. 



5. Full sheets of thin foundation. 



6. The Daisy foundation fastener is good. 



7. Yes, if rightly done, and no brood taken 

 from any colony unless it has more than 4 

 frames well tilled, with brood. 



8. I have a German wax-press. I don't 

 know whether anything else may be better for 

 60 to 75 colonies. 



9. Perhaps the most important thing is that 

 the bee-keeper should inform himself as to 

 the disease by reading up in the papers about 

 it, and especially by getting Howard's 25-cent 

 booklet about it. Then he should take the 

 same plans as he would take to prevent the 

 outbreak of smallpox or other contagious dis- 

 eases, taking pains not to let his bees have 

 any honey that by any possibility could come 

 from a diseased colony. 



10. In Minnesota foul-brood inspectors are 

 appointed by State authority, and a letter ad- 

 dressed to the proper officer at the State 

 capitol should bring the desired information 

 as to inspectors. 



n. Likely about the time red or soft maples 

 are in bloom, if the weather is favorable. 



Outdoor Wintering — Brood in Bee- 

 Tree in February. 



1. Can bees he successfully wintered out- 

 doors in Wisconsin, with an outside chaff- 

 hive ? 



2. Do they need ventilation at the top or 

 bottom? The reason I ask that question is 

 that I have found lots of bee-trees, and some 

 old colonies that had been in the tree from 

 one to 5 years, and the opening was always 

 above the honey and bees. I find from one 

 to 20 every year, and never an old oue with 

 the opening bVlow the honey and bees. I would 

 like to bear from others. 



3. February 6 I cut a bee-tree and took out 

 2 pails of honey, all moldy and sour. What 

 few bees th^re were left had the dysentery. 

 Would they have wintered all right? 



4. There was some brood in the comb ready 

 to come out, and fresh eggs, too. I didn t 

 think they had brood this time of the year 

 ( February). I would like to hear from oth- 

 ers. Wisconsin. 



Answers. — r. Yes. 



2. The ventilation may be at the top or at 

 the bottom, or both. When I first kept bees, 

 they were in box-hives, and I wintered them 

 in the cellar with the hives turned upside 

 down, leaving them entirely inicovered. That 

 was abundant toji ventilation with no bottom 

 ventilation. At present they are closed at 

 the top, with an (ipeninjf 12x2 inches at the 

 bottom. I have also wintered them with a 

 small entrance below and a very small open- 

 ing above. It matters hut little where they 

 get the air, so they get it. 



3. Doubtful. 



4. It is not usual for bees to have brood 

 in thp cellar the first week in February, but 

 nothing iniusual ovitdoors. 



Sealed Brood in February — Early 

 Queen-Introduction — Two Colo- 

 nies Together. 



1. In looking Dver the Report of tlie Na- 

 tional I find that you did not give the num- 

 ber of colonies you keep. l*lease tell us. 



2. I was looking at the bees on Feb. 23, 

 and found sealed brood in the hives. Was 

 that a good sign? 



3. I have one colon v that has a queen that 

 I think is no good, 'fhey filled up the bror^l- 

 nest last summer, but did not work in tne 

 sections. They were not strong in l)ees. I 

 think I will buy a queen soon and introduce 

 her in place of the old one. How early could 

 they ship a riueen from the South to the 

 central part of Indiana, and she arrive safely 

 to introduce her? 



4. How would it be to lay the cage over 

 the frames for about 24 hours and then shake 

 the bees out in front of the hive and let her 

 run in with them ? 



5. The sooner I would introduce her in 

 the spring, wouldn't it be the safer for her 

 acceptance? 



6. I have been thinking of a way to get 

 2 colonies to winter and work together the 

 year around, and this is about the way I think 

 T will do it : Take coarse screen wire, j ust 

 line enough so that the bees can't go through 

 it, and make a solid screen- wire division- 

 board, and put it in the center of a hive. Then 

 set on another hive fixed the same way. In- 

 stead of having the entrance at the end. have 

 2 entrances, one at one side and one at the 

 other, with the ends closed up. When it 

 comes time to put on sections, put a queen- 

 excluder on top of the 2 bodies and let the 

 2 colonies work in the sections together. How 

 would that plan work? I may try it sooner 

 or later. 



On page 72, under the head of "A Begin- 

 ner's Questions," I will make question 5 a lit- 

 tle plainer. I have an entrance for the weak 

 colony at the back of the hive. 



I mean in question 6 that I expect to take 

 the screen- wire irom between the 2 colonies, 

 and put in its place a queen-excluder honey- 

 board, shut up the entrance at the back, and 

 make both lots of bees use the same entrance. 

 About what day of the month of March should 

 I unite them? 



7. I had the understanding that if they 

 were left together during the honey-flow one 

 of the queens would be killed. If one of 

 them should be killed at that time, which 

 one would it be, the upper one or the lower 

 one? 



8. How many trips would a bee have to 

 make after bee-breacf to produce one bee? 



9. Where do bees have the best pasturage in 

 Indiana, where the ground is level and lots 

 of farming done, or where it is hilly and not 

 much farming? Indiana. 



Answers. — i. Last year I had 129 colonies 

 spring count. Took 19,480 sections (4|4xi^i') 



2. Nothing very bad about it; but you will 

 probably ^nd that the colonies that breed 

 earliest are not always the best. 



3. You can probably get one from the South 

 as early as April. 



4. It would probably work generally; but a 

 longer confinement would be safer; also it 

 might be better to have the queen farther down 

 toward the entrance. Of course the old queen 

 nuist bs removed, 



5. She would probably be accepted more 

 kindly in fruit-bloom than earlier. 



6. Probablv it doesn't make much differ- 

 ence as to the date; but it might be well not 

 to try the plan with too many colonies, for 

 you may not like it. 



7. It might be either, but ir n-e likely the 

 weaker one. 



8. I don't know. 



9. There are good and jiour in -'ach. 



Clipping Queens — Feeding Sugar- 

 Candy. 



1. I am thinking of practising the clii>ped- 

 oueen plan with my bees. I am running for 

 comb honey. I have 14 colonies. Some do 

 not like it because queens get lost and swarms 

 mix up. Is this so, and do you clip? Would 

 you advise me to clip to control swarms.'' I 

 shall be with them at swarming time. I in- 

 tend to prevent second swarms. 



2. Is granulated sugar, when made into h;iril 

 candy, good to feed bees in early spring when 

 tliey are short of stores? 



^. Does yi part glucose or corn syrup when 

 l)ut into such candy keep it more moist? and 

 is it very harmful to bees in warm weather 

 or early spring? Michigan. 



Answers. — 1. I have practised clipping for 

 many years, and it woulu take a lot of money 

 to get me to leave my queens undipped. It is 

 true that sometimes swarms mix, and so they 

 do with undipped queens. Sometimes a 

 queen is lost, but that is better than to have 

 both nueena and swarm lost. 



2. Yes. 



3. Don't think ot giving bees glucose in any 

 proportion whatever. 



T-Supers — Fastening Foundation — 

 Best Section for T-Super. 



1. In answer to "Pennsylvania" on page 19. 

 about the T-super, I can not understand if 

 there is anything across the top, or what holds 

 the tins. 



2. Will the T-supers fit the standard hive? 

 If not. I could not use them. 



3. Please explain how to fasten brood- 

 foimdation in both, with wire and ?pl|nf«. 

 I)n you let tlicm remain, 4)r remove them? 



4.'Kxplain exactly how you put f«uMu]ati'>n 



