August, 1909. 



American Vae Journal 



and do it in such a way as not seriously to in- 

 terfere with the honev-yield. ' 



4. Isn't it a fact that black, or common, bees 

 store just as good honey, and as much, as any 

 other bees? 



5. What time here in middle Georgia ought 

 I to take off the supers? 



6. 1 see in Danzenbaker's little booklet, 

 "Facts About -Bees," that he advises the use of 

 only one super, taking out the liUea sections 

 from the middle and shifting the outside and 

 partly tilled ones to the center, refilling the out- 

 side ones with full sheets of foundation. He 

 says that does away with bait-combs and keeps 

 the bees hustling all the time. Do you like and 

 advise this plan ? 



7. Why is it that you don't paint your hives r 

 S. Can you give me a few names and ad- 

 dresses of up-to-date bee-keepers in Geort'ia? 



9. Vou do not seem to think Georgia much 

 of a honey State. Why not? We have all 

 kinds of flowers, but no buckwheat or clover. 



Georgia. 



Answeres.— 1. Uncertain. If there are brood 

 and bees in Doth hives, it may be all right. 

 More likely there is brood in only one hive, 

 witn the chances in favor of the lower hive. 

 If the brood is all in the lower hive, the bees 

 will desert the upper hive when it is moved 

 to a new place, if mdeed there are any bees 

 in the upper hive. If the brood is all in the 

 upper hive, and it is set very close to the old 

 stand, the bees may all cling to this hive, de- 

 serting the frame hive. Possibly, however, 

 especially if the box-hive is set far enough 

 away, the iield-bees may come back to the frame 

 hive, and may make a colony by your giving 

 them a frame of brood. 



2. If these were natural swarms, put on a 

 new stand as soon as hived, there is no reason 

 why they might not give some surplus in a good 

 season. But if you got the bees into other 

 hives without swarming, perhaps in the way 

 mentioned in the previous question, then they 

 hardlv ought to be expected to do much, if 

 anything, in supers, as all the field-bees would 

 leave the new location and go back to the old 

 one. 



3. I don't know of any way. You can't have 

 your cake and eat it, too; and it takes bees to 

 make 2 new colonies. There is, however, one 

 condition in which it is possible that you might 

 increase from 1 to 3 and get as much honev 

 as it you did not increase at all; possibly eet 

 more honey. 'I hat condition is a light' How 

 in the fore part of the season and a heavy late 

 flow, so late that all 3 colonies could build up 

 strong for it. In that case it would not matter 

 a great deal how the increase was maae, the 

 easiest way for a beginner being natural swarm- 

 ing. When the first swarm issues, hive it and 

 set it in a new place, leaving the mother colony 

 on the old stand. When the second swarm 

 issues, set it on the old stand, moving the 

 mother colony to a new stand. 



4. No; at least very few believe so; if they 

 aid they would keep blacks and not Italians, 

 and I don't know of any one in this country 

 who has pure blacks and tries to keep them so. 

 .umd you, however. I'm only speaking for this 

 country. In Switzerland are some of the fore- 

 most bee-keepers in the world, and they keep 

 uure blacks. Many in England also prefer 

 blacks. 



5. Whenever they are filled or nearly filled, 

 un to the close of the season, or last honev- 

 flow, and then all should come off. 



6. It seems to me it would take too much 

 time. 



7. Following the teachings of G. M. Doo- 

 little, in whose ideas I have great confidence, 

 I think there is better chance for the moisture 

 to dry out of unpainted hives than out of paint- 

 ed ones. 1 have seen a painted hive in my 

 cellar damp and moldy when all the unpainted 

 ones were in much better condition. 



8. Just now Dr. T. P. H. Brown, of Augusta, 

 is the only name I can recall. But there are 

 others, and my memory for names is poor. 



0. I'm not sure that i ever said Georgia was 

 not a good State for honey. I have an idea 

 it's pretty good. 



Chunk Honev — Afterswarms — Differ- 

 ent Length Frames. 



1. I had 8 colonies of bees in the spring, 4 

 Italians and 4 hybrids, in 8-frame hives, and am 

 trying to produce chunk honey in shallow ex- 

 tracting- frames. We had lots of honey-dew 

 early in May so I put on a super of shallow 

 frames with full sheets of foundation, and 

 they were quicklv occupied by the bees and the 

 queen also rearing lots of drone-brood in them. 

 I gave some of them 2 supers each, with the 

 same result, and when they swarmed I gave 

 the supers from the parent colony to the new 

 swarm in about 3 days, having hived the new 

 swarms on full sheets of foundation, the result 

 being that every one of the supers was taken 



possession of by the queen at once, and still 

 Kept nning tiie supers with brooa and arones, 

 so i nave hardly a single super that is clear 

 ui brood and poiien. i nave never used queen- 

 exciuaers on my liives. i am putting all new 

 swariub into lu-iranie hives. Jlow can i avoid 

 having brood in supers.' 



2. Will it ao to put supers with brood in 

 them on the new swarm when it is safely 

 hived? 



3. i have one swarm hived in a lu-irame 

 ..it.i lull b.iecis 01 wired loundation, giv- 

 ing them a new super, with full sheets of foun- 

 dation {10 tramesj. 1 hey filled ti frames in 

 the brood-chamoer with honey, brood and pol- 

 len, and went into the super and drew out the 

 toundation, and the queen went right up into 

 them and filled them with brood, leaving 4 

 trames m the brood-chamber not worked in at 

 all, and about the same amount in the super. 

 Why did they do tins, and what is the remedy? 



4. I wintered one colony^ in an S-frame hive 

 with super on, the honey in the super not be- 

 ing tu-p capped over the middle of October. 



i. i^tt me super on the hive. Early in the 

 spring 1 found brood in the super and none in 

 the brood-chamber. So a little later on 1 

 changed places putting the super on the bottom 

 and the brood-chamber on top, thinking to pel 

 the queen to establish her brood-nest in tlit 

 brood-chamber. In about one week I put vi\ 

 an empty super with full sheets. The bees went 

 to work in it at once. That queen, being high- 

 minded, wouldn't stay below, so she promptly 

 filled that super with young bees. I have an 

 empty one under the top one, with the same 

 result. Thinking she might be crowded for 

 room, in a few days I gave another empty one 

 on top. The bees (being about one million in 

 number) succeeded in filling that one with 

 honey before the queen could get to it. At 

 this writing, the hive-body on top of the super 

 at the bottom is crammed full of honey, the 

 top-bar being bent or sagged and ruined, and 

 not a vacant cell. What can I do with those 

 brood-combs ? I have no extractor. 



5. When a colony is intending to send out 

 an afterswarm and I hear the young queen 

 piping in the hive, what can I do to prevent 

 the swarm from issuing? 



0. If I adopt the 10-frame hive and produce 

 chunk honey, would you advise the use of 

 queen-excluders ? 



7. I had 2 afterswarms come out on the same 

 day — one (a black one) in the forenoon. In 

 the afternoon one of my Italian colonies cast 

 a small swarm. So I wished to unite them, 

 and wanted to save the Italian queen, but not 

 knowing how to get the black queen already 

 hived, I just shook the Italians in front of the 

 one already hived, hoping the Italian queen 

 would be the victor. I watched to see the re- 

 sult. They went in all right, seeming to go in 

 on the other side from tlie first swarm hived, 

 and seemed to fight a little. In just a few 

 minutes after the last swarm went in a large 

 bee ( I thought a drone) came flying close to 

 my face. I tried to catch it with my hand, 

 but failed, and it alighted among the other bees 

 ( Italians)^ at the entrance, and I saw it was the 

 queen. She went right in among the bees, and 

 around in front of the hive and crawled up 

 the side of the hive, and took wing, flving only 

 a short way from the hive. She did this about 

 three times, only the last time she went out of 

 mv sight, being gone about one minute. She 

 alighted on the board in front of the hive and 

 went right in, but I never saw her any more. 

 Each time she came out she went a little fur- 

 t'lfr. What do you think she was up to ? 

 Could it be that she was on a mating trip so 

 soon after being hived ? The bees seemed to 

 pay no attention to her while she was flying in 

 and out of the hive. 



8. In buying my 10-frame hives this sprine. 

 T find that the frames will not go into my 8- 

 frame hives. They are too long, and some of 

 the shallow frames have wide top-bars and some 

 have narrow top-bars. What are the advan- 

 tages claimed for the brood-frames and different 

 top-bars? Tennessee. 



Answers. — 1. The strange thing in the case 

 is that with full sheets of foundation, which 

 was no doubt worker- foundation, there should 

 he drone-brood, unless it be that some of the 

 foundation dropped down, and then the bees 

 built in drone-comb. It is nothing very strange 

 ' ■-'t bees go into extracting-supers. seeing that 

 the frames there are the same as below. With 

 old combs in the lower story there is not the 

 same tendency for the nueen to go above. You 

 hived the swarms on foundation, and then put 

 on a super that had been on the old hive. Of 

 course the queen would prefer this super with 

 comb already drawn out. The only way to pre- 

 vent the queen goinq up is to use a queen-ex- 

 cluder. 



2. Not unless vou use an excluder. The 

 nueen will be sure to go up where the brood 

 is if she can. 



3. Bees are naturally inclined to cluster in 

 a sphere, and when they had filled 6 frames in 

 the lower story it was just as easy for them to 

 enlarge by going upward as by going sidewise, 

 the upper story naving the advantage that it 

 was warmer, as heat rises. If the lower story 

 had been filled witli old combs, there would 

 have been less tendency to go up. The remedy 

 is to have old combs below, which, nowever, is 

 not so sure as an excluder. 



4. Having no extractor, you can cut out the 

 combs to be used as chunk honey, providing the 

 comb is not too old and filled with pollen. If 

 not fit for the table as it is, you can melt it, 

 being sure not to overheat it, and when cold 

 take off the cake of wax and use the honey tor 

 the table. Vou can give the sealed combs of 

 honey to the bees for winter or spring. 



J. Cut out all the queen-cells that are left. 

 G. Yes. 



7. It would be nothing very unusual if she 

 was on her wedding tour. 



5. Some think that bees will build more 

 brace-combs with narrow top-bars but all do 

 not agree in that view. 



am 



Cxperiencesyi 



White Honey Crop a Failure. 



The honey crop this year in this locality is 

 a failure so far. We may get some honey from 

 the fall flow. J. H. McCargo. 



Danville. Ark.. Tulv 33. 



Cold Rains — Little Honey. 



1 he bees are not a success in this vicinity — 

 too many cold rains. There is very little honey 

 in sight at this time. G. C. Allinger. 



La Rue, Ohio, July 2. 



Considerable Swarming. 



We have considerable swarming in West 

 Prowers and East i>ent counties this season, 

 ynd bees are just enterinc the su'^ers. 



John S. Semmems. 



Wiley. Colo.. July 19. 



Hardly Half a Honey Crop. 



The honey crop in this locality is hardly one- 

 half; there being no basswood to speak of. and 

 clover is drying up on account of the drouth. 

 J. A. DOERR. 



^■iroqua, Wis., July 34. 



Honey Prospects Better Than Ever. 



Our honey prospects are better than ever this 

 year, although the crop is late. There will be 

 a fair crop of white honey, with perhaps a good 

 supply of late, dark crop. 



J. J. Measer. 



Hutchinson, Kans.. July 19. 



Weather Too Cool. 



Clover is in full bKu)m, but owing to the 

 cool weather the last few days, the bees have 

 not done much in the supers. The basswood 

 has lots of buds and promises well, though we 

 want favorable weather to get a honey-flow. 

 Mary Theilmann. 



Theilman. Minn.. July 6. 



Too Dry and Hot. 



The dry, hot weather put a stop to the flow 

 of nectar beginning last week. The yield of 

 white clover was less than half of last year — 

 a super on every hive half finished. 



Soaking rain today — too late for clover. 



Basco, 111., July 5. Wm. Findlav. 



An Enterprising Boy Bee-Keeper. 



I am a boy 14 years old. I started a year 

 ago with one colony of bees, and I wintered 

 it through. This spring I bought another col- 

 ony, and have managed to build up 3 colonies. 



I will tell of a swarm that came to me in 

 June. First a lot of bees were in carrying out 

 comb foundation starters which I had for an- 

 other swarm. They would carry out pieces 

 of saw-dust and droo it in front of the hive. 

 The next day it rained and they still stayed 

 in the hive. The next day when my swarm 



