AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



169 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 25 or more apiarists 

 who help to make ''Queries and Replies" so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Leaving on Supers When Not Storing. 



Is it best to leave on the upper half or 

 super part of the hive empty of every- 

 thing when the bees are not storing any 

 surplus honey ? F. N, Gardiner. 



Guthrie, O. T. 



Answer. — It is certainly not good to 

 have sections on a hive when the bees 

 are not storing, on account of the injury 

 done to the sections, but as you put the 

 question there are no sections, and the 

 question is whether it is a good thing for 

 the bees. Perhaps not many leave 

 supers on when not in use, but some re- 

 port favorable results from wintering 

 with supers left on. We do not remem- 

 ber to have seen any adverse reports, 

 yet adverse reports are not generally so 

 freely given as favorable ones. Perhaps 

 you can decide the matter most satis- 

 factorily for yourself by trying part in 

 that way. 



The All- Wood Q,ueen-Excluders. 



Last spring, or winter, when I ordered 

 my supplies, I ordered an all-wood 

 queen-excluder for each hive, and as 

 soon as the bees had got nicely started 

 in the first super, I put on a second and 

 one of the all-wood queen-excluders un- 

 der super No. 1. I found that they quit 

 working above, and went to building on 

 the excluder. Not liking that, I re- 

 moved the excluder, and they went to 

 work again in good earnest, and I 

 thought no more about it until a few 

 days ago I took off my first honey. Out 

 of three supers that I took off, two 

 were easily cleaned of bees, but the 

 third I found after a day or two had 

 brood in, and the young bees were 

 hatching out. Now for my questions : 

 1. Have bee-keepers in general, who 

 have tried all-wood separators, found 

 them a success ? or are they a failure ? 



I had used them in the early spring 

 to transfer with, and the queen got 

 back somehow in all but one instance, 

 and they warped and curled fearfully. 

 Question No. 2. If I now cut out the 



comb in the sections where brood has 

 been, and return them to the bees, will 

 they fill the sections full of honey so 

 that I can put the honey on the market? 

 Of course it will be dark honey, as the 

 only thing they have to work on now is 

 buckwheat — it is just beginning to 

 bloom. 



We had a fine honey-flow for a little 

 while, but the dry weather cut it off 

 short, and now the bees are loafing. 



E. B. Ellis. 



Cooksville, Ills., July 14, 1893. 



Answers. — 1. We do not remember to 

 have seen any reports from those who 

 have used excluders made entirely of 

 wood, except such as were formerly 

 made of slats, and they were entirely 

 unreliable. We should be glad to get 

 reports from any who have used all- 

 wood excluders, made with perforations 

 after the manner of zinc excluders. 



2. Yes, if you cut the brood out of the 

 section, and return the section to the 

 bees, there is no reason why they should 

 not fill it in good shape, provided there 

 is enough of the comb without brood left 

 at the upper part to serve as a starter ; 

 or you can put in a fresh starter of 

 foundation. 



Getting Bees to Work in Supers, Etc. 



1. How can I get my bees to work in 

 the supers ? I have tried putting up 

 combs full of honey from below, but they 

 insist on building straight up from the 

 lower frames through and into the upper 

 frames. 



2. Should comb honey be taken dur- 

 ing the honey-flow where frames are 

 used in the super ? Earnest Novice. 



Grand Prairie, Tex. 



Answers. — 1. If your question is not 

 misunderstood, your trouble is not to get 

 bees to work in the upper story but to 

 keep them from working between the 

 two stories. It is simply a matter of 

 room. If there is room enough between 

 the upper and lower stories, you may be 

 sure the bees will fill it if they work in 

 both stories. If there is a queen-ex- 

 cluding honey-board between the two 

 stories, see to it that there is no greater 

 space than a quarter of an inch between 

 the top-bars in the lower story and the 

 honey-board, and between the honey- 

 board and the bottom-bars of the upper 

 story. If there is no honey-board, but 

 the queen is allowed to roam at her own 

 sweet will in either story, then have 

 only a quarter of an inch between the 

 top-bars of the lower story and the bot- 



