100 



I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



mmmmm. 



WITH 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Using Old Coml) Founilatioii, 



Query, No. 197.— Last spring- I filled 

 brood-frames for about ^0 tiives with comb 

 foundation, and also starters in surplus 

 boxes. Can I use them next spring as they 

 are. or will cold weather or ageinjure them? 

 If so, what shall I do about it ?— P. W., New 

 York. 



Use them.— James Heddon. 



I ahould use them as they are.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



I should use them as they are.- C. 



C. MiLLEK. 



You can use them. If warmed up 

 so as to soften the wax. they will be 

 as good as ever.— A. J. Cook. 



Place the brood-frames in the sun, 

 do not allow them to get too warm, 

 put them into hives having good, 

 strong colonies, and they will be all 

 right.— II. D. Cutting. 



It is possible that the foundation 

 may not be drawn so quickly, but it 

 can be used. If itisnotreadily drawn, 

 dip it into water lieated to 120°; if 

 this does no good, melt it and have it 

 made over.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



If they are kept where dust will not 

 settle upon them, they can be used 

 another year as they are. If the foun- 

 dation becomes partially detached 

 from the frames, as it sometimes 

 does, it may be re-waxed just before 

 using.— G. L. TiNKEK. 



Neither age nor cold will injure 

 them. Look out for mice in winter, 

 and moths in summer. Keep them 

 dry.— Dadant & Son. 



If you manage them rightly you 

 will have no trouble. If you hive 

 swarms on them, give the swarms no 

 more combs at a time than they can 

 completely cover. The only ditt'er- 

 ence between old and new foundation 

 is that the former being dry and hard 

 requires a higher temperature in the 

 hive when it is being worked into 

 combs.— G. W. Dejiakee. 



I have used foundation 4 and even 

 5 years old. and found no trouble in 

 its being accepted and drawn out. If 

 found too dark for surplus it will be 

 fnlly as good as any for use in the 

 brood-chamber. It will l)e well to dip 

 old foundation into warm water to 

 soften it a little before giving it to the 

 bees, if it is found to be very hard. — 

 J. I:. Pond, Jr. 



Keeping Bees Near tlie Railroail, 



Query, >'o. 198.— I have 120 colonies of 

 bees that I expect to more in the spring 

 within .".() yards of the railroad where there 

 is a very heavy grade. The trains sometimes 

 shake the windows in my house. Will the 

 noise or jar caused by the trains molest or 

 prove fatal to the bees V- P. li. F., Mo. 



Xo. The bees will get used to it.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



I have always considered near a 

 railroad an unfavorable location for 

 an apiary.— II. R. Boardjian. 



I would prefer to move them away 

 from the track if possible.— H. I). 

 Cutting. 



The cars will do no harm at all, I 

 think. The smoke will be more to be 

 feared than any jar or noise.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



I knew of one instance of the kind, 

 and I doubt if any harm resulted. — 

 C. C. Miller. 



I should have no fears about the 

 railroad injuring the bees. My apiary 

 is situated near a railroad over which 

 not less than ten regular trains pass 

 daily. — G. VV. Demaree. 



I have kept bees for 15 years within 

 30 yards of a railroad, where heavy 

 trains are passing every hour. I have 

 never seen any ill-effects therefrom. 

 The trains sometimes jar my whole 

 house. From my experience I should 

 apprehend no difhculty.- J. E. Pond, 

 Jr. 



I think not in the summer, but if 

 they are placed in a cellar for winter- 

 ing, the bees will be agitated by e.very 

 passing train. — G. M. Doolittle. 



I think not. Colonies in trees are 

 often jarred or swung about by the 

 wind. This disturbance is of a some- 

 what different character, but I do not 

 think either would te detrimental.— 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. 



It will have no effect upon them if 

 other conditions are right. It is like 

 bee-bread, it does not injure bees if 

 not eaten out of season ; and it will 

 not be eaten if conditions are right. — 

 James Heddon. 



I have known bees to be located 

 near a railroad track, but they did as 

 well and wintered as well as other 

 bees. They probably get accustomed 

 to the jarring noise. From the ex- 

 perience of a Canadian bee-keeper 

 who kicked the hive containing his 

 Caruiolans, with diminished effect 

 every time, tliis particular strain of 

 bees would do nicely located near 

 your " heavy grade." — G. L. Tinker. 



Apiary Near a Railroail Track, 



Query, No, 199.— Will an apiary located 

 10 rods from the railroad track be affected 

 by the jar o( the trains so that they will not 

 winter as well V Will the bees eat more, or 

 will it have a bad effect on them in any way ? 

 E. E. S., Mich. 



I think not.— W. Z. IIuiClliNSON. 



No harm will result, I think. See 

 Query, No. 198.— A. J. Cook. 



The railroad will do your bees no 

 harm at that distance from it. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



I would prefer them at a much 

 greater distance.— II. D. Cutting. 



1 should prefer not to locate an 

 apiary near a railroad if I had my 

 choice. I should consider the smoke 

 in summer from the engine more 

 objectionable than the noise or 

 jarring— II. R. Boardman. 



I think not. See ipy answer to 

 Query, No, IHS, for reasons. As to 



wintering, I see no trouble ; some 

 colonies eat more and some less, in 

 any case. I have lost only 2 full 

 colonies in 20 years of wintering on 

 the summer stands, and both of those 

 starved last winter when I was sick 

 and could give them no attention. — 

 J. E. Pond, Jr. 



See Query, No. 198. Also: Last 

 winter I selected one of my colonies 

 wintering so nicely upon all sugar- 

 syrup stores, and jarred it, and 

 aroused it every day for weeks, and 

 when put out, "the bees, like others 

 wintered on the same food, voided 

 nothing whatever.— James Heddon. 



While at a friend's once, who had 

 his bees in a cave within 5 rods of the 

 railroad track over which was run 6 

 to 8 trains daily, he requested me to 

 go into the cave' with him about train- 

 time. Soon we began to feel the jar 

 from the train, and as it became more 

 distinct the bees began to roar, and 

 by the time the train had passed the 

 quiet of the cave was transformed to 

 a noisy place. My friend's success 

 in wintering bees was not good, and 

 he believed that the cars was the 

 cause of it.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Bees Swarming Out. 



Query, No. '200.- What is the cause of 

 bees swarming-out in early spring when 

 they have plenty of honey and brood ? — E. C. 



It may be because the bees are 

 weak in numbers ; and have more 

 brood than they can care for. — W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



Perhaps because the bees have died 

 off till there are not enough to cover 

 the brood.— C. C. Miller. 



Lack of pollen or of water, or a 

 remnant of bad feeling from winter 

 confinement. — Dadant & Son. 



A cold brood-nest. The remedy is, 

 to carry all weak colonies into a 

 warm, dark room or cellar on the 

 approach of cool nights, and return 

 them to their places when the weather 

 is suitable for bees to fly out. They 

 must be carried back and forth until 

 they become strong enough to protect 

 the brood.— G. L. Tinker. 



Want of room is supposed to be the 

 the prime cause of swarming. It is 

 their nature, also, and the way they 

 multiply. The cause for swarming 

 abnormally in early spring is not fully 

 known, but many theories are given 

 therefor. See any work on apiculture 

 for the ordinarily accepted reasons. — 

 J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Something obnoxious about the 

 hive, I think. I have never had such 

 a case, but have often heard of it. 

 We should look to it that all hives are 

 thoroughly cleaned in the spring. 

 Dead bees in the hive are very offen- 

 sive.— A. J. Cook. 



In the early spring there are but 

 few young bees in the hive to stay 

 with the queen when the bees take a 

 general (light, and when she finds 

 herself nearly alone in the hive, she 

 may become alarmed and take wing 

 to join the bees, and when once out 

 with their queen the bees are as likely 



