THE AMERICAJN BEE JOURNAL. 



295 



one time. When bees begin to get a 

 surplus of lioney, they will come in 

 heavily laden and fall In front of the 

 hive, many of them before they reach 

 the hive. To get bees ready for this, 

 remove all the combs that the bees do 

 not need, and when they get tliese 

 well tilled with brood, give them 

 another comb by spreading tlie brood, 

 and add frames in this way as fast as 

 they will use them. Do not give 

 them combs too fast, or the bees can- 

 not use them, and the brood will 

 become chilled. At the beginning of 

 the honey-flow give them two empty 

 combs in the brood-chamber, and put 

 on the boxes. This gives the queen 

 room in the brood-chamber and the 

 bees in the boxes, and . if you have 

 managed rightly all the other frames 

 will be tilled with brood from top to 

 bottom, and the bees will usually go 

 to work in the boxes at once. 



FOUL BROOD. 



r. L. Dougherty — I have seen but 

 two cases of foul brood, and know but 

 little al)out it. If I had a case I 

 would burn both bees and hive at 

 once. If I had a large apiary affected 

 with it, I do not know what I would 

 do with it. 



L. R. Jackson— I have had no ex- 

 perience with it. I found several 

 cases of it at and near Vevay, Ind.. 

 last spring. I learn that there is 

 some of the Vevay honey in our 

 market now, and I would caution all 

 bee-keepers against buying any honey 

 to feed their bees, as some are talking 

 of doing. Do not buy honey to feed 

 your bees unless you know "where it 

 comes from. 



Pres. Ilall — I once had a colony of 

 bees that was nearly all drones. Was 

 it queenless V 



F. L. Douglierty— I think that it 

 was, and had what is called a laying 

 worker. 



W. W. McCaslen— I once had such 

 a colony. I do not believe that they 

 were perfect drones. They were small 

 and not fully developed. I put a 

 swarm in with them and they killed 

 all the drones in a few hours. 



P. L. Dougherty— The drones were 

 perfect, and were only small becau.se 

 they were reared in worker cells. If 

 tliey had been reared in drone cells, 

 they would have been as large as any 

 drones. 



PROTECTION AQAIN.ST BEE-MOTH. 



Pres. Hall— I know of no protection 

 as good as a strong colony. 



F. L. Dougherty— There is no pro- 

 tection except strong colonies. It is 

 natural for moth to eat beeswax, and 

 they are the only thing that can 

 digest it. A strong colony is never 

 bothered with moth. To see what a 

 strong colony could do with moth, I 

 gave such a colony a comb literally 

 alive with them, and before night 

 they had carried every moth out and 

 torn down the comb and carried the 

 web and all away. 



DIVIDING COLONIES. 



r. L. Dougherty — Many persons 

 divide their colonies until all are so 

 weak that none of them are of much 



value. One strong colony can rear 

 more brootl than three or four weak 

 ones. Colonies should not be divided 

 until they are nearly ready to swarm. 



Pres. Ilall— What are the indica- 

 tions of bees swarming V 



F. L. Dougherty— Building queen- 

 cells. 



A. T. Kelly— Can you keep back a 

 swarm by cutting out the queen-cellsV 



F. L. Dougherty — It is a disadvan- 

 tage to cut out the queen-cells to 

 prevent swarming. If they have 

 commenced to build queen-cells it is 

 best to let them swarm, or divide 

 them. The bees may be hived on 

 empty frames for a tew days and then 

 returned to the old hive and be sat- 

 isfied. 



Pres. Hall— Is it an advantage to 

 clip the queen's wing ? * 



F. L. Dougherty— It is. If you are 

 there when the bees swarm, to catch 

 the queen as the bees come out, and 

 put an empty hive in the place of the 

 old one, the bees will return and go 

 in it. If you are not there, the bees 

 will return to the old hive and may 

 be divided. 



A. T. Kelly— Are the bees not 

 liable to go into some other hive ? 



F. L. Dougherty — They may at 

 times, if there is anything to attract 

 their attention to some other hive. 



A. T. Kelly— That is the trouble 

 with my bees, and the reason I object 

 to it. 



F. L. Dougherty— There is no more 

 danger from this than any other way. 

 Anything that would attract their 

 attention to another hive in this way 

 would attract them in any other way. 



W. T. Ilougham— Is it the old or 

 young queen that comes out with a 

 tirst swarm V 



F. L. Dougherty — Tlie old queen 

 always goes with a Urstswarm, unless 

 she has been superseded. 



John Tilson — IJees will always sting 

 me when I go near them. 



F. L. Dougherty— It is usually our 

 own fault if we get stung. Many 

 persons use too much smoke, and 

 drive the bees from the combs before 

 they fill themselves with honey. 

 Every bee thus treated becomes an 

 enemy. 



W. W. McCaslen— Why are some 

 colonies cross when they swarm V 



F. L. Dougherty— It is usually sec- 

 ond swarms that have come from 

 hives that are short of stores. 



H. H. Luyster— How far will bees 

 go for honey V 



F. L. Dougherty— Usually 2 miles ; 

 sometimes 5 miles. When they have 

 to go over 2 miles they cannot work 

 to much advantage. 



W. AY. McCaslen— Has Alsike clover 

 any advantage over white clover, for 

 bee-pasturage V 



F. L. Dougherty — It has more 

 bloom, and by cutting it may be made 

 to bloom almost the entire season. It 

 is superior to red clover as a feed or 

 for pasture for stock, and is better as 

 a fertilizer. 



W. W, McCaslen— Is it as hardy as 

 red clover ? 



L. R. Jackson — I think that it is a 

 hardier clover than the red, and will 

 stay in the ground longer. 



John Tilson— I have a lield of it 

 that has stood .S years, and is good 

 yet. I never had red clover to stand 

 3 years. 



The convention then adjourned. 

 L. E. Jackson, Hec. 



For tne American Bee JoumaU 



Bees Swaraiii Out. 



.J. C. WILSON. 



On April 17. I had 2 colonies of 

 bees swarm out witliin a few minutes 

 of each otlier, and settle near to- 

 gether. As I was too busy to give 

 them attention, my brother-in-law 

 imdertook to put each swarm into a 

 separate hive, but not being accus- 

 tomed to liandling bees, he soon suc- 

 ceeded very nicely in getting both 

 swarms into one hive, and thinking 

 all would go on well, except the com- 

 bat between the queens, he placed the 

 hive where it was to stand. About 

 noon the following day I found the 

 portico still filled with bees — I think 

 about four quarts — and I determined 

 to see if I could not tickle the sulks 

 out of them, put them into the hive, 

 and they would then go to work. 



During the process of tickling, 

 whicli was done with a small limb 

 from a bush, with a leaf or two on it, 

 I found one of the queens "balled." 

 I washed the bees off in a basin of 

 water and caged the queen and took 

 her to my piazza steps, about 50 yards 

 from the bee-yard. As she dried off 

 I offered her honey, which she took 

 ravenously, and I determined to pass 

 her to another cage, which I thought 

 better for introducing, and in so doing 

 I let her get away. She made one 

 circle to mark the location, and then 

 flew away. Giving her up as lost. I 

 returned to tlie hive to go on with tne 

 tickling, when, to my astonishment, 

 I found the other queen "balled" 

 also. After washing the bees from 

 and caging her. I again repaired to 

 the steps to take care of her. A 

 moment after I reached the steps, the 

 first queen, which had down away 

 about 25 minutes previously, returned. 

 I knocked her down with my hand, 

 then picked her up and again caged 

 her, and introduced her to "the colony, 

 and all is going on well. 



This may be no new thing to 

 veteran bee-keepers, but to me it 

 teaches some important lessons, viz : 

 First, I believe the bees " balled " 

 both queens whilst fighting, in order 

 to save themselves from total destruc- 

 tion ; and second, how quickly and 

 precisely bees mark their location. 



Ridge'land,? S. C. 



For the American Bee JoumaJ- 



(jranulateii aiifl TMii Honey. 



20— J. O. SHEARMAN, (136—116). 



Query, No. 229. mentions granulated 

 honey. I would say that this fact is 

 not given due prominence by bee- 

 keepers generally, that granulated 

 honey is a very serious cause of loss 

 of bees in winter and spring. Mr. H. 



