340 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Eeplies by Prominent Apiarists. 



[It is useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department In less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the Journai,. If you are 

 in a " hurry " for replies, do not ask tor 

 them to be inserted here. — Ed.] 



Taking Care Of EmiityCoiiilis, 



Query, No. 258 — 1. What is the best 

 manner of taking care of empty combs to 

 prevent bee-moth from destroying them, 

 until such times as they can be used ? 2. 

 Will the bee-moth molest the combs if hung 

 In a rack 3 or 4 inches apart, in a dry and 

 airy room ?— Subscriber. 



1. I have the best success by hang- 

 ing them up in a dry. light room. 2. 

 You will have to look after such 

 combs as contain bee-bread, no mat- 

 ter where you put them.— G.W. Dem- 



AREE. 



The plan suggested is good. If 

 worms are already started, the combs 

 must be heavily fumigated with sul- 

 phur.— C. C. Miller. 



The plan suggested is the best 1 

 know, but the moths will trouble 

 them some even then. If they 

 trouble too much, fumigate them.-^ 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. 



1. Putting them where the bees can 

 have access to them, or by burning 

 sulphur in the room in which they are 

 stored. 2. To a certain extent, yet it 

 helps wonderfully.— G. M. Doolit- 



TLE. 



I have but little trouble if the combs 

 are in a dry, airy room, but they 

 should be carefully examined from 

 time to time, and if you find any trace 

 of moths on the combs, fumigate 

 them with sulphur.— H. D. Cutting. 



Combs containing pollen are unsafe 

 hung up in a dry, airy room if moths 

 can get at them. As suggested in 

 this department last year, there is no 

 better plan than to stack them up in 

 empty hives over a strong colony of 

 bees.— G. L. Tinker. 



2. No, not if not too warm, and left 

 there too long. Your second question 

 gives my idea of the best solution of 

 your first.- James IIeddon. 



I always keep my combs in a per- 

 fectly close box, in which they are 

 hung. They are then never troubled 

 with moths.— A. J. Cook. 



Put them in a cold room carefully 

 boxed up. If they are kept there 

 during our cold northern winters, the 

 moth will not hatch out of them, and 

 by using screen doors and windows 



the moth can be kept out of the 

 honey-house all summer as well. We 

 keep thousands of extractor combs 

 every season, and never have any 

 trouble.— Dadant & Son. 



1. If any moth worms are seen, give 

 the combs a vapor bath with fumes of 

 burning sulphur. 2. The worms are 

 not apt to be found in combs placed 

 as mentioned; but frequent examina- 

 tions should be made, and the sulphur 

 fumes applied when worms are found. 

 —J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Liricating FouMation Dies. 



Query, No. 259.— Does the use of lye in 

 lubricating dies of foundation presses in- 

 jure the foundation or make it disagreeable 

 to the bees? A neighboring bee-keeper 

 claims that it makes the foundation brittle, 

 and that he has bard work to make bees stay 

 in the hive when it is used. — J. M. 



I should say not, when some of our 

 shrewdest and best bee-keepers have 

 used it for years. — A. J. Cook. 



I have used foundation that was 

 made by the use of lye, and that 

 which was made by using starch ; I 

 have noticed no difference in the 

 respect mentioned.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



The honey-bees have no use for an 

 alkali in their fabrications, and it 

 would not be strange if it were dis- 

 agreeable to them.— G. L. Tinker. 



I have used foundation made by 

 manufacturers who use lye as a lubri- 

 cator, and I never had any trouble on 

 that account. A great deal of foun- 

 dation is worthless on account of its 

 being made of wax rendered from 

 moldy, rotten combs.— G. W. Dem- 

 areb. 



So far as my experience has gone, I 

 have found no trouble from it.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



I am certain that lye injures the 

 quality of the wax. Try a small 

 quantity by melting it with a slight 

 trace of lye, and then compare it with 

 a sample of the same wax not thus 

 treated.— H. R. IJoardman. 



Any material which you use on a 

 press will remain on the foundation, 

 more or less ; and will be more or less 

 injurious ; hence, the inferiority of 

 ttiepresses. We should certainly not 

 use lye in any case. — Dadant & 

 Son. 



I have used foundation made with 

 lye, starch and soap, and I could not 

 see any difference. I have had no 

 trouble in having the different kinds 

 accepted by the bees. — H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



No. If you will put a piece of 

 foundation or wax into lye ten times 

 as strong as the die-book needs, you 

 will see that it does not affect it at 

 all. The bees do not shun the lye- 

 residue, as I know by careful experi- 

 ment.— James IIeddon. 



SiersefliDg Qneens. 



Query, No. 260.— 1. Would you super- 

 sede a queen on account of old age, as long 

 as the colony is prosperous ? 2. What is the 

 best general rule in regard to superseding 

 queens ?— H. D. S. 



1. It would depend upon circum- 

 stances. 2. The third year.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



1. No. 2. Let the bees do the super- 

 seding.— G. M. Doolittlb. 



1. No. As long they do good work 

 leave it to the bees.— A. J. Cook. 



1. No. Let the bees do it.— AV. Z. 



HUTCHIN,S0N. 



1. No. 2. Supersede queens only 

 when they show signs of decline.— H. 

 R. Boardman. 



1. Not unless I desired to change 

 the stock. 2. A very good rule that 

 rarely fails in getting good queens is 

 to let the bees do their own supersed- 

 ing.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. No. 2. Supersede them when 

 they begin to fail, or else let the bees 

 do it. They usually do it before you 

 can notice that the queen is failing.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



1. I do not recommend the practice 

 of superseding queens on account of 

 age. The bees know better when to 

 supersede than I do. 2. The best rule 

 is to leave it to the bees. They may 

 make some mistakes, but the apiarist 

 will make more mistakes than the 

 bees will.— G. W. Demaree. 



So long as a colony is prosperous, I 

 doubt if I would take great pains to 

 supersede her, leaving that for the 

 bees to do. But if by swarming or 

 otherwise, a queen shojiild come into 

 my hands at a time when I could 

 easily replace her with a younger 

 one, I would most likely replace her 

 if she were two years old, or older.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



1. No. 2. As soon as the queen 

 fails of normal proliflcness, put a 

 young one in her place if the bees do 

 not do it before you, which they 

 usually do in my apiary.- James 

 Heddon. 



1. No sir, as I replied awhile ago, I 

 now have a queen hve years old this 

 spring, and I shall not supersede her, 

 if she keeps the cells filled with eggs. 

 2. Supersede when the queen shows 

 failing powers, or when you desire for 

 any reason to make an exchange.— J. 

 E. Pond, Jr. 



System and Success. 



1^^ All who intend to be systematic in 

 their work in the apiary, should get a copy of 

 the Apiary Register and commence to use it. 

 the prices are reduced, as follows : 



For 50 colonies (120 pages) $1 00 



'• 100 colonies (220 pages) 1 fo 



" 200 colonies (420 pages) 1 50 



The larger ones can be used for a few col- 

 onies, give room for an increase of numbers, 

 and still keep the record all together in one 

 book, and are therefore the most desirable. 



