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THE AMERICAN BEE JGUHr^Al 



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 ; ^et them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the JOUKNAI.. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Ants anil Sliafliiig Hives, 



Query, No. 280.-1. What harm do ants 

 in bee-hives? 0. Is there any danger of 

 having too much shade for bees under 

 spreading beech-trees where the sun only 

 reaches the hives very early in the morning 

 and late in the evening ?— W. J. A. 



1. See ansvser to Query, No. 279. 2. 

 I think not.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. They annoy the bees when the 

 hives are opened. 2. I cannot say, 

 but I thinlc not.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



1. None at all, but they bother the 

 apiarist. 2. No, if they have a good 

 flight-passage.— Dadant & Son. 



Ants do not injure my bees so far 

 as their prosperity is concerned, but 

 it makes bees cross and disagreeable 

 when annoyed by the presence of 

 ants.— G. \V . Demakee. 



I cannot say that they do unless 

 they consume some honey. I think 

 they act as scavengers, I have kept 

 them away by putting tansy in and 

 around the hives.— H. D. Cutting. 



1. See answer to Query, No. 279. 2. 

 Not during June, July or August, 

 but I would not like it in the spring 

 or fall. I use and prefer a movable 

 shade.— jAjiES Heddon. 



1. The small ones do no harm ex- 

 cept to annoy the apiarist. One kind 

 of our large black ants will gnaw into 

 the wood of the hive, and if molested 

 they will fasten to the bees' legs so 

 securely that the bees cannot get rid 

 of them. This kind of ant I kill when 

 they are found. 2. Bees thrive better 

 in the sun. Too much shade is a 

 detriment.— G. M. Doolittle. 



]. Ants have been plentiful in my 

 apiary at times, but have never 

 harmed strong colonies, as I could 

 see. 2. I prefer a board for shade, 

 but I do not think that trees will do 

 any harm in the heated season. In 

 winter they will probably do no harm 

 as the bare limbs will not shade the 

 hive to any extent.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



1. Usually they do little or no harm. 

 In the South, however, they are said 

 to worry bees, and sometimes even to 

 kill the queen. I keep them away as 

 given in Query, No. 279. By using 

 poisoned syrup in a vessel so made 



that ants can enter it, but not bees, 

 the ants are easily killed. 2. I believe 

 that shade-boards are better. Such 

 shade as mentioned makes it too 

 damp.— A. J. Cook. 



1. They crawl over one's hands and 

 bite when opening the hive ; they also 

 bite the bees. At other times they 

 seem to do no harm. 2. I have had 

 hives become moldy from too mucb 

 shade. The hives may be kept so 

 cool that more bees must stay at 

 home to keep up the heat of the hive 

 than if the sun shone on the hives 

 longer.— C. C. Miller. 



(Jetting Rid Of Laying Worte, 



Query, IVo. 28I.—What is the best way 

 to get rid of a laying worker when it once 

 becomes established in a hive ?— L. J. M. 



Introduce a good fertile queen by 

 caging her 48 hours. — A. J. Cook. 



Break the colony up and establish a 

 new one, is the quickest and clieapest 

 in the end.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Give a comb or two of brood and 

 the adhering bees, and introduce a 

 queen.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Put in a small swarm, queen and 

 all, or introduce a cheap queen. — 



DADANT & SON. 



This is quite a long story ; two 

 efficient methods are given in my 

 book, '• Success in Bee-Culture." — 

 James Heddon. 



Keep the bees supplied with all the 

 brood they can cover till they rear a 

 queen ; or unite them with a colony 

 having a good queen.— C. C. Miller. 



Take the frames a few rods away, 

 shake off all the bees, and give them 

 empty combs with one of young brood 

 in all stages if possible ; or better 

 still, give them a queen or a queen- 

 cell ready to open.— H. D. Cutting. 



Remove the combs with bees ad- 

 hering to your comb-box, and supply 

 their place with two or more frames 

 of hatching brood with accompanying 

 bees. Now carry the combs in the 

 comb-box a few rods away, and shake 

 the bees down on the ground and let 

 them shift for themselves. I have 

 never seen this plan fail. They will 

 now accept a cell or queen as readily 

 as any other colony or nucleus. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



If desirable to save the colony I 

 should change places with a strong 

 colony and give a fertile queen. 

 Where but few bees are left, I should 

 take away the combs if it was not 

 convenient to unite them with two or 

 more nuclei. This latter plan never 

 fails, but the queen must be intro- 

 duced in the usual way by caging. — 



G. L. TiNIiER. 



I have had experience with only 

 one laying worker, and I got rid of 

 that one by introducing a queen to 

 the colony." Probably the best way is 

 to break the colony up, giving a frame 

 of comb and adhering bees, each to 



as many colonies as there are frames. 

 —J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Oneens Mating in tlie Hives. 



Query, No. 282.— Will queens leave the 

 hive with swarms before they are fertilized? 

 2. If their wings are clipped at the time of 

 swarming, will they mate in the hive ? — T.A. 



i. Yes. 2. No.— James Heddon. 



1. Yes.— H. D. Cutting. 



]. Y'es. 2. No.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. Y'es. 2. No.— G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Yes. 2. I think not. — W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



1. Yes. 2. No.— Dadant & Son. 



1. Y^es. 2. Not generally.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



1. Yes. 2. No.— C. C. Miller. 



1. Y'"es, all after-swarms have 

 virgin queens. If you clip their wings 

 before they are mated they will never 

 mate in the natural way. They never 

 mate in the hive— never. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



The fecundated queen leaves with 

 the prime swarm ; a second swarm 

 always has an unfecundated queen. 

 If the so-called second-swarm does 

 not issue till its queen has mated with 

 a drone, that swarm is a prime 

 swarm, although the second one out 

 of the same hive.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Home Market for Honey. 



t^B~ To create Honey Markets in every 

 village, town and city, wide-awake honey 

 producers should get the Leaflets " Why Eat 

 Honey" (only .iO cents per 100), or else the 

 pamphlets on "Honey as Food and Medicine," 

 and scatter them plentifully, and the result 

 will be a demand for all of their crops at 

 remunerative prices. " Honey as Food and 

 Medicine " are sold at the following prices : 



Single copy, 5 cts. ; per doz., 40 cts. ; per 

 hundred, $2.50* Fi^•e hundred will be sent 

 postpaid for $10.00; or 1,000 for $15,00. 



On orders of 100 or more, we will print, if 

 desired, on the cover-page, " Presented by," 

 etc. (giving the name and address of the bee- 

 keeper who scatters them). 



To give away a copy of " Honey as Food 

 and Medicine " to every one who buys a 

 package of honey, will sell almost any quan- 

 tity of it. 



tg^ Sample Copies of the Bee Journal 

 will be sent FREE upon application. Anyone 

 intending to get up a club can have sample 

 copies sent to the persons they desire to in- 

 terview, by sending the names to this oifice, 

 or we will send them all to the agent. 



AVben Reneiving your subscription 

 please try to get your neighbor who keeps 

 bees to join with you in taking the Bee 

 JoiTRNAL. It is now so cheap that no one 

 can afford to do without it. We will present 

 a Binder for the Bee Journal to any one 

 sending us four subscriptions — with 54.00 — 

 direct to this office. It will pay any one to 

 devote a few hours, to get subscribers. 



