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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,. 



Eeplies by Prominent Apiarists. 



[It is uBeless 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 And 

 Bpace lor them in the Joitrnai,. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.T 



"spreading of the brood-nest" may 

 have resulted in chilling some of the 

 brood, and making it necessary to 

 remove it. Bees do not usually carry 

 out starved or chilled brood right at 

 the time the misfortune occurs.— G. 

 W. Demaree. 



Those bees were surely living on 

 half rations during the time the brood 

 was being carried out, although the 

 buckwheat was in bloora. There was 

 no doubt a large amount of unsealed 

 brood in the hives. The stimulative 

 feeding was stopped, and the bees 

 failed to get from the flowers enough 

 to support so much brood.— G. L. 

 Tinker. 



Bees Carrying Out Brooil, 



Qnery, No. 344.— We had no honey-flow 

 until buckwheat bloomed, after the middle 

 of August. I had stimulated my bees by 

 feeding and spreading the brood-nest, and 

 the hives were full of bees and brood, when 

 the honey-flow commenced. Why did my 

 bees carry out brood, both worker and drone 

 brood, at the commencement of the honey- 

 flow ? They kept it up about a week after 

 the honey-flow commenced. I examined 

 them thoroughly for moths, but none were 

 present. I had surplus boxes on the hives 

 before the honey-flow commenced.— L. M. 

 F., Nebr. 



If the flow had really commenced I 

 do not know.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I never saw such a case, and cannot 

 explain it.— A. J. Cook. 



I fear your "honey-flow" was 

 mighty weak— too weak to support 

 the great amount of brood, and for 

 self-preservation the bees destroyed a 

 portion of it.-J. V. H. Brown. 



I never saw anything of the kind, 

 and should attribute the cause to the 

 larvse of the wax-moth, if such a 

 thing should happen in my apiary.— 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



The only reasonable guess that oc- 

 curs to me, is that the surplus boxes 

 were objectionable in some way as to 

 kind or position, and the bees threw 

 out brood to make room for honey in 

 the brood-nest.— C. C. Miller. 



I guess your bees were bound to 

 load the brood-chamber with honey. 

 I would ascribe as the cause either 

 cool nights or too pure Italian bees, 

 or a combination of both.— James 

 Heddon. 



As is often the case, sufficient data 

 is not given to enable an answer to 

 be given that would be m*e than a 

 guess. If the frames were spaced as 

 they ordinarily are, the brood may 

 have been carried out to give storage- 

 room ; and I hazard the guess that I 

 have stated the cause.— J.E.Fond, Jr. 



It would be hard to give an intelli- 

 gent answer to your question without 

 having all the facts to judge from. I 

 would guess that your bees were 

 starving just before the lioney-flow 

 commenced, and it was the starved 

 brood that was expelled. Then that 



Amount of Honey Stored by Bees. 



Query, No. 345.— How much more honey 

 will bees store by using an extractor, and 

 not having foundation furnished them ?— G. 

 R. B. 



It depends altogether upon condi- 

 tions. If they have to build their own 

 comb, they might not store as much. 

 —J. P. H. Brown. 



Considerable more. Much depends 

 upon the skill of the apiarist.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



The query is incomplete. The plan 

 of management that is to be compared 

 with this method is left to be guessed 

 at.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I am not sure I understand the 

 question. Many think twice as much 

 extracted as comb can be obtained 

 from the same colony.— C. C. Miller. 



About one-third more, as they are 

 ordinarily worked. When worked on 

 frames placed just bee-space apart in 

 the brood-chamber, and plenty of 

 room given in the sections, there is 

 little if any difference.— J. E. Pond, 

 Jr. 



I do not know that I fully under- 

 stand what was in your mind when 

 you asked the question. In our short 

 honey seasons 1 cannot get a paying 

 honey crop with the extractor without 

 empty combs or foundation to com- 

 mence with. In other words, it has 

 never paid me to have combs built in 

 the upper stories in the natural way 

 for taking extracted honey.— G. W. 

 Demaree. 



They will not store so much, if I 

 extracted all surplus, and did not con- 

 sider the question of profit, I should 

 want all the foundation the bees 

 could use. But if working for comb 

 honev and the most profit, I should 

 use only starters of foundation in the 

 brood-chamber, and also in the sec- 

 tions, and never allow over 750 square 

 inches of comb surface in the brood- 

 chamber for swarms.— G. L. Tinker, 



More than what? Than comb 

 honev ? Do you mean no foundation 

 in either case, or in the case of taking 

 extracted honey only? Well, in any 

 case, very much depends upon the 

 operator and the functions of the hive 

 he uses.— Jasies Heddon. 



Top-Ventilation of Hives. 



Query, No. 346.— Should all hives have 

 ventilation in the top-story ?— S. 



Not at all times.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



Top ventilation is not absolutely 

 necessary.— J. P. H. Brown. 



Mine never have. For out-door 

 wintering perhaps they should have. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



I think not. Perhaps locality has 

 something to do with these things, 

 but it does no good in my apiary.— G. 

 W. Demaree. 



I do not use any ventilation except 

 at the entrance, and consider such 

 perfectly ample.— G. M. Doolittlb. 



For my own use I would not put a 

 ventilation hole in the top of any 

 hive.— H. D. Cutting. 



Not exactly, but they need at least 

 to have absorbents in the upper story 

 for winter. A little upper ventilation 

 is better than none.- Dadant & Son. 



I would prefer to have no ventila- 

 tion except at the one entrance at the 

 bottom of the brood-chamber. All 

 others I believe needless and a bother. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



It depends upon the definition given 

 to the term. In the winter that form 

 of ventilation should be given that 

 will retain heat and allow moisture to 

 be imperceptibly carried off. In the 

 brood-rearing and honey-gathering 

 season all ventilation should be pro- 

 duced at the entrance.— J.E.Pond,Jr. 



Not as any one knows of is it nec- 

 essary in either winter or summer. 

 Bees winter well, and store great 

 quantities of surplus that do and do 

 not have such ventilation.— James 

 Heddon. 



No, but the cover should set on 

 loosely so that it may be raised for 

 ventilation in very hot weather. My 

 hives for out-door wintering are made 

 to fit close on top, so that there is no 

 top ventilation except through cracks 

 and the pores of the wood. The bees 

 always come through strong and 

 without moldy combs.— G. L. Tinker. 



OUR CLUBBING LIST. 



We supply the American Bee Jonmal 



one year, and any of the following publica- 

 tions, at the prices quoted in the last column 

 of figures. The first column gives the regu- 

 lar price of both. All postage prepaid. 



Price of both. Club 



The American Bee Journal 1 00 . . 



and Gleanings in Bee-Culture 2 00.. 175 



Bee-Keepers'Magazine 1 -^ •• } ~i 



Bee-Keepers' Guide loO.. 140 



The Apiculturist 2 GO . . 1 70 



Canadian Bee Journal 2 00. . 1 7o 



Rays of Light ISO.. 135 



The 7 above-named papers o -Jo . . 4 oo 



and Cook's Manual 2 25.. '2 00 



Bees and Honey (Newman). ..2 00.. l,/o 

 Binder for Am. Bee Journal.. 1 lo.. 1 bO 

 Dzierzon's Bee-Book (cloth). . ..3 00. . 2 00 

 Hoot's A B C of Bee-Culture. .2 2o. ._ 2 10 



Farmer's Account Book ''OO.. " oo 



Guide and Hand-Book 150.. 1^0 



Heddon's book. "Success,".. 1 60 1 40 



