1898. 



fME AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



5^ 



CONDnCTKD BY 

 DR. O. O. MILLER, 31ARENGO, ILL, 



[Questiong may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Br. Miller direct.] 



Placing Bees IVear Line Fence. 



How near to the public highway, and how near to another 

 ■boundary line fence, by the laws of Illiuols, can bees be kept ? 

 Can one's own bees be followed and hived on another's land ? 



Subscriber. 



Answer. — By referring to the American Bee Journal for 

 Dec. 23, 1897, page 810, you will find an answer to the 

 same questions. 



Ants in Hives. 



My bees were troubled with ants last summer. They got 

 in under the super between Khe super and the hive. 



Wisconsin. 



Answer. — As a rule, ants in the North are not likely to 

 do any material damage. Perhaps their chief object is to 

 secure the heat of the hive for their nests. Bees will not 

 suffer them in the hive, and the easiest way to be rid of them 

 is to have no places to shelter them where a bee cannot also 



enter. 



^^^ ■ ^^^ 



Wintering; in a Bee-House. 



Last winter I lost 51 per cent, of my bees. This winter 

 I made a bee-house by digging 3}-^ feet into the ground and 

 walling it up 4J-2 feet, and covered it with straw and dirt. I 

 keep some potatoes in it. It does not freeze. It has double 

 doors, and the temperature I keep at 40^. I put the bees in on 

 2x6 inch scantling edgewise. I have 40 colonies in it, and 9 

 out-doors in chaff hives. Ought I to take off the bottoms of 

 the hives, or the tops, or both ? I put them in about four 

 weeks ago. Do you think my bees are all right ? 



Iowa. 



Answer. — It seems that your bees ought to be pretty well 

 off. Possibly 40- is not so well as 45^, but that's not certain, 

 as your thermometer may mark low. The true test is the 

 quietness of the bees. That point of temperature that will 

 come the nearest to making a dead stillness is the best. If 

 you think it would be better to have it warmer, that can be 

 accomplisht by banking up around the walls above ground 

 with earth or straw. 



If the tops of the hives are close, and the entrance at the 

 bottom not more than 12x;.2', you will do well to give more 

 ventilation. The easiest will probably be to have the bottom 

 entirely open and leave the top closed. 



Eight Questions witii Replies. 



1. Should I look inside of my hives to see how the bees 

 are getting along in midwinter? Or should I leave them un- 

 til spring and take the chances? 



2. I have one hive of bees that is without any honey. I 

 gave them sugar syrup. Is there any danger of it drying up 

 so they cannot eat it? 



3. Is there any danger of the bees smothering to death if 

 I make the hive top air-tight, with a 9^x2 inch entrance at 

 the bottom ? 



4. Will thin foundation do for brood-frames when you 

 4iave it on hand ? ^ 



5. Will stiff paper do for separators ? 



6. Are separators necessary when you use starters or full 

 sheets of foundation ? 



7. Do bee-keepers use separators when using large frames 

 for extracted honey ? 



8. Will the bees work as well with the entrance at the 

 side of the frames ? Vikginia. 



Answers. — 1. Piobably they'll do better if you let them 

 alone. 



2. You probably mean the syrup was fed in the fall. 

 Generally there is no t'ouble about, its granulating i^i the win- 



ter, and yet some cases have been reported where It turned 

 back to sugar in the combs, even after tartaric acid had been 

 used to prevent granulation. But if it was fed early, and not 

 too thick, you hardly need expect any trouble. 



3. Yes. there's considerable danger. Better raise the 

 whole hive at the front at least a quarter of an inch, putting 

 a block under each front corner, and then keep a sharp look- 

 out that the entrance doesn't become clogged with dead bees. 



4. Not very well. It will stretch and sag too much. By 

 wiring close enough you might make it do. 



5. Hardly. Bees would tear it down. Even a very thin 

 wood separator will be gnawed more or less. 



6. I fill my sections full of foundation, and it would be 

 hard to hire me to do without separators. If you don't care 

 to ship the honey, then it doesn't matter so much. The sec- 

 tions of honey will eat all right on your own table, if you use 

 no separators. 



7. Very few do so, and probably none. 



8. Probably there is little difference. In Germany it is 

 quite common to have the entrance at the side of the frames, 

 which is called " the warm system," while the opposite or cold 

 system is mostly used in this country. 



One or Tivo Glasses in a Solar Wax-Extractor. 



In making a solar wax-extractor is it better to use two 

 glasses with a space between, in the cover, instead of one 

 glass ? Montana. 



Answer. — Only one glass is used. It is doubtful if a 

 second glass would be any improvement. 



A (Question About Bee-Stings. 



When a bee stings a human being severely, its sting is 

 torn from it, and remains in the flesh of the person stung. 

 Now, when one bee stings another, why is not its sting also 

 torn from it ? Mass. 



Answer. — I wouldn't like to speak with too much posi- 

 tiveness on this question, but I think usually when one bee 

 stings another the sting is thrust into one of the breathing 

 holes from which it can be withdrawn without being torn from 

 its owner. Occasionally, however, the sting enters one of the 

 joints, and then the sting remains fast as when a person Is 

 stung. I think I have in more than one instance seen a bee 

 with a sting sticking in it, the sting having been torn from its 

 owner. 



Out-Apiaries, Bee-Houses, Etc. 



1. If out-apiaries are kept, how far should they be from 

 the home-aplary ? 



2. How many colonies do you think likely to return the 

 best results in a single apiary in Northern Illinois ? 



3 If colonies are kept at home in winter when should they 

 be removed to the out-aplary in the spring, and when returned 

 In the fall? 



4. Do you think it would be practicable to keep the colo- 

 nies of an out-apiary in a bee-house and winter them in it ? 



5. Those who have reported on the bee-house, have noted 

 bad results from the cool shade on the west side in the fore- 

 noon and the east side in the afternoon. Do you think it would 

 be practicable to make a long, narrow house with all the hives 

 facing south ? 



6. Could 50 or 60 colonies be kept in such a house with- 

 out confusion, if it were painted in various colors and other- 

 wise markt? " Chucklehead." 



Answers. — 1. If we accept that bees work to advantage 

 as far as 1% or 2 miles from home, then an out-apiary should 

 be at least three miles from the home apiary. 



2. That's one of the very, very hard questions. I've been 

 trying to get all the light possible upon It for years, and I con- 

 fess I'm very much in the dark yet, with no brilliant prospect 

 of ever seeing a great light In that direction. One year, where 

 Jones lives, 30 colonies will overstock the locality, while iu 

 Smith's locality 150 colonies will not crowd each other. The 

 next year the conditions may be exactly reverst, and the year 

 following each place will be alike overstockt with 50. There 

 being no sort of regularity about it, how are you going to es- 

 tablish any rule ? There seems to be a more or less general 

 idea that 100 colonies in an apiary cannot be far out of the 

 way, but likely one reason for that Is that 100 is a round num- 

 ber. On the whole I've rather settled down to the opinion 



