IS98. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



123 



some dropt off, which I removed from the hive. Was this comb 

 that was built in chunks (so to speak) what is called burr-comb? 

 How can I best prevent it in the future ? 



I am a subscriber to tbe American Bee Journal. I want to 

 make my bees pay, and I want to learn all I can. I am going to get 

 " A B C of Bee-Culture" this winter. Can you recommend me to 

 anything better for a beginner '. MiciiiG.iN. 



Answer— You are very wise in planning to get Root's "A B C 

 of Bee-Culture." With that and the American Bee Journal you 

 will be well equipt. If only you had had the book a year sooner it 

 would have saved you a lot of trouble. 



The bees have surely made a bad mess for you. but they're not 

 much to blame. You had the frames badly spaced, and used the 

 wrong kind of wire, and probably the wrong kind of foundation. 

 The frames should have been spaced that they would measure IV 

 from center to center, altho P.j from center to center would work 

 all right, and some of the best bee-keepers prefer it. Much finer 

 wire should be used. No. 30. tinned wire is about right. Brood- 

 foundation should be used, and the wire should be imbedded in the 

 foundation, but all this you will learn about in the book you pro- 

 pose getting. 



It's a little bit hard to say what is the best thing to be done in 

 the spring. In any case, leave the frames just as they are till time 

 of fruit-bloom. In the meantime, study up the matter of trans- 

 ferring, which you will find fully treated in your book. Then if 

 you can find a frame that you can lift out, you can gradually get 

 others out by cutting away some of the attachments, then the 

 combs can be properly fastened in the frames just as you are in- 

 structed to fasten combs taken from a box-hive. 



If it's a bad case, probably it may be as well to wait till about 

 three weeks after it casts a swarm, then there will be no brood in 

 the way. 



^ ■ ■ 



Foreign 4tueen-f<reecler$ — Hive-Ventilaling 

 'Wedge§ — Gluing; Clealed Separators. 



1. May I ask you to be good enough to give me, or to obtain 

 for me, the adiress of a good, reliable queen-breeder in Carniola 

 or Italy ? 



2. Mr. Pettit's idea of ventilating wedges seems good ; there 

 is good reason for their use as against corner blocks. But don't 

 you think the ventilation would be more thorough, if, instead of 

 cutting the wedges to a feather-point, they were left )^ inch or so 

 thick at the smaller end ? As it is they afford a bigger opening. 

 There is really no draft through the hive. 



3. And don't you think, Doctor, that editor Root makes a mis- 

 take in yhthig the cleats on his cleated separators ? I bpgan this 

 easy way of putting them on once, but speedily desisted upon a 

 neighbor laughing at what he was pleased to call my folly, assuring 

 me that the moist heat of the hive would loosen them in no time. 

 Thinking it best to be on the safe side, I substituted wee wire-nails, 

 even nailing over those I had already glued ; yet I have never felt 

 certain that said neighbor's surmises were correct. Kindly tell us 

 what yitii know or think about glue in the interior of hives, for per- 

 adventure you have had some experience thereanent. 



South Africa. 



Answers.— 1. Sorry to say I don't know of a single address. 

 Italian breeders used to advertise more than now. 



[Owing to unsatisfactory dealings of some foreign queen-bee 

 advertisers in former years, we have not cared to encourage their 

 patronage of our columns. — Editor.] 



3. Which is best may depend upon the time. Very decidedly 

 it seems better to have the hive level, giving the slant to the floor 

 alone. In spring or early summer, no doubt the sharp edge to the 

 wedge is better — don't want ventilation clear through then. Later 

 OD, your plan would suit me better, and in the height of the honey- 

 flow I'm just radical enough to believe that there's nothing quite 

 so good as four blocks under the corners. Tbe only objection I re- 

 member to have seen urged against this, is that the bees have only 

 the four corners to climb up. That's bad in theory, and quite a 

 hindrance to the bees, but as in actual practice my bees seem 

 never to be delayed or worried by it, it does'nt worry me. 



3. I think I never had anything glued in my hives. But Miles 

 Morton says he has had glued "fences" for I think 10 years or more, 

 and they never have failed. Are you sure that your neighbor is 

 correct in considering the heat of the hive "moist heat"? It surely 

 does'nt look much like it when honey is evaporated in it. 



T Supers or Scction-lloi<lcrg- 

 aud C}priaii§. 



-Carnloians 



I got my start of bees only two years ago, and we have had 

 two excessively dry years, and next to no honey-flow at all, so I 

 have had but little surplus honey, and that last September. Now, 

 I make my own hives and have simply increast the stock of 

 bees. I have now 23 colonies in hives that hold 13 Langstroth 

 frames. AH have plenty of honey, and have been carrying pollen 

 lively the last four days from maple. I have increast from six, 

 and had only three natural swarms in two years. Now for the 

 questions: 



1. Which is preferable in working for comb honey, supers 

 with T tins, or section-holders ? I have 1'^ inch sections. I have 

 but few supers, and no inside filling for them, and desire to buy 

 only that which is the better of the two ways. Which is the better, 

 and give the best results with least expense and labor ? 



3. Have you had any experience with Carniolan or Cyprian 



bees ? I have all three and five-banded Italians, gentle and good) 

 workers, but they gather lots of sweet gum for propolis, and stick 

 things up "for keeps." If either of the above are as good or better 

 workers, and not so much on propolis, I thought of making ,a 

 change. Mine are all rustlers. 



Last spring I saved two colonies that run out of stores, and 

 chilled so that nearly half were dead when I noticed them, by set- 

 ting a Mason fruit-jar full of hot water close to the combs, and 

 when they were warmed up I poured warm sugar syrup among' 

 them, and in an hour they were at work storing it in the combs. 

 They came through all right. Arkansas. 



Answers. — 1. Some prefer one and some the other. Probably a 

 good deal deal depends upon being familiar with them. My own 

 preference is decidedly for the T super. The A. I. Root Co. have 

 something they have just gotten up that they think better than 

 either, but I have'nt had a chance to try it yet. Perhaps the chief 

 advantage claimed for tbe section-holder is, that when tbe central 

 frame of sections is flnisht or nearly so, it can be exchanged for 

 the outside frame. I would not make use of that advantage, so I 

 don't value it. An advantage that the T super has, is that it will 

 take sections of any width whatever, whereas a section-holder 

 made for a IJ,' section can't be used for any other width. 



3. I have had no experience with Carniolans and very little 

 with Cyprians. I have had bees that were a good deal worse than 

 Italians about gluing, but none that glued less. Probably one 

 reason that you have so much trouble with propolis is, that there 

 is so much material ready for their use in the line of propolis. I 

 doubt whether you will gain anything in that direction by 

 changing your bees. 



Loose or Tight Hive-Bottom — Honey-Room. 



1. lam about to make about one dozen Langstroth hives for 

 myself, and I would like to know which is the better way to make 

 them, with a loose or tight bottom-board or floor. My old hives 

 have a tight floor. 



3. I would like to build a small honey-room in my workshop. 

 Please give instructions as to how to build it. Onio. 



Answers. — 1. Very decidedly I'd have the bottoms loose. 

 Then you can storify when you want to do so, and you can block 

 up your hives from the floor when you want to give more ventila- 

 tion. Sometimes, however, it is desirable to have the floor fast to 

 the hive, as in hauling. At such time you can fasten the floor to 

 the hive by means of tobacco-staples. If your floor is loose you 

 can fasten it temporarily, but if it's permanently fastened you can't 

 have it loose when you want. 



2. Much depends^, of course, on circumstances, the size of your 

 shop, position, etc. If you can have it on the south side it will be 

 well, so as to have the heat of the sun. Painted a dark color, it 

 will better absorb the sun's rays. For comb honey you will need 

 things a little different from that which is best for extracted. 

 Without being on the spot it's pretty hard to give specific direc- 

 tions. Partition off what you can spare from your work-room, 

 then plan according to your needs. If you don't have everything 

 planned just right at the start, it does'nt matter so much. The 

 main thing is to have the room, and then you can use it as needed. 



Bees Stinging Each Other — How Bees Brcathe.^ 



It has long been a question with me why. when one bee stung 

 another, it did not lose its sting, and if it did. what consolation 

 there was to those bees which defended their hive from robbers, 

 if they by so doing finally lost their own lives through the loss of 

 their stings; hence I desire a fuller explanation, as I do not under- 

 stand about the "breathing holes," as mentioned on page 53, in 

 your answer to "Mass." We have just had a snow-storm of 34 

 hours duration, which is blowing into drifts. We had over a foot 

 of solid snow before, as a foundation. Ignokanoe. 



Answer. — By "breathing holes" X mean the spiracles. Now 

 you know all about it, don't you ? If you have a minute's leisure 

 let me tell you a little more about it. Bees don't have a system of 

 bones inside as we do, but a bony covering outside. A bony sub- 

 stance called "chitine" covers the outside. That's so hard that I 

 don't believe a sting could be made to penetrate it. The abdomen 

 or hinder part of a worker has six bands or belts of chitine. each 

 band being formed of two plates, one upper and one lower. If you 

 watch a bee when standing still, especially after active exercise, 

 you will- see its abdomen alternately expand and contract — get 

 longer and shorter. The different bands telescope into each other, 

 being joined together by a very thin membrane. J 'j ' _j 



Your blood needs oxygen, and it goes regularly to the lungs 

 for it, and you are constantly drawing air into the lungs and then 

 breathing it out again, so as to supply the oxygen. The bee must 

 have oxygen, too, but it works on a different plan. It has no sys- 

 tem of blood vessels to carry the blood where it can get oxygen, 

 so it has a system of air-vessels that ramify and ramify, and carry 

 air to every muscle, gland and organ, even to the wings. The 

 spiracles, or places where the air enters, are 14 in number, five on 

 each side of the abdomen between the bands, and one at the base 

 of each of the four wings. You can see that while the sting can- 

 not pierce the horny chitine, it will readily slide into one of the 

 spiracles, from whence the poison will be promptly distributed to 

 all parts of its ramifications. Once in a great while the sting may 

 get into the thin membrane that unites the bands, and then it will 

 stay in tbe wound, just as it does when the bee stings you. Now 

 you understand, 1 hope, a little better about the "breathing holes." 



