1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



155 



for the bees that try to get out will raise a great commotion, stir- 

 ring up others that will then try to get out, and when they find 

 they can't get out they will become quite excited, and you'll have 

 a lot of dead bees clogging the entrance, losing more than would 

 have died on the snow. A good many of those bees that die on the 

 snow are ready to die anyhow, so the loss is not so great as you 

 probably suppose. The right thing is to put up a board or boards 

 to shade the entrance so the light will not shine in the hive to en- 

 tice out the bees when it is too cool. 



2. Probably not very good. Better give a little vent at the 

 top through the sawdust, or it there is no sawdust on top, you 

 must try to help the matter in some way. One way will be to put 

 on top a lot of packing of some kind, carpets, rags, planer-shavings 

 or something, and allow the moisture to pass up through. Perhaps 

 it may do to leave the hives sealed up, pile on packing on top, and 

 give air at the entrance. In any case don't have the entrance too 

 small, but if there is no chance for upward ventilation, a larger 

 entrance is needed. An entrance i,,-inch high the width of the hive 

 is probably none too much if all is tight on top. 



8. Hard to tell, but chances are fair if room is entirely dark. 

 If there's a little streak of light coming in somewhere, your bees 

 will likely make for that. 



4. It isn't certain it will be successful. If it's too cold, bees 

 won't touch it. If warm enough for bees to come out of the 

 entrance to take it, there's danger of robbing. That might be 

 managed by giving it on a warm enough night, and taking away 

 any that might be left before time for bees to fly next morning. 

 Probably you 11 need to feed all you can get them to take, hoping 

 that spring may come early enough so they'll pull through. Aug- 

 ust or September is a much better time to feed bees than February. 



Makin;; a Range for Bcc-Pasturagc. 



Won't we have to make a range for bee-pasturage it we make 

 a success of bee-keeping ? Illinois. 



Answeu. — We cannot make a success of beekeeping without a 

 range of good pasturage, but if we lack that I don't feel so very 

 sanguine about our being able to make the range. 



Perforating Wood Separators. 



Would it be advisable to bore holes large enough to admit the 

 passage of bees through the wood separators, opposite the center 

 of each section '. Minnesota. 



Answer— Decidedly a good thing. They will probably be all 

 right it the boles are not larger than \ inch, and the more holes 

 the better. 



M I ^ 



Keeping Bees in Town — Looiiing at Bees 

 in Winter. 



1. I thought of keeping a tew colonies of bees, but as I live in 

 town, I don't know it it's allowed in a city. I have two lots planted 

 to peaches, plums and cherries. I thought it would be a nice place, 

 but I don't want to get into trouble. 



'2. If bees swarm are they apt to sting any one living near 

 by ? How could I keep boys from pelting the bees ? 



3. Again, I have one colony in the cellar; do you think I could 

 lift off the top of the hive and look in to see it they have plenty of 

 honey ? Do you think they would come out if I bored three inch- 

 holes on top of the hive to give them air ? ■ Micuioan. 



Answers. — 1. It is not likely that there is any objection to 

 your keeping bees, but you can easily find out by asking the 

 mayor. 



2. Bees are not apt to sting any one living near by when they 

 swarm. They would be more likely to make trouble when not 

 swarming, it they should be placed near the street where people 

 were passing by. It would be a help against this, and also be some 

 security against the boys pelting them, it you have a high fence 

 between them and the street. 



3. If the top is not nailed on I think you could lift it off with- 

 out the bees coming out. Move very gently at it, and if the bees 

 get stirred up too much, wait till they settle down again. Of course 

 the cellar must be kept entirely dark, but you can have a light in it 

 long enough to look at them. 



Getting a Colony Out of a Tree. 



Last fall I was hunting bees and found a tree on another man's 

 land about six miles from my home. Toe man that owned the land 

 would not let me cut the tree, ou account of its being a shade-tree, 

 but told me if I could take the bees out and uot damage the tree I 

 could do so. I would like to get them out in the spring, as soon as 

 it would do. How can I proceed to get them and save them ? At 

 what time can I do so in the spring ? Wisconsin. 



Answer. — Probably the first thing would be to see whether you 

 couldn't buy the tree and then cut it down. If the tree couldn't be 

 bought, then a little special prospecting and engineering on the 

 spot would help decide what should be done. Try to find out about 

 where the upper part of the hollow is. and where it terminates be- 

 low. If the entrance-hole is away at the upper eud, then bore a 

 hole at the lowest part of the hollow. Most likely, however, the 



entrance is toward the lower part of the hollow, in which case bore 

 a hole clear at the lower end. Then with a well loaded smoker 

 pour continuously smoke into the lower hole until the bees file out 

 at the upper hole. It it is so you can, have a hive located at the 

 hole where the bees come out, so they will run right into the hive. 

 If that cannot be done, then smoke the bees out without the hive, 

 and closely plug both holes so not a bee can get back. Then treat 

 the bees as you would a swarm, taking the cluster as soon as it 

 settles and putting it in a hive. It is possible that you might drive 

 the bees out without making any extra hole, by dropping in some 

 very strong-smelling substance such as naphthalene, or perhaps 

 carbolic acid. 



Cliaraeteristics of a Bce-Kcepcr«' Wife. 



On page '32 you say: ''If you want to know the kind of a 

 woman to select for a bee keeper's wife, I have some good advice 

 on tap." Well, let us have it. Youngster. 



Answer. — Just a few points may be sufflcient as a guide. A 

 bee-keeper's wife should be willing, on occasion, to take a few 

 stings for the sake of being helpful. Considering the price of 

 honey, she must be willing to do without many hundred dollar 

 dresseiS, She should be able to wash, iron, bake, and hive a few 

 swarms between times. She should have so much good sense that 

 she wouldn't be willing to marry a millionaire if he used whisky 

 or tobacco, or if he were not clean and pure in his speech and life. 

 She should be one whose highest happiness consists in living for 

 others, and who will remain single all her days rather than marry 

 one who is not of the same mind. When you flud one to come up 

 to these requirements, you may do well to begin to save up some- 

 thing to start housekeeping, (/'—you're good enough tor her. 



A Baclielor Inrormation-Seeiicr. 



On page 22 you say you have some good advice on tap as ta 

 the selection of a wife for a bee-keeper. Now give me the best you 

 can. Tennessee, n 



Answer. — I refer you to answer already given to your ques- 

 tion, as askt by "Youngster," and would say in addition, give the 

 preference to a girl that is willing to have her pi'etty white hands 

 soiled rather than to have her mother wash all the dishes. 



Feeding Bees in Winter — Transferring. 



1. I have five colonies that are short of honey. They haven't 

 enough to last till Spring. They are in 10-frame hives, and seem to 

 be all right otherwise. What would be the best to feed ? How can 

 I feed at this time of the year ? 



2. I want a book on transferring bees. Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. Nothing can be better than combs of sealed 

 honey, and it's a good plan always to have a stock of these on 

 hand. Quietly and carefully take out a comb the side where there 

 are the most combs without bees, and remove the frames till you 

 come to the cluster of bees. Then put in your frame or frames of 

 honey, and put back enough of the empty combs to fill up the hive. 

 If you haven't any combs of honey turn to page S3 of this Journal, 

 and you will find instructions from Edwin Bevins for making 

 candy, which is the next best thing after combs of honey. 



2. You will find instructions for transferring in any one of the 

 leading text-books on bee-culture. Perhaps you will like better to 

 wait till the bees swarm before transferring. 



[We mail Prof. Cook's 4H(J-page " Bee Keepers' Guide" for 

 $1.25— or club it with the Bee Journal for one year— both together 

 for $1.75.— Editor.] 



Using tile Dadant Hive — Separators. 



1. As I wish to keep only 40 or .511 colonies, could I use the 

 Dadant hive for comb honey, and j'et prevent swarming success- 

 fully ? 



2 Would it do to use the Dadant hive with dummy or division- 

 board reduced to eight frames till I have about as many as I want, 

 then take out the dummy and use it for extracting honey ? 



3. What kind of separators is the best to use in the super for 

 comb honey ? Would tin ones do as well as wood ? I am using the 

 S-frame Langstroth hive now. Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. The Dadants have used their hive successfully 

 for comb honey, and altho they uow work entirely for extracted 

 honey, if they were to change to comb honey they would probably 

 not change their hive. But you would hardly be wise to change 

 with the expectation of being as free as they from swarming with- 

 out first trying it on a small scale. 



2. You can contract to any desired number of frames, but S 

 Dadant frames would be a good deal more than 8 Langstroth 

 frames. You could fill up with frames and extract from them, but 

 it would hardly be as satisfactory as to have your extracting- 

 frames in a super, for you'd be likely to be troubled with more or 

 less brood. 



3. Separators are generally made either of tin or wood. If the 

 separators are loose, wood is generally used. A loose tin separator 

 might bend in and out and make liad work, while the stiffness of 

 the wood prevents this. If the separators are nailed on, tin is used, 

 the tin being stretcht tight when being nailed. 



