230 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April I4, 



at one side honey seemed to be oozing out of the comb. It did not 

 seem snur, either. What was the cause of it ? The bees seem to 

 be wintering all right. I warned him against robber bees. 



2. Do you think there is any danger with so small an entrance? 



3. Would he not better transfer into a standard frame hive 

 ■when fruit-bloom comes ? Iowa. 



Answer.— 1. I think it more than likely that what you saw 

 was the moisture from the bees settling on the sealed combs and 

 on the sides of the hive. Sometimes it runs in a stream out of the 

 entrance, especially if the entrance is so small that there is little 

 chance for the vapor to pass out. It is possible, however, that the 

 moisture has settled on the unsealed honey to such an extent as to 

 thin it and make it run out of the combs, and even to work into the 

 sealed honey so as to make it ooze through the cappings, 



3. Probably a larger entrance would have been better, but now 

 that activity has commenced, it may be well enough to let the en- 

 trance remain small till the weather gets warmer. 



3. If he doesn't intend to handle the frames, or intends to 

 handle them very little, it may be well enough to leave things as 

 they are, otherwise he might do well to transfer three weeks after 

 swarming. 



m ^ 



Qiiecn in Observatory Hive. 



I have saved over a young queen. I have had her in an ob- 

 servatory hive in the bouse all winter, and given an occasional 

 flight. She has a hundred or so of attendants. If I don't need her 

 for a queenless colony, can I give her more bees by moving a col- 

 ony and setting a hive with this queen in its place ? I mean will 

 they fight her >. Nebraska, 



Answer.— If honey is coming in plentifully it will likely work 

 all right; otherwise not. 



Using Combs from a Worm-Killed Colony. 



Last fall I lost 3 or 3 weak colonies by starvation, and then 

 ■worms After the bees all disappeared I brimstoned the combs 

 and killed the worms. The combs seem to be all right with the 

 exception of the webbing left by the worms. Will it do to give 

 these combs to bees in swarming-time ? Subscriber. 



Answer. — Yes, it will be all right, especially if the combs have 

 been where they were frozen, for freezing kills the wax-worms, 

 altho possibly the eggs may stand freezing. At any rate, even if 

 there should be a few worms present, a colony of bees strong and 

 healthy enough to swarm would make short work of cleaning them 

 out. I5ut you better k«^ep a little watch, or the worms may use 

 them up before swarming-time. Either keep them where the moth 

 will not get at them, shut up tight or in a cool cellar, or brimstone 

 them as often as you find signs of worms. 



Wants to Increase and Italianize. 



I have two good colonies of bees with plenty of honey on 

 Langstroth frames, which I find will fit the dovetailed hives. 

 These two colonies seem to be doing well, and are quite populous, 

 having gone through the winter in the cellar without losing as 

 much as a handful of bees. The stock was said to be Italians, but 

 from what I can learn they are only blacks or hybrids. I would 

 like to increase them, and at the same time Italianize them. Would 

 you advise purchasing Italian queens now for each colony, intro- 

 duce them at once, and then about swarming-time divide them 

 into about three colonies ? If so, from whom can I best purchase 

 good queens at low prices ? Or would you prefer to purchase one 

 tested queen and then form nuclei from her colony after she has 

 been in the hive about five or six weeks ? Elmwood. 



Answer. — As there is some danger of failure of introduction, 

 thereby giving a bad set bjck at a time when it is important to 

 have brood-rearing at its best, perhaps the better plan will be to 

 get the one queen. Those who o9:er queens in the advertising col- 

 umns of the Bee Journal are all supposed to be reliable. 



A Buneii of Eight Qnestions. 



1. What is the width of the 4i,j'-inch section that you use ? and 

 how much honey does it hold ? 



2. How do you prevent swarming ? 



3. About how many years are brood-combs fit for use ? 



4. Would it be advisable to begin to stimulate bees about April 

 10, so as to get two lots of brood by June 1 ? 



5. Would you think about 70 colonies too many to put in one 

 yard in the spring ? 



6. In wintering your bees in the cellar how do you prevent 

 the temperature from rising there vehen it gets quite warm outside? 



7. Keeping a select tested queen that you purchase in a nucleus 

 as some advise, is there any danger of them swarming out when 

 she has filled the combs with eggs ? 



8. What other substance besides wax do bees use in building 

 combs ? Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. The sections I've been using tor the past two or 

 three years are 414x414x1,!^. The amount of honey contained is a 

 a variable quantity, averaging not far from 15 ounces, but some- 



times a section will weigh more than a pound and sometimes less 

 than 14 ounces. 



2. Bless your heart, who told you I prevented swarming ? I 

 try to, and do about everything you've ever read about in the 

 books aud papers, but still the bees get the start of me only too 

 often. Abundance of super room seems to be a help, also raising 

 the hive on four blocks nearly an inch. Sometimes queen-cells are 

 carefully cut out, and often that delays swarming. With extract- 

 ing you can do pretty well at prevention of swarming, but with 

 comb honey it's a tough problem. 



3. I don't know. Some of mine must be perhaps 30 years old. 



4. Unless you have a good deal of experience you better let 

 stimulative feeding alone, farther than to see that the bees have 

 plenty of stores. Results vary widely, and if you try it at all, 

 better try only part and see how they compare with others. 



5. Not in any fairly good region. In some places 10 would be 

 enough and in others .500 might do. Probably few places in your 

 State would stand more than 100. 



B. I don't. There isn't any special danger from rise of tem- 

 perature—the danger is from bad air. At night I open wide the 

 windows and doors, and leave them open as late as I can in the 

 morning. 



7. I have never had any trouble in that way. There must be a 

 strong force of bees as well as a crowding of queen to induce 

 swarming. 



S. Perhaps little or nothing else in the actual cell-walls, but 

 more or less propolis in making the attachments, and in sealing 

 brood they seem to use bits of pollen and whatever comes handy. 



Prcventins Second Sivarms — Carniolan Bees. 



On page ISO we find that Mr. Odle kills the queen when a 

 swarm issues, and at the proper time removes all queen-cells but 

 one, thus securing large crops of honey and a young queen. On 

 the same page we learn that it is not safe to trust to a single 

 queen-cell. Will the following plan work well ? 



1. When a colony swarms, hive the bees on the old stand, and 

 set the parent colony by its side. Give the new colony two or 

 three frames of brood from the parent hive, and fill up the vacan- 

 cies in both hives with "dummies." Put on supers and endeavor 

 to get the full force of working-bees to work in them. Before the 

 queen-cells batch in the parent colony remove it to a new stand, 

 thereby causing the working-bees to go to a new hive, and also 

 preventing a second swarm. After the queen has been fertilized, 

 you may take your choice of the queens and unite into one colony. 



2. From what country do we get Carniolan queens ? 



Virginia. 

 Answers. — That's practically a very common way of prevent- 

 ing second swarms, and a good way. The after uniting might not 

 be so satisfactory, but it might be tried. 



3. From Carniola, in Austria. 



moving Bees. 



I have 4 colonies of Italians which I sheltered in an out-house 

 all winter, facing southeast, and the bees could fly at their will, as 

 the entrance was open all winter. I put my ear against the hives 

 and heard the buzz throughout the winter. Now that the weather 

 has been pretty good, I have seen them fly, seemingly very busy 

 and in good health. Very few bees I found dead. But the main 

 point which 1 wish to know at present is this; I intend to move 

 some '20 miles out, and will have to go by wagon. 



1. Can I open the hives without doing any harm, say about 

 April 14 or 15 ? 



2. Shall I take out all frames that are sealed ? 



3. Can they be transported as they are at the present time, or 

 not? Which will be the safest way ? New Jersey. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, if it's warm enough so the bees fly freely. 



3. It isn't necessary. 



3. Unless the roads are very rough they can go all right prob- 

 ably just as they are. This spring I take nearly 200 colonies to 

 two out-apiaries without doing anything to them at all. They 

 have loose-hanging frames, but the bees glued the frames up 

 pretty well in the fall. The frames are not moved at all to loosen 

 them before hauling. The wagon has springs, and on a smooth 

 road one can trot right along, but on a rough road the driving 

 must be careful. They are loaded so the frames run crosswise of 

 the wagon. 



Pollen or Bee-Bread. 



At last we have warm, spring weather, and I could not resist 

 the temptation to take a peep into some of my hives, and see what 

 was going on. And I saw— and now I do not see as they have — 

 that is, they forcibly imprest me with the feeling that they have 

 not such a thing as a lost art. In plain English, I " got it in the 

 neck," also in the eyes, and various other exposed points. I found 

 that they were breeding but very little, and were almost destitute 

 of bee-bread. I could not find enough in some hives to fill 20 cells, 

 but all have an abundance of honey. I found one of my strongest 

 colonies dead, with about 30 pounds of honey and not one cell of 

 bee-bread. Could that have caused their death ? 



I have noticed that this colony was very uneasy every warm 

 day this winter — would be flying when other bees were perfectly 

 quiet. They were scattered all through the hive. I found the 



