1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAl,. 



311 



CONDDCTED BY 

 OR. O. O. SdlLLEIt, M.ARE1SGO, ILI.. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.! 



Wintering Bees Under a Siiop. 



Would it do any barm to winter bees in the cellar under a 

 shop with a single floor under the shop where there is pound- 

 ing ? Michigan. 



Answer. — It will probably be a good place if the cellar 



isn't too cold. 



^ I m 



Tellow vs. Darker Bees. 



I have lots of combs in fair condition, and if I could get a 

 pound of bees and queen of the yellow kind, would they be as 

 hardy as the dark Italians so far North ? Maine. 



Answer. — Some say they are as hardy as the darker ones. 

 Others, and perhaps a larger number, say they are more 

 tender. Very likely they are not all alike. 



Queen's Piping, Etc. 



1. Does a queen make the piping sound with her wings, 

 or voice ? 



2. I opened a hive and found an empty frame of comb, 

 and put it by the frame the queen was on so that she would go 

 on it to lay next. Having a frame like that paid for all the 

 trouble it made the bees, did it not ? Kansas. 



Answer. — 1. With her voice. She'll pipe just as loud 

 after every vestige of a wing is cut away. 



2. Very likely, supposing the empty frame took the place 

 of one filled with honey and you didn't put the frame between 

 two frames of brood. 



Laying Eggs in Bunches. 



I have one colony of bees which was rather weak iu the 

 fall, and seemed to work all right in March, but it is growing 

 weaker every day. I lookt into the hive and found only about 

 100 bees in it. The queen is young, from last summer, but 

 she lays her eggs in bunches, from 5 to 20 eggs in each cell ; 

 also, I found some chilled brood. What shall I do with the 

 queen "? Is she any good, or does she lay her eggs in bunches 

 because there are not bees enough to take care of all of them ? 



Nebraska. 



Answer — The queen may be all right, and she may be all 

 wrong. By the time this reaches you probably some of the 

 brood will be sealed. If it appears flat, .just like the most of 

 the sealed brood in the other hives, she's all right. If, on the 

 other hand, the sealing looks like a lot of little bullets laid to- 

 gether, the brood is all drone-brood, and the queen worthless. 

 In any case, if only 100 workers are present It's hardly worth 

 while to try to keep them, and the best thing will be to unite 

 them with another colony. 



Cleaning T-Tlns. 



How do you clean your T-lins ? You seems to have an 

 easy job of it, and altho we use lye we can't get them clean in 

 one-flfth the time you do. I like T-tins, but I do not like to 

 clean them. Colorado. 



Answer. — There's very little to tell. The probability is 

 that failure to succeed perfectly would come from one of two 

 causes : Either the lye wasn't strong enough, or it wasn't hot 

 enough. The lye must be boiling hot, and kept boiling hot 

 while cleaning the tins. We used a metal tub on a gasoline 

 stove. Filled the tub % full of water, brought it to a boil, put 

 in three 1-pound cans of concentrated lye, and were ready for 

 operation. Put in as many T-tins as the tub would hold. In 

 two or three minutes they were ready to take out. With a 

 pair of tongs they were stirred a little so the lye would reach 

 every part, and as soon as they lookt clean they were lifted 

 out into a tub of clear, cold water. This rinst them off and 



they were put into the boxes in which they were to stay, the 

 boxes being set on end in such a way that the water would 

 drain off readily. But they were not lifted out of the rinsing 

 water immediately, for the first thing to do after lifting them 

 out of the hot lye was to fill up the lye with a fresh lot. This 

 cleaned 2,200 T-tins and was strong enough to clean more if 

 we had had them. If they don't lift out of the hot lye per- 

 fectly clean, you may be sure it isn't strong enough. 



Now, I've told nU,, I think, and wish you'd tell us why you 

 don't use section-holders instead of T-supers. One reason I 

 like T-supers is because the T-tins are so easily cleaned. 



moldy Combs. 



I have five colonies of Italian bees, and wintered them all 

 in the cellar. They were in good condition in the fall when 

 taken in, and now I find all are doing well with the exception 

 of one colony, which has mold on one of the outside frames in 

 patches all through the comb, and in small patches near the 

 bottom of some of the other frames. There is no brood except 

 on two or three of the frames. What caused the mold, and 

 what shall I do with it ? Should I cut off the mold, or put in 

 new foundation ? 



Answer. — No, don't cut out the mold. Just let it alone 

 and the bees will take care of it all right. The mold came 

 there just in the usual way because the cellar was not venti- 

 lated quite enough. The other colonies, being stronger, kept 

 their hives better ventilated. 



Young Bees in the Super — Rag Smoke. 



1. I have a colony of bees I would like to know what to do 

 with. I left the 60-pound super on it all winter, and lookt at 

 it the other day and found it filled with young bees. What 

 will have to be done with them ? 



2. Is rag smoke injurious to the bees and honey ? If so, 

 what is the best to use in the bee-smoker ? Nebraska. 



Answer — 1. Depends a little on circumstances. If the 

 super has frames the same as the brood-frames below, then 

 you can do nothing better than to let the bees continue to oc- 

 cupy them, taking away ths lower story if you think it has too 

 much room. If, however, the 60-pound super contains sec- 

 tions, then you must work the bees out of them. Make sure 

 that you get the queen into the lower story, put a queen- 

 excluder between the two stories, and in three weeks all the 

 worker-brood will be hatcht out, when the super can be 

 taken away. 



2. Rag smoke is all right. Of course it isn't a good thing 

 for you to smoke them more than is necessary, and if you use 

 too much smoke on honey it will taste of smoke. 



Cage for mating Queen— Jumbled-up Combs. 



1. Is there any contrivance for caging a young queen after 

 she hatches, and while being mated ? 



2. I have three colonies in good Langstroth hives (they 

 are brown bees,) but I used no brood-foundation and they are 

 all in a jumbled-up condition. It is impossible to get the 

 frames apart. I want to give them frames this spring with 

 foundation so as to be able to handle them in a more business- 

 like manner, also to requeen with Italian queens. In what 

 manner can I do it to get the best results, and at the same 

 time get some increase in swarms? Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. Surely not, for the queen is not mated in 

 confinement, but out in the open air. If you can get up any 

 way to have a queen mated while caged, your reputation, if 

 not your fortune, will be made. 



2. Perhaps as good a way as any Is the following : Wait 

 till the colony swarms, and then hive it on frames of founda- 

 tion, setting the swarm in place of the old colony, and setting 

 the old hive in a new place. It is possible there may be a 

 second swarm in about eight days after the first. If so, hive 

 it also on foundation, setting this swarm in a new place. 

 Twenty-one days after the issue of the first swarm, drum out 

 all the bees, queen and all, hiving them on foundation, and 

 then cut out and melt up the combs. It will probably be more 

 profitable for you to have only the one swarm from each 

 colony, and if that be your desire, set the first swarm on the 

 old stand, and put the old hive close beside It. A week later 

 move the old hive to a new place. Then 21 days after the 

 time of the swarm, drive the bees out of the old hive into a 

 new one. 



