358 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 9, 



not a third and fourth. If you wish after-^warms, by all 

 means set the mother colony in a new place at the time of 

 hiving the swarm. 



3. Sometimes they may start without knowing their des- 

 tination, but it is supposed that they generally send out scouts 

 and know their destination. If you have hives standiog full of 

 combs without bees, you may often see a small squad of bees 

 busily engaged iu cleaning out such hives. These are scout 

 bees, and, if not prevented, a swarm of bees will be found to 

 occupy such hive within a few days. 



Space Between Super and Frames. 



I have- some dovetailed hives with section-holders, etc. 

 There is nothing to hold the section-holders up from the frames 

 in the hive except the follower and wedge, which seems to me 

 to be insufficient. If they are allowed to rest directly on the 

 frames the bee-spaces do not correspond in but a few places. 

 How shall I manage them ? Iowa. 



Answer. — Possibly you may have overlookt the little strips 

 of tin that are to be nailed on the bottom of each end of the 

 super. These hold up the section-holders. 



Swarm in Sliade-Tree — Sweet Clover. 



1. How can I get swarms out of a shade-tree near the 

 house without cutting the limbs when they are clustered 

 among the thick limbs? 



2. Will robber-bees kill the queen in a hive they are try- 

 ing to rob ? 



3. Will it pay to plant sweet clover for bee-pasture in this 

 part of the country, on rocky upland that is not valuable for 

 farming ? Arkansas. 



Answers. — 1. Of course, if too many limbs are not under 

 them they can be shaken down, but probably you mean when 

 that is not practicable. You may be able to set a hive over 

 them and have them run into it, or you may have them run 

 into a box or a basket. You may take a frame with some 

 brood in it, hold it over the swarm or close beside it, and have 

 the bees run on that. 



2. As a rule, robbers will not kill a queen. A queen may 

 be left in a hive with a few bees after all the honey and most 

 of the bees are gone. But bees "do nothing invariably." 



3. In all probability it would pay well, and the experi- 

 ment would cost little. Try to have the seed well trampt in, 

 either In fall or early spring. 



A Beginner's Questions. 



1. Do cool nights have any effect on the honey-flow ? 



2. How are drones produced ? Does the queen-bee lay the 

 drone-eggs, or are they laid by laying workers'? 



3. I have 10 colonies in standard frame hives. They are 

 hybrid bees, are good workers, but very cross. My apiary is 

 located in town, and people are complaining of being stung by 

 them. Would it be well for me to stock my apiary with .5- 

 banded Italians ? Are these as profitable and gentle as 3- 

 banded Italians ? 



4. How is the bee-escape used on a super containing one- 

 pound sections ? 



5. Reading over your list of answers to queries this week, 

 I noticed where you said that queen-cells were generally pre- 

 pared and well advanced before a swarm issues. I was always 

 of the opinion that before a swarm issues a young queen was 

 hatcht. If this is not always true. I suspect I did wrong the 

 other day, just after a colony had swarmed. I lookt through 

 the brood-chamber to cut out queen-cells in order to prevent 

 after-swarms. I lookt first for the young queen, but not being 

 able to find her, I just believed she was there any way, so I cut 

 out six (all there were) well ,%dvanced queen-cells. None of 

 these were capt nor none were empty. Should'nt I have left 

 one of the largest cells? I didn't, tho, and I suppose the bees 

 will have to rear another queen before they do anything 

 farther. The colony seems to send out scarcely any workers. 

 What Is the cause? 



6. Would it be safe for me to put poison on potatoes which 

 are right in front of my apiary? Southern Indiana. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, temperature has much to do with 

 honey-flow. 



2. In a normal colony the queen lays the eggs that pro- 

 dice drones. When laying workers are present, then drones 

 only will be reared. 



3. Some say 5 banded Italians are very gentle, others say 



not. They are probably not all alike. Either 8-banded or 5- 

 banded bees will probably be an improvement, both as to tem- 

 per and profit. 



4. The usual way is probably to raise the super, put the 

 escape on the hive or remaining supers, replace the filled super 

 and leave till next day, or till the super is cleared of bees. 



5. You are probably correct in thinking that the bees will 

 have to start afresh to rear a queen, delaying the laying a 

 number of days. One reason the bees do not fly much is be- 

 cause so many of the field-bees went with the swarm. 



6. Probably as safe right in front of the hive as if a 

 quarter of a mile away. It's hardly likely any harm can come, 

 unless it should happen that the bees were getting water or 

 dew from the potatoes, a thing that doesn't happen very often. 



Management of Swarms. 



1. What would the result be If I should put a new swarm 

 into an old hive from which a swarm had issued a day or two 

 before, first placing the old hive on the stand that the new 

 swarm came from, cutting out all queen-cells, and giving 

 plenty of surplus room ? Would I get more surplus honey this 

 way than if hived separately? 



2. After a swarm issues and is hived on the old stand, 

 would it be all right to put a bee-trap on the old hive, placing 

 the hive close beside the new, and leave the trap on six or seven 

 days, then take the hive away ? Or would it produce a case of 

 foul brood by excluding all bees carrying pollen ? 



3. Would you put on supers this early (two or three weeks 

 before clover bloom) if the bees hang out for want of room, 

 and some swarm ? Wlsconsin. 



Answers.— 1. If I remember correctly the plan has been 

 tried, sometimes working all right, in other cases the bees 

 swarming shortly. If the bees should not swarm you might 

 get more surplus. 



2. It would work all right, probably, but I don't see any 

 difference (I suppose you mean queen-trap) the trap would 

 make, for no young queen would likely be ready to leave the 

 hive in that time. Lack of pollen would hardly occur, and if 

 it did It would not cause foul brood. 



3. If bees are hanging out and swarming for want of 

 room, I surely would want to give them room, but before clover 

 bloom it might be better to give them room by setting an addi- 

 tional brood-chamber under. But a super will be better than 

 to have them crowded. 



Wintering — Putting on Supers — Colony Hangin; 

 Out— .4del Bees, Etc. 



1. In our crates of dovetailed. S-frame supers, we find a 

 package of five or six pieces which look like sections, but have 

 no grooves where the corners of the sections would come. I 

 find no such thing in the supers. Can you tell me the use 

 of them ? 



2. Is it safe to winter bees out-doors in 8-frame hives? 



3. When should supers be placed on the hives ? Should 

 they be put on when the first white clover blossoms appear, or 

 not until it blooms in profusion and yields considerable honey ? 



4. I have a colony that hangs out on swarm days, cover- 

 ing the front and sometimes part of the sides of the hive. If 

 I divide them, putting their queen into the new hive (and 

 leaving them unsealed brood,) about how many days will it be 

 before they will rear another queen ? Or would you enlarge 

 the entrance? It is small, only about ,S;x4 inches. 



5. Do you consider the Adels superior to the Italians? 

 Are they practically non-stinging and non-swarming, and as 

 good honey-gatherers as the Italians? 



6. Would bees store more comb-honey in a hive contain- 

 ing more than eight frames, after the first year? Would they 

 not be a much larger colony ? 



7. In the old frames, where you use your fingers to space 

 them, can the bees be prevented from building comb across 

 from one to the other ? Illinois. 



Answer. — 1. Probably the bottom-bars of section-holders. 



2. Not in Northern Illinois without protection. 



3. Usually about 1(1 days after the very first clover blos- 

 som is seen by one who is on a sharp lookout. I saw the first 

 blossom May 22, this year, and as you are in about the same 

 latitude, that would make June 1 about the right time. The 

 usual rule is to put on supers when you find the bee^ putting 

 bits of white wax along the upper part of the brood-combs. 

 A pretty safe rule if you wait till clover blooms, for sometimes, 

 sucb bits of wax will be found in fruit-bloom. 



4. A new queen will probably leave her cell in at out 12 



