374 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 16, 



tory has been started close by both uudertakinprs, being in a 

 prosperous condition. 



Every farmer should keep bees, with the primary object 

 of insuring cross-fertilization of his crops, and only look to 

 the honey-yield as a secondary consideration. We are told 

 that bees spoil fruit ; but, altho I would show that the struc- 

 ture of the mandibles is such that they cannot pierce the 

 skins, we need not rebut the charge, but point out that, while 

 they gather nectar for themselves, they confer a greater boon 

 on the fruit-grower, for they really give him his crop in re- 

 turn. — Pacific Rural Press. Loudon, England. 



CONDUOTBD BT 



OR. O. O. JillLLER, MAREKGO. ILL. 



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



Keeping Wax- Worms rroni Comb none}'. 



What is the best way to keep the wax-worms from eating 

 the cappings off comb honey ? I have about 500 pounds in 

 shipping-cases stackt up in the second story of my house. 



As I am a beginner in the bee-business, and take my honey 

 out of the hives as it is sealed, I will be very glad to have an 

 answer to the above question. Last season the worms dam- 

 aged my honey very badly. Georgia. 



Answer. — Formerly I had the same trouble if I failed to 

 fumigate my comb honey, but of late years it does not seem 

 necessary. I suspect the reason is that formerly there was 

 more black blood in my bees than now. Where Italian blood 

 predominates there is less likelihood of trouble with worms. 

 In the meantime the question remains what to do in case 

 worms do trouble your surplus honey. 



If you examine closely, after the honey has been off the 

 hives two or three weeks, you will find places, especially at 

 the lower edge where the comb is fastened to the wood, where 

 a fine white powder can be seen. This is the work of the little 

 wax-worm, as yet so small you can scarcely see it, and it is 

 well to dispose of it before it gets any larger. Even if you see 

 nothing of the kind, if you are afraid of worms, fumigate your 

 surplus honey two or three weeks after taking it off. Fumi- 

 gate with sulphur, and it matters little how, only so you get 

 enough of the sulphur fumes to kill. It takes much less fumi- 

 gation while the worms are small than after they become %- 

 inch long or more. 



Have the honey in a box or room large enough to hold it, 

 and close enough to confine the fumes. A roll of rags may 

 have sulphur rolled in it, sulphur may be thrown on burning 

 coals, or a hot iron can be put iu the sulphur. In any case 

 you must look out for fire. A safe way is to have a kettle con- 

 taining ashes or something of that nature, and sitting in this 

 a smaller kettle that contains the sulphur. You may open up 

 after 12 hours, or you may find no trouble by leaving closed 

 entirely. If you want to be sure, you will do well to fumigate 

 again two or three weeks later, for some of the eggs may hatch 

 out after the first fumigation. A pound of sulphur may be 

 used for 100 feet of cubic space, but if the place is so close as 

 to entirely prevent the escape of the gas, less will do. The 

 only harm that will come of using too much is that some of the 

 combs will be colored green. 



Small vs. Large Hives. 



Dr. Mir.LER : — I will answer as best I can your questions 

 on page 263. 



I have experimented with fi, 8 and 9 frame hives side by 

 side with the same colonies for six years, and I have got the 

 best yield every time from the G-frame. This spring my 9 and 

 12 frame colonies had not five pounds of honey when I exam- 

 ined them in March, but the 6-frame had 15 to 20 pounds, 

 and I can surprise you by saying the 6-frame hives in April 

 had more bees than the tl-frame by half ; and in a hard season 

 I have got surplus from the 6-frame colony while the U-frame 

 did not fill their brood-chamber. 



You admit that to place two swarms of equal size, one in 

 a 6-frame and the other in an 8-frame hive, that the 6-frame 

 would give the most surplus, ^'er\| true indeed. Then please 

 tell me what are we keeping bees for if not for the greatest 

 amount of section or surplus honey. I am not speaking of a 



warm climate where they get honey the year round, but a cli- 

 mate such as you and I have. We have no need of large hives 

 except we have them so arranged as to contract or expand. 



You mistook some of my figures. My top-bars are l}g 

 inches wide instead of lli. You see, I could not gel six 

 frames 1}4 inches wide and leave bee-space in a 8-°i-inch 

 space, see ? 



I will try several hives this season — the Daozy, Root chaff, 

 the Champion, the St. Joe, the Hill, and some of my own make ;. 

 but as I am depending altogether on hired help, I do not ex- 

 pect to get as good results. I am still unable to attend to any 

 work on account of erysipelas in my leg. I have had a very 

 serious time of it; have not done any work since I returned 

 from the Buffalo Convention, but I hope to cheat the grave 

 and undertaker for a good while yet. I hope. Doctor, that 

 you will have another good season. It is very backward here 

 now. David N. Ritchby. 



Franklin Co., Ohio. 



Answer — According to Mr. Ritchey's figures he ought to 

 have no dil'liculty in deciding that 6 frames in a hive are 

 enough for him. But there comes C. P. Dadant, who says 

 twice 12 gives none too much room. I hope Mr. Ritchey will 

 soon recover and be in good working trim, and then it might 

 be very interesting if he and Mr. Dadant could compare notes. 



Trunsrerring with Tight Bottom-Board. 



I have a colony which I want to transfer two weeks after 

 it swarms, but the bottom-board is nailed on so tight that it 

 is impossible to get it off. Is there any way to drum out the 

 bees without taking the bottom off ? New Jersey. 



Answer. — If there is no chance for the bees to get out ex- 

 cept at the entrance — top and bottom being nailed on solid — 

 you may still succeed in drumming them out. Set the hive so 

 the opening shall be at the top, that is, if the entrance is at 

 the bottom, turn the hive upside down, giving them a little 

 smoke. Then plug up the entrance and hammer on the hive 

 till you can hear the bees buzzing loudly. Then open the en- 

 trance and hammer away for dear life, and the bees may rush 

 out in a stream ready to enter any hive or box placed over. 

 If, however, they do not come out freely after a lot of drum- 

 ming, just tear off the bottom in the same way you would if 

 there were no bees in the hive, for by this time the bees will 

 not resent anything of the kind, and after taking off the bot- 

 tom you can proceed in the same way you would have done 

 had no bottom been nailed on at the start. 



Prcveulion or Swarming, Ele. 



I am peculiarly situated. A, B, .C, D are the corners of a 

 flat roof on which I have my bees. A, B and B, C are walls 

 about 12 feet from A,D, which is the line of my lot. My bees, 

 when they swarm, have invariably gone across that line on 

 the adjoining lot. I have tried to prevent them but they will 

 go. The lady who owns the lot has gotten tired of it, and has 

 forbidden me to take any more swarms from there. I have 

 about all the swarms I care for, and would like to prevent 

 them swarming any more. 



1. If I examine them every 12 days during the swarming 

 season, will that prevent it by destroying all queen-cells '? 



2. If I do so, will not the queen crowd the brood-nest so 

 that the workers could not have room to deposit enough honey 

 there for winter stores, as most of my hives are S-frame ? 



3. Can you suggest any means that would induce them to 

 alight on my own lot? Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. You cannot entirely rely upon killing cells 

 every 12 days. Once a week will be better, providing you 

 don't miss any cells, but sometimes they'll swarm without 

 waiting. 



2. It will probably make no difference. There will, per- 

 haps, be as much crowding of the brood-nest in one case as the 

 other, altho in any case there may be a little trouble about 

 scarcity of stores in an S-frame hive. 



3. You might succeed in getting them to alight on your 

 own lot by putting there a decoy hive — that is, an empty hive 

 with one or more empty combs in it. You might have your 

 queens dipt, and then no matter where the bees clustered 

 they would come back of their own accord. You might put a 

 queen-trap on your hives. You might run for extracted honey 

 and give your bees so much room they wouldn't care to swarm. 



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