438 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 14, 



the weather was very close and warm, and the bees came out 

 and hung on the front of the hive in a large bunch. Did they 

 do that on account of the hot weather, or on account of lack 

 of room ? Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. What you call a division-board isn't intended 

 to be used as such, but as a dummy. It is to be used, not in 

 the middle, but at one side. Put in all the frames, crowd 

 them all close to one side, then put the dummy close up 

 against the last frame. If the hive were made just wide 

 enough to take in the frames, you would find it almost impos- 

 sible to get out a frame after the bees have filled and glued 

 them. But there will be a space between the du-nmy and the 

 side of the hive which the bees will always leave clear. That 

 gives play enough for the dummy so it can easily be taken out, 

 and after the dummy Is out there is plenty of play to get out 

 the frames. 



2. Very likely it was only because the weather was very 

 hot and the hive close. You can easily find out whether they 

 are crowded for room by taking out the combs and seeing 

 whether the cells are all filled with honey that do not contain 

 eggs or brood. If you raise the hive on four blocks about %- 

 inch, it will give them enough air so they will not be likely to 

 hang out. 



The Best Hive— IVumbcr of Frames. 



1. What make of hive is the best for bees ? 



2. What number of frames is the best, 8 or 10-frame ? 



3. What make of hive does Dr. Miller use ? Are they S- 

 frame or 10 frame? Iowa. 



Answers.— 1. Probably if the bees were consulted in the 

 matter they would tell you that there is no better hive for bees 

 than the old straw skep our forefathers used. But this has 

 been displaced by the movable-frame hive, not because the 

 frame hive is better for the bees, but because it is more con- 

 venient for the bee-keeper when he wants to take out 

 the combs. 



2. For extracted honey it Is likely 10 Langstroth frames 

 in a hive are best. For comb honey, if the bees are to be left 

 without much attention the year round, likely 10 frames are 

 also best. If they are used with two stories when supers are 

 not on, perhaps eight frames to each story are best. 



3. The majority of my hives are very old, and were origi- 

 nally lO-framers, afterward reduced In size to take 8 frames. 

 As fast as I am changing into new hives I use S-frame dove- 

 tailed hives, allowing the bees all the room they will use up to 

 16 frames, except when supers are on, when all are reduced 

 to one story except a few for experiment. As yet I have only 

 about 50 dovetails in use, but hope to close the season with a 

 good many more. 



M I — ^m- 



Signs of Swarming— Hanging Out, 



1. If a colony in a box-hive is about to swarm, will there 

 be any particular signs by which I can tell ? 



2. What is the matter with some of my bees? They 

 gather in large bunches and hang down in front of the hives 

 the biggest part of the day, fanning with their wings ; while 

 others are busy they make a great uoise at night. Ohio. 



Answers.— 1. None that you can be sure of. They gen- 

 erally hang out, but sometimes they hang out with no thought 

 of swarming. They work less actively, but neither Is that a 

 sure sign. 



2. It may be they are preparing to swarm, or it may 

 simply be that it's too hot in the hive and they prefer to stay 

 where it's cooler. It may be that they are crowded for room. 

 See that they have room enough, either in the hive or in 

 supers, and raise the hives by blocks at the four corners, and 

 they will not be likely to hang out very long. 



Don't Worli on White Clover or in Supers- 

 Placing Hives. 



1. Why did the bees not work on white clover in 1897, 

 which is the best honey-pasture we have ? 



2. Why do my bees not work in the supers ? 



3. Why are there no drones this year ? 



4. Do you advise setting the hive on the ground when it 

 can be done, or would you set it on a platform two or three 

 feet high ? West Virginia. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. It happens some years in 

 this locality (this is one of the years) when white clover blooms 

 abundantly but bees don't store any honey from it. I don't I 



know why. I only know that white clover is very plenty, but 

 there seems to be no honey in it. 



2. Very likely they haven't anything to put in the supers, 

 or else there is room not yet filled in the brood-nest. They'll 

 not commence work in the supers while there Is plenty of room 

 in the brood-nest. But you may hurry up matters by putting 

 bait sections in the super, that is, sections that have been 

 partly drawn out the previous year. Or, you may put a small 

 piece of brood In the super. 



3. If you watch closely you will probably find drones this 

 year. There are plenty in my hives, but not as many as in 

 some years, because the bees have been driving them out in the 

 montii of June and in the first of July, on account of the scar- 

 city of honey. 



4. I wouldn't do either, but set the hive on a stand some- 

 where from two to six inches high. That makes it better for 

 bees to get Into the hive than when it is two or three feet high, 

 and you can sit on a seat to work at the hives. 



^ ■ — ^ 



Sowing Buckwiieat — Hybrid Queen's Progeny. 



1. What time should buckwheat be planted in Southern 

 Mississippi to produce the most honey ? 



2. If a half-breed queen meets an Italian drone, what 

 would the progeny be ? 



8. I had a trial with laying workers in one hive this 

 spring. They refused to rear a queen ; several times I gave 

 them brood, but no queen-cells were built, so I gave them a 

 black queen, as I did not care to risk an Italian, and sure 

 enough they balled her to death. So I got a frame with two 

 ripe queen-cells on it, and gave to them ; 12 days later I found 

 plenty of fresh eggs in regular form, so I closed the hive, and 

 I see they are getting strong in bees. They were very ill- 

 natured (?) until they reared a queen. Mississippi. 



Answers. — 1. In the North, as early in July as possible, 

 and I suspect the same time would be all right in Southern 

 Mississippi. 



2. Her worker progeny will be "i Italian blood, and her 

 drone progeny the same blood as berself, only it must be 

 added that, theoretically, her drone progeny will be slightly 

 tinged by the blood of the drone with which she mates. 



Drones and Ess-Fertilization. 



1. Is the drone hatcht from an unfertilized egg ? 



2. After the queen meets the drone, is the process of fer- 

 tilizing the egg at the pleasure of herself? 



I discovered a superabundance of drones in one hive, and 

 upon examination I found nothing but drone-eggs in it, hence 

 the above questions. Ohio. 



Answers. — 1. Some believe that the fertilization of the 

 egg is at the will of the queen, and some believe her volition 

 has nothing to do with it, but the kind of cell controls the 

 matter. 



2. You can hardly tell by looking at an egg whether it 

 will produce a drone or a worker, but you can easily tell when 

 the brood is sealed whether it is drone or worker, and that Is 

 probably what you mean. In your colony which had so many 

 drones, the queen may have commenced laying without having 

 been fertilized (a very unusual thing! aud in that case would 

 produce only drones; or she may have been a played-out 

 queen, producing mainly or entirely drones, or there may have 

 been no queen present and laying workers were at work. 



Solder on Tin Packages. — Der Deutsche Imker aus Boeh- 

 men says tin is all right as a package for extracted honey, but 

 all soldering must be on the outside and not on the inside. 



Apis Dorsata. — Different writers speak of from three to 

 seven varieties of native bees in India, but all seem agreed 

 that Apis dorsata (mentioned in nearly every paper under a 

 native name) cannot be domesticated on account of its intrac- 

 table nature. Among other things — (1) It is said to be ex- 

 ceedingly vicious — often attacking men and beasts on the 

 sjightest provocation ; (2) It preserves the same habits and 



