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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



September 1, 



apiary, I anticipate from the Golden plan far the best results 

 in securing honey. 



Then, in regard to wintering, no winter-cases are needed, 

 no ticks or chaff cushions to be prepared and kept in order, 

 housed and stored during the summer. The feeder, when 

 needed, is always in a safe and convenient place for use, and 

 if the queens are to be superseded that is easily accomplisht ; 

 and once the hives are prepared and the number of colonies in 

 stock wanted, you need not fear of being tied up by not being 

 able to have your order for hives filled, as was the case the 

 past summer. 



Mr. Deacon appears to appreciate, or realize, that he is 

 growing old, approximating three score years, and thinks Mr. 

 Golden nearing the same ; and that both should cast aside iu- 

 ventive ideas, letting the younger ones run the advance de- 

 partment. Can Mr. Deacon, or any one with a mind, cease 

 thinking? And as new ideas or thoughts enter the cranium, 

 our desire is, if after due deliberation they appear feasible, to 

 put them into practice, which tests or proves whether practical 

 and of value. This I deem right, and Mr. Deacon coincides 

 with me, for he has concluded, and I presume fully tested to 

 his own satisfaction at least, that his " Rapid Drawer Feeder " 

 is not only superior to Golden's, but any other feeder. Now, 

 Mr. Deacon, lay aside the various ideas that may enter your 

 cranium ; don't think on bettering that feeder in any way or 

 to improve on any of your methods in managing your apiary, 

 for many perplexing things present themselves daily, and our 

 minds must be fully at rest. Or, we must endeavor to fathom 

 the problem' before us. Which are we most likely to do? 



Somerset Co., Pa., Aug. S. 



Question on Italianizing;. 



I live on the outskirts of the city, and keep bees for fun. 

 I have seven colonies, six on frames and one in a box. Also 

 three colonies six miles from here with a man to keep on 

 shares — >2- What I wish to find out is this : 



June 5 hive No. 3 cast a big swarm. I hived them, moved 

 hive No. 3 to a new place, and set the new swarm on the old 

 stand. June 6 No. 1 cast a very large swarm. I hived and 

 set it in a new place, and left old hive in its old place. The 

 same day I sent for a queen and cut out all queen-cells In No. 

 1. The new queen was promist in two or three days; I 

 waited till the 1 1th, and no queen received, so I counter- 

 manded the order. I had ordered another queen which I re- 

 ceived June 11. I cut out the queen-cells in No. 3, and put a 

 cage on top of the frames ; opened it the 13th, and found they 

 had liberated the queen. July 15 I saw the first Italian bees'. 

 Since then they have iiicreast until they are nearly ali Italians. 



Now we will go back to hive No. 1. I had cut out cells in 

 No. 1 June 6 ; June 16 I received another queen and put her 

 on the frames; the 18th I opened No. 1 and found the queen 

 liberated. I waited ever since to see Italian bees, and three 

 or four days ago I saw four, and none since, until to-day (Aug. 

 2) at noon I saw perhaps 100 out, but did not stay long. I 

 also saw a few yellow drones. I thought the queen must be 

 killed, and sent for another which I received to-day. 



Why is it that no yellow bees showed up before? What 

 has the queen been doing all this time ? The hive should be 

 full of Italian bees by this time. 



There is plenty of white clover all about me in fields and 

 by the roadside. I have lookt for bees on it 50 times, and 

 have never seen but two bees on white clover. 



I do not know what to do with my new queen. I have a 

 12-story hive nearly full. I suppose I might take it o£f and 

 give the queen and make a new colony, but I have more than 

 I want now. Massachusetts. 



Answer. — No. 1 swarmed June 6, and on that same day 

 you cut out the queen-cells. The probability is that there 

 were plenty of eggs present, as also brood in all stages. That 

 would allow the bees to rear a young queen, and the young 

 queen would depose the queen introduced and assume the 

 reins of government. That is what one would most naturally 

 expect. It may be, however, that the color of the young bees 

 showed clearly that they were the progeny of the queen you 



introduced. In that case the probability is that for some time 

 the bees kept the new queen balled /or a time, and then she 

 may not have begun laying for a number of days. Such delay 

 on the part of a queen introduced is not so very unusual. 



It is quite possible that eggs were laid earlier than you 

 suppose. From what you say, it appears that you depended 

 on seeing the young bees outside, without looking into the 

 hive. Young bees do not commence field- work till about 16 

 days old, so you would not see any of the new bees outside for 

 two weeks after plenty of them may have been inside, unless 

 you happened to be at the hive when they were having their 

 play-spell. 



Perliapi " Barc-IIeadcd " Bees. 



I have 30 colonies in modern hives, all in good condition, 

 only in looking through them I found in a few of them some 

 unsealed brood that seemed to be dead. Some of It was turned 

 wrong end out, and that that was right end out (head) had 

 pink eyes. It is all full size, and very tender. What can be 

 the matter with them ? I never had any experience with foul 

 brood, and do not want any. 



There has been no surplus honey in this part of the coun- 

 try this season — too much rain. We look for a fine honey-flow 

 this fail when the yellow blossom and smart-weed bloom. The 

 nights are too cool now for anything but sickness. 



I get a great deal of information out of the American Bee 

 Journal. Missouri. 



AN.SWER. — Probably yours is a case of what is called 

 ■'bare-headed bees." If so, the brood is all right, altho It may 

 appear dead. It Is motionless but not dead, and you will find 

 that in due time it will hatch all right. Just why it is thai 

 sometimes patches of these bare-headed bees occur, bee-keep- 

 ers are not agreed. I feel pretty sure, however, that the wax- 

 worm has something to do with it. Ofts'n I have seen a row 

 of these unsealed larv;e in just such shape as one would ex- 

 pect where the gallery of a worm had been run through the 

 cappings, and you will probibly find that bare-headed bees are 

 much more common with blacks than Italians, as Italians do 

 not allow the presence of worms to the same extent as blacks. 



Closed-End Frames — Enameled Cloth — 

 Long-Idea Hive, Ete. 



1. If I understand correctly, "Common Sense Bee-Keep- 

 ing " condemns the bee-space between the frame end-bars and 

 the hive wall, so as to have the frames close to the latter. 

 Wouldn't there be great danger of crushing bees aud queens 

 in handling such frames, besides the general dilBculty to get 

 them in and out ? 



2. Do you use an enameled cloth on top of the sections, 

 also frames in hives ? and do you think it such an essential 

 and necessary attribute to the bees' comfort ? 



3. What kind of a hive is the " Long Idea Hive "? and 

 how is it constructed? Where did it originate? I never 

 found it mentioned in any of the catalogs. 



4. On page 139, the " Lareese escape " is recomm3nded 

 for getting the bees out of supers. In what way is this one 

 different from the Porter escape ? Is it preferable ? 



5. Which is the better, tin or zinc rabbets? Prank 

 Benton, in Gov. Bui. No. 1, "The Honey-Bee," a manual of 

 instruction in apiculture, gives preference to tin rabbets with- 

 out giving any reason for his assertion. Are they one 

 chemically ? 



6. How are observation hives constructed, generally, with 

 one or more frames? with glass on one or both sides? I do 

 not recollect having seen one. 



7. What color is borage honey — white or amber ? Bees 

 are working on it from morn to night. 



8. You certainly have some knowledge about the fuchsia 

 flowers. Do they contain sufficient nectar to guarantee some 

 bee-pasturage ? Which is preferred, the single or the double ? 



9. J. S. Sleeth, on page 414, askt what caused the bees 

 to discharge feces of the color of dandelions in large blotches, 

 etc. As I had the same occurrence last fall, aud again lately 

 just after dividing, that the bees of the newly-made colony 

 were bespattering the front of the hive when coming out — 

 (but my bees didn't roll over and die) — I accounted for it as a 

 usual happening after overfilling with honey to follow it up 

 with some diarrhea ; or that it was the cause of robber bees. 

 Can you give me more light on it? California. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, they require care in handling. 



2. Since using flat board covers I have used no enameled 

 cloth, or cloth of any kiud. It is warmer in cold weather with 

 the cloth, and it is a protection in hot weather against the sun, 



