1898. 



THE AMEHICAN BEE JOURNAlu. 



583 



inclined to gnaw the extra thin than the thin. I can hardly 

 think age was the trouble. I used a good deal of brood foun- 

 dation this year that was six years old, and I could not see but 

 the bees accepted and workt it as well as any. , 



3. Excluder-zinc will probably be all right for separators. 

 Very likely Mr. Pettit would tell you that he objected to the 

 cost of the perforated zinc, altho it is just possible that he pre- 

 ferred larger perforations than were to be found in the zinc. 

 Even altho he might make a few of perforated zinc cheaper 

 than he could make the wood ones by hand, he was no doubt 

 lookiDg out for the general future, and with proper machinery 

 no doubt the wood separators could be furnisht at lower price 

 than the zinc. 



4. That's a dangerous question to answer. When a woman 

 holds up her baby before you and says, "Isn't he sweet ?"' 

 you're in a bad box if you can't honestly answer " Yes." How- 

 ever, Africa's a long way from here, so I venture to say that 

 it needs only one reason to make your feeder objectionable, 

 and that is that it requires syrup to be made. The day of feed- 

 ing syrup is past with me and with many others. I have given 

 my bees a little more than TOO pounds of sugar so far this 

 season, but it was given to them as dry sugar and water added 

 afterward. That's less trouble than to make syrup. When 

 the dry sugar is put In, there's no danger from robbers, even 

 if the feeder is left standing open, as dry sugar doesu't te-npt 

 the robbers. Then water is poured in, and if any of the water 

 is spilled it does no harm. If syrup is spilled there may be 

 trouble. 



Another reason why your feeder could not be used in many 

 apiaries, is that the hives stand back to back, in groups of 

 four, an arrangement that would not be readily given up, even 

 if it caused a good deal of inconvenience in feeding. Feeding 

 is a thing that comes only occasionally, and the convenience 

 of arrangement is a thing of permanency. 



You can hardly draw out the drawer-feeder in less time 

 than you can lift a cover off a Miller feeder, and there are 

 times when a colony will work in a feeder on top when you 

 could not get them to go down cellar. But perhaps the dis- 

 tance to Africa is not sufBcient to make it safe to sav more. 



The "Illick" HiTe-Tool. 



The tool I use to raise supers, scrape propolis, take out 

 frames, etc., is made out of the back half of an old file. The 

 wide end is drawn out and ground to a chisel edge. The small 

 end is bent down about an inch, and also thinned down — the 

 heel or fulcrum is rested on top of the frame towards me and 

 the sharp point under the frame to be raised. The frame 

 comes every time, no slipping. J. F. Illick. 



Answer. — Mr. Illick has gotten hold of two important 

 points in the construction of a hive-tool. One end must be a 

 straight chisel edge for raising supers, etc., and the other end 

 must be crookt for moving frames. One trouble in getting a 

 tool to suit every one is that all do not use frames alike. Mr. 

 Illick rests the tool on the frame toward him, evidently push- 

 ing the frames from him as he loosens them. That wouldn't 

 work in my hives with frames at flxt distances. The dummy 

 is next me, and the frames must be loosened toward me. But 

 the same tool would work. It is desirable that the corners of 

 the chisel edge be quite rounding. Then they will not catch 

 in the wood when you crowd between hive and super. 



Conlracliii^ Foul Brood — Preparing Bees 

 for Winter. 



1. Is there any danger of bees contracting foul brood, if 

 allowed to eat honey from a frame containing also larvM which 

 have been killed by chilling them ? 



2. Is it positively necessary to have chaff below the brood- 

 nest in a chaff hive ? 



3. What is the latest time in the season that bees swarm ? 



4. When would you begin to put bees up for winter '? 



Iowa. 

 Answers. — 1. If there was no foul brood in the combs, I 

 should have no fear. 



2. While it may be better to have chaff below, it is not 

 nearly of so much consequence as at the top and sides. 



3. I don't know. It depends upou the season. They may 

 swarm any time when warm enough and gathering enough. 

 Probably in Iowa they might swarm as late as the first or 

 middle of September. But the general swarming business 

 will probably be through In July, with occasional cases in 

 August. 



4. In August. See to the important part of having plenty 

 — not only plenty but abundant — stores for winter, unless 



pretty sure you'll have a fall flow. See that each colony has 

 a good laying queen. Other things may come on later, but 

 get everything done a little before you think it necessary. 

 From your second question you seem to have chaff hives. 

 With them you can't be any too early getting ready, after this 

 time, unless bees are storing so much that you must see to 

 giving them room. 



Number or Bees in a Colony — Tiering IJp. 



1. About what number of bees do you suppose it would 

 take to make a strong colony? I am working mostly for 

 increase. 



2. How high would you advise tiering up on the brood- 

 chamber ? 



3. I have two brood-chambers with eight frames in each, 

 and the bees occupy all the frames. Will they winter safely ? 



Virginia. 

 Answers. — 1. When you reach 50,000 you have a strong 

 colony. You are not likely to have that number as the pro- 

 geny of a single queen until the season is well advanced. It 

 is possible that you might reach double that number. In the 

 spring you'll do well if you have 10,000. 



2. I'd pile on just as long as the bees showed they needed 

 more room. They may need two or three stories, and if they 

 have much honey they may need a good deal more. You're 

 not likely to do any harm by giving too much room after the 

 weather gets hot, but you may do harm by crowding. 



3. You will probably find they winter just as well with 

 two stories as one, and possibly better. 



lUilkweed Pollen-Masses. 



There are some bees in two of my colonies that have many 

 feet or claws to their legs, also on their antennas. They are 

 smaller than the workers, do not seem to work any. The 

 workers take them by the collar and walk them out, police 

 fashion. What are they ? and will they do any harm ? 



Indiana. 



Answer. — From the masht specimens enclosed in your 

 letter, I should say your bees have been working on milkweed 

 and the pollen-masses cling to them to such extent that they 

 can hardly get about, and the other bees expel them. As soon 

 as the milkweed is through blooming the trouble will disap- 

 pear. A few bees are lost in this way, but perhaps the bees 

 gather enough from milkweed to pay for the loss. 



Sealed Empty Ceils. 



Why do bees seal up empty cells in the supers? In uncap- 

 ping some extracting-frames I found the bees had sealed up 

 some of the empty cells ? Arizona. 



Answer. — I have been very much puzzled sometimes to 

 understand what it meant to find a sealed cell entirely empty. 

 It hardly seems the bees would take the trouble to seal up a 

 cell containing nothing but air, and I've thought it just possi- 

 ble the cells may have been filled with honey and sealed, and 

 then the, cell may have been opened through one of the walls 

 from an adjoining cell. 



M I W 



Referred to the Slate Botanist. 



Within find a few samples of a shrub for name. They will 

 show you blossoms, undevelopt berries, and some berries about 

 fully developt. The latter one is very small this year on ac- 

 count of the great dryness; they were twice as large in years 

 gone by, as I can recollect. California. 



An-swer. — The shrub is one I am not acquainted with. 

 Your State botanist will be able to tell you what it Is. 



Honey as Pood is a neat little 24-page pamphlet 

 especially gotten up with a view to creating a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. The forepart of the 

 pamphlet was written by Dr. C. C. Miller, and Is devoted to 

 general information concerning honey. The latter part con- 

 sists of recipes for use in cooking and as a medicine. It 

 will be found to be a very effective helper in working up a 

 home market for honey. We furnish them, postpaid, at these 

 prices: A sample for a stamp; 25 copies for 30 cents; 50 

 for 50 cents; 100 for 90 cents; 250 for $2.00; 500 for 

 $3.50. For 25 cents extra we will print your name and ad- 

 dress on the front page, when ordering 100 or more copies at 

 these prices. 



