April 13, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



229 



WHAT ABOUT APIS DORSATA .' 



QuES. — Do we want the importation of the Apis dorsata 

 from the new American territory — the Philippines ? 



Mr. Hammersmark — I think if we were familiar with it 

 we would want it. I think we would all vote for it if it had 

 a longrer tongfue and could be domesticated. 



QuES. — If they build only a sing-le comb would it be 

 worth while ? Would they build a number in a hive ? 



Dr. Miller — I don't know, unless you get them under 

 stress in the hive to do differently ; that is what they do 

 left to themselves. 



Dr. Peiro — I would like to ask if the long tongue is all 

 they have in their favor? 



Dr. Miller — There might be a decided advantage in this 

 because of the red clover ; it certainly would be a desirable 

 thing where the red clover is plenty, to have a bee that 

 could get the honey from it. If Apis dorsata can be domes- 

 ticated, there would be a gain ; but if it cannot be domesti- 

 cated, or cannot live even tho it should be brought into this 

 countrj', it would be no gain ; because even tho it could be 

 domesticated it might not be able to stand the climate here. 



A Member — If it is a fact that they are very heavy wax- 

 gatherers, would they not be absolutely useless to us ? They 

 would be all right for the extractors, for those that extract 

 honey, but not for the comb-honey producers. 



Dr. Miller — You think the comb would be too heavj' ? 



A Member — I don't believe you could get enough honev 

 from them, and you would have to sell it at a lower price. 

 It would not be as good for eating purposes. You would 

 have to gather the was up and put it at the side of your 

 plate. They might be all right in this country for those 

 that run for extracted honej' alone, but for comb honey, 

 what I understand of them, they would be perfectly useless. 



BOARD OR CUSHION OVER FRAMES IN WINTER. 



QuES. — What is best, a board or cushion over frames in 

 ■winter ? 



Dr. Miller — That depends a little upon what there is 

 above the board or the cushion. Perhaps taking it in gen- 

 eral, the cushion may be better. There may be at the pres- 

 ent day a tendency to have a single board cover over the 

 bees ; the objection to that is, that it is cold ; that the heat 

 is conducted away from the bees thru that single thickness 

 of board, and really we need a different hive-cover from 

 what we have — one that has a thin board, and something 

 like an air .space. There are some advantages in having a 

 single board cover, and perhaps there are so many that it is 

 better not to use the cushion at all ; a great many don't use 

 it, because you can have it summer and winter the same ; 

 but as far as bees are concerned I suppose there is an ad- 

 vantage in the cushion, as it is a better non-conductor, and 

 if you have it so the air can get thru, the moisture will es- 

 cape and not be condenst in the hives. So in answering 

 that, which is the best, I should say the cushion is the best 

 thing if only the comfort of the bees is to be considered, 

 but there are so many other things in the case that I prefer 

 to have a board cover, and my bees are all covered with 

 board covers now. 



COLOR OF HIVES IN SUMMER .'^ND WINTER. 



Cues. — Would it be advi-sable to have your hives black 

 in spring and fall, and white in hot weather ? 



Dr. Miller — Possibly. In the spring and fall you want 

 to get the heat from the sun, and the black will absorb the 

 heat better than the white ; and in the hot days in summer 

 you will have the white to keep the hives cool. If you have 

 the hives in a dense shade, it does not matter much what 

 the color is. If you have them out in the sun, there would 

 be a decided difference, but if well shaded there won't be 

 that difference. Many think that if you have your bees in 

 dense shade then you will have them cool, and there will be 

 no danger of combs melting down. The most combs I ever 

 had melt down was in a place vrhere the sun didn't shine all 

 day long. 



Mr. Moore — Mr. G. M. Doolittlehas a building arranged 

 for ripening his comb honey ; he has it painted black, with 

 a southern exposure, and he is able to keep it an even tem- 

 perature for weeks. Black is the highest absorber of the 

 sun's rays, white the least. Black takes it all in ; white 

 glances it off'. 



Mr. Clark — What is the thickness of his walls ? If the 

 walls were double thickness, take a one-inch board painted 

 black, then fill in with sawdust or packing, then a board in- 

 side of that. I could imagine the black retaining the heat 

 and causing an even temperature: it must be specially 

 built, painted black, to keep that even temperature. 



Dr. Peiro — Practicallj-, does it pay to paint the hives, 

 say twice a year ? Is the amount of paint required more 

 than offset by the good itmaj' do ? 



A Member — Doesn't that fool the bees when they get 

 into a white hive and then a black one ? 



Dr. Miller — So far as fooling the bees is concerned, you 

 need not count on that, because you paint them at the same 

 time. The other is practicallv a question we have to meet. 

 Is it a desirable thing to paint the hives ? If I lived in Cook 

 County, the probability is that I would have all my hives 

 painted ; but I live far out in the country, and don't have 

 my hives painted. 



Mr. Moore — How are they shaded ? 



Dr. Miller — Some of them are shaded, some of them are 

 out in the sun ; if trees would never die they would all be 

 shaded. Mr. Doolittle thinks he is very sure about it, that 

 he would not have his hives painted if you would pay him, 

 because he thinks the bees are better off in unpainted hives. 

 I think he is right, but I don't feel as sure as he does. 



A Member — Don't you think the construction of the 

 hive has much to do with whether they are painted or not 

 painted? Some hives are only single wall; some double; 

 the double are better painted than not painted. 



Dr. Miller — Perhaps there may be something in that: I 

 can't say. I don't know that it would make any difference 

 to the bees whether double-walled hives were painted or not. 

 So long as you are talking about single-walled hives I would 

 not have them painted. 



Mr. Moore — I have experimented a little this summer, 

 and I am dead sure what I want, but I don't know how to 

 accomplish it. I want my hives unpainted in the spring 

 and fall, and I want them white in the hottest weather, be- 

 cause the white paint will protect the hives from the exces- 

 sive heat. How can I have black when I want it ? 



Pres. Beers — Paint them twice a year. 



Dr. Miller — Of course it would be too much expense and 

 trouble painting twice a year : you can accomplish that by 

 shade boards to a large extent. I very much doubt if you 

 Vfould care for them in the fall, or in the spring ; in the 

 spring you want the benefit of the heat, and to let the sun 

 shine directly upon the hives. Suppose you have a single- 

 hive, you get the heat and are all right in the spring; that 

 part is easily managed, but now comes the summer, and 

 you want to have them protected from the sun. If you live 

 out in the country where you can get long slough-grass, 

 put a good armful on the hive, and put a stick of fire wood 

 on that. I don't know of a better covering, and it is a good 

 non-absorbent ; it gives shade and protects from the heat of 

 the sun. You can put .some kind of a board covering on, a 

 temporary rough one, but I believe I would a little rather 

 have long-grass covering. 



The convention then adjourned to meet the first Thurs- 

 day in March, 1899. 



CONDUCTED BV 



DR. C. C. AlILLER. ATarengo, 111. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.] 



Increasing and Italianizing Colonies. 



1 . My bees are hybrids and I want to Italianize them this year ; 

 this is my plan of doing it— will it work all right ? 



I want to send tor a tested Italian queen early in the spring 

 and introduce her to one of my hybrid colonies, and as I am going 

 to increase by dividing this year, I thought, by swarming-time, I 

 would close all the hive-entrances of the hybrid colonies with 

 drone-excluders, so that the young queens from the nuclei would 

 be mated with one of the drones from the bive having the tested 

 Italian queen. Then to Italianize those colonies from which I 

 built up the nuclei (for the queens of those colonies will still be 

 hybrids). I thought I would take the queen from one of them, and 

 also take away the brood and eggs from that colony, and exchange 

 it with the one having the tested Italian queen, and so let the col- 

 ony from which I took the hybrid queen rear queen-cells from the 

 Italian queen's brood and eggs. Then, after they have reared a 

 number of Italian queen-cells, I want to give each of the old colo- 

 nies having the byijrid queens an Italian queen-cell. 



3. How early must I give the colony from which I want to 

 rear Italian drones, the Italian queen ? I mean the colony in 

 which I want to put the Italian queen that I send for ? Will it 



