June 8, 1899. 



AMERICArN BEE JOURNAL 



359 



can be done by placing boards in different positions in front 

 of the nuclei. 



It sometimes happens that the honey-flow slackens; 

 great care must now be exercised with these small colonies, 

 as the strong- colonies will make it their business to hunt 

 up the weak ones and deprive them of their stores. 



When little or no honey is coming in, feeding must be 

 resorted to ; this must be done in the evening, the entrance 

 contracted, and not a drop of honey left lying loose in the 

 apiary. 



It will also be very difficult to have over two-thirds of 

 the queens fertilized. 



Good queens can also be reared from a colony that has 

 sent forth a swarm, but this should be discouraged as much 

 as possible. I believe that in time to come the swarming 

 habit can be bred out, and a non-swarming race establisht. 



John Bodknsch.\tz. 



After discussion the nest topic on the list was " Run- 

 ning an Apiary for Extracted Honey." There was not 

 much discussion of this topic, owing to lack of time. The 

 most interesting and entertaining feature of the day's pro- 

 gram was the question-box. which was opened in a most in- 

 teresting and effective manner by Dr. C. C. Miller. After 

 this an adjournment was had to the first Thursday in June, 

 1899. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DTt. C. C. Mir.KUK. Mnrengn, III. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the JJee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.] 



Hiving Swarms in Shallow Boxes. 



H. Lathrop"s plan (page 278) of hiving swarrns in shal- 

 low bodies looks quite well to a novice. I wonder if there 

 will not be considerable swarming out from a brood-cham- 

 ber of this size. What is your opinion ? Oregon. 



Answer. — In Mr. Lathrop's locality I think there will 

 be very little trouble from swarms issuing from the small 

 hives in which the swarms have been put. If there should 

 be a continuous harvest till late in the fall it might be a dif- 

 ferent thing. In any case there will not be the same danger 

 of swarms that there would be if bees wintered in such hives. 



Bees After Salts, Probably. 



I notice quite a number of bees all the time 

 where urine is put. What do they gather there ? 



Answer. — Probably salts contained therein. Some 

 make a practice of keeping the bees supplied with drinking- 

 water slightly salted, and it is probably a good thing. 



around 

 Md. 



Limiting Swarming— Best Size of Hive. 



1. I keep a few colonies of bees, which swarm too much. 

 Can I stop that ? If so, how ? •■' TTJ C_z: 



2. W^hat size hive do you think'is the best ? Oreg. 



Answers. — 1. You can probably limit them to one 

 swarm each. When the prime swarm issues, set it in its 

 new hive on the old stand, putting the old colony close be- 

 side it. A week later, set the old hive on a new stand at 

 some distance, moving it at a time of day when the most 

 bees are flying. The field-bees will return to the swarm, 

 and so weaken the old colony that it will not be likely to 

 swarm again. 



2. Tnat's a very difficult question to answer, and you 

 will do well to read over all that has been said about it in 

 past numbers of this journal, for much has been publisht. 

 If you give the closest attention to your bees, it may be that 



the 8-frame dovetailed hive, either one-story or two-story, 

 mav be best, but a larger hive, and perhaps a larger frame, 

 may be better for bees that are left without much attention. 



Bees Outside the Hive and on the Ground. 



The alighting-boards are covered with bees all the time : 

 they remain out over night, and if it rains they make no at- 

 tempt to go in. They are crawling on the ground for sev- 

 eral feet around the hive, and seem to be too weak to fly. 

 The honey in the hive is candied. They have been acting 

 so only for a few days. It has been very wet and cold for 

 bees this spring. lD.\HO. 



Answer. — From the description it appears very like a 



case of starvation. Possibly the bees had workt all the 



liquid part out of the honey, and it was so cold they could 



not fly out for stores. Still, "it seems that in a wet time they 



might have gotten water enough to use the granulated 



honey. If the bees were swollen, shiny, and trembling, it 



was paralysis. 



*-»-»^ 



Making Honey-Vinegar Old Combs of Honey. 



1. I have a few bits of broken combs, honey and cap- 

 pings of last fall's extracting, and as I will have more at 

 difl'erent times, I wish to know how to work them into vin- 

 egar as they accumulate, 



2. I have a few frames of sealed honey of last year's 

 gathering, so thick that I cannot extract it without break- 

 ing the combs. How would you use it, or what is best to do 

 with it ? I wish to save the combs if possible. Minn. 



Answers. — 1. Put them into a crock, cover with water 

 and let soak a few days (no harm if a few weeks), then drain 

 off or strain out the liquid, and let it sour as you would cider. 



2. Perhaps the best way. if you want to save the combs, 

 is to spray or sprinkle with water, then give to the bees to 

 clean out, wetting again if necessary. 



Bees from the Public Road Size of Dadant- 

 Langstroth Hive. 



1. How far must bees be put from the public road ? 



2. What hive is the Langstroth-Dadant hive ? Ii,L. 



Answers. — 1. So far as any law is concerned, I think 

 there are not many places in this country where there is 

 any leg-al restriction as to distance. If bee-keepers are wise, 

 there never need be any. Every one should put his bees so 

 far from the road that there need be no sort of danger to 

 passers-by. If a high fence is between the bees and the 

 road, they may be put close to the fence. 



2. I think the Dadants do not have any special Lang- 

 stroth form. They use mostly, if not altogether. tiieOuinby 

 hive, which has frames 18>^xll % . 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-pag^e pamph- 

 let especially gotten up with a view to create a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pages, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists 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 

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 $1.2S; 250 for S2. 75; 500 for $4.50. For 25 cents extra we 

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 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



Langstroth on the Honey = Bee, revised by the Dadants, 



is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete work on 

 bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound elegantly. 

 Every reader of the Aiiierican liee Journal should have a 

 copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions that 

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 Bee Journal for a year — both for only $2.00. 



The Premium ofl'ered on page 254 is well worth work- 

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