Aug-. 24, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



535 



ing your question specifically, it would be nothing- strange 

 for an introduced virgin to supersede the laying- queen un- 

 der some circumstances. A virgin just out of the cell will 

 be tolerated almost anywhere and at almost any time, but 

 as she grows older she will in most cases be destroyed. If 

 the old queen, however, is failing-, or if it is about the close 

 of the honev harvest, the younger may take possession. 

 But in the spring-time, when there is in the hive a young 

 and vigorous queen, you may count on the introduced virgin 

 being destroyed '^9 times out of 100. Yours was the lOdtli 

 time. 



Cyprian Bees. 



1. Believing you have read the description of Cyprian 

 bees in Bulletin ISTo. 1, " The Honey Bee," by Frank Ben- 

 ton, I want to ask : Are they in every respect what Wr. 

 Benton describes them to be ? Is it a true and honest de- 

 scription of the Cyprian bee ? 



2. Can you tell where one may get queens of that stock 

 of bees in their purity, unniist with other bees ? Tex. 



Answers. — 1. Perhaps few are so competent to describe 

 the different varieties of bees as Mr. Benton, and I know <.f 

 no reason why he should want to misrepresent. 



2. I don't know of any place where you can get pure 

 Cyprians in this country. Whatever their virtues, they do 

 not sufficiently overbalance their faults so that bee-keepers 

 have wanted them. If they were better than other bees, 

 you may be pretty sure the demand for them would secure 

 a supply, and there would be plenty advertising pure Cvp- 

 rians for sale. 



Bees in Observatory Hive Queens of United Swarms. 



1. I desire to place a frame of bees and queen in an ob- 

 servatory hive for about 6 or 7 days. I shall take this 

 frame, etc.. from a full colony. Will it be necessary to 

 cage the queen when I put her back into her own hive ? or 

 how shall I manage without risk of losing- her? 



2. I united a small after-swarm with a fairh' strong nu- 

 cleus, putting the former into the hive occupied by the lat- 

 ter. On examining the combined colony subsequently I 

 found one of the queens balled and nearly dead. Which 

 queen would be most likely to be killed under the condi- 



tions 



Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. The probability is that she would be re- 

 ceived all right back again, but if she is a valuable queen 

 it might be well to cage her by way of precaution. 



2. If the nucleus and the after-swarm were about equal 

 in strength, the advantage would be on the side of the nu- 

 cleus, because they were in their own home and the others 

 were interlopers. More strongly still would the advantage 

 be on the side of the nucleus if it had a laying queen, for 

 the queen of an after-swarm is not a laying queen, and 

 other things being equal the bees would prefer the laying 

 queen. 



■*-^»-^ 



Getting Rid of a Cross Colony, Etc. 



1. May I object to your advice in a late number of the 

 American Bee Journal, to leave bees in a hive where the 

 combs are built criss-cross to the frames ? I have just such 

 a colony, very strong, and very cross. I dare not put my 

 hand down to adjust the entrance-blocks, or blow smoke on 

 them, unless protected by canvas gloves. Now, I want that 

 queen out, but as I can't get the frames out to find and clip 

 her, I don't want them to swarm, as there are tall maple 

 and locust trees all around. A man might climb for a 

 swarm, but I lost one last year with a Doolittle queen--a 

 very large swarm — and I don't want to lose this. I have 

 transferred several (four) colonies, but this one is too cross. 



2. Would it do to put a hive with empty combs or frames 

 of foundation and move that colony away, then in a few 

 hours, when aware of their queenless state, give Doolittle 

 cells, or simply a frame of brood from my breeding queen ? 

 Then 21 days later move again, treating the fiight-bees the 

 same — empty combs and brood on the old stand. That 

 vfould weaken it so that I could undertake to transfer, or I 

 mig-ht g-ive the transferred combs the last time. 



By fall I would have three good colonies. I have al- 

 ready one from moving it, that is getting strong, but no 

 surplus honey. In the spring the old colonj- will be changed 

 by the new queen, and everything will be lovely, I hope. 



3. This is the third year I have lived in hopes of a sur- 



plus honey crop, but next spring, I will have them (the 

 bees) all on Langstroth frame.s. I should be successful, for 

 the men around here that put on 80 1-pound boxes in the 

 spring, hive swarms, and take otf boxes in November, more 

 or less filled, get from 80 pounds to nothing ; but there must 

 be good forage or some would not store so well. Theoreti- 

 cally, I know more than they do, but practically I get no 

 honey, and the only way I get any profit is by rearing a few 

 queens that do wonders for others. They generally come 

 to me to solve the " mysteries," and tell me later I was 

 right — " that's just what they did :" but I want some honey. 

 We used in our family of five, three 60-pound cans last win- 

 ter, and wanted more. 



I hope you will have a successful honey-flow, and build 

 up your colonies to replace the loss you suffered last winter. 



(Mrs.) PENNSYtVANI.A.. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, . decidedly you may object to the 

 plan of leaving that colony of yours to swarm, altho the 

 rule in general is a good one. But where it is too difficult 

 to secure swarms it should not be followed, nor with stock 

 so objectionable on the score of temper. 



2. You are on the right track as to your plan of pro- 

 ceeding, with some variation. When you move away 

 old cross-patch, don't wait a few hours before giving a 

 frame of brOod, for with nothing but empty combs or foun- 

 dation the bees that go back to the old place )iiay desert. 

 When you set the hive in place of the one removed, have in 

 it from the start a frame of brood, and it wouldn't be a bad 

 thing to have a few young bees with it. for all the bees that 

 come from the cross colony will be lield-bees, unless j'ou 

 make the removal at a time of day when young bees from 

 the old hive are out at play. Neither would a queen-cell be 

 likeU' to be destroyed if given from the start. It isn't nec- 

 essary to wait three weeks before making a second removal. 

 Two weeks will do. and 10 days will give quite a supply of 

 bees if the colony is strong ; but of course you will have 

 more bees by waiting three weeks. You say, "In the spring 

 the old colony will be changed by the new queen," which 

 .sounds just a little as if you expect the bees themselves to 

 change the queen by rearing a new one. If the queen is an 

 old one, she is likely to be superseded this fall (less likely in 

 the spring), but even if a daughter replaces the old queen, 

 she is likely to inherit some of her mother's traits. It is 

 just possible that if you interview the old colony about two 

 days after moving- it to a new location, you may not find it 

 so very difficult to handle. The reduction in numbers, none 

 but young bees being left, and the fact that no honey is be- 

 ing- broug-ht in, may have a tatning effect on the colony 

 that will make them like another colonj-. 



3. There must be some reason why you don't get as 

 much honey as some of the other bee-keepers that do noth- 

 ing with their bees, while you manage yours with more in- 

 telligence. Isn't it possible that the explanation lies in the 

 fact that thej- don't meddle with their colonies, and so they 

 are allowed to be very strong-, while 3-011 weaken 3'ours bj' 

 drawing from them ? Possibly that isn't the reason : I only 

 throw out the hint. 



A private word in your letter makes me say not to worry 

 that no acknowledgment was made for former replies. Al- 

 tho it is plea.sant to know that my answers are appreciated, 

 yet that's what I'm here for. and one of the best ways to 

 show that your questions are satisfactorily answered is to 

 send on more. 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

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

 honey amon,g 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 g-eneral 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 

 a stamp ; 25 copies for 40 cents: SO for 70 cents; 100 for 

 $1.00 ; 250 for $2.25 ; 500 for §4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



Please send us Names of Bee=Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for -which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



