Aug. 31, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



551 



erallv saw. In case the first queen goes out with a swarm, 

 it will be another first-day queen just as good that will step 

 into her shoes, I think. Of course, I'm not advising qitecn- 

 hrceders to rear their cells any such way. 



BEESWAX IN A SACK AN " OUGHT-TO-BE." 



But you're right, dear prince of York, that beeswax in 

 a sack ought to be as cheaply carried as the same in a box. 

 Page 472. Alas, the calmness of a railway magnate when 

 stung bv " ought-to be(e)s" is g^reater than we-uns can at- 

 tain to under the stings of Apis bees ! COGITATOR. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. O. Airj-tER, A/arengo, III, 



[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.] 



Blacks with a Touch of Yellow Naming Plants. 



A correspondent sends some worker-bees, and asks 

 whether they are blacks or what. As they differ in appear- 

 ance from blacks onlj' in showing a very small touch of 

 yellow, the probability is that they are black with a very 

 little Italian blood. 



A plant is also sent upon which bees were working 

 freely. It has peculiar seed-balls, entirely spherical, but I 

 don't know the plant. It isn't the Chapman honey-plant, 

 which also has globular balls, but much larger. Please 

 don't send plants to me for identification, but send them to 

 Prof. C. L. Walton, 2863 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, 111., 

 who will then name them in this journal. C. C. Mir.LKR. 



Bees Hanging Out Winter Stores Queens in Lniting. 



any remedy, but he will know in August or early Septem- 

 ber the character of the stores for winter. In most locali- 

 ties it is so seldom that winter stores are bad that it may be 

 about as well for the beginner not to trouble his head 

 about it. 



3. Generally there will be a survival of the fittest, bttt 

 not always. When two young queens fight, the contest is 

 one of personal strength. Not so when you unite two colo- 

 nies with laying queens. In such a case it's more a qties- 

 tion of the strength of the two colonies. If you unite with 

 a fairly strong colony having a poor black queen a weak 

 tiucleus with a choice Italian queen, you will do well to kill 

 the black queen at least two or three days before uniting, if 

 you don't want the Italian killed. Under ordinary- circum- 

 stances you may leave the matter to the bees, for the 

 stronger colony is likely to have the better queen ; or per- 

 haps it might better be said that the better queen is likely 

 to have the stronger colony. 



1. A cluster forms everj' eve at the entrance of one of 

 my hives. I have rained water, whipt, scolded, etc., yet 

 they remain there. Is there no danger of their suffocating 

 those inside ? If so, what is best to do with them ? 



2. All the authorities say that for successful wintering 

 of bees, good, pure honey is one of the great essentials. 

 Now, how is a beginner to know good from bad, when all 

 the combs are sealed up in the fall of the year ? 



3. I have two weak colonies, and wish to unite them. 

 In doing so I desire to keep the best queen, but this is what 

 I don't know, unless it is in the survival of the fittest. Mj' 

 inquiry is this : Is the best queen always the winner in the 

 royal fight ? New Brunswick. 



Answers. — 1. If on a hot afternoon you were to come 

 outside the door to sit in a more comfortable place on a 

 shady veranda, and some one should turn the hose on you 

 to drive you in, you wouldn't like it. Very likelj' the bees 

 don't like the way you treat them when you try to drive 

 them in. Don't you worry about that cluster at the door 

 suffocating the others. They'll manag-e that all right. If 

 you want to do anything to help them, give more chance 

 for air to get into the hive by way of a larger entrance. If 

 you raise the hive and put under each corner a block half 

 an inch to an inch thick, you will find the cluster at the en- 

 trance disappear, not as suddenly as when you rain water 

 on them, but the effect will be more permanent. 



2. It isn't always easy to know, but you can make a 

 pretty good guess at it. If, as you say, all stores are sealed 

 up, that's one element strongly in their favor, for thin, 

 watery honey is not the right thing for winter, even if from 

 the best sources. There's no law against your breaking 

 open a few cells and examining the honey. If it's honey 

 that you think you'd like to eat, you may be pretty sure it's 

 all right for the bees. If it's black, disagreeably tasting 

 stuff, it's likely honej'-dew, and not all right. But if the 

 beginner is wise, he'll not wait till the winter stores are all 

 sealed, for it will be unwise late in the fall to try to apply 



Sowing Sweet Clover and Cleome. 



1. How much sweet clover seed does it take to sow half 

 an acre. ? 



2. How much of the cleome, or rock^' mountain bee- 

 plant, does it take to sow half an acre ? I have read that it 

 should be sowed in the fall. About what month would be 

 the best ? 



3. Can I sow the sweet clover along with the cleome ? 



Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Perhaps a peck of sweet clover seed 

 would do well for half an acre. A good deal more than that 

 would do no harm, and less might do as well. If sown thin 

 it spreads out, but if sown too thin there is danger that va- 

 cancies inay be left where seed misses. 



2. I don't know about cleome, and. perhaps some one 

 who does know will help out. 



Management at Swarming Field-Peas — Overstocking 

 Requeening Water-Melon Juice. 



1. What makes the entrance of a hive turn yellow at 

 this time of year ? 



2. How will it do, in swarming-time, to move the old 

 hive to a new place and set the empty hive on the old stand, 

 where increase and honey are wanted ? Will the old colony 

 store enough to winter on ? 



3. Do bees get honey from stock peas, that is, field- 

 peas ? They work heavy on them. 



4. There is something over 400 colonies of bees here 

 on four miles square. Is that too many for one locality ? 



5. Would it be safe to let the bees do their own requeen- 

 ing, or would it be best to do it for them ? 



6. Will water-melon juice injure bees ? Or will it pro- 

 duce honey ? Tennessee. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. I might say it is because 

 the entrance is not large enough, but that would not be 

 fairly answering the question. At certain times, whether 

 it is from the flowers on which they work, or whether the 

 color is produced by themselves, they will give a decidedly 

 j'ellow color to a piece of clean pine with which they come 

 in contact, especially where they try to g-et thru a crack, or 

 where the entrance is rather small. If an entrance is 

 abundantly large, you are not so likely to see it made yellow. 



2. The plan is all rig-ht. The mother colony is likely to 

 have enough for winter, especially as it already had a good 

 store of provisions when it swarmed. 



3. I think they do. Either honey or pollen must be g'ot, 

 or thev would not work on them. Watch them when at 

 work, and if you find that some of them do not gather pol- 

 len you may be sure they are getting honey. 



4. That depends upon the location. There may, and 

 there may not, be plenty of pasturage for all. In some 

 places ten times as many bees would be supported on a 

 square mile as in others. 



5. Unless a great deal of wisdom is u.sed in the matter 

 it is probably best to leave the matter of requeening to 

 the bees. 



6. The juice of melons is not likely to hurt the bees, but 

 I don't know the qualitj' of honey that would be stored 

 from it. 



