598 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Sept. 21, 1899. 



shape by specialists it will undoubtedly win for itself a 

 name and place in the American markets equal to the finest 

 of white clover or basswood honey. 



Fred Iv. Cr.wcraft. 



\V. A. Selser — The writer of this paper has made a 

 statement that I cannot ag-ree with. He saj-s as long as 

 there is a duty of 20 cents per gallon on Cuban honey there 

 would not be enough honey brought in to hurt our market. 

 This is incorrect. Cuban honey, when baked in a cake, will 

 hold moisture longer than American honey. I believe in 

 calling things by their right name. When the war with 

 Spain first broke out I was afraid that Cuban honey would 

 come in faster, and I here saj^ that I consider our new pos- 

 sessions a curse, and I could substantiate what I say. Now, 

 these are facts we have to face. How we are to solve these 

 problems I do not know. Another thing the writer says is, 

 that we might place Cuban honey in two classes. Cuban 

 honey will never be used extensively in this country on the 

 table, because it is so dirty. It is packt in, chuckt in, dirt 

 and all, but when it comes in a cake we don't see the dirt. 

 Now, I believe we might find a new market among people 

 who do not use honey. 



Mr. Abbott — Permit me to offer one suggestion. The 

 honey that Mr. Selser refers to as being unfit for table use 

 is what is used by the natives. The flavor is fine. The 

 question is. Is that likely to be shipt North ? I hardly 

 agree that it is harder to keep bees in winter than in sum- 

 mer. 



O. O. Poppleton (Fla.)— That is the fairest and best 

 article I have ever heard on this subject. 



Dr. C. C. Miller (111.)— The statement that this honey is 

 good only for bakers settled any doubts in my mind, but 

 when Mr. Selser saj-s one firm used 12 loads, is there not 

 cause for uneasiness ? That probably is not the onl3' firm 

 that uses large quantities of honey. 



; — I Mr. Selser — We have a baker here in the city that uses 

 it, also bakers in New York. 



■' I. J. Stringham (N. Y.) — I know one firm that ordered 

 200 tierces of honey (100 tons), and I do not consider that 

 the locality is well developt. That is the first year that the 

 New York market has taken anything in comparison, on 

 account of the 20 cents duty. 



[Continued next week.l 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C C. MILLER. Marengo, 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.] 



aueen Laying Irregularly—Wild Touch-me-not. 



1. I have a 3'oung queen just commencing to lay, and 

 she lays one. two and three eggs in a cell. Why does she 

 do that ? Will she be a good queen to keep, or would I 

 better destroy her and unite the bees with another colony ? 



2. I enclose a flower that grows quite plentifully on 

 the low land around here, and the bees work oti it from 

 morning till night. Can you tell me its name ? Does it 

 furnish honey or pollen, or both ? Indiana. 



Answers. — 1. Don't be in a hurry to kill the queen. It 

 is not unusual for a queen to be a little irregular on first 

 commencing to lay. Very likely she'll come out all right. 

 A week or so ago I found in one of my hives a comb with no 

 eggs or brood on one side, but the other side was well sup- 

 plied with eggs, most cells having more than one ef;g, and 

 .some having four or five, no other comb having- brood or 

 eggs. After the eggs hatcht out only one larva was found 

 ill each cell, and I think the queen will get over her fool- 

 ishness. 



2. Wild touch-me-not. I think, but I don't know its value 

 for honey or pollen. If bees work busily on it, you may be 

 sure it is valuable for one or both. If you see no pollen on 



their legs, then j'ou can count it a honey-plant. If j'ou see 

 pollen on their legs, then watch and see if the bees seem to 

 be sucking nectar as well. 



Queen Daughter Varied from Her Mother. 



One of my neighbors, wishing to rear a few queens, 

 placed a frame of j'oung larva; in a queenless colony, and as 

 soon as the cell-cups were built, I transferred the frame to 

 a colony of black bees, they being allowed to complete the 

 cells, which in due time hatcht and produced j-oung queens, 

 some of which were nearly black, others very brown, being 

 decidedly different in color from the mother, which is sup- 

 posed to be pure Italian and produces beautiful 3-banded 

 workers. Why did the young queens look so " shady ?" 

 Were they contaminated by the black nurses? M.\SS. 



Answer. — It is the rule and not the exception that the 

 royal daughters of Italian queens vary in appearance from 

 their mothers and from each other. It is not likely that the 

 black nurse-bees were in any wa^' responsible, altho some 

 hold that traits are transmitted bv the nurse-bees. 



Queen Superseded. 



As I had a queen that was not giving me the returns I 

 desired, I sent for another, and when I went to remove the 

 old queen, after smoking at the entrance, I raised the super 

 and the first thing I saw was the queen on top of the frames, 

 helpless, but she lookt large and prolific. On raising the 

 frames I found eggs and brood in all stages. She died in 

 about sis hours. In 24 hours several cells were started. The 

 new queen was accepted at once. What could have been 

 the matter with the old one ? She was full of eggs. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — I don't know. Perhaps nothing more than 

 old age. It is probabl3- the usual thing that queens are su- 

 perseded while they are still in apparent vigor and " full of 

 eggs." Indeed, manj' a queen is superseded when the bee- 

 keeper can see no reason for her supersedure, but it may be 

 that the bees are wiser, and are able to foresee her coming 

 failure. Remember that in the ordinary course of affairs 

 everj' queen is superseded when from two to four years old. 



Winter Preparation of Bees, Etc. 



1. What time must I prepare my bees for winter? 



2. How man\' pounds of honey should each colony have 

 for winter ? 



3. When must I begin feeding for winter? 



4. Which is the cheaper, 20 pounds of extracted honey 

 or 20 pounds of syrup made of coft'ee A sugar ? 



5. Must the frames be as they were all summer — the 

 most honej' on the sides? 



6. Must I examine them during the winter? I will 

 leave them on summer stands. 



7. How often should bees be examined thru the spring 

 and summer? 



8. What is a colonv of bees worth in a new Langstroth 

 dovetailed hive (fall aiid spring) ? Tennessee. 



Answers. — 1. Preparation for winter should really be- 

 gin about Sept. 1, or even the middle of August in some 

 places and some seasons, by seeing that the bees have plenty 

 of stores for winter. Packing or other preparation of that 

 kind may take place as soon as the weather becomes too 

 cold to allow the bees to flj' nearlj' everv day. 



2. For out-door wintering not less than 30 pounds of 

 honey. 



3. Just as soon as j-ou are satisfied that bees will gather 

 no more than will supply their daily needs, even if that's 

 in August. 



4. That depends altogether upon the prices you have to 

 pay. It will take about 14 pounds of sugar to make a syrup 

 equal to honey, so you can answer the question bj- finding 

 out which will cost less, 14 pounds of sugar or 20 pounds of 

 honey. 



5. They will do all right just as they are. Farther north 

 it may be advisable to have the honev all on one side. 



6. No ; do the best you can to have them well supplied 

 and tuckt in for winter ; then let them severely alone till 

 warm weather comes in spring. 



7. There is no one price for all localities. In some places 

 they are worth twice as much as in others. Consult the 

 prices named at different times in the advertising columns 

 of this journal, and j-ou will have some idea of the matter. 



