THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11 



WItat and Ijloxu, 



ANSWKRS By 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Best Hive for Comb Honey. 



Will i\Ir. Iletldoii please answer 

 this y Which is the best hive 

 for comb honey, 8 or 10 frame Langs- 

 stroth hives V If 8 frames is best, how 

 wide in the clear should tlie hive be V 

 H. M. Gates. 



Shidler, Ind., Dec. 11, 1883. 



Having tested both, I much prefer 

 and use the 8-frame hive. I use 11}^ 

 inches in the clear, to 8 frames. 



Transferring, etc. 



This is my first summer with bees. 

 My first swarm I hived myself, and, 

 having no hive, I put them in a box, 

 with two pieces of lath across the in- 

 side, and they have done nicely. 

 Please to tell me how and when to 

 get them into a hive. I am using the 

 common two-story hive, having frames 

 below and four square boxes in the 

 top. What is the proper name for it i 

 Wnat book is best for a beginner to 

 have ? F. II. Gleason. 



Mankato, Minn., Nov. 29, 1883. 



'' Modern transferring," which will 

 be found on page 367 of the Bee 

 Journal for 1883, gives my ideas of 

 the best method and time for trans- 

 ferring bees. 



There are a good many kinds of 2- 

 story hives, with frames below, and 

 various numbers of boxes on top, and 

 it would be difficult to give any name 

 for a tenth part of them. 



The works of Langstroth, Quinby, 

 Cook and Newman, are worth many 

 times their cost to the beginner. 



Rack for Sections. 



Please give a description of Hed- 

 don 's rack in the Bee Journal, to 

 hold sections without glass. If it has 

 been described in the Journal, it is 

 in a volume that I have not got. I 

 think it would oblige many others as 

 well as myself. S. L. Vail. 



Coal Creek, Iowa. 



If the case or super we use for stor- 

 ing honey is meant, I will say that a 

 description will occupy too much room 

 for this department, but in response 

 to Miss Vail and many others, I will 

 describe it in the columns of the Bee 

 Journal, as soon as I can get to it. 



Did the Sugar kill the Bees ? 



I send you a package containing 

 some sugar and dead bees. The bees 

 have been fed upon the sugar all the 

 fall, as they had no natural stores. 

 My attention was attracted by a num- 

 ber of dead bees about the entrance 



of the hives. I examined the hives, 

 but could find nothing that would 

 solve the mystery. The combs and 

 hives were dry and bright. The in- 

 side of the hives were not spotted, 

 neither was the outside; the bees had 

 evidently fallen from the combs upon 

 the bottom of the hive, and had been 

 dragged out of the hives by their com- 

 rades. I saw the bees bringing dead 

 ones out, but saw none coming out as 

 is the case where they are affected by 

 dysentery. The sugar was sold to me 

 for pure sugar, and I send it to you to 

 examine it, for I fear it is glucose. I 

 also send the bees, as I thought they 

 would help solve the mystery. 

 Salem, Mo. James F. Johnson. 



I infer from your statements that 

 there are no more bees dying in your 

 hive, than is usual at this time of the 

 year. If there are, I can account for 

 it in no way unless they may be starv- 

 ing. Are you sure there is plenty of 

 sugar syrup in the hives, not crystal- 

 ized, but in proper condition forfoodV 

 The bees show no signs of disease. 

 The sugar, if mixed at all with grape, 

 the mixture is too slight to injure the 

 bees, and had they been fed entirely 

 with grape sugar, there would be no 

 such symptoms, especially at this time 

 of the year, in such a winter as we 

 have had, I do not think, though I 

 would not advise the use of grape 

 sugar, in whole or any part, in con- 

 nection with bees, for I should expect 

 it to give them dysentery, if fed pure, 

 for them to subsist upon during cold 

 and long confinement. 



«^-^ 



'F&BUX^ 



Well Done. 



My report for 1883 is as follows : I 

 commenced the season with 44 colo- 

 nies ; increased to 105, and obtained 

 2,000 lbs. of comb honey, and2,000Ibs. 

 of extracted, mostly white clover. 



Wm. Heald. 



Mt. Sterling, Iowa, Dec. 20, 1883. 



Excellent Report. 



I started with 3 colonies of bees last 

 spring ; increased to 13, and lost 2. 

 They gave me 150 lbs. of extracted 

 honey, and 2.50 lbs. of nice comb 

 honey. Did I do well or not ¥ 



P. E. V. 



Jersey ville. 111., Dec. 22, 1883. 



[You did exceedingly well.— Ed. J 



Good Yield of Honey. 



I had a good yield of honey during 

 tlie past season, and the bees are now 

 in splendid condition for winter. 



W. W. HiPOLlTE. 



De Vails' Bluff, Ark., Dec. 19, 1883. 



An Amateur's Report. 



My report for 1 883 is as follows, viz.: 

 Spring coinit 2, increased l)y swarm- 

 ing to 7, found 7 bee trees and bought 

 •5 colonies, making in all li), whicli I 

 reduced to 8 good strong colonies by 

 uniting. I have them in the cellar, in 

 simplicity hives. If I succeed in 

 safely wintering them, I intend to 

 Cypnanize by introducing Cyprian 

 queens. I am an amateur atthe tjusi- 

 ness ; but like it well, and if lean 

 make it a success, I intend to build 

 up a respectable apiary. I handle my 

 bees without smoke of gloves. I read 

 the Bee Journal with great interest. 

 Why do not the seedsmen or nurse- 

 rymen not offer bee-keepers collec- 

 tions, consisting of flower seeds, 

 which are frequented by bees, and 

 also slirubbery, tliat, in ornamenting 

 our yards and gardens witli flowers, 

 are useful as well as ornamental ? 

 I shall want something of that sort 

 this coming spring, and if they would 

 advertise in the Bee Journal, it 

 would no doubt pay them. 



David R. Phillips. 



Fulton, Mo. 



Hives in Use in the West. 



What style of hive is now mostly in 

 use west of, say Cleveland 'i Has the 

 new Langstroth hive with movable 

 side, such as Mr. Newman had a model 

 of in Europe in 1879, been a success ? 

 Please answer in the Bee Journal. 



Philadelphia, Pa. A. Todd. 



[Langstroth hives are mostly in use 

 in the West, and some thousands with 

 the movable side, as mentioned above, 

 are also used.— Ed.] 



Black Bees as Honey-Gatherers. 



I began, in the spring, with 30 colo- 

 nies of bees ; .5 were very weak, and 

 25 fair colonies. I got 4,.500 pounds of 

 honey ; 1,400 pounds in the comb, and. 

 3,100 pounds of extracted honey ; 3,900 

 pounds of it was basswood honey, and 

 600 pounds was white clover. This 

 was the best year I ever saw for bass- 

 wood honey. My bees are all blacks \. 

 they averaged 150 lbs. of honey per 

 hive, spring count. I think they have- 

 done well for poor despised blacks. I 

 have now 72 colonies of bees. 



Wm. Coleman. 



Devizes, Ont., Dec. 18, 1883. 



Wintered in a Warm Cellar. 



As my last report in the Journal, 

 on June 3, predicted that swarming 

 was near at hand, so it proved, for 

 swarming commenced on that day, 

 and from June 3 to June 28, 156 swarms 

 issued from 1.50 colonies, all there was- 

 in the yard. Will any man say that 

 they were not well wintered V and yet 

 hundreds of bee-keepers will rai.se 

 their hands in horror when told that 

 this lot of bees were wintered in a 

 temperature from 65° to 90^ of heat I 

 Bees in my other yard, wintered on 

 the same plan, commenced swarming: 

 on June 5, and were equally as good as 

 the one that I worked. The whole 

 amount of comb honey was 22,000 lbs. 

 (no extracted). I wish to say that I 



