42 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



'WItat and Boiu. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Eeddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Sections, Brood Frames, etc 



Please answer the questious, as be- 

 low, in the Bee Journal : 



1. Wliich way should the sections 

 stand on tlie hives ? As the frames 

 run, or across the frames 'i 



2. Should the frames come flush 

 with the top of the hive, or should 

 there be a quarter of an inch space be- 

 tween the top of frames and the bot- 

 tom of the sections or rack V 



3. How wide should the tops of the 

 brood frames be V I have used an 

 inch, and placed the frames one-half 

 inch apart, but I see Mr. Cook says, 

 ii inch apart. 



4. What space should there be be- 

 tween the floor board and tlie frames, 

 and between the sides of the frames 

 and the hive V 



5. xVre reversible frames any good V 



6. Do any of the bee supply men 

 put wired foundations into frames ? 



New Jersey, Jan. 2, 1884. II. 



Answers.— 1. I much prefer to 

 have the sections run parallel with 

 the brood frames for too many rea- 

 sons to enumerate here, while I know 

 of no advantage of their running 

 crosswise. 



2. By all means allow a space above 

 the brood-frames of .516. 



3. After consideralde experiment in 

 using different width top-bars to 

 brood -frames, I prefer a bar }s wide, 

 and place them about 1% apart, from 

 centre to centre, using 8 frames in a 

 hive, whose inside dimension, cross- 

 wise, is 113^ inches; thus we have 9 

 spaces between frames and sides of 

 the hive, each one being very nearly 

 % inch. 



I hardly think Prof. Cook means to 

 allow only y iucli space between 

 frames — perhaps it is a misprint. 



4. Between bottoms of frames and 

 bottom boards we allow % of an inch, 

 calculating the day will come wiien 

 shrinkage will make it about % inch. 

 If there was no objection we would 

 use a space of one inch between the 

 sides of the frame or ends of the 

 frame (I suppose you mean) and hive. 

 But there is an objection ; the bees 

 will build comb in so large a space. 

 We can use a space as large as Js of 

 an inch, provided the end-bars are % 

 inch thick by % inches wide, without 

 any danger from comb-building there. 

 The larger the space the greater 

 speed gained in handling combs. 



5. I have never used reversable 

 frames. A few have told us tliey 



were the ''coming frame," and then 

 it was all still again, and we hear not 

 the foot-steps of their " coming." 

 Upon reading tlie claims of their ad- 

 vocates, I made up my mind that any 

 advantages in them would be more 

 than counter-balanced by disadvan- 

 tages. 



6. I think very few use wired foun- 

 dation ; nearly all now wire their 

 frames and then press the foundation 

 on to the wires by hand, or with a 

 press. 



Wintering Bees in Canada. 



Will ]\Ir. Ileddon please answer in 

 the Weekly IJke Journal y 



1. Would you advise wintering out 

 doors in Prince Edward County, Ont.. 

 which. I tliink, is about 2^ north of 

 Cass County, Mich ? 



2. Wliatkind of a cover would you 

 advise for a two-story hive, which ap- 

 pears to be the best for all purposes 

 after a good trial. 



Clowes Xoxon. 

 North port, Ont. 



Answers. — 1. As both in-door and 

 out-door wintering, each in turn, 

 prove the best in both northern and 

 southern latitudes, and as the true 

 cause of loss in winter is not yet un- 

 derstood, I do not feel justifled at 

 present in saying other tlian try both 

 ways, and hold fast to that which 

 proves best. I have wintered both 

 ways nearly every winter, for 1-5 

 years, and have found out-doors, with 

 proper piotection, to give me the best 

 results. 



2. We use a % board cover cleated 

 on either side, or more properly on 

 each end, painted both sides, and I 

 prefer it to any other tried ; this is 

 for summer. For winter, we cover 

 with burlap and shavings, leaves or 

 chaff, and tliis cover overall. I agree 

 witli you in decidedly favoring two- 

 story liives. 



Foundation, Winter Flights, etc- 



1. Is foundation that has been made 

 more than a year, drawn out as readily 

 by tlie bees as tliat fresh made ? 



'2. Would it be advisable to place 

 screens over the entrance of hives in 

 the cellar, to prevent the bees from 

 Hying out V 



3. Is it absolutely necessary to give 

 bees a flight in this northern climate 'i 

 M. B. Holmes. 



Delta, Ont., Dec. 29, 1883. 



1. While it is quite true that other 

 influences often have more to do with 

 the readiness with which bees draw 

 out comb foinidation than does its 

 age, yet I am well satisfied that fresh- 

 ly-made foundation is tlie best. 



2. No ; if the bees find they are im- 

 prisoned, they become excited, and 



this excitement will aggravate dysen- 

 tery if it is present at the time. A 

 wire cloth box adjusted over the 

 entrance, would confine the bees to 

 the hive and the box, and do no harm, 

 and perhaps accomfilish your purpose, 

 but would make quite a bill of ex- 

 pense, if used upon many hives. 



3. It is not. Often bees pass long 

 steady confinement from fall till 

 spring, and come through in splendid 

 condition, though frequent flights will 

 often prevent dysentery, when it 

 otherwise would have destroyed the 

 bees. If however, the disease reaches 

 a certain point in its development, a 

 flight sometimes proves immediately 

 destructive to tlie bees. 







Wintering in the Cellar. 



My honey crop amounted to about 

 1,0(X) ftis. of comb honey, of very fine 

 (]uality. There was no fall honey, 

 and some colonies are rather light. I 

 have 50 colonies in the cellar. 



I. W. Rollins. 



Elgin, Minn., Jan. 3, 1884. 



Packed in Clover, Chaff and Leaves. 



I started in the spring of 1883 with 

 23 colonies, having lost 3 in the previ- 

 ous winter. They increased to .59. I 

 sold 13 colonies and had taken away 

 that I had on shares, leaving me at 

 present 41 colonies, that are all packed 

 in clover chaff and leaves, on the sum- 

 mer stands. I received 733 lbs. of comb 

 honey in sections, nearly all basswood. 

 I use the " Mitchell (square frame) 

 hive," and have added a }4 story for 

 surplus honey. Jly bees are iill Ital- 

 ians or hvbrids of blacks and Italians. 



II. F. SACiEE. 



North Bristol, O., Jan. 3, 1884. 



Six Years' Experience. 



In 1878 I procured 15 Langstroth 

 hives in the flat. After making and 

 painting them, I traded one for 2 

 colonies of black bees from a neigh- 

 bor, in the month of May. In Sep- 

 tember I took 28 pounds of surplus 

 comb lumey. The season of 1879 be- 

 ing a dry one, I got no surplus ; I 

 bought aiiother colony and 3 Italian 

 queens. In 1880 they increased to 7 

 colonies, and I extracted to 2.50 pounds 

 of white clover and basswood honey. 

 On account of a hard winter, my in- 

 experience in wintering, and a two- 

 legged depredator, I had to be^in the 

 season of 1884 with only 3 weak colo- 

 nies ; these increased to 5, and gave 

 me a small surplus. In 1882, my bees 

 gave me 2 swarms, and 400 pounds of 

 extracted honey. An incident that 

 transpired in 1882, is worthy of men- 

 tion. As I was expecting to remove 



