THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



443 



queen, if there was any, as we brushed 

 the most of the bees into that part 

 and gave it two combs with 2 or 3 

 uueen-cells. There was no indication 

 tliat any young queen had luitcheil 

 out. Xow", what I wish to Icnow is. 

 will a queen cease laying during a 

 swarming fever V He had another 

 that had been out and returned. This 

 we divided also, but did not find the 

 queen, but found eggs and brood in 

 all stages. So we divided it on the 

 common rule, by putting in a comb of 

 brood in the new hive on the old 

 stand, brushing the bees into the new 

 hive and setting the old hive in 

 another place. This one is doing all 

 right. J. W. Sanders. 



Le Grand, Iowa, June 2o, 1884. 



Answer. — Yes; we have known 

 such cases, where just as soon as the 

 efforts at swarming began, the queen 

 ceased to lay, and was undoubtedly 

 the condition of affairs in the case you 

 mention. 



Maltine. 



Have American bee-keepers made 

 any trial of maltine (or extract of 

 malt) to feed tlie bees, with honey, as 

 a remedy for the so-called diarrhcea V 

 If not, I would recommend it. I 

 think it is worthy of a trial, and 

 would prove of service if " the pollen 

 theory " be correct. 



A New Zealand Bee-Keeper. 



Pukekohe, N. Z., May 26, 1884. 



Ajjsw^er. — I know of no one who 

 has ever tried maltine, nor can I un- 

 derstand how it can assist us in pre- 

 ■ venting diarrhoea among our bees, 

 f whether "'the pollen theory " be cor- 

 rect or not. The latter theory is 

 based upon the idea that nitrogenous 

 food should be avoided in winter, and 

 I should suppose that maltine would 

 rank higher than honey as such food, 

 and thus tend to increase rather than 

 decrease the tendency towards the 

 disease. 



Tiering up Sections. 



I have a very strong colony of bees. 

 I have 8 frames in the brood-nest, and 

 two tiers of sections ; 42 sections in 

 both. They are clustering in front of 

 the hive, very much. I tliouglit they 

 were about to swarm, so 1 looked for 

 queen-cells, and there was not one 

 started. The top tier of sections are 

 almost finished, but notquite ready to 

 take of . The under tier is ready to 

 cap. Should I give them another tier 

 or not, as white clover is drying out 

 on account of the drouth ? If I should 

 give them another tier, and the flow 

 of honey is getting poor, will they 

 finish tlie upper tiers or not V I have 

 no experience, or I would not ask such 

 a question, but it is of importance to 

 me, as I want to get all the salable 

 honey I can. S. il. IIicken. 



DeU City. Del. 



Answer.— This question hits a 

 vital point, and is one that may well 

 be asked by the inexperienced. You 

 seem to have about the right idea of 

 it. If you had, as we have, a bass- 

 wood crop just opening, you should 



put on a third case, because you could 

 not afford to lose a case of lioney to 

 get another finished a little sooner ; 

 but the lying out of your bees, indi- 

 cates one of two conditions, viz : that 

 either your hive communications are 

 faulty, and your bees exv)osed to the 

 direct rays of the sun, or else that the 

 (low is drying up. Supposing the lat- 

 ter to be the case, just leave the cases 

 as they are until finished, or' another 

 flow begins. Take them ott' as soon 

 as finished. 



Candied Honey in Kegs. 



IIow is honey handled after it is 

 candied, to put "up in pails and cans V 

 My idea is to cut it out of the kegs 

 and put in a double boiler and liquefy 

 it, then run it in the jars, pails, etc. 

 Is that right V I am going to try and 

 build up a trade on extracted honey, 

 and as we have a city of over 15,000, 1 

 think I ought to sell large quantities 

 of it. R. B. HoLiiROOK. 



Winona, Minn. 



Answer.— The better plan is to 

 draw it into the cans just before 

 candying takes place. It too late for 

 that, I would place the candied honey 

 in a warm room to soften just enough 

 to settle down compact into the pails 

 or cans. 



Wax Production. 



Most of us now use comb founda- 

 tion to save bees the labor of wax 

 building. But in the market wax 

 seems to be more valuable than honey. 

 Would it not be possible to invert the 

 process, and by supplying the bees 

 with honey and rye flour for pollen, 

 and denying them comb foundation 

 to induce them to concentrate their 

 energies exclusively to the production 

 of wax ? W. H. Barlow. 



Charlottesville, Va. 



Ansvfer. — As I understand it, the 

 use of comb foundation not only as a 

 perfect guide to straight combs, but 

 in full sheets as a guide to all worker 

 cells, and a material of economy, paid 

 all through the season of 1883. It is 

 no dearer in price this season. My 

 idea is that it pays me well now. I 

 am, the present season, using nearly 

 one thousand dollars worth. I am of 

 the opinion that I am gaining by so 

 doing. I know that honey may run 

 down so low that this material can 

 hardly be afforded in full sheets : but 

 it has not, as yet. I do not believe 

 that we can ever produce wax at a 

 profit at any price it is likely to go to. 



Honey Candying, etc. 



I find the bees in this county in fine 

 condition, and gathering plenty of 

 honey. I transferred one colony, and 

 they filled 3 frames and put about 10 

 pounds in the boxes in .5 days. I 

 found in two places where bees are 

 putting candied honey in their new 

 combs ; it seems that it candies as 

 they gather it. What do they get it 

 from? I sold some of my first honey 

 in one-pound sections for 20 cents 

 each, this year. We had a heavy 

 honey dew this year. What credit 



should a queen have for cells taken 

 from lier hive, on the Apiary Regis- 

 ter y I have one colony that I have 

 reared 8 fi-om. 1 take the frames out 

 that have the cells on them. 



H. C. Austin. 

 Austin's Springs, Tenn., June 27. 



Answer.— I am unable to say. not 

 knowing much about your Southern 

 plants. We all know that honey from 

 some sources candies almost as soon 

 as stored. It is further true, that in 

 this respect, honey from the same 

 plants varies in different seasons. 



Regarding the credit you should 

 give the colony you take cells and 

 combs from, your own judgment as 

 to the force you deprive them of 

 should be best. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1884. Time and place of Meeting. 



Oct. 11, lli.— Northern Mich., at Alma. Mich. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec, McBrlde, Mich. 

 Oct. 15, 16.— NorthweBlern. at Chicago, Ul. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. Sec. 



Nov. 25.— Western Mich., at Fremont, Mich. 



Geo. E. Hilton, Sec. 

 Dec. 3.— Southeastern Mich., at Adrian, Mich. 



A. M. Gander, Sec. 

 Dec. 10, 11.— Michigan State, at Lansing. 



U. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



1W In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.- Ed. 





Bee-Keeping in New York. 



I had 12 colonies of bees last fall, 

 and wintered 10. I have had eight 

 swarms which are in 7 hives, and 

 doing well. They are gathering honey 

 from white clover and Alsike. The 

 yield from Alsike seems to be abund- 

 ant. Farmers are sowing Alsike 

 quite extensively now, which is fine 

 for bee-pasturage. The spring was 

 wet and cold until in May, since that 

 time it has been growing warmer 

 until now it is dry and the air sultry. 

 Although my bees have plenty of 

 shade, I have covered the hives with 

 boards to protect them from the heat. 

 The thermometer indicated 92P in the 

 shade at 2 p. m. to-day. 



Wm. a. Brundage. 



Lodi,N.Y., July 2, 1,884. 



Eccentricities in Q,ueen Breeding. 



I have had beautiful golden Italian 

 queens mate with a black drone in a 

 tent, and the first workers would be 

 of golden color, but in the course of a 

 mouth the workers would be all 

 black ; a month later they would be 

 all mixed in color. A black queen 

 mated with an Italian drone, in con- 

 finement gave similar results; the 

 first bees would be black, later ones 

 yellow, and still later, mixed. Further 

 experience has shown that if an Ital- 

 ian queen mates witli a black drone, 

 the yellow is predominant, and vice 

 versa. Have any readers of the Bee 

 Journal noticed similar facts V 



Milford, 111. Hugo Volland. 



