490 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



As many of us know that swarms 

 have, very frequently, deserted the 

 hives after being hived, this season, 

 and bee-men have different theories 

 •as to the cause of it. 



After experimenting a good deal, I 

 believe I have found the cause to be 

 the absence of pollen in the new 

 ■combs for use in rearing brood. Just 

 at the swarming season there were no 

 flowers in bloom that yielded pollen, 

 and on examining many new combs, 

 after the bees had deserted them, I 

 found tliem full of eggs and entirely 

 destitute of pollen. I then hung old 

 combs containing pollen, ineacli hive, 

 and not one swarm deserted after so 

 doing. 



I proved to my satisfaction that the 

 reason bees or swarms desert their 

 hives is because they have not oi- 

 cannot get pollen at the time. 



If I knew of a good place to which 

 to move 7.5 colonies of bees, in order 

 to secure a fall crop of honey, I should 

 be pleased to try the experiment, as I 

 am now ready to do so, and then re- 

 port whether it pays to practice 

 migratory bee-keeping. 



Eminence, Ky., .July 8, 1884. 



tmitat and Baitr. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon. Dowagiac, Mich. 



Comb Honey, or Extracted ? 



1. Which is preferable, producing 

 extracted honey at 12J^ cents per 

 pound, or comb honey at 20 cents per 

 pound y markets and all else being 

 equal. 



2. After extracting, at the close of 

 the season, do you let the bees clean 

 the empty combs before storing them 

 away 'i If so, how do you manage it 

 so as not to induce robbing V 



3. Would we not, as a rule, get as 

 straight combs in your cases of 41-4X- 

 43sixl% sections with % inch starters, 

 as if the full-sized were" used V 



M. F. Talman. 

 Bossville, Kans., July 19, 1884. 



Answers.— 1. Much depends upon 

 the individual and tlie location. In 

 regard to what respects, see another 

 answer in this, or perhaps the next 

 issue. As a general thing, I think I 

 should prefer producing extracted 

 honev at the prices you quote. 



2. No ; I do not. A good extractor 

 ■will throw them clean enough for all 

 practical purposes. • 



3. I think you would, but you would 

 get drone comb, and lots of brood in 

 it, if you used full sheets of worker 

 foundation below, unless you also 

 used al^queen-exeluding honey-board. 

 A letter, just this moment opened, 

 from a^ bee-keeper of experience and 

 close observation, contains the follow- 

 ing paragraph : " I have used a good 

 many sections with V-shaped founda- 

 tion ; starters, all of which are built 

 perfectly straight and even, and 

 mostly drone comb. There was no 

 drone comb below, and still the queen 



did not go above to occupy drone 

 comb in the sections. I account for 

 it by the use of a good honey-board." 



Small Black Ants in the Apiary. 



Will the small black ant injure or 

 annoy my bees in any way ? Can you 

 tell me what to do to prevent their 

 climbing on the bench ? L. Hoyte. 



Tuscarora, N. Y. 



Answer. — You need not be at all 

 alarmed by the presence of ants about 

 your hives. The bees will not let 

 them come inside. They are working 

 around crevices and in dead-air 

 spaces where they enjoy the heat 

 from the colony which assists in de- 

 veloping their young, etc. As our 

 hives are so constructed that all sur- 

 faces are either next to the bees or 

 out-door air, we never find them any 

 more concealed about the hives. 

 Sometimes they bother us slightly by 

 attacking our surplus honey after its 

 removal. There are various methods 

 of preventing their annoyance in this 

 respect. We usually crate our honey 

 at once, in ant-proof crates. W'here 

 this is not done, some pile it on tables 

 and benches whose legs are in dishes 

 of water. Some poison them with 

 insect powder, etc. ; but I would not 

 advise it, as the poison might get into 

 the honey. We have built a new 

 honey-house with stone foundation, 

 and it is ant-proof except at the doors 

 and windows, and we have no trouble 

 from ants whatever. Keep things 

 clean. 



Bees Uncapping Honey. 



1. What is the cause of bees un- 

 capping the honey after capping it 

 over once 'i 



2. W^hich is the best way of getting 

 the bees out of the boxes that are 

 filled with honey ? J. Hurst. 



Answer.— 1. A sudden cessation of 

 the flow of nectar, and at a time when 

 the brood-combs are not crowded 

 with honey, especially in large hives. 

 The bees seem to fear being caught in 

 winter quarters with their honey in an 

 unavailable position. 



2. Answered on page 458, present 

 volume. 



Transferring Bees. 



1. Will Mr. Heddon kindly explain 

 the " driving " process, as practiced 

 by himself, in transferring bees from 

 box to movable-frame hives 'i 



2. What is a " hiving-box V" 



Beginner. 



Answers.- 1. To drive a swarm of 

 bees from a colony, if in a box-hive, 

 we turn the hive bottom upwards, 

 (after smoking the bees,) and place an 

 empty box on top of the hive (or what 

 was the bottom), and by drumming 

 on the box-hive, the bees, and nearly 

 always the queen too, will desert the 

 combs, going up into the box. The 

 drumming must be radical, after 

 striking the hive, so as to jar its 

 whole contents. This forced swarm 

 can be hived the same as any swarm, 

 only it must be placed upon the old 

 stand, tlie old box-hive being removed 



to the new stand, as a forced swarm 

 will not so readily mark and accept a 

 new location ; most of the bees re- 

 turning to verify Father Langstroth's 

 axiom : 



" A bee removed against its will, 

 Is of the same opinion atill." 



2. In these days of improved hives, 

 we do not go after a swarm with the 

 hive, but place the hive on its future 

 stand, and go after the swarm with a 

 box or basket arranged and kept for 

 that purpose, and it is designated 

 " hiving-box " or " hiving-basket." 



When to Sow Sweet Clover. 



When is the best time to sow sweet 

 clover ? If sowed in the fall, will it 

 bloom next year V I have 16 colonies, 

 and have no pasture for them. 



Venice, 111. H. C. Smith. ! 



[Sow any time. If sown early in the \ 

 fall, it will soon come up, and bloom 

 in the following July. Fall sowing is 

 best, because it saves one year's 

 time.— Ed.] 



Basswood a Complete Failure. 



The harvest is past, and bees have 

 gathered only about 3^ of a crop. 

 White clover has been quite plenti- 

 ful, and we have had all kinds of 

 weather, but it did not seem to affect 

 the secretion of honey. Basswood was 

 a complete failure. I moved 60 colo- 

 nies to a belt of basswood trees, and 

 I can bring back all the honey in one 

 keg. Let bee-keepers in different 

 parts of the country report, so that we 

 may be guided in selling the small 

 amount of honey which we did get. 

 James Kipe, 137. 



Spring Prairie, Wis., July 24, 1884. 



Satisfied- 



I have received that beautiful book 

 entitled " Bees and Honey," and have 

 read it carefully and with pleasure. 

 I would not take live times the price 

 of it, to be without the information I 

 have gained from it. The Weekly 

 Bee Journal comes regularly, and 

 is highly appreciated. Z. Wells. 



Sheridan, Ark., July 16, 1884. 



Introducing Virgin ftueens. 



1 have discovered a very valuable 

 method of getting a colony of bees to 

 accept a virgin queen, which is as 

 follows : Take a bollow tube with an 

 opening large enough to receive the 

 upper end of the queen-cell. Cut 

 open the upper end and put it into 

 the tube about one-half the length of 

 the queen-cell. Then cap the lower 

 end with a thin skin of wax, put the 

 queen into the tube, and close it up 

 with a sponge saturated with honey 

 for the queen to feed upon, and put 

 the whole thing between the frames 

 where the queen is to be introduced. 



