636 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



witnessed by Mr. Y. and his assistant. 



Three following springs, when too 

 cold for my bees to forage with safety, 

 I would introduce sweetened water to 

 l^eep them from the danger of dwind- 

 ling. 1 found that around the feeder 

 would be as wet as though it had been 

 raining, which induced me to search 

 for the cause. Hundreds of bees cir- 

 culating through the air just above 

 my head, and having been at the 

 feeder, was what kept the air as 

 though fine liquid spray or fine drops 

 of water was falling, so long as the 

 bees continued to feed and the air was 

 perfectly clear. 



On close inspection of the bees that 

 worlied with a good will, I found that 

 they would fill themselves and take 

 wing to eject the water accumulated, 

 and then would again come down to 

 the feeder to refill themselves with 

 sweetened water before entering tfie 

 hive. This process I believe to be a 

 common feature in the bees in the 

 foraging field. Mr. Y. further says : 

 " Now, what does this meanV What 

 bearing does it have on the dry feces 

 theory? Also, on the pollen idea V" 

 I emphatically say — none. 



.Jordan Station, Ont. 



Wilx^t and glotxy. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Htddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Rules for tltis Department. 



1. Give your name and post-ofiQce address. 



2. Be brief, and to the point. 



3. Send no simple questions, sucii as are 

 answered in the bee-books. 



4. Ask onlj' such questions as are of 

 general interest. 



."). This department is not intended for 

 advertising any one's wares — therefore 

 questions concerninfr the manufacture of 

 goods for sale are not appropriate. 

 6. Direct all questions to the editor — 

 THOS. C;. NEWITI.IN, 

 925 West Madison St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



yards about 5,000 pounds of honey, 

 which I consider only half a crop. 

 Two thousand pounds of it was comb, 

 and 3,000 pounds of extracted honey, 

 A large portion of it is of a very line 

 quality. Our bee-papers speak of 

 honey-dew, but there is none of it 

 here. G. H. Adams. 



North Nassau, N. Y.,Sept. 16, 1.884, 



Answer. — I have wintered my bees 

 (some .30 to 60 colonies) in our house 

 cellar several times, and have never 

 seen any damage done to the vege- 

 tables or anything else in the cellar. 

 Neither do 1 remember of any report 

 of any such damage from bees. 



Brood-Cells. 



How soon, after the young bee 

 has emerged, will a cell be used 

 again V or how many times may it be 

 used during 4 months of the breed- 

 ing season V F. F. G. 



Waterville, Me. 



Answ^er.— I think almost imme- 

 diately, so that each cell will sustain 

 the production of a worker-bee every 

 21 days, drones 24 days and queens 16 

 days. This is tiie average length of 

 tirne with but slight variation. 



Will Bees Produce Dampness? 



Will putting bees into the cellar 

 cause dampness to such an e.xtent 

 that vegetables and other things will 

 will be injured ? I have .30 colonies 

 of bees in the vicinity of Troy, and I 

 wish to place them in the cellar where 

 tliey have been kept ; but before I am 

 permitted to do so, the gentleman de- 

 sires to know, from good auttiority. 

 whether they will produce dampness 

 or not. I have taken from three bee- 



Absconding Swarm, 



I hived a very large swarm of bees 

 on June' 3, and on June 10 they left 

 for parts unknown. The hive was 

 new and clean, and had Dadant's 

 foundation in it. They filled the hive 

 with honey before they left. Please 

 explain the cause of their actions. 



Plier, Wis. Henry Stark. 



Answer. — No one has ever been 

 able tg account for many strange 

 freaks of bees ; especially such actions 

 of swarms as the one which you men- 

 tion. I have had a few swarms leave 

 new, clean hives well supplied with 

 choice foundation, and that, too, after 

 they had made a good start therein, 

 and lodge in a small (too small) rotten 

 cavity of a tree where the rotten wood 

 lets the combs drop as fast as they be- 

 came heavy. The natural instinct of 

 bees, in many instances like other in- 

 sects, leads to failure and death. 



Winter Stores for Bees. 



1. Neigiiboring bee-keepers state in 

 the last issue of the Bee Journal 

 that they have but lialf a crop. From 

 1.50 colonies, spring count, I have in- 

 creased them to 200, and secured 9,000 

 pounds of comb honey in one and two- 

 pound sections. What per cent, of 

 full crop do you regard this V 



2. Upon examination I find many 

 colonies whicli are fully supplied with 

 honey, without brood or eggs, yet 

 having queens and plenty of room. 

 Why is this 'i Would you at once 

 begin to stimulate such colonies to 

 brood-rearing ? 



3. I winter my bees in the cellar, 

 and put into winter quarters from 

 Nov. 1 to 1-5. Would you now supply 

 colonies whicli have not sufficient 

 stores for winter "? or is it best to wait 

 until a few days before placing them 

 into winter quarters ? 



E. W. Thojipson. 

 Ilindsdale, N. Y. 



Answers.— 1. Your yield is a good 

 one, and thougli not as large as has 

 been taken before from the same 

 number of colonies, it is far above 

 the average of tlie country. 



2. I cannot account for such a con- 

 dition of your brood-chambers, never 

 having any such conditions here. 

 During the honey-dearth, just after 

 basswood, is when our bees breed the 

 most. Can it be that yoiir hives and 

 field are both destitute of pollen '? 



3. I would feed the deficiency now, 

 while the weather is warm. 



Only One-Third of a Crop, 



The season here has been a poor 

 one — only one-third of a crop of sur- 

 plus honey, and but few swarms, but 

 those were very large ones. The 

 weather was too' dry and too cold. 

 R. B. Woodward, M. D. 



Somerset, O.. Sept. 20, 1884. 



Terrible Loss. 



I have lately lost a good, comfort- 

 able house, worth $2,000, by fire. In 

 it I lost nearly all of last year's crop 

 of honey, and hundreds of volumes of 

 an excellent library, 



Wm. Ballantine. 



Sago, Ohio, Sept, 17, 1884. 



It Pays to Use Foundation. 



The honey crop here is rather light 

 this year. Some colonies have done 

 well, while others have gathered but 

 little honey. From 7 colonies I re- 

 ceived 9 swarms, of which only two 

 have gathered enough honey to win- 

 ter on. Having seen Mr. Doolittle's 

 question, " Does it pay to use comb 

 foundation '?"" I thought I would try 

 the experiment, so on .Tune 17 I hived 

 an Italian swarm of bees in a Lang- 

 stroth hive containing 10 frames filled 

 with comb foundation, and 64 one- 

 pound boxes filled with foundation. 

 In 7 days they liad the 10 frames filled 

 with honey, and were working in the 

 surplus boxes, I have taken from 

 that colony 70 one-pound boxes well 

 tilled with fine honey, while other 

 swarms coming a week or two later 

 have not honey enough to winter on. 

 The cost of the comb foundation did 

 not exceed $1,7.5. To me it looks as 

 though it pays to use comb founda- 

 tion. " Frank Hatch. 



Lisle, 111., Sept. 22, 1884. 



Killed by a Bee-Sting. 



On Sunday, Sept. 21, 1884, Mrs. 

 Sturdevant, who lived in Fairfield, 

 Fayette County, Iowa, while walking 

 home from a neiohbor's. where she 

 and her husband liad been visiting, 

 was attacked hy a honey-bee that got 

 into her hair. Her husband killed it, 

 and immediately slie was attacked by 

 another, whicli stung her 9-16 of an 

 inch below tlie upper margin of the 

 lower left eye-lid, and about % of an 

 inch nearer tlie outer than the inner 

 canthus of the eye. She was about 

 30 rods from her "home when stung. 

 She requested her husband to extract 

 the stinger, when, upon examination, 

 he could see the place where she was 

 stung, but did not see the stinger. 

 She immediately went home, and on 

 going into the house, her daughter 

 asked her what was the matter, when 

 she replied that a bee had stung her. 

 She asked her daughter for the 

 camphor, and immediately went to 

 her bed-room, and lying down upon 

 the bed, her daughter tnen saturated 



