THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



169 



ANSWERS BY 



James ffeddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Transferring Bees. 



1. In your new method of transfer- 

 ring, how do you unite the second 

 forced swarm witli the first one, 

 without danger of their fighting 'i 

 2. VVill not a good portion of the second 

 driven swarm return to the old gum 

 and be lost V 3. Will not a consider- 

 able lot of black or impure drones be 

 let loose from the old gum by the time 

 the second drive is made 'i 



Myersville, Md. VV. R. Young. 



1. I never knew any fighting to take 

 place, because the bees are all of one 

 queen and the second queen is only 

 just out. 



2. The " old gum " is split up for 

 kindling, and they, therefore, will 

 hardly lind it to return to. The new 

 hive, whether increase is made or not, 

 is practically in the place of the " old 

 gum." 



3. Supposing that the old colony is 

 not of the blood you wish, you will 

 have to put up with them, or guage 

 them out, and kill them as fast as they 

 liatch. 



(jiiestious. 



1. Will it do to arrange supers with 

 sections at right angles with the brood 

 frames, or ought they to run parallel V 



2. What space ought to intervene be- 

 tween brood frames and the sections ? 



3. What point must the temperature 

 reacli to make it safe to lift brood 

 frames and examine them 'i 4. I find 

 by measuring, that sections purport- 

 ing to be 2 inches wide are only IJg 

 wide. Is this the rule, or are they 

 meant to be 2 inches? 5. My brood 

 frames are made of plain, flat pieces, 

 without rib or wire on top bar, lO.xli;-^ 

 inside measure. How snail I fasten 

 foundation in them V 6. Is it proper 

 to put full sheets of foundation in 

 frames, of the above size and shape 'i 

 7. What foundation do you prefer V 



Northboro, Iowa. O. E. Moore. 



1. For convenience in handling, and 

 the position of hives, and getting 

 straight combs, I much prefer to have 

 all combs run parallel. 



2. 5-16ths where there is no honey 

 board between them. Where there is, 

 the same between the board and each. 



3. That depends entirely on how 

 long you keep them out. I handle 

 them any time when the bees can fly, 

 and often, quickly, when tliey cannot. 



4. They are usually scant 2 inches. 

 Thinner combs are best to produce. 



6. I should wire them with No. 30 

 tinned wire. If I only wished to put 

 on foundation guides 1 or 2 inches 

 wide, I would see that the under side 



of the top bar was dressed smooth, 

 and " mash " on with putty knife, or 

 Parker foundation fastener. 



6. Most assuredly ; and I should be 

 sure to do it, but not without the use 

 of wires. 



7. Given, Vandervort, Dunham and 

 Root, and, in fact, all kinds are worth 

 more than $1 per lb. to any one who 

 will use them properly. I have had 

 the best success with the Given, both 

 for brood and surplus departments. 



sM^MiMMPM, 



OUn LE' 



'^35 



P©rX^ 



Making Comb Foundation. 



I packed 6 colonies of bees with 

 chaff and straw, in clamps, and they 

 did not have a cleansing flight from 

 the last of November until the mid- 

 dle of February, but they have come 

 through, so far, all right ; less than 

 two teacupfuls of bees have died, in 

 all of them. Please describe the 

 utensils necessary to make founda- 

 tion with a roller mill. T. J. Pigg. 



Riverside, Iowa. 



[The necessary utensils for making 

 comb foundation, and their use, (with 

 other useful hints), are thus described 

 by a manufacturer : 



Make the dipping tank 4x12 in., and 

 2 feet deep; set it in a larger one, with 

 water between, to regulate the tem- 

 perature. Melt your wax in another 

 boiler (a common wash boiler will do), 

 have water in, to prevent burning the 

 wax ; dip into the deep tank as fast as 

 the wax is melted. 



Make 4 or 5 thin boards of seasoned 

 basswood, the exact width, when dry, 

 that you want you sheets. Nail 

 cleats on top, to prevent warping, and 

 make a handle. Have them thor- 

 oughly water-soaked before using ; 

 the boards will swell as much as the 

 sheets will shrink. Wet the boards 

 before dipping, but shake off all the 

 water you can. Put the board in the 

 wax as' deep as the length you want 

 your sheet, repeat as soon as the wax 

 stops dropping, dip 3 times for brood 

 foundation and once for boxes ; hold 

 the board perfectly plu7nh while cool- 

 ing ; as soon as the wax stops drop- 

 ping after the last dip, set it to one 

 side and take another board. By the 

 time you have dipped four, the first 

 will be ready to peel off. If the boards 

 are smooth and edges perfectly square, 

 your sheets will need no trimming. 

 When the wax begins to scum around 

 the edges of the tank, tlie tempera- 

 ture is right. If sheets crack in cool- 

 ing, your wax is too hot. By the above 

 plan the sheets will be tapering. //' 

 started with the thin end of the sheet in 

 the mill, you will never have no 

 trouble, and the sheet will be long 

 enough to cut off the thin end. 



Thin paste made of cheap starch 

 makes the best lubricator for the rolls. 



Dipping plates, as described above, 

 made from clear straight-grained bass- 

 wood, tor any width, costs about 3 

 cents per inch in widtli. If your tank 

 is wide enough to take a 12-inch dip- 

 ping-board, you can dip narrow strips 

 for starters, 6 at a time, by liaving a 

 similar board divided into 3 parts, by 

 broad saw-cuts. Each board will then 

 be about 3% inches, and every dipping 

 makes 6 narrow slieets. 



The manufacturers furnish direc- 

 tions for using when you buy a ma- 

 chine, mill or press.— Ed.] 



A Section too Small. 



Mr. Editor :— You will remember, 

 when we were at Toledo, at the Tri- 

 State Fair, among a crowd of bee- 

 keepers, I stated tliat " the one-pound 

 section was a curse to tlie producer, 

 a curse to the retailer, and a curse to 

 the consumer," and gave my reasons. 

 The sneering, silent laugh pronounced 

 me the fool of the crowd. At the 

 Michigan convention, I stated the 

 same thing, with tlie same decision. 

 Now, comes Mr. F. I. Sage, of 

 Wethersfield, Conn, (who handles over 

 •50 tons of honey a year), with an arti- 

 cle verifying my statement fully, and 

 Mr. Wright, of Knowersville, N. Y.- 

 too, must be reckoned with us. I 

 write this to remind the readers of the 

 Bee Journal that 1 am not the only 

 foolish one left. 



E. B. SOUTHWICK. 



Mendon, Mich., March 16, 1883. 



Large Yields of Honey and Increase. 



When I see reports of large yields 

 of honey and great increase of bees, 

 I always know what I think of it. I 

 think, or rather know the party mak- 

 ing said report, has had a good, long, 

 regular flow of honey. In his book 

 — " Tlie Hive and Honey Bee,"— Rev. 

 L. L. Langstroth says tliat a large in- 

 crease of bees and a large yield of 

 honey cannot be had at the same time, 

 and I am satisfied if the dear old man 

 is spared to revise tliat classic bee 

 book, you will find this statement cor- 

 rected, for he has too much faith in 

 his fellow bee-keepers to think they 

 would intentionally tell a bee yarn 

 about it. If tlie good old man could 

 be in my bee-yard, this beautiful Sab- 

 bath morning, he would exclaim, no 

 wonder Texas rolls up such big re- 

 ports ! My bees are fairly crazy over 

 the Cottonwood, Judas tree, wild 

 plum, fruit trees, and a host of other 

 blooms. One continual bloom from 

 now until July, if we can only have a 

 good shower of rain every 15 days. 

 B. F. Carroll. 



Dresden, Texas, March 20, 1883. 



Feeding Flour in Spring. 



1. What is best for early feeding in 

 the spring V 2. How sliould it be 

 given y P. Reakdon. 



Jamestown, Colo. 



[You will find an excellent article 

 on this subject in this number of the 

 Bee Journal.- Ed.] 



