372 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



cape. 'She is a laying worker. I 

 looked and saw no more. I think 

 there are probably more, and that they 

 have bothered the queen inherduties. 

 The queen looks glassy, and very 

 much the color of old robber bees. 



I shall send tlie bee to Prof. Cook, 

 with an insect that I caught killing 

 bees. I have seen a second of the 

 kind, but had nothing to save it with, 

 and I would not like to put my hands 

 to it. It is a regularly savage and 

 blood-thirsty insect. I have it in 

 alcohol. I caught it between the bur- 

 lap covers, over the frames. It has 

 very quick motions, and always faces 

 the music on guard. I jumped for 

 the bee, and it let its jaws into the 

 bee's abdomen, and held it clear up 

 in the air, and was walking oS with 

 it, when I stopped it. There must be 

 more of them. 



Queen-rearing has not been profit- 

 able this season, owing to losing 

 many after being hatched, and even 

 after laying. On opening hives to 

 pick out a choice queen for a cus- 

 tomer, the young bees would look all 

 right, but the queen would be missing. 

 The hive and colony would seem all 

 right, though sometimes there would 

 be no eggs, but cells. I handle bees 

 carefully, not to kill bees nor queen 

 in moving frames, etc. It was not for 

 want of room, nor on account of 

 swarming, as I had but a few swarms 

 in the air. Before June, I could not 

 always open a hive when I should, 

 and the bees would destroy the cells. 



Our honey crop will not be large 

 this season. Many have had no swarms 

 nor surplus, while some have taken 60 

 lbs. each from some few hives. The 

 most I have taken, so far, from any 

 one hive is about 75 lbs., most of it 

 extracted. My bees increased from 

 23 to 72 ; have sold at different times, 

 and now have 90 of 10 frames each, 

 all strong and in good condition to 

 stand the season of drouth, which will 

 soon be on us in this vicinity. We 

 had two days 102- in the shade. One 

 day I thought all of mv bees would 

 swarm at once, but I raised the front, 

 and in a short time the bees were all 

 in their hives. 



Napa, Oal., Julv 4, 1SS3. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



®° In reply to several inquiries, 

 let me say, that valuable queens 

 should never be introduced to colonies 

 having long been queenless. They 

 should be introduced in introducing 

 cages, which we make by wrapping 

 wire cloth around a stick one-half by 

 seven-eights of an inch, and usually 

 make them 4 inches long, with a plug 

 in each end. and in such a manner 

 that no wire points come inside the 

 cage. 



Diseased Bees. 



I have got a colony of bees that I do 

 not understand ; they are bloated up 

 so, and some of them get black ; they 

 lay around the entrance of the hive 

 and die off very fast. I tried Mr. 

 Hicks' cure for the disease, liut it did 

 them no good. They are Italian bees. 

 I changed hives with them ; the combs 

 are clean and they liave lots of brood. 

 James Gardine. 



Ashland. Neb., July 16, 1SS3. 



Answer. — I would have to see more 

 of the phenomena you mention to 

 give a satisfactory answer. 



The colony may be robbing, and 

 becoming demoralized, and so daubed 

 with honey as to turn jet black. I am 

 rather of the opinion that is the cause 

 of the trouble. Follow up and see if 

 you can find where they are at work. 



Getting Straight Combs. 



You say I will be "as successful as 

 any one in getting straight combs if I 

 manage properly." Please e.xplain 

 your method. W. ij. Dresser. 



Hillsdale. Mich. 



Answer.— I think that my success 

 in getting combs built in sections so 

 straightly that no separators are 

 needed, is the result of the following 

 conditions : 



1. I use full size pieces of founda- 

 tion, and such foundation as bees 

 draw out readily, rather than build 

 on to, perhaps beginning on one side 

 and getting away ahead of the other. 



2. I put these pieces into the centre 

 of the section with that invaluable 

 little implement known as Parker's 

 comb foundation fastener, and it 

 stays where I put it. 



3. I place the hive plumb from side 

 to side, and thus the foundation hangs 

 true in the section. 



4. I place all my hives declining 

 toward the front. 



5. The combs in my sections run 

 parallel with those in the brood- 

 chamber. 



6. The narrow pieces of the sections 

 are that width that the bee passages 

 are ?3 instead of y^ inch, as is com- 

 monly used. This point is otherwise 

 very advantageous. 



7. The slats of my honey board are 

 so arranged over the spaces between 

 the top bars of the frames of the 

 brood - chamber tliat bits of comb 

 built up from said top bars cannot 

 prejudice the bees in regared to crook- 

 ing or side bulging the combs in the 

 sections above. 



8. Tlie more of the brown German 

 blood your bees possess, the quicker, 

 whiter and straighter will they build 

 comb. 



Drones Tariously Marked. 



On page 344, Bee Journal, Mr. J. 

 O. Shearman asks me to answer the fol- 

 lowing : " Can a queen breed two 

 kinds of drones at the same time V 

 Or would it be called an indication 

 that there might be two queens in a 

 hive to see drones like pure Italians 

 and pure blacks living together by 

 the hundreds ':'" I do not know just 

 what to credit to the word '' kinds." 

 Often drones go into neighboring 

 liives and habit them the rest of their 

 peaceful life-time. Then we see two 

 kinds in a hive ; but we often see the 

 same " kind " of drones variedly 

 marked, and I think such variations 

 are much more radical among the 

 drones of cross-breeding than among 

 the workers. Many times I have 

 seen drones that showed scarcely any 

 yellow, side by side with brothers that 

 were very yellow. Cross-breed bees 

 are much more regular in action 

 than in color. 



Completing the Sections, etc. 



Will you please answer the follow- 

 ing through the " What and How " 

 department of the Bee Journal : 



1. What per cent, of the whole 

 number of sections used in your 

 apiaries, during an average season, do 

 tlie bees naturally complete 'f 



2. Is the attempt to force the com- 

 pletion of boxes profitable 'i 



3. What method do you use to 

 accomplish that end when thought 

 desirable V 



4. What disposition do you make of 

 sections partially filled ? 



Franklin P. Stiles. 

 Haverhill, Mass., July 13, 1883. 



Answers. — Let me say that the 

 foregoing questions, I believe, are 

 asked by a practical honey-producer 

 of clear understanding. 



1. As we never, at any time, allow 

 our bees to become crowded for room, 

 in the least, we have about one- 

 third of the whole number of sections 

 used during the season not sufficiently 

 completed for market, when the sea- 

 son closes in September. We know 

 that a different system of manage- 

 ment would complete nine-tenths of 

 them, but under such a system that 

 nine-tenths would weigh no more 

 pounds than our two-thirds. 



2. I think it is generally understood 

 that the attempt to force the comple- 

 tion of boxes has not been made a 

 success, in the light of profit and 

 loss. 



3. We have never tried it. 



4. When we remove our sections in 

 the fall, we sort them over, and those 

 not sufficiently capped to be readily 

 merchantable, we uncap all the cells 



