578 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



that exceptional cases may occur, 

 where a colony having laying workers 

 may refuse to accept of a queen, or 

 even a cell ; but, does not the same 

 occur at times with colonies that have 

 just had their queens removed V 



We must go slow in matters con- 

 nected with oee-culture ; avast field is 

 open before us from which to glean 

 facts and gain information, and he 

 will prove the most apt scholar who 

 throws prejudice and preconceived 

 notions aside and accepts facts as he 

 sees them. It is very jilcasaiit to start 

 a theory^ and then endeavor to bend 

 facts to it, but the better way, and the 

 only one by which truth will be dis- 

 covered and error rooted out, is to 

 fonn a theory from well-established 

 facts. 



If it is true that some of the new 

 races of bees are particularly prolific 

 with " laying workers," a grand 

 chance now oners itself to make some 

 valuable discoveries in regard to them. 

 Let us all take hold of the work and 

 do " our level best " to find out the 

 truth. 



Mechanic Falls, Maine, Oct. 3, 1883. 



the limb and secure honey in this way, 

 but we should not think this practic- 

 able. 



A few days since a gentleman called 

 to inquire how to feed a oolony of 

 bees in a nail keg. lie said that " he 

 had put a box of feed on top, bored a 

 hole, and he could not get them up." 

 We told him to put several spoonfulls 

 of syrup down tlie hole at night, so as 

 not to attract the robbers, and put a 

 little from the hole to the feed and 

 they would soon find it, and continue 

 doing so and they would come regular- 

 ly to be fed, like chickens. 



Peoria, 111. 



^Hlxat mxtl Jioix). 



Prairie Farmer. 



How to Secure a Runaway Colony. 



MBS. L. HARBISON. 



ANSWERS BY 



A farmer lately called my attention 

 to a runaway colony of bees that had 

 taken up their abode in a hollow limb 

 of a large maple tree. lie said that 

 his adjoining neighbor had recently 

 cut down a valuable tree to obtain 

 honey from a swarm located in it and 

 only obtained about two quarts. This 

 sacrilege certainly did not pay ; it 

 takes time to grow trees ; moreover 

 honey all mashed with bee-bread, 

 deadbees, rotten wood, dirt and leaves, 

 is poor pay for the labor expended, 

 say nothing of the value of the tree. 

 The limb that contained the colony 

 our attention was directed to, was 

 low, and consequently of little value, 

 and might have been cut off without 

 damaging the tree. If we were going 

 to direct its removal, we should have 

 all apertures leading to the colony 

 securely closed, so as not to be annoy- 

 ed by angry bees. With this end m 

 view, muslin might be wrapped 

 around and tied securely in place, all 

 protruding limbs and sound wood 

 sawed oft, care being taken, mean- 

 while, not to interfere with their nest. 

 The limb containing the colony should 

 be secured with ropes so that it could be 

 lowered gently, when it is sawed off. 

 To secure the best results from a 

 colony obtained in this way, set them 

 up where they would be seen when 

 they swarmed, and put the issue into 

 movable frame hives ; when they were 

 through swarming, the log might be 

 split open and the comb and remain- 

 ing bees transferred to a hive, or the 

 limb kept for its yearly swarms and as 

 an object of interest. The fall flow of 

 honey in this locality has been a fail- 

 ure, and if the colony entered the tree 

 late in the season, they have little 

 honey and it would be a pity to de- 

 stroy them for it. The owner of the 

 tree thought he might put boxes on to 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Qneries on Hires and Sections. 



Will Mr. Heddon please answer the 

 following : 



1. Are your hives for 8 frames'and 

 12 inches wide ? 



2. If you were starting anew would 

 you not turn your frames cross-wise ? 

 If not, why V 



3. Would it not pay to winter on 

 less frames and shorter ones ? My 

 colonies that could not get inside of 

 two-stories in summer, are now clus- 

 tered in one-third of one-story. This 

 looks bad. 



4. Do you prefer a two-story hive 

 for extracting, and how deep should 

 the frames be ? 



5. Would the Langstroth frame not 

 be much better for nursing bees in 

 spring, rearing queens and extracting, 

 if the frames ran cross-wise i* I would 

 not give 2.5 cents per colony to get my 

 bees insured to winter well, but would 

 give much more to know how to pre- 

 vent spring dwindling. 



6. AVouId you not prefer perforated 

 metal for a honey board 'i If not, 

 why V 



7. Is the unwired Given foundation 

 as strong as the Dunham when of the 

 same thickness V 



8. Will you please tell the best way 

 to mitre the edges of the hives to pre- 

 vent the wet from warping when 

 tiering-up. Chables Mitchell. 



Molesworth, Ont. 



Answers.— 1. Our hives are for 8 

 standard Langstroth frames, and are 

 \\)4 inches in width, inside measure, 

 in the clear. 



2. By no means ; for many reasons. 

 The main ones being that the bees can 

 get at their honey much more readily 

 during the winter than when the 

 frames run crosswise. That with the 

 entrance in the end of the hive we can 

 incline it so as to keep out water and 

 pour in feed, and assist the bees in 

 house cleaning. I prefer to have my 

 bee entrance across the ends of all the 

 frames. The long frames are not only 



the most economical in construction, 

 but in their manipulation. 



3. No ; but it might pay to winter 

 on less frames and longer ones. We 

 are, the coming winter, making ex- 

 periments upon wintering on differ- 

 ent numbers of frames. I should have 

 no fears of the small clusters, they can 

 be wintered as certainly as any, by 

 proper management. They need bet- 

 ter protection from the cold, and see 

 that they are clustered in that part of 

 the hive where honey is the most 

 plentiful and bee-bread the scarcest. 



4. For my use, all brood-chamber 

 frames should be standard Langstroth. 

 The frames for the extracting super, 

 I would make the same size, if I was 

 producing honey for manufacturing 

 purposes ; but if for sweet sauce, 

 I would make them about one-half the 

 depth, working the supers on the tier- 

 ing-up system, as laid down by Chas. 

 Dadant in his invaluable little work 

 on extracted honey. After two thor- 

 ough trials, of 32 colonies the first 

 time and 50 colonies the second time, 

 each run two or three years on the 

 horizontal system, I very much prefer 

 the story system of producing ex- 

 tracted honey. 



5. In the matter of queen-rearing, I 

 think the crosswise frames have some 

 slight advantages. For breeding bees 

 rapidly, I prefer the standard. It is 

 my opinion that no bees ever " spring 

 dwindled" that could rightfully be 

 called well-wintered. 



6. I do not know whether I would 

 or not ; am quite sure I would not for 

 comb honey ; for extracted, I should 

 prefer it, if I was sure there was no 

 serious drawbacks connected with it. 

 In August we procured four metal 

 honey-boards, and put them to the 

 best test the number and opportunity 

 aflorded. We have arrived at some 

 mistaken conclusions in the past, and 

 felt that we wanted more time and 

 more of the honey-boards to satisfy us 

 in regard to that matter. 



7. Not quite, I think; as the side 

 walls of the Given are not as high, 

 and much softer, having less pressure, 

 though they contain more wax, but 

 the base being thinner is somewhat 

 weaker. We have not been able to 

 make practical use of full sheets of 

 any foundation in brood frames vrith- 

 out the use of wires. 



8. For the purpose of shade, we use 

 a board 2x3 feet over each hive. This 

 is generally on the hives during the 

 entire surplus season, but not always, 

 though we use no beveled edges, and 

 have serious objections to them, or any 



