1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUHNAL. 



71 



tionary it's horehound, and not boneset or thoroughwort, 

 which is E. perfoliatxim. 



I remember being somewhat mixed when trying to hunt 

 up smartweed, and thinking at the time it was a Polyijonum, 

 but I couldn't find any autliority for it, and you will see that 

 you have become somewhat mixed yourself, for you tell me it 

 is not P. pcrsicarla (Ladies' thumb), which I did not call it, 

 but Persicnrid mite (Tasteless knot-grass). Perhaps Gray has 

 turned all the Pei'sicaria into Polygona. Dadant's Lang- 

 stroth calls smartweed Persicdrlu. As a matter of fact, I 

 don't think it is a smartweed at all, but a plant that resembles 

 smartweed in looks, but entirely wanting the terribly pungent 

 taste that smartweed has. 



Pasteboard or Cloth Division-Board. 



I intend trying to keep two colonies in single hives ; would 

 a division-board made of H wood frame with thin glassed 

 pasteboard (with or without perforations), or with cottoi' or 

 linen cloth, nailed on the frame, be better, or as good, as the 

 all-wood or zinc division-board, as far as heat and non-varying 

 is concerned ? H. D. 



Answer.— Better than either, if two are to be kept as sep- 

 arate colonies, is a plain board K or % inch thick. I've kept 

 many colonies in that way successfully, and if colonies are not 

 very strong it is an advantage, for each has the benefit of the 

 heat of the other, and they will cluster up against the division- 

 board, the two colonies forming one sphere. 



Manag'ement When Hiving Swarms. 



A great many people advise when hiving a new swarm to 

 take the super, already commenced in, from the old swarm, 

 and put it on the new. They say that by so doing the bees 

 will commence in the super at once. Now, if they do, will not 

 the queen also commence laying in the sections? I use lull 

 sheets of foundation in the brood-frames; perhaps that would 

 make a difference. R. S. C. 



Answer. — The advice is good in the main, for the large 

 part of the gatherers are with the swarm, especially if the 

 swarm is placed on the old stand and the mother colony —or 

 the souche as the French call it after the swarm has left — be 

 put on a new stand. But some judgment must be used, and 

 your questton shows that you have anticipated difficulties that 

 may arise. There is danger in the very direction you suggest 

 if you immediately put the super on the empty hive. If you 

 use a queen-excluder between hive and super, then of course 

 the queen caiVt go up. If you don't use a queen-excluder, 

 then don't put on the super for two or three days, till the 

 queen commences laying below. 



Wiring Brood-Frames and Putting in Foundation. 



1. What is the best method of wiring brood-frames so that 

 tke foundation will not bulge when being drawn out by the 

 bees ? 



2. How near should the foundation come to the ends and 

 bottom of the brood-frames ? J. W. P. 



Answer.— Most of my combs have six perpendicular wires, 

 the foundation fastened to the top-bar, and coming within ''s 

 Inch of the bottom-bar, and within }i inch of the end-bars. It 

 makes a good job so far as bulging is concerned, but the wires 

 must be drawn quite tight to prevent bulging, and in that case 

 It bows up the bottom-bar, and if the top-bar is only % thick, 

 as my older ones are, it bends the top-bar too. 



All that I've wired within a year or two have four hori- 

 zontal wires, one within about an inch of the top-bar, one 

 within an inch of the bottom-bar, and the other two placed at 

 equal distances between these. It is not necessary to draw 

 these wires so very tight. 



With either of the two ways mentioned, there is an objec- 

 tionable space left between the comb and the ,bottom-bar, and 

 more or less between the comb and the end-bar. I'll tell you 

 how I managed the last I made : They had the four horizon- 

 tal wires as already described, and the top-bars, which were 

 1}^ wide and % thick, had a saw-kerf cut in them to receive 

 the foundation. This saw-kerf was 5/32 wide and Ji deep. 

 The foundation was cut the exact length of the inside of the 

 frame, and 1/16 of an inch larger than the inside depth of 

 the frame. The foundation was slipped into the saw-kerf, 

 then allowed to come down and rest on the bottom-bar, then 

 the wires were embedded. Left in that shape there would be 



sure to be bulging. So I cut out a strip of foundation % inch 

 wide about 3i inch above the lower wire, but didn't cut the 

 full length of the foundation, only cutting to within an inch 

 of the end-bar. Where bees were working well, the plan 

 worked perfectly ; in other cases they dug holes oyer the bot- 

 tom-bar. On the whole, I like it best of anything I've tried. 



Propagating Basswood from the Seed, Etc. 



Will the basswood grow as far south as this, do you think? 

 And what time would it probably bloom here, in northeast 

 North Carolina ? Our sourwood blooms from about June 20 

 to July 15. Would I have to buy the trees, or can they be 

 propagated from seed ? R. B. H. 



Answer. — I doubt if basswood flourishes as far south as 

 North Carolina. Who can tell us how far south it is found? 

 If it does grow there, I think it might bloom a week or two 

 before sourwood. It isn't easily propagated from seed. 



TTniting Colonies of Bees. 



In your method of uniting colonies of bees by placing one 

 colony above the other with a piece of thick paper between, 

 you say allow both colonies their full entrance. What is to 

 prevent the bees of the moved colony from returning to their 

 old location and getting lost ? B- B. H. 



Answer. — Not a thing. It's a good bit the same as put- 

 ting them on a new stand. So it is well to take some previous 

 precaution. I've generally united two colonies standing side 

 by side, in which case there is no trouble. In case the moved 

 colony is queenless, it is more likely to stay where it finds a 

 queen. But then in uniting, generally the thing desired is to 

 get rid of an objectionable colony, and if some of the bees do 

 go back to their old stand and unite with one of the nearest 

 colonies, no harm will be done, providing it is at a time when 

 bees are yet gathering something, and so do not seek a new 

 home with empty honey-sacs. 



Now mind you, I don't warrant the plan a success. I 

 only say it worked with me the few times I tried it. A writer 

 in the British Bee Journal reports that he tried it, and his bees 

 were killed. I have a suspicion that he allowed no exit for 

 the bees of the upper hive except to come down through the 

 lower hive. In that case 1 should expect fighting pretty gen- 

 erally. 



^ I ■■ 



Foundation in the Sections— Extracted vs. Comb Honey. 



1. Does it pay to use full-sized foundation in the sections, 

 or will starters do about as well ? 



2. What per cent, more honey can be produced by extract- 

 ing than by furnishing foundation and taking comb honey? 



Russellville, Mo. L- G. C. 



Answers.— 1. I think the majority of bee-keepers agree 

 that it pays to get the sections as nearly filled with foundation 

 as possible. It gives a larger surface that can be all worked 

 at the same time. It makes the comb all worker, which looks 

 better, and. besides, if you have only starters, and the bees 

 make drone-comb to fill out, as they certainly will to a great 

 extent, the queen may go up and lay in the drone-cells, where- 

 as if all were worker she would be content to stay where she 

 properly belongs. If you have excluder-zinc between the hive 

 and super, of course the queen can't go up, but all the same 

 the workers are expecting it, and are likely to leave drone- 

 cells empty awaiting her, in which case the sections will not 

 be so promptly filled and sealed. 



2. I don't know. Nearly all agree that more extracted 

 honey can be obtained than comb, although I think a few say 

 they can get just as much comb. But those who say they can 

 get more extracted don't by any means agree as to how much. 

 It's all the way from a little more to twice as much. Even if 

 you knew exactly the average that all would agree on, I'm not 

 sure that it would be a correct guide for you. The fact that 

 there is so much difference of opinion is pretty good proof that 

 the thing varies according to circumstances or the man who 

 runs it. The way for you to do, if you care to have a correct 

 answer — and it may be worth a good deal to find out — is to 

 take an equal number of colonies, of the same strength, give 

 them the same chance, and at the end of the season you'll 

 know something about it. At the end of three years you'll 

 know more, and you'll know more by having 25 colonies of 

 each kind than if you have only one. Of course, I mean one 

 lot shall be run for extracted honey and the other for comb 

 honey. 



