1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



better for the colony that they die outside. So you see it is 

 unwise to compel the bees to remain in the hive by anything 

 like screens through which they cannot pass. 



There are times, however, when it would be better if bees 

 would remain in the hives, provided they would do it willingly. 

 If a light snow is on the ground and the sun shines brightly, 

 they may come out, become dazzled by the sun, and sink in 

 the soft snow, never to rise, as you mention. To prevent this, 

 it is a common practice to put boards or something of the 

 kind in front of the entrance to prevent the sun shining in. 

 Some advise having the hives face north in winter, so the 

 bright sun will not entice them out, while others object to 

 this, because when a warm day comes when they should fly, 

 then it is an advantage to have the sun shining on them. 



2. I'm not sure whether I know the right answer to that 

 question. Some will say to feed every day whenever bees will 

 fly, while others will say don't feed at all, unless the bees are 

 short of stores. Of the two, I believe I would rather take the 

 advice of the latter. If the bees have all the stores they need 

 and a little more so that there seems no need to economize, 

 they will probably rear brood nearly as well as if a good deal 

 of feeding was done. Still, if there should be a spell of good 

 weather in the spring after the bees had been working on 

 flowers, and there seemed no more flowers for them to work 

 on, I should feel tempted to give a half-pound or so of honey or 

 syrup to each colony about every other day, giving it to them 

 pretty thin. 2\.s soon as they can gather from flowers, then it 

 is well to let up on the feeding. 



3. The hive and frame question is one that is hard to settle. 

 At present there seems a tendency to go back to something 

 larger than the S-frame hive which has been so popular. 

 Years ago the lO-frame hive was the popular one, and some of 

 our best bee-keepers think that is too small, especially for 

 extracted honey. It is possible that a two-story may find 

 favor, having 8 frames in each story. At present I know of 

 no frames in use better than the Hoffman, all things consid- 

 ered, but a good many object to the shoulders on the end-bar. 



A Question About Hives and Frames. 



I have been trying to keep bees for two years, and have 

 had no success yet. My brood-frames are 9%xlOJ^ (9?:^ 

 deep). Is that size too deep or too wide? I mean inside 

 measure. The brood-chamber is 11 inches deep, 12 wide, and 

 18 long. Is that too large for extracted honey ? 



Grand Prairie, Tex. Earnest Novice. 



Answer. — The sizes of your hive and frames are quite 

 unusual, and yet I doubt whether it would make such 

 a great deal of difference if you had those most commonly in 

 use. So far as size is concerned, most producers of extracted 

 honey would prefer something larger. If you confine your 

 bees to the one story throughout the season, they are certainly 

 in too limited quarters. If you will tell a little about your 

 management, and the bees' management, possibly some hints 

 may be given that will be useful to you. Kut first and fore- 

 most, have you thoroughly studied a good bee-book ? If not, 

 can't you secure the "ABC of Bee-Culture," that the pub- 

 lishers of this Journal are offering on such remarkably favor- 

 able terms? It will be worth many times its cost to you. 

 [See offer on page 126. — Editor.] 



Restless Colony — Italian Bees and Five-Banded. 



1. One colony of my bees has been dying since Nov. 1, 

 1894, from some disease unknown to me. Their abdomens 

 become swollen or distended and they drop from the comb to 

 the hive-bottom dead. After death some of them turn a little 

 dark in color, and the top of the hive, when opened, smells 

 like decaying bees. The queen in this colony lays every 

 month in the year. On Jan. 15, I was looking through this 

 hive, and I saw sealed brood in the two middle frames, as 

 wide as your two hands. Last summer this queen reared as 

 many bees as any two queens I have. What is killing my 

 bees, and what is the remedy ? 



2. What strain of bees is the best honey-gatherers, and 

 the best to winter on the summer stands ? 



3. At what age will a queen lay the greatest number of 

 eggs? 



4. What is your opinion of the 5-banded bees ? 



5. Why will bees hang out all summer, and not swarm ? 

 Fellowsville, W. Va., Jan. 28. B. T. 



Answer. 1 should suppose that this queen and her colony 

 are peculiarly restless and active in character, keeping on the 

 move and rearing brood when other colonies are quiet. 



This being the case at a time when they cannot fly freely, 

 their intestines become distended; in other words, they are 

 troubled with diarrhea, and death results therefrom. No 

 special treatment will meet the case, but you can do anything 

 that may prevent them from being excited or disturbed. If 

 the light shines in at the entrance, put a broad board or some- 

 thing of the kind in front to shade them. See that they are 

 not closed up too warm. Cats, birds or living things may be 

 disturbing them. As the weather becomes warm enough for 

 them to fly freely, you may find them come out all right. 



2. Taken all in all, the Italians seem to be the favorite. 

 I don't believe they'll winter any better than the blacks, but 

 in West Virginia I doubt if you'll have any trouble about 

 their wintering, and they are generally conceded to be better 

 gatherers. 



3. I don't know. Perhaps in her second year. 



4. If half a dozen different men set to work to rear a 

 strain of five-banded bees, neither of them paying attention 

 to anything but color, I should expect that five out of the six 

 strains would not be as good as the three-banded bees, and 

 very likely the sixth would be poor. But if a careful and 

 conscientious breeder should breed up a strain, weeding out 

 bad qualities and retaining good ones, I see no reason why he 

 might not at the same time develop the five bands. So I 

 should say that there are probably bad and also good 5-banded 

 bees. They are said not to winter quite so well as others. 



5. Perhaps they're not gathering enough. 



Growing Basswood from Sprouts. 



I can get from 900 to 1,000 basswood sprouts by cutting 

 them from the stumps. They average from one to four feet 

 long. Will they grow, or will they have to have roots on? 

 What are such sprouts worth ? 0. R. H. 



Sennett, N. Y. 



Answer. — I don't believe they are worth anything with- 

 out roots. Of course, a florist might take a sprout without 

 roots and start roots from it just as he does from a rose cut- 

 ting, but with ordinary appliances nothing of the kind could 

 be done. To be of any value they must start from the stump 

 so low down that they will have roots attached. 



Warming Hives Artificially. 



On March 2, 1894, I tried Mr. Hutchinson's way of 

 packing two hives with sawdust, and they did better than 

 those packed with dry leaves. He says to leave them packed 

 until after they swarm, and as they did not swarm at all I left 

 them so all summer. They commenced hanging out on May 

 3, and were only driven in once to stay a few days, and that 

 was on May IS — it snowed nearly all day. Each colony filled 

 56 one-pound sections, which had only starters. 



What would be your opinion of warming the hives by artifi- 

 cial heat? How would it do to take any number of hives from 

 10 to 200, and place them in rows, with the backs turned 

 together, and have them packed to retain the heat, and then 

 have a steam-pipe between them, so that any degree of heat 

 required could be turned on or shut off at well? I believe 

 that the inside of the hive should be kept 90° to 100^. 



Caledonia, Wis. W. K. 



Answer. — I don't like to discourage anything in the line 

 of experiment, but I very much doubt if your scheme would 

 be successful, I have never heard of any success in that line, 

 although it has been tried to some extent. A. I. Root was at 

 one time quite sanguine of success with hives surrounded with 

 horse manure in hotbed style, but the experiment was a fail- 

 ure. Bees have also been kept in greenhouses in winter, but 

 not successfully. You can't get too far away from nature's 

 beaten track without generally coming to grief. If you try 

 anything of the kind at all, I should advise it on so small a 

 scale that you need shed few tears over its failure. 



Xltat ]\e\v !iong' — " Queenie Jeanette" — which is being 

 sung everywhere, we can send you for 40 cents, postpaid, or club 

 it with the American Bee Journal for one year — both for only 

 $1.20. Or, send us one new subscriber for a year (with $1.00), and 

 we will mail you a copy of the song free. 



Experience is of course the best teacher, and its lessons 

 nearly always leave on record instances of failure, of a more or 

 less serious nature, which have to be met before final success can 

 be ensured. — ISlmtnbis. 



