134 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 28, 



is too meagre for my bees and my neighbor's ; still, he does 

 nothing with honey-producing. But as you have so much 

 room here, I do not Ihinlf your locations will be overdone for 

 many years, and bee-keepers can locate here every five or six 

 miles, and there be no conflict. 



Mr. Lockhart — Our people at my location (N. Y.) seem 

 selfish, and bee-pasture is becoming precious. I would not in- 

 duce people to keep bees that did not love the business, as 

 they will injure you. 



BUY BEES OR DIVIDE FOK INCREASE — WHICH ? 



Question No. 14. — Not having bees enough to occupy my 

 time, will it be best to buy more in improved hives at $5.00 per 

 colony, or feed sugar at 25 pounds for a dollar to stimulate 

 and divide as soon as colonies are strong enough ? Or can I 

 divide them here in the coast country and build them up in 

 time to catch the first honey-Pow — April 1 ? 



Mr. Victor — I would say feed and increase. But there is 

 danger of dividing too soon. 



Mr. Theilmann^I do not believe in stimulative feeding. 

 I have tried it in Minnesota, and lost heavily by it. In my 

 locality it won't do, as the bees seem to know best when to 

 rear brood, and I will not hereafter start my bees too soon. 

 When I do have to feed, I use the best brown sugar, as the 

 vegetable properties seem to be taken out of granulated sugar, 

 and this is what the bees most need. 



Mr. Lord — I use sugar as artificial means to stimulate. 



Mr. Theilmann — Well, I think the more we stimulate the 

 more we lose, especially if done too soon. 



Mrs. Atcbley — It will be owing to the season, whether bees 

 can be divided and built up by April. But if I had as many 

 as 50 colonies to stimulate, I would increase by feeding and 

 dividing in preference to buying at .§5.00 per colony. 



SOMETHING TO GO WITH BEE-KEEPING. 



Question No. 15. — What can a beginner do to make a 

 support till his bees justify his whole time? 



Mr. Lockhart— Teach school. 



Mr. Victor — Stick to his old forte that he has made a 

 living at, until his bees pay him to attend to them with his 

 whole time. 



Dr. Marshall — Suppose a man leaves his old home and 

 comes here and has to also leave his business, then what shall 

 he do? 



Mrs. Atchley — Take hold of whatever he may find to do. 



Mr. Hanna — Poultry will be a good side-issue, if we can 

 get rid of the " third-party fleas." 



[To be continued.] 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. afri,r,ER, MAJtJBJfGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



Turning the Hives Around in Winter. 



I winter my bees on the summer stands, packed in chaff 

 on the east, west and north, but open on the south. They 

 seem to be clu.stered at the front and near the top. How 

 would it be to turn the hive around, the bottom-board being 

 loose, and plenty of honey in the back end. J. P. 



Answer. — I think I'd prefer to leave them just as they are. 



Dead Bees On the Cellar-Bottom. 



The bees in my cellar come out of the hives, fall on the 

 ground and die. and then it makes it unpleasant to step on 

 them and get the soles of my shoes daubed with their mashed 

 corpses. Is there any objection to fastening them in the hive 

 by means of wire cloth that will keep the bees in the hive and 

 still allow plenty of ventilation? Tidine.ss. 



AN.SWER. — I should say there is objection, very decidedly. 

 In the first place, when you shut in the hive a bee that wants 

 to get out to die, that bee doesn't quietly crawl down on the 

 floor-board and die in a good-natured way. It goes fussing 

 around, raising a rumpus among the other bees that would 

 otherwise be quietly dozing away, and when there's enough of 

 that sort of thing, other bees will become so uneasy they'll get 



diseased and conclude they want to die, and thus the thing 

 grows. When a bee is ready to die, it's much better for it to 

 be allowed to leave the hive. 



As to the matter of cleanliness, it may not be very pleas- 

 ant for you to be tramping around on dead bees, but really it 

 Isn't necessary for you to take a daily promenade in your bee- 

 cellar, and if you must do so there's no law against your 

 sweeping the floor. During the first part of the winter very 

 few bees come out on the ground, and it may not be necessary 

 to sweep it for some time, but afterward it is well to sweep up 

 the dead bees perhaps once in two weeks. 



It may be a question whether you are to consider more 

 your own comfort or that of the bees. Taking it from the 

 bees' standpoint, they might say to you : " It's all very well 

 for you to complain of our corpses on the floor, but if you had 

 a big family, and a number of them were dead, would you 

 prefer to have their dead bodies left to decay in the house, or 

 would you rather have them out in the yard ? Perhaps you'll 

 say you wouldn't have either, that you'd bury them decently. 

 Well, there's no reason why you shouldn't take us out to a 

 decent burial." 



I think you will see that a putrid mass of dead bees in a 

 hive is much worse than on a cellar-bottom. So don't think 

 of fastening in your bees. 



Boaclies in the Hives. 



I would like to know if roaches do any harm when they 

 are in the bee-hives. If so, how should one get rid of them ? 



M. E. P. 



Answer.- 

 to the bees. 



-I don't think they ever do any particular harm 



Feeding Bees in a Greenh.ouse. 



Could I feed a colony of bees in a greenhouse with wire- 

 cloth over the top and entrance, to advantage ? Do you know 

 of any one having tried it ? I have a chance to feed a weak 

 colony in that way. H. S. J. 



Answer. — Look here. You'd better let that thing alone 

 entirely. It's been tried by different ones, but I never heard 

 ot its being a success. 



Feeding at ttie Entrance to Stimulate Bees. 



I have 60 colonies of bees that I have in 8-frame dove- 

 tailed hives with outside winter-cases, with cloth, 3 thick- 

 nesses of newspaper, with a hole as large as my hand torn 

 out, and chaff cushion overlaying all. Now, I wish to stimu- 

 late them by feeding in the spring at the entrance, without 

 " fanning the cover " over them, as I believe it would do as 

 much harm as the feed would do good. What is the best way 

 to do it ? J. A. M. 



Answer. — There's an entrance-feeder made of tin, on the 

 atmospheric principle, that's a good entrance feeder, but I 

 can't recall whose it is. With that you're safe to give the 

 feed day or night without danger of robbers getting at it from 

 the outside. If your hive-bottoms are tight, you can tip back 

 your hive, and pour the feed directly into the hive at the en- 

 trance, but you must do it at night. 



Feeding in the Spring for Increase. 



I have kept bees since 1879, but in all these years of bee- 

 keeping I haven't fed 5 pounds of syrup or honey. What I 

 am driving at is this: I want to increase nc.\t spring as much 

 as possible, and will have to feed pretty lively, as we do not 

 have many early flowers here. I expect to feed granulated 

 sugar, and want to know what is the best way to prepare it 

 before putting in the hives ? From what you and others say 

 in the bee-papers, to use a percolator is the best. How would 

 one work made as follows? Take a 30-gallon barrel with one 

 head in ; bore it full ot %-inch holes, then put in (how many ?) 

 thicknesses of flannel, set the barrel over a hopper-like re- 

 ceiving-vessel with gate below. Please tell me if it would 

 work all right ? 



We do not get as big yields here as others do, but hardly 

 ever have an entire failure. If the Indians allot their land it 

 will bo a big help to the bee-keepers here along the line. As 

 it is, it is all prairie, and not much account for bee-pasture. 

 I am only three miles in the State, but will locate farther in 



