1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



153 



will I manage to increase to 20 colonies and get the most 

 surplus, leaving the bees in 2-story hives in good condition 

 for winter ? G. M. 



Southwestern Wisconsin. 



Answer. — A good deal depends upon your experience and 

 also on the season. If it's a very bad season it isn't wise for 

 you to try to double your number. Of course you can do it, 

 no matter what the season is, and then you may lose them all 

 before the next spring. Very likely your best plan is to let 

 them swarm naturally, putting baclt or doubling up second 

 swarms. Or, you may prevent second swarms by the methods 



frequently given. 



m I m 



Thought it Was Foul Brood. 



I have four colonies of bees, two of them having been 

 swarms last June. About July 10 I saw symptoms of what I 

 thought was foul brood. Some brood died before it was 

 sealed, and some appeared to be nearly full-grown, with little 

 holes in the capping. I took about 130 pounds of honey 

 from the four colonies, and they were strong and full of bees 

 in the fall, with no signs of the disease left. I have Root's 

 " A B C of Bee-Culture." S. K. B. 



Conestogo, Out. 



Answer. — There may and there may not be foul brood 

 among your bees. Study very carefully your book, and be 

 ready to examine the bees carefully when they fly in the 

 spring. I can hardly give you any better instruction than is 

 given in the book you have, for Mr. Root has had much ex- 

 perience with foul brood. Prom your description of the case 

 it would be impossible to decide positively. 



Carniolans vs. Italians as Hoaey-Gatherers. 



Are the Carniolan bees as good honey-gatherers as the 

 Italians? J. W. B. 



Answer. — Referring to their gathering qualities alone, I 

 suppose they're neither better nor worse than Italians. 



Irrigated Land for Bee-Keeping. 



What kind of a location for bee-keeping is irrigated land, 

 in Idaho Falls, Idaho ? S. 0. L. 



Answer. — Irrigated land is just as good as any other, and 

 in one respect better, for it doesn't suffer so much from 

 drouth. The only question is whether honey-plants in abun- 

 dance are found there. Do they raise alfalfa ? 



Sections Fulling Apart. 



I have had trouble with the sections in the lower super 

 pulling apart when removing them from the hive. I have 

 never had any trouble in this line until the past season. I use 

 the one-piece sections in a Simplicity hive. I have one colony 

 from which I took 75 pounds of fine section honey last sea- 

 son ; this colony has not sent out a swarm in the last four 

 years. S. W. S. 



Hannibal, Mo. 



Answer. — It is hard to tell without knowing more (ff the 

 case. What kind of a super contains the sections ? What is 

 there between the top-bars of the brood-frames and the sec- 

 tions? And be sure to tell us more about that colony tliat 

 hasn't swarmed for four years and gives good crops. What's 

 the size of the hive it's in ? What kind of bees are they ? Are 

 your other bees of the same kind, and in the same kind of 

 hives ? If they are, this is the one I'd breed from. 



Preventing the Propolizing of Sections. 



If sectious are closely covered by a cloth over them, will 

 that not prevent the bees from propolizing them ? N. 



Answer. — I can only answer from my own experience in 

 such matters, and from what Geo. G. Scoit says on page 34 — 

 others may have a different experience from mine. I made 

 a pretty thorough trial of enamel cloth as a covering for sec- 

 tious, and I think it is about the worst thing I ever tried. The 

 bets would push in a little glue between the cloth and the sec- 

 tions, that would raise up the cloth, then more glue would 



push the cloth still higher, until sometimes there would be a 

 space to allow the bees to burrow between the cloth and the 

 sections. So there would be a streak of glue along the edge, 

 and sometimes clear across the top of the section, that would 

 be from a sixteenth to nearly a quarter of an inch thick. I 

 suppose it would be the same with any kind of cloth. 



Friend Scott gives as a successful remedy the plan of 

 covering the sections with a pattern slat. I can only say that 

 with me they do the same thing as with the cloth, only the 

 line of glue never departs far from the edge, and it does not 

 become so thick. Bees will crowd glue in between such slat 

 and the sections, and although the middle part of the section 

 top is left entirely clean, the edges are so badly daubed that, 

 on the whole, the "layer of air" is the best covering I have 

 yet tried. If Friend Scott, or any one else, finds something 

 that is really better, I shall be glad to hear of it. I don't say 

 but what the slat may work all right with him, but it doesn't 

 for me. 



Enamel Cloth — Shade Boards for Hives. 



1. Please describe the enamel cloth used in hives. Where 

 and how is it used ? Is ordinary table oilcloth as good ? and 

 is not " ducking " sometimes used ? 



2. Is it necessary, in hot weather, to put a shade or board 

 over the hives ? L. G. C. 



Answers. — 1. Enamel cloth is something like common 

 table oilcloth, but plain black, and not so heavy. Table oil- 

 cloth will do as well, but is more expensive. It is used to 

 cover directly over the frames to keep the bees down. Duck 

 and heavy sheeting are used, and almost any kind of cloth 

 will answer for a time, especially it put on during the honey 

 harvest or at the close thereof, so as to be well coated with 

 bee-glue. At the present time none of these things are as 

 much used as formerly, flat board covers coming down within 

 a bee-space of the frames being liked better. 



2. Not absolutely necessary, but it is generally better. 



Simpson and Spider Plant — Pleixrisy Boot. 



Do you know anything about the spider plant, and the 

 Simpson honey-plant ? Are they bad to spread, or hard to 

 get rid of in case they get a start ? What about the pleurisy 

 root ? M. C. B. 



St. Paris, Ohio. 



Answers. — I have had both the spider plant and the 

 Simpson honey-plant. In fact the latter grows wild here, but 

 in very limited quantity. Neither of them are bad to spread. 

 Although I gave them much encouragement, there isn't a plant 

 left of the spider plant, and scarcely one of the Simpson 

 honey-plant, although I had about an acre of it. C 3 



Pleurisy root is a milkweed, but the milk is only in the 

 root. You know the milkweeds that grow cottony seed-pods 

 three or four inches long ? Well, this is one of them. It has 

 orange-colored flowers. 



Distance Swarms May Fly. 



1. How far may a colony of bees fly when they leave the 

 parent hive to seek a new home ? 2. May they fly further 

 than they may to gather honey? 3. May they fly further 

 than queens may to mate ? J. i-i- S. C^ 



Answers. — There's no rule about it. It's a little like 

 asking how far a boy will go after berries, only the boy may 

 give up without getting any berries, and the bees will find 

 somejiind of a stopping-place, if it's only a limb of a tree in 

 the open air. Sometimes, and perhaps nearly always, they 

 may know where they're going when they start, but I think 

 there is a belief that sometimes they start without any par- 

 ticular destination, and may make their journey at several 

 stages. 



2. I think they may. And they may go only a few feet. 

 3. I think they may. 



Xbat ;>iew Song— '' 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. 



Please Remember that I am nut a dealer in bee-keepers' 

 supplies, so do not send to me for a catalogue, etc.— Editor.; C ^- 



