1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



171 



Since you are favoring the Italians, I will give you a 

 statement of my "blacks" for three years: In 1892, from 

 13 colonies, spring count, 2,585 well-filled sections, and some 

 partly-filled sections weighing 14 ounces each, or an average 

 of 198 per colony. In 1893, 33 colonies in the spring, 3,000 

 pounds net; 1894,59 colonies, increased to 104, and took 

 7,000 pounds net; over 6,000 pounds of the 1894 crop 

 graded fancy and No. 1. Average income per colony in 1892. 

 $23 ; in 1894, .$13.50. Last year's crop brought from 12}2 

 to 15 cents on the cars here. 



When I pinch the head off a black queen and put an Ital- 

 ian in her place, I will be older than I am to-day. 



Cumberland, Wis., Feb. 4. L. M. K. 



Answer. — I think likely you have the right idea about the 

 snow business. I have no personal experience in the matter, 

 but from the fact that 6. M. Doolittle reports loss from snow 

 piled over hives it is evident that it isn't the safe thing at all 

 times. Perhaps it may be that the danger doesn't come till 

 March, when the warmth induces too much breeding, or what 

 is the trouble in March ? 



The man who can get .$13.50 to .$23 per colony would do 

 well to think twice before making any material change in his 

 plans. Still, the question may arise whether the man and the 

 location may not have a good deal to do with it. It would be 

 interesting to know what 10 colonies of Italians would have 

 done under precisely the same conditions. 



Wben to Introduce Queens. 



I wish to introduce some new queens early in the spring, 

 how soon after removing the bees from the cellar should this 

 be done ? V. S. 



Answer. — I don't believe I would do it before fruit-bloom. 



Thin Foundation in the Brood-Frames, Etc. 



1. How would surplus foundation, such as Root's thin sur- 

 plus, do to put in brood-frames, provided it is well wired ? I 

 have heretofore used only a 1-inch starter of light brood foun- 

 dation, but would like to use more, and having more surplus 

 foundation on hand than money, I have wondered whether I 

 could not use it by wiring a single sheet in a frame. 



2. Were any honey-bees found natives of America, or 

 were they imported ? If so, when, and from what country, 

 and by whom ? Inquikkr. 



Answers. — 1. It will work all right, if as you say, the 

 frames are well wired. Of course, the lighter the foundation 

 the greater the inclination to sag, especially if a heavy swarm 

 be thrown upon the foundation. 



2. Hive-bees were not natives of this country, and were 

 called by the Indians the "white man's fly." Being some 200 

 miles from home, with nothing to refer to, I cannot answer 

 precisely, but I think bees were brought over early in the 

 17th century. 



Could Not, or Would Not, Bear a Queen. 



On page 103, is a question from J. T. H. about a colony 

 of bees that " could not, or would not, rear a queen." As I 

 am the person referred to, a further explanation is needed to 

 make the case clear to you. Last spring I had 2 colonies of 

 bees ; both seemed strong and in good condition. Drones 

 were flying by April 13 from the one I want the information 

 about, but in a short time I noticed the drones were much 

 smaller, being about the size of the worker-bees. I concluded 

 a laying-worker was in the hive, or else the queen had become 

 a drone-layer, as she was at least 3 years' old, and maybe 

 more. So I opened the hive and took out the queen ; she did 

 not seem very active, crawling around very slow, and did not 

 attempt to fly. I put her under a tumbler, but she did not 

 live an hour. I examined her body, which contained plenty 

 of eggs. Then I gave this colony a frame of brood which con- 

 tained larvas and eggs, so they could rear a queen, but 

 although they built queen-cells and capped them, they did not 

 hatch, for I examined them in due time, opening the cells, and 

 found only a milky looking substance in them. Then I tried 

 again with another frame of brood; more nice queen-cells 

 were built, but did not produce anything. 



Now the " books " say that when a queen is removed the 

 bees become uneasy ; running out in front of the hive as if they 

 had lost something ; there was not the least commotion about 

 this hive — they did not seem to care whether they had a 



queen or not. The brood I gave them must have been good, 

 for the colony I took it from cast a fine swarm which built up 

 well for winter. 



Well, the queenless colony of course dwindled away, and 

 the moth took charge, I am sorry to admit, but that was be- 

 cause there was sickness in my family, and I did not have 

 time to look after them any more. 



Now, Doctor, if your patience is not all exhausted after 

 reading this, please answer in the Bee Journal why they 

 "could not, or would not, rear a queen." J. T. H. 



Columbus, Ohio. 



Answer. — No worker-bees having been reared for some 

 time, there were nothing but old workers in the hive, and they 

 don't make so good work at rearing queens. Moreover, they 

 were more reconciled to their condition than if they had sud- 

 denly been made queenless after having had a good queen. 

 Even if everything else had been all right, it is nothing un- 

 usual to find one or more cells in a hive that fail to mature all 

 right, although correctly sealed over. I never knew a case, 

 however, in which all the cells failed, but there would be 

 nothing impossible about it. 



Hiving Swarms and Uniting. 



1. I am using a hive that is incapable of being tiered up, 

 but which, if the division-boards are spread, will hold 14 or 

 15 frames. Can I, when a swarm issues, shove the old 

 frames to one end of the hive, put in a wire-sieve division- 

 board, and new frames containing starters, and hive the 

 swarm in the hive with the parent colony, providing a sep- 

 arate entrance is made ? 2. If so, must the surplus arrange- 

 ments also be divided ? 3. How long after swarming must I 

 wait before I can unite them. 4. Must I take away one of 

 the queens in orner to unite them ? 5. In uniting them, can 

 I take the wire-sieve out at once ? 6. Can swarms of difi:er- 

 ent colonies be united in this way? 7. Would it be more 

 profitable to hive in a contracted brood-chamber, say five 

 frames ? J- E,' 



Answer. — 1. Yes, that's done sometimes. 2. No; one 

 super may cover the whole business, but there should be a 

 queen-excluder over the brood-chamber to keep the queen on 

 her own side. 3. They can be united after all the young 

 queens are hatched or destroyed, or they may be united any 

 time later. 4. Not necessarily. 5. Yes. 6. I think so. 7. 

 It might, but much depends upon after management. Don't 

 try your new plan too heavily. You're likely to have a big 

 swarm come out when the first young queen hatches. 



Bees Packed for Winter— Ordering ftueens. 



1. How about hives with bees put in a box 6 inches larger 

 all around, leaving an entrance 1x6 inches, packed with 

 wheat chafl? Do you think I have them too warm? I left 

 the blanket and cover on, and about 10 inches of chaff on the 

 top of the hives, with a shingled roof on each box. 



2. How would you advise me to send from eastern 

 Pennsylvania ; or is that too great a distance to send queens 

 from ? I have Italian bees, and think they are beauties and 

 good honey-gatherers. 



3. Who would you say has the best queens ? I want to 

 buy some. A. 0. K. 



Racy, Mich., Feb. 9. 



Answers. — 1. Some keep their bees through the winter 

 in very much the way you mention. You allow the moisture 

 from the bees to pass into the chaff, and you mustn't have the 

 cover so close that the moisture will be held in. Some think 

 it full as well not to have as much as 6 inches of space for the 

 chaff. 



2. For a long distance, perhaps the best way to send 

 queens is by express, but queens are constantly sent to all 

 parts of the United States by mail. 



3. I don't know. Quite a number of good breeders adver- 

 tise from time to time whose queens I wouldn't be afraid to use. 



Xliat ]\e\v 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 (or only 

 SI. 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 not a dealer in bee-keepers' 

 supplies, so do not send to me for a catalogue, etc.— Editor. 



