1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



315 



CONDUCTED BY 



IXR. C. C. MILT^UR, AULRMNGO, ILl^. 



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



Top-Ventilation in the Cellar. 



Frank Cole wants to know, on page 289, what I think of 

 his top-ventilation in the cellar. It suits me because it seems 

 to suit the bees. When I first wintered bees in the cellar I 

 had them more open on top than he has. Absorbents were 

 not talked of then and my bees were in box-hives, and I just 

 turned them upside down, leaving them entirely uncovered. 

 They wintered well. That was Quinby's plan. Latterly my 

 practice has been just the reverse, leaving all closed at the 

 top and very open below. Either plan is good, and I'm not 

 sure it matters so much what way is used, only so there is 

 plenty of chance for the bees to get all the air they want, and 

 so that the air in the cellar is always good. 



TTsing' Old Sections. 



Over TOO sections with foundation in supers (some of 

 them two years old, but the most made up new last year) were 

 left last year, because we did not get a pound of honey. Can 

 these sections be used profitably this season ? Will the bees 

 work in them ? Or will it pay to throw them into the fire and 

 get new ones? G. R. 



Answer. — I expect to use some sections this year that are 

 four years old. If the sections are nice and clean, use them. 

 If, however, you were unfortunate enough to leave them on 

 late, so as to have the bees daub the foundation with propolis, 

 then I'd rather not use them. 



Swarming with Clipped Queens. 



I would like to know what will become of a queen, when 

 her wing is clipped, if the bees are allowed to swarm natur- 

 ally. Will the bees kill her, or will she crawl out of the hive, 

 or will the young queen go ? D. H. 



Answer. — When a swarm issues with a clipped queen, if 

 no one is by to see to the swarm, or if there is no Alley trap 

 to catch the queen, the queen will come out and try to go 

 with the swarm. Not being able to do so, she will generally 

 crawl back into the hive. The swarm will usually return to 

 the hive when they find there is no queen with thorn, but 

 sometimes they may return to the wrong hive. Then the 

 swarm may issue in a day or two again, and if they are left 

 entirely to themselves, in about eight days from the time of 

 the first swarm a young queen will be hatched out and the old 

 queen will be killed. The young queen will then go with the 

 swarm. 



Using Division-Boards — Winter Cases. 



I have now (April 18) four colonies of bees (hybrids) in 

 10-frame Langstroth hives, wintered on their summer stands. 

 All the colonies were equally strong in the fall, having about 

 30 pounds of honey each for winter stores. They were all 

 packed with an enamel cloth over the brood-frames, on which 

 was set a T super with heavy paper in the bottom, then filled 

 with chaff. Two colonies had the additional protection of 

 outside winter cases, while two (the new swarms of last 

 spring) were without further protection than that above 

 stated. Those with the winter-cases came out with plenty of 

 honey and few bees, while the condition of the two unpro- 

 tected ones is just the reverse — plenty of bees and little honey. 



I am now about to put division-boards ih all four hives, 

 contracting them to six or eight frames as their needs may 

 require. I also intend taking a frame full of good honey from 

 each one of the two hives having an abundance and give it to 

 the two that are short of stores. What do you think of the 

 treatment ? The last winter has been the severest here in 

 the recollection of the oldest inhabitants. J. F. I. 



Easton, Pa. 



Answer. — Before answering your question, a word about 

 the shape in which it is sent. I am glad to do my best to 

 answer any question that comes, no matter in what shape, 

 and some seem to think they can be better answered if writ- 



ten on any old scrap of paper in such hurried manner as to be 

 hard to decipher. That's a mistake. I can't answer such 

 questions a bit better. And while I try to do my best with 

 all, I must confess to a real pleasure when I find one like the 

 one now before me. The writing is plain as print, everything 

 neat and clear, and if you are as neat and careful about your 

 bee-work. Friend I., you ought to be a successful bee-keeper, 

 even if you work mainly for the pleasure of it. But now to 

 your questions. 



I think your plan of treatment is all right. Experiments 

 carefully made in France seemed to prove that division-boards 

 were no better than combs, and I suppose they don't do as 

 much good as many think. Still I can't help thinking that if 

 the division-boards are close-fitting at top and ends they serve 

 a good purpose. 



The results of your wintering seem to agree with what C. 

 F. Muth insists on, that protection on top is all that is neces- 

 s'ary. I wish it had happened that one of the old and one of 

 the new colonies had had the winter-cases. For there's at 

 least a possibility that there was a difference in the strength 

 of the colonies that partly accounted for the difference in 

 wintering. 



Bequeening Colonies. 



How is dequeening practiced ? 



Answer. — Dequeening, or unqueening, is simply removing 

 or destroying a queen, in whatever way it is done. Perhaps 

 oftenest, when the term is used, it means depriving a colony 

 of its queen during the honey harvest. When this was first 

 practiced, I think the queen was usually, if not always, con- 

 fined in a cage in the hive among her own bees. Afterward 

 the custom came with some to remove the queen entirely from 

 the hive, keeping her in a nucleus or other colony, returning 

 her, or another queen, in due time. 



Producing Honey and Preventing Increase. 



The limits of my "farm "is four colonies, the number I 

 now have. How can I manipulate them to the best advantage 

 to produce comb honey and prevent increase ? J. F. I. 



Easton, Pa. 



Answer. — That is a very difficult question, and I don't 

 know enough to answer it for sure. If you are on hand to 

 know when swarms issue, here is a plan that I have used with 

 a good deal of satisfaction : 



When the swarm issues, cage the queen, leaving her in 

 the care of her bees until it suits your convenience to take 

 care of them. Not later than five days after swarming, shake 

 off about half the bees from the combs, putting them in a new 

 hive, leaving the old hive in its old place, and leaving in it one 

 or two combs of brood, especially young brood and eggs, but 

 no queen-cells. These combs of brood may be taken from 

 anywhere you like, if need be taking from the colony under 

 treatment, but in that case they must be changed again. Give 

 the queen to the new hive, and place it close beside the old 

 hive, although I prefer to put it on top. This new hive being 

 left weak in bees, and no field-workers adding to its stores, 

 the bees will make sure work of destroying all queen-cells 

 without any care on your part. At the end of ten days from 

 swarming, put this new hive with all its contents in place of 

 the old one, removing the latter to a new place or making any 

 disposition of it you like. It will have some fine queen-cells, 

 and if you want to start a nucleus, all you need do it to set it 

 in a new place. 



I said you would leave two combs of brood in the first 

 place in the old hive. I would add at least two more combs, 

 and then you can fill up with dummies, or if you have them, 

 with combs of honey. If you cannot watch for swarms, or do 

 not wish to, then attach to each hive an Alley queen-trap, and 

 that will do the watching for you. 



Xl«e Star Spaiig'Ietl Ilaiiner's Aiillior.— Many in- 

 teresting things about Francis Scott Key— the author of the ■■ Star 

 Spangled Banner'"— are contained in a pamphlet, which may be 

 obtained frn\ from the Key Monument Association, of Frederick 

 City, Maryland, by sending one 2-cent stamp for postage. This 

 Association is raising funds for a suitable monument to the poet, 

 and they suggest, that in the schools and everywhere, upon or be- 

 fore Flag Day (June 14), this subject be suitably recognized. Con- 

 tributions, however small, are asked for. Every one who loves the 

 Flag, ought to have some small share in building this monument. 

 The Governor of Maryland has strongly endorsed the movement. 

 The names of all contributors will be preserved in the crypt of the 

 monument, and published (without amount) in the history of the 

 monument when completed. 



