1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



489 



the strong colonies. And the amount of honey consumed is 

 enough more to pay for the double hives in two seasons. I 

 have had to draw young bees from these strong colonies to get 

 the colonies in single-walled hives up to a paying strength. 



This way of wintering nuclei is new. But my losses in 

 finding out how, were considerable. And when an astute bee- 

 master, lilie Mr. Taylor, makes the same mistake as I did, 

 perhaps it is welt to state my failures to keep others of of the 

 rocks of failure. I thought I had a sure thing when I tried a 

 long hive with two strong colonies in each end, and a nucleus 

 in the center, with wire-cloth_division-boards between colonies. 

 They were very uneasy ; in the spring al! were dead. I tried 

 •double wire division-boards the next winter, and extra strong 

 colonies at the ends, so the bees could not well communicate. 

 One colony survived. I am positive the draft, though slight, 

 chilled and killed my bees. I thought of my present plan, 

 and it is a success. 



Now comes Mr. Doolittle, and says double hives are better 

 to winter in the cellar. Well, you can safely follow anything 

 Doolittle says. "Ven he talks, he says somdings efery dimes." 



Then comes " North Carolina," and says it pays there, as 

 bees leave the supers in the cold nights of spring, which will 

 apply to most Southern States. 



1 would like all who have used double and single walled, 



or packed, hives, to report per cent, of loss in each kind the 



past winter ; and see " where we are at." 



Chicago, 111. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 DR. J. P. H. BTiO^Vl^, AUGUSTA, CA. 



{Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department.— Ed. 1 



Aftcr-Swarins— Water for Bees — Laying Workers. 



1. Bees are still swarming. I had a swarm the other day 

 that got ahead of me. When they settled I went to the old 

 colony.to cut out the queen-cells, and I found no cells and no 

 eggs. The brood was all sealed, and a good deal of it was 

 drone-brood. Give nie your opinion about it. 



2. Is the water that is carried into the hive used in rear- 

 ing the young bees, or is it for the old ones ? 



3. Is a laying worker-bee fed the royal jelly through a 

 mistake, or is it through a desire to lay ? 



When I put on a box and want to know if the bees have 

 gone to work in it, 1 place my ear close to the box, and if they 

 are not at work in it I can hear them scratching and clawing. 



S. R. P., Georgia. 



Answer. — The swarm that issued was an after-swarm or 

 "cast." Very often after the issue of 2nd, 3rd, or 4th 

 swarms, the hive is left in Just the condition you describe. 

 Swarms of this kind are no good, and had better be put back 

 or united. 



2. It is used, it is supposed, for diluting the honey and 

 in preparing the food for the young bees. 



3. Most likely through a strong desire to lay and perpet- 

 uate the existence of the colony. This is the conclusion I 

 have arrived at from my observations, and I have watched 

 hundreds of colonies that contained them. 



m I m 



Should Iloncy be E\traclctl from the Brootl. 

 < liainber ? 



I have 25 colonies of bees, and they have 25 to 85 pounds 

 of honey each. Some of the outside frames are sealed from 

 }4 to % down. This honey is in the brood-chamber. Would 

 you extract it or not? Please give rae your advice. 



A. P. L., South Carolina. 



Answer. — Whether I would extract or not would depend 

 upon the extent of the fall pasturage. If this was very lim- 

 ited, I would not extract; for July and August are dull 

 months in your section — very little honey is gathered during 



these months — and if the fall crop is short they will need all 

 they have for winter. But in those locations where there is 

 an abundance of fall flowers, the aster especially, there would 

 be little risk in extracting the honey from all frames that con- 

 tain no brood. 



Some years ago, during the extracting furor, the bee- 

 keeping solons advised all Irames containing sealed honey to 

 be whirled in the extractor, regardless of the stage of devel- 

 opment of the brood. They told us the whirling did not hurt 

 the brood — that which was partially thrown out of the cell 

 the bees would pull back in position. I followed the crowd, 

 but I soon jumped out of the ranks, for I found that the bulk 

 of the brood was injured by extracting the honey. So now I 

 never extract from frames that contain any uncapped brood ; 

 and I am cautious about extracting from those that contain 

 capped brood. If this course is pursued by the beginner, he 

 will avoid the danger of extracting too closely, and his colonies 

 will not be weakened. 



Tbe Castor Bean. 



I have five acres to castor beans. Is the plant a honey- 

 producer ? I notice wart-like excrescences on the stem and leaf 

 stalks, which exude a liquid that seems to be eagerly sought 

 by flies, ants, etc. J. A. M., Seay, Oklahoma. 



Answer. — I do not think it secretes any honey that is ac- 

 ceptable to the hive-bee. There are many plants that secrete 

 a kind of nectar that is eagerly sought by flies and some 

 species of wild bees, while hive-bees will not touch it. The 

 castor bean, Spanish bayonet (Yuccn filn^^eiitosa) , enomomus, 

 and some others, are plants of this character. 



Bees Did Only Reasonably W^ell. 



Owing to more engagements than I have been able to keep 

 up with, I have neglected my correspondence with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, but I love it " all the same," and read it as 

 of yore. 



Bees have done only reasonably well in East Tennessee 

 this season. The cold weather in poplar bloom continued for 

 two weeks, and the honey crop from that source was small. 

 Basswood was fair, and my surplus so far is nearly all from it. 

 Sourwood is beginning to bloom, but owing to the very dry 

 weather I do not expect a large yield from it. My crop, taken 

 to date, is 1,100 pounds of basswood and 500 pounds of pop- 

 lar honey. I have some 200 pounds of basswood honey yet 

 to take. H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., July 4. 



Rolling in the Honey— Hybrid Bees Best. 



Bees in this section were on the verge of starvation until 

 June 20, but they are rolling in the honey. I have 24 colo- 

 nies that are extra strong. 



I have from week to week noticed in the American Bee 

 Journal that the writers praise the 3 and 5 banded bees to 

 the skies, as being the best honey-gatherers ; but I want to 

 say right here, that experience has convinced me beyond all 

 doubt, that a high grade of hybrids are the best honey-gath- 

 erers in existence. I have two queens that cost me $6.00 

 each, and two 5-banded queens that cost $5.00 each, and all 

 four of these queens are not worth 20 cents. My brown Leg- 

 horn chickens will lay just about as many eggs as these queens. 



Fellowsville, W. Va., July 8. B. T. Stone. 



Tlie " lo 'Weeks for lo Cents" Offer to new 



subscribers was withdrawn July 15, as advertised. To any 

 received after that date, 10 back numbers of this year's Bee 

 Journal have been sent, and we will renew the offer of " 10 

 cents for 10 weeks" (or 10 back numbers) so long as our 

 stock of back numbers of 1895 holds out. So, to any one 

 sending 10 cents, we will mail 10 different back numbers, all 

 to be since Jan. 1, 1895. Ten of such numbers are just as 

 good for getting a fair idea of what the Bee Journal is, as 

 would be 10 future numbers. The 10 back numbers will all 

 be of different dates, but will not be consecutive numbers. 



*-—»• 



See " Bee-Keeper"s Guide " offer on page 496. 



