490 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 1, 



CONDUCTED BY 



7JR. C. C. MILLER, AIARJBXGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.1 



Why Did the Swarm Leave ? 



I had a very large after-swarm of Italian bees to come out 

 June 20 ; 1 hived them in a Langstroth hive, and moved the 

 hive about -40 feet from where I hived them. They hung out 

 of the hive that evening, and went in at night. Some worked 

 the next day, but not many, and part hung out. The next 

 evening, about 4 o'clock, they came out and left for parts un- 

 known. I looked into the hive, and saw they had made three 

 pieces of comb about as long as my hand. What caused them 

 to leave ? H. G. 



Hickman, Tenn., June 24. 



Answer. — I cannot say for sure, but bees would act just 

 about as you describe if you set the hive in too hot a place, or 

 give them too little ventilation. It's a, pretty good plan for at 

 least a week, to set the hive up on blocks an inch or more. 



Importing Bumble-Bees into Australia. 



Please tell me through the American Bee Journal when 

 (at what date) there was a successful importation of bumble- 

 bees made into Australia ; also from where, by whom, and to 

 what part of Australia they were taken. Do you know for a 

 certainty that there is clover seed now successfully raised 

 there'? For certain well-defined reasons I do not believe that 

 there was ever any bumble-bees introduced into Australia, 

 and would like to have definite answers to the above ques- 

 tions. W. S. P. 



Answer. — Now are you going to smash another of our 

 idols •? I don't know a thing about it for sure, and yet I have 

 an indistinct recollection of reading something about the par- 

 ticulars. But I wouldn't like to make my "afBdavy" that 

 there ever were any particulars. Brethren, the question is 

 before you. If any one knows the correct answer, let him 

 please arise and recite it. 



A Queenless Colony. 



One of my colonies has not been working just to suit me 

 since swarming time, and for the last month I notice they 

 have been working in the sections but very little, and only 

 have % of the frames full. To-day I opened the super, and 

 there was very few bees in it. I then examined the brood- 

 chamber, and to my surprise I found that they were filling up 

 the brood-chamber clear to the bottom — every cell throughout 

 tihe hive was being filled, and not a young bee nor an egg 

 could be found. The colony did not seem to be as strong as 

 they ought to be for this season of the year. I did not see any 

 queen, though she might have been there. G. S, R. 



Metropolis City, 111., July 9. 



Answer. — The bees are queenless, and the best thing is 

 to let them alone until the harvest slacks, then kill them and 

 take the honey. If you have any compunctions of conscience 

 about killing bees, give them to some other colony and let that 

 kill them. No young bees have been hatching out, and these 

 are getting pretty aged, so that they'll not live long, anyhow. 

 But when the harvest stops they're likely to be a prey for 

 robbers. 



Rendering Combs into Wax. 



What is a good way to render old combs into good, salable 

 wax ? Also, what form is best to cool it in, to ship ? How 

 should it be packed for shipment ? I have no wax-extractor. 



Bee Ginner. 



Answer. — I believe it will pay you to have a sun wax- 

 extractor. If you don't want to buy one you can make one. 

 All that's necessary is to have a box with glass over it, and 

 you'll find that when it stands in the sun the inside of the box 

 will be a very warm place. To melt your combs, put in the 

 box an old dripping-pan having a hole at one corner, or hav- 

 ing one corner torn entirely open, and that corner the lowest, 

 with some kind of a dish set under to catch the dropping wax. 



It may be a good plan to have some water in this dish for the 

 wax to drop into. But you'll find that with old, black combs 

 a good share of the wax will remain with the slumgum or 

 refuse. 



To get the most out, break up the combs into fine pieces 

 when it's frozen and brittle, then soak it in water for a day or 

 longer before rendering. You see the old cocoons in the cells 

 act as sponges to soak up the liquid wax, and you avoid this 

 by having them soaked full of water. 



You can also use your dripping-pan without the aid of the 

 sun, even in the winter time. Put it in the oven of your 

 cooking-stove with the corner projecting out, and the vessel 

 on the floor to catch the dropping wax. 



It makes little difference what shape it's in for shipment, 

 only it's well to have it in good-sized cakes, and as clean as 

 possible. Put it in a good-sized pan in the oven of your stove 

 at night, the oven not hot enough to burn it ; shut the door, 

 and let it stay all night to cool. That slow cooling gives lime 

 for all impurities to settle slowly to the bottom, and you can 

 scrape them off when cold. 



"Privet" Is Its Name. 



I send a specimen of a bush which grows around my 

 neighbor's lawn, and my bees just swarm on it. Some say it 

 is a medicinal plant. The bush is about 5 feet high, and 6 

 feet wide. The canes hang down, you know. Is it a good 

 honey-plant ? What is it good for medicinally ? 



Thayer, Ind. A. R. 



Answer. — I'm not a good botanist, but it so happens that 

 the plant is one with which I was familiar in boyhood in west- 

 ern Pennsylvania, it being exceedingly scarce in northern 

 Illinois. It was called " privet," but the description of privet 

 in the botany says privet has a white flower, and the privet 

 that I knew, and that you send, is decidedly peculiar in the 

 color of its flowers. It has on the same plant flowers that 

 are purple, and others that are — I really don't know how to 

 describe the color — I should say it was a faded mixture of 

 drab and yellow. The two colors are entirely distinct. I 

 know nothing as to its value, either as to bee-pasturage or 

 medicine, but I doubt whether it is of much value in either 

 direction. To be of much value a honey-plant should be in 

 large quantities, and I don't suppose you'd find enough 

 privet to cover an acre in your whole county. 



Cotton- Weed — Bees for Comb Honey — Sweet Clover. 



1. We have quite a profusion of cotton-weed bloom in this 

 vicinity, which opens with basswood, but continues longer, 

 and bees work it freely even while linden is at its maximum. 

 Now my question : Would you consider it beneficial or not, 

 that is, will the honey gathered from it more than counter- 

 balance its qualities of sticking the legs of bees, some of 

 which are carried out by the others ? 



2. I am just starting an apiary, and am interested in the 

 best bee for that purpose. I have been experimenting since 

 1890, and have tried to read up well, but am not yet fixed on 

 the above question, although my experiments so far are iu 

 favor of the blacks ; pure Italian queens mated with black 

 drones next. I never tried but one Carniolan queen, and they 

 held their own very well as honey-gatherers and comb-builders, 

 but were the crossest ever in my yard, although some of my 

 hybrids serve well in that line. Of course I would prefer a 

 gentle bee to a cross one, if other qualities were equal, but 

 would not lay very heavy stress on temper when honey-gath- 

 ering qualities are at stake. Now I would like to know which 

 you think preferable for the exclusive production of comb 

 honey. 



3. I have been experimenting the last two years with 

 several of the honey-secreting plants, among them sweet 

 clover, which is just coming in bloom from my sowing last 

 spring, and I do not find it as hardy as recommended. What 

 can you tell us of this " fast weed?" This spring I had a plat 

 of Alsike in bloom — the first in this part of the country. It 

 came fully up to my most sanguine expectations. 



Alderson, W. Va. G. H. A. 



Answers. — 1. It would be hard to give a positive answer 

 to such a question. You see it's more or less a guess as to the 

 value of the bees lost by having their feet stuck up, and it's a 

 guess as to the difference in the value of linden and cotton- 

 weed. My guess would be that if the bees work on something 

 else while linden is in bloom, that they find a gain therein. 



