1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



507 



swarm ? I have always heard and supposed that it was the 

 old bees that went out. 



The queen that I wish to breed from is a yellow one, 

 bought of a breeder in Illinois, and put into a colony of blacks 

 where there was not over two quarts of bees, and perhaps 13.2 

 or two frames of brood; introduced May 81, and July 16 she 

 led off a large swarm of her own bees, now and then a black 

 one amongst them, but I noticed there were as many, if not 

 more, black bees left in the old hive than there were of hers. 



4. I winter my bees in a dugout at the foot of a bluff. It 

 is 8x16 feet, dug ^114 feet deep at the front, and TJa feet at 

 the back. A frame 7 feet high built in the hole, boarded up 

 on the outside, an oak timber laid over the center lengthwise, 

 and roofed over with two-inch plank, and covered up with the 

 dirt thrown out in digging it, and whitewashed inside. I have 

 wintered bees in it two winters. Last winter I lost 4 colonies 

 out of 34 (troubled some with diarrhea). Ventilator is in the 

 center of the roof, SjixG inches, inside measure. Will it be 

 sufficient to winter 55 colonies ? S. L. 



Jarrett, Minn., July 23. 



Answers. — 1. If I understand you rightly, you want to 

 have combs built now, so they will be ready to be used for 

 nuclei next year. I don't know just why you want to do that, 

 for whenever you want to make nuclei the combs will be all 

 ready in the hives from which you draw your brood. Then 

 the colonies from which you draw will build fresh combs on 

 the foundation given them. Still, they will do better on full 

 combs than on foundation, and if you wish, you can have the 

 combs drawn out nuw. 



In the plan you propose, I think the bees would be dis- 

 tributed above and below, some of them taking care of the 

 brood and some of them staying with the queen. Generally 

 they would be satisfied not to rear a queen above, I think. But 

 they will be rather slow at drawing out the foundation, and 

 the queen will sometimes sulk for several days without laying. 



You will get them to make combs for you a good deal 

 more rapidly by putting the frames of brood over another 

 colony. Indeed, you may perhaps get the best work done by 

 taking away every comb they have, leaving nothing but foun- 

 dation in the hive. But if honey is not yielding you must feed. 

 In any case they'll not do much at building comb without 

 feeding, if the flowers are not yielding. 



2. You can introduce a queen then, but you must count 

 on some risk. 



3. All sorts, from the veterans with ragged wings to the 

 babies that can hardly fly. 



4. I suppose it will winter all. it will hold, only when you 

 put in a greater number of colonies they will need more ven- 

 tilation than a smaller number. The increase of ventilation 

 must be without making too strong a draft directly upon any 

 of the colonies. 



Wintering^ on Eigtt Frames — Mixing of Bees. 



My pa bought one Italian colony of bees on an 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive iu the spring of 1894. He increased them 

 to 10, and wintered them all right. He now has IS colonies. 



1. Will they winter in S-frame hives made of 1-inch lum- 

 ber, in this latitude (southeastern Kentucky) ? 



2. How shall we manage to keep our Italians from mixing 

 with the old blacks that are scattered all though this part of 

 the country '? 



3. Would you advise wintering the bees all in the lower 

 story, and shutting them down from the upper story ? 



Evans, Ky. P. A. 



Answers. — 1. A great many colonies have been wintered 

 on no more than 8 Langstroth iframes, the only trouble being 

 that you must watch close in the spring to feed if the bees 

 run short. 



2. You can't do it. They will mix. You can get fresh 

 stock from time to time, and thus keep a little nearer the 

 mark than if you leave them entirely to themselves. 



3. That depends somewhat upon circumstances in each 

 individual case. Perhaps they will do full as well to allow 

 them the two stories. 



Little Field-Work to be Done ? 



I have only 10 colonies, and as most of them are new, I 

 shall realize practically nothing this year. The spring weather 

 was so cold that the bees could not work on the early flow, 

 and there is little honey to be had now. My new colonies are 

 busy at work, but one or two older and strong colonies are 

 hanging out, and fighting most of the time, killing large 



quantities of bees (workers as well as drones). They are still 

 rearing brood, but uo swarms have issued this season from 

 any of my colonies. There is plenty of room in the supers, 

 and they build some comb, but store little honey in the frames, 

 seeming content with the supply in the brood-chamber. This, 

 of course, only applies to the old, strong colonies, as there are 

 no supers on the new colonies, which have at present plenty 

 to do downstairs. 



In order to strengthen a weak colony I transposed it and 

 my strongest fighting colony, putting the weak colony in place 

 of the strong one. The fighting and loafing now prevail at the 

 old stand, where I placed the weak colony, although there is 

 lots of room and work to be done within. What is the matter ? 



Los Gatos, Calif., July 9. H. S. S. 



Answer. — I suppose there is little to be done in the field, 

 so the bees try to rob any colony that is not strong enough or 

 active enough to defend itself. A queenless colony is es- 

 pecially likely to be overcome by robbers. Transposing colo- 

 nies is a very unsatisfactory way to strengthen a weak one. 



CONDnCTED BV 



DR. J. JP. //. BROU'iV, AUGUSTA, GA. 



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

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



■%Vorking for Increase of Colonics. 



I have 15 colonies of bees, and have increased, by arti- 

 ficial swarming, 8 colonies from one up to date this year. All 

 are doing nicely, and the old colony is still very strong. To 

 increase my apiary is my desire. 



How late can I follow this up ? If I feed my bees through 

 the winter I would like to increase my apiary to 100 colonies 

 next year. I like the Bee Journal, and can't do without it. 



Rosebud, Tex., July 6. Mrs. S. S. 



Answer. — The swiftest horse is not always the safest 

 horse. And it is not the best plan to multiply colonies too 

 rapidly. One good, strong colony in the fall is more profitable 

 than a dozen weak colonies in a begging condition. Such col- 

 onies, in the summing up, unless the season is very propitious, 

 are usually a dead loss so far as dollars and cents are con- 

 cerned. 



My advice would be, to get your colonies as strong as pos- 

 sible this fall, and with sufficient stores to carry them over 

 the winter until they can gather from natural sources in the 

 spring, and do not depend upon the chances of "feeding 

 through the winter." 



How Far Will Bees Travel for Forage ? — Honey 

 from Sumac, Aster, Cotton-Bloom, Corn- 

 Tassel and Cowpca. 



1. How far will bees travel for honey? There is a quan- 

 tity of asters within three miles of my bees ; will they go that 

 far? 



2. What do you think of sumac as a honey-plant? 



3. Do bees gather honey from corn-tassel ? 



4. From cotton-bloom ? 



5. Please tell me what you think of pea-bloom for honey ? 



6. Does the aster yield honey every year in this locality 

 when frost does not cut it off? A. P. L., South Carolina. 



Answers. — 1. When hard up, they will go four miles, but 

 this is too far to go to get honey to an advantage. Three 

 miles is quite a common distance for them to travel. From M 

 to 2 miles is the best distance, 



2. It is a good honey-plant. The honey is dark in color. 



3 and 4. In some seasons these blooms yield honey in suf- 

 ficient quantities to store iu the surplus department. 



5. The bloom of the cowpea is of such formation that the 

 proboscis of the hive-bee is too short to reach down to the 

 nectaries; but just beneath the bloom are a number of little 

 glands that secrete a sweet substance that is largely sought 

 after by the bees. I have seen them work on it from morning 

 to night. 



6. The aster is a pretty certain honey-yielder — rarely fails 

 to do its duty. 



