538 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. S2, 



CONDUCTED BY 



OR. O. C. MIKLIiK. MA.REKGO, ILI^. 



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



Hiving a Swarm that Settled on the Grass. 



Please tell how to hive a swariu of bees that has fettled 

 Iti the grass. J. S. Y. 



Answer. — The handipst thing in the world. Jiist set a 

 hive on tlie ground near them, or over them, and let them run 

 into it. If they don't K ) in fast enough to suit you, blow a 

 little smoke on them. 



Five-Banded Queen and Black Drone. 



Will a 5-bandpd golden Italian queen, mated to a, black 

 drone, produce all 3-banded bees? If so, will they pass for 

 pure Italians ? P. W. 



Answer. — I don't think you would find such uniformity, 

 but would likely find the offspring varying from very yellow to 

 black. 



Variations of the Lang'stroth Frames. 



I have 12 8-frame hives that I bought, all one size ; they 

 are the pattern that was used here some years ago, and they 

 winter bees well. 



1. What is the name of a frame 15 inches long and 103^ 

 deep, wiih V-shaped top-bar for comb foundation ? 



2. Wliere can they be obtained '? J. E. T. 

 Orleans, Mich. 



Answer. — I don't know. There are so many variations of 

 the Laugstroth frame it would be hard to keep track of them 

 all. 



m — ■ ^1 



Sweet and Crimson Clovers. 



1. When is the right time to sow sweet clover seed, and 

 how much per acre? 



2. Is crimson clover a success for bee-men ? 

 Gracey, Ky. J. G. N. 



Answers. — 1. Sweet clover can be sown as thickly as red 

 clover, although half as much seed will do, and it can be sown 

 at the same time. Possibly it may do best to be sown in llie 

 fall, on hard ground, where it will be trodden In by horses or 

 cows. 



2. Crimson clover has hardly a settled reputation as yet, 

 but the claim is made for it that it is a fine honey-plant. 



Ijaying-Workers Again. 



On July 5 a little girl here found a swarm of bees on a 

 bush, and put them into a nail-keg. On the 16th I bought 

 them of bpr, and put them into i^^ew hive with foundation in 

 four frames. Upon traiisferring'them I found that they had 

 comb enough built to contain five or six pounds of honey, and 

 about half of it filled, and some with bee-bread, but not a 

 sign of an egg anywhere. 1 looked tliern over carefully, and 

 could not find a queen, but found a bee that looked something 

 like a small drone— a very large worker, with wings very 

 ragged on the ends and edges, and seemed to be nuable to By 

 much. I called it a drone, ar.d immediately sent for a queen, 

 and she came on the 19ih ; I introduced her in the regular 

 way. 



This morning 1 watched them, and th'-y seemed to be at 

 work, bringing both lioney and pollen. This afternoon being 

 48 hours after introducii.g, 1 thought I would see what she 

 was doing, and found they had hardly begun to let her out, so 

 I thought 1 would examine the frames an<l see what lliey were 

 doing below. Imagine my surprise at finding a great many 

 half-drawn-out cells with eggs in them, some with one, some 

 with two and three apiece. On one side of one frame was a 

 cell that I should call a queeucell, with three eggs in it, and 

 on the opposite side a cluster of three nearly as large, but not 

 hanging out as prominent, all containing from one to three 

 eggs. Then I thought of my (so-called) "drone," aud my 



wife and I looked the frames and whole hive over very care- 

 fully, and could not find " him," so I placed the cage back on 

 the frames aud left them. 



Now this thought occurred to me : Could it be possible 

 that the queen, in tlie cage is laying, and the workers are de- 

 positing the eggs In the cells ? Was such a thing ever heard of ? 



The colony has been dwindling away since they were 

 caught, and I liave thought I should give them brood-frames 

 from another hive as soon as they ac.iept the queen all right. 

 The eggs are deposited In the cells very irregularly, some on 

 end, some leaning to one side, and some flat on their sides. I 

 shall wati'h them with a great deal of interest, aud would like 

 you to give me what information aud advice you can. 



A.MATEDB. 



Answer. — Your colony contains those troublesome pests 

 — laying-workers — and if you fail in successfully introdin-ing 

 the queen, as I am afraid you may. probably the best thing 

 you can do is tofcreak up the colony. If anxious to preserve 

 it, however, give it a frame of brood. If you have a young 

 queen just hatched, it will probably accept that. 



Renewing Foundation in Brood-Frames. 



How often would you supply foundation to brood-frames ? 

 How would you proceed ? Subbcribkb. 



Answrr. — I'd supply it once for the lifetime of that 

 frame. In that case, of course, it would be nothing but the 

 ordinary fastening of foundation in the frame. Your ques- 

 tion sounds a little as if you thought it necessary occasionally 

 to renew the comb in whole or part. I don't believe that's 

 necessary. 



Feeding Back Comb Honey. 



Can 



I have a lot of comb honey taken out of a box-hive. 

 I feed it to the bees to help fill up sections ? If so, how ? 



H. 



Answer — I doubt if you can do so profitably. If It was 

 mine, I'd eat the chunk honey, or sell it for a less price. If 

 you try it at all, perhaps you better get th" honey out of the 

 comb and dilute it considerably. But the best plan is not to 

 try it. 



Queen at the Hive-Entrance. 



I have just returned from a walk in my apiary. While 

 among the hives I saw among the bees, on the alighting-board 

 at the entrance of a hive, a large, yellow, Italian queen. The 

 bees were blacks, and the queen looked very showy among 

 them. About two weeks ago there hatched in this hive a yel- 

 low queen from a cell given from an Italian queen. At that 

 time they had no queen. Now what did this mean ? The 

 bees seemed to be excited, and following her around. After 

 crawling around this way awliile she went back into the hive, 

 and did not come out again wliile 1 watched.* Was this the 

 queen that belonged to that hive, or was it one from some 

 other? If it was the queen from some other hive, what was 

 she doing there ? Why did not the bees kill her? If it was 

 the queen that belonged to that hive, what was she doing 

 there ? P. A. 



Answer — Hard to tell whether she belonged to the hive 

 or not. If siie belonged to the hive, she may have been out on 

 her wedding fligiit. as that is sometimes delayed. If she be- 

 longed to some other hive, and Hew iliere by mistake, the bees 

 probably did kill her. But they don't always pounce on a 

 queen aud kill her as they do a robber, but let her go perhaps 

 for a time aud then ball her. 



• ^ 



Caging Queens During a Honey-Flow — Best Hive 

 Begin Bee-Keeping. 



1. Do you approve o'. and do many of your leading api- 

 arists practice, caging the queen during a honey-flow ? 



2. What are the advantages to be gained ? A !/re«tii/ In- 

 creased surplus? 



8. And what the disadvantaees ? 



4. Could the queen be contiijed in a Benton cage? And 

 must a f-w other bees be in the cage with her ? 



5. If you — an experienced apiarist — had been some time 

 out of the business, aud were about tostart bee-keeping, what 

 sort of hive would you adopt — the divisional brood -chamber. 



I 



