116 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



HVitb Keplles thereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Qieriea in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They ha™ '». ^^" *^f ^ 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each ot those who answer 

 them : get them returned, and then find 

 Bpace tor them in the Journal. If you are 

 in a " hurry " for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be Inserted here.— Ed.1 



Building 1 Colonies in Siiring. 



anew. No. 377.— What method do you 

 pursue in the arrangement of the combs in 

 the brood-chamber in building up colonies 

 in the spring ? In other words, in spreadi ng 

 the brood do you pay any attention to the 

 relative position ot combs containing bee- 

 bread, witb those containing eggs or hatch- 

 ing larviB y If so. how do you arrange^thera 

 when putting in the extra combs t—VI.C., ill. 



I simply add frames as needed, 

 placing them next to the brood.— A. 

 J. Cook. 



Move the combs outward and put 

 an empty comb in the centre. Leave 

 the pollen where it belongs, on the 

 outside frames.— Dadant & Son. 



I aim to have the combs containing 

 the least amount of brood on the out- 

 side, and that usually Includes the 

 combs containing pollen. — 0. VV. 

 Dayton. 



I do the most of my spring work in 

 the fall, before bees go into Winter 

 quarters. I pay no attention to the 

 bee-bread; the bees will attend to 

 that.— H. D. Cutting. 



I put the empty combs in the centre 

 of the brood-nest, which keeps the 

 bee-bread in the same relative posi- 

 tion to the brood as before. However, 

 I think it matters little where the bee- 

 bread is.— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



The combs to be added should be 

 placed between those having the most 

 sealed brood, and those having much 

 bee-bread kept close to those having 

 the most unsealed larvas. If the 

 colony is not very strong it is always 

 best to add the needed combs at the 

 side.— G. L. Tinker. 



By commencing at page U of" A 

 Year Among the Bees," you will see 

 that I do not do very much spreading, 

 and when extra combs are added they 

 are generally added outside the 

 brood-nest.— C. C. Miller. 



I do not " spread the brood," be- 

 cause I believe my bees build up more 

 rapidly by being allowed to follow 

 their own instincts, which leads them 

 to concentrate and pack closely the 

 brood in the early season. If the 

 brood-nest has been contracted, 1 

 simply add combs at the side of the 

 brood as fast as the bees can cover 

 them.— G. W . Demaree. 



If your colonies are in good condi- 

 tion, with plenty of stores, and with 

 prolific queens,the "let-alone method 

 you will find to work the best in the 

 end. Years ago, the "spreading 

 brood" furor consigned many colo- 



nies to the shades. In no cases 

 should the brood be spread fasier 

 than the bees can coverit. The frames 

 containing pollen should be placed on 

 the outer border of the brood-nest.— 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



I do not approve of the so-called 

 spreading of the brood in the spring. 

 If extra combs were needed early in 

 the spring, I would put them at the 

 side of the brood-nest ; later, if the 

 colony were storing, I would put the 

 comb's (not too many at a time) m the 

 centre of the brood-nest. Judgment 

 must be used in this matter. With a 

 sectional brood-chamber hive, the 

 brood-nest can be safely enlarged by 

 placing a section beneath that already 

 occupied.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I do not practice spreading brood. 

 With the brood-chamber made in two 

 horizontal sections, when the queen 

 needs more room I add the second 

 section below, which is in the direc- 

 tion the queen naturally extends her 

 brood- nest, but can have no tendency 

 to cool off the brood already in the 

 other halt of the brood-chamber.— 

 James Heddon. 



I do not think it will make any 

 real difference how the frames are 

 placed as regards the matter of bee- 

 bread I do not use the "spread- 

 ing " at all ; my plan being to build 

 up by adding frames of brood taken 

 from colonies that can spare them. 

 The main point with myself is to 

 keep the brood in the centre of the 

 cluster, so that it will have all the 

 heat possible.— J. E. Pond. 



Frames as needed can be placed in 

 the centre of the brood-nest, or at the 

 outside. "Spreading the brood" is 

 often disastrous, especially unless 

 practiced by an expert.— The Editor. 



Yes. If by width you mean depth, 

 I would say 13 inches ; but, then, such 

 a frame would be very inconvenient 

 to handle— too deep.— J .P. H. Brown. 



I have failed to see any advantage 

 from spacing brood-combs closer than 

 1% inches from centre to centre, and 

 I do not believe there exists any.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



It will make very close work, but if 

 everything is very true and straight 

 you may succeed with it. From % to 

 1 inch for the top-bar is the proper 

 width.— C. C. Miller. 



How large your brood-chamber 

 should be depends upon the style of 

 the hive, character of your location, 

 and your proposed plan or system of 

 management.— James Heddon. 



By shaving the combs to Ji of an 

 inch in thickness as advised by Mr. 

 J. E. Pond, 9 frames can be worked 

 in the space you mention, but the 

 combs should be wider apart for win- 

 tering. When combs are worked 

 " close " to crowd the honey out of 

 the brood-chamber into the surplus 

 cases, it is handy to work a division- 

 board at one side of the hive to facili- 

 tate the removing of the combs, when 

 there is a necessity for removing 

 them.— G. W. Demaree. 



I think it would be impossible to so 

 work, as great difficulty would be 

 found in removing and replacing the 

 frames. I am in favor of working 

 with %-inch wide frames, spaced just 

 bee-space apart. I work 10 frames in 

 a M}i-iTich wide Langstroth hive, 

 and use a dummy to fill in the extra 

 space. This allows me, by removing 

 the dummy first, to take out and re- 

 place frames with ease to myself and 

 safety to the bees.— J. E. Pond. 



Nnmlier of Frames in a HiTe, 



Query, No. 378.— Will it do to work 9 

 frames in a bee-hive only 1114 inches wide, 

 inside measure ? If so, what would be the 

 proper width ot the frames ?— H. 



Seven-eighths of an inch would be 

 the proper width.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



No. Such a hive should not contain 

 over 8 frames.— Dadant & Son. 



I use 133^ inches for 9 frames, and I 

 prefer it to any other distance. I do 

 not think that you would be success- 

 ful with the distance you propose.— 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



You can get the 9 frames in the 

 ni4 inches, with a Jg-inch frame, but 

 it will be close work. It will give 

 you better satisfaction to use 8 

 frames.— H. D. Cutting. 



I should prefer only eight. Nine 

 would necessitate too much crowd- 

 ing. 1 always have my frames % of 

 an inch wide.— A. J. Cook. 



I have never tried 9 frames in llj^ 

 inches. Seven frames in 9 inches 

 worked well when they hung very 

 true. They did not always hang true, 

 so the bees occasionally removed the 

 brood and cells from the side of a 

 comb.— C. W. Dayton. 



The proper width of brood-frames 

 is % of an inch. From centre to cen- 

 tre it should not be less than 1% 

 inches.— The Editor. 



Tin-Rests in Sumlns Cases. 



Oncry, No. 379.— What are the pb.1ec- 

 tions, if any, to the use of tin rests, folded 

 T-shape, for supports to the sections in sur- 

 plus cases ?— J. R., Ind. 



If made properly out of heavy tin- 

 plate I see no objections to them.— J. 

 P. H. B140WN. 



They are very good.— Dadant & 

 Son. 



I do not know of any— A. J. Cook. 



I do not know of any serious ob- 

 jection if the supers are made right. 

 See page 38 of " A Year Among the 

 Bees."— C. C. Miller. 



The obection to T-staped tin-rests 

 with me would be that it leaves a 

 space between the sections, and could 

 not well be used with side-opening 

 sections.— G. L. Tinker. 



The only objection of any account 

 that I know of, is that the sections 

 will be lafgely covered with propolis, 

 and require a vast amount of labor to 

 properly clean them. This, to me, 

 has been a serious objection, and has 

 prevented me from using such sup- 

 ports.— J. E. Pond. 



