308 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



With Replies tbereto. 



[It iB quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

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

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 tbem ; get them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the Journal. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Wintering Bees nnder a Kitclien. 



Query 418.— Mr. A wants to try winter- 

 ing his bees in his cellar, which communicates, by 

 astairway. with the kitchen above. 1. Will it be 

 in any way a detriment to the health of his family 

 to have hi's bees in the cellar? 2. How large a 

 room must be partitioned off for 3" colonies P 3. 

 Will it beany benefit to whitewash the room before 

 putting in the bees?— H. D. ti.. Pa. 



1. No. 2. 10x10x6 feet. 3. Yes.— 



J. P. 11. BltOWN. 



1. It might prove to be a sad affair. 

 2 Large euough to contain them ; 

 and larger for future wants.— C. W. 

 Dayton. 



1. No. 2. Ten or twelve feet square 

 will do 3. It would if there was a 

 baa odor in the cellar.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. I think not. 2. Large enough to 

 get them in handily. 3. I thmk not. 

 — W. Z. Hutchinson. 



1. I think not. 2. It will depend 

 upon the size of the hives. 3. It will 

 be no detriment to whitewash it.— H. 

 D. Cutting. 



1. I should say not, but 1 am not 

 posted on hygiene. 2. 1 should not 

 partition it off at all, as the whole 

 cellar is as good if the temperature is 

 right. 3. I do not see why it would. 



— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



If the bees are kept dry and in good 

 health, I should have no fears of 

 their presence under the kitchen 

 doing any harm.— G. W. Demareb. 



1 No, if decentventilation is given. 

 2. As large as will allow of storage, 

 depending upon the size of the hives. 

 8 It is always a beneht, sanitarially, 

 to whitewash a cellar.— J. E. Pond. 



1 No. 2. Let him put the bees in, 

 and partition the space afterwards 

 with a heavy curtain, old carpets or 

 anything. 3. It will not injure, but 

 it is not of any particular benefit.- 

 Dad ANT & Son. 



1 No, if the air in the cellar is good 

 as it ought to be for the bees. 2. It 

 depends upon the size of the hives. 

 I should want it large euough so that 

 when the hives are piled up, I could 

 get at the front of each. 3. I think it 

 might.— C. C. Miller. 



1 No. 2. I cannot say. It de- 

 nends The temperature must be kept 

 at 45^ Fahr. 3. No.-A. J. Cook. 



1 It would to some, but probably 

 not to him, as there are very few per- 

 sons who are injured by breathing 

 the odor from bees. 2. Two or three 

 times as large as the space occupied 

 by the hives. 3. I guess it would not 



do any harm or good to the bees. — 

 James Heddon. 



1. Probably not, if ventilated. 2. 

 Hives vary in size ; a sure plan would 

 be to put in the bees first, and then 

 partition them off ; but why not have 

 it large enough for future increase ? 

 3. Any cellar may be whitewashed to 

 advantage, but so far as the bees are 

 concerned, it would make no differ- 

 ence.— The Editor. 



DiyiiiinE Colonies— Locating tlie Qneen, 



Query 419 — In dividing colonies for in- 

 crease, or building up colonies in tiie spring, on 

 the evening before transferring a frame or frames 

 from hive to hive, should 1 place such in an empty 

 body over the centre or side of the brood-nest, and 

 leave them there all ni^ht, and put them in other 

 hives before 9 o'clock in the morning? Would I 

 be in danger of taking queens along ? 2. What is 

 the situn of the queen in a hive, or on what frames 

 may she be found at dilferent times of the day ?— 

 W. B., Iowa. 



1. No. Whyy 2. There is no rule 

 as for that.— James Heddon. 



1. Some, but very little. 2. There 

 is no rule. Some queens are easily 

 disturbed, and when disquieted they 

 often pass rapidly from one to another. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



1, No. 2. In the morning when it 

 is cool, the queen will usually be on 

 one of the middle frames of the 

 brood-nest ; but in the afternoon 

 when warmer, she is oftener on one 

 of the outside frames.— J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



I would rather make the colonies in 

 the evening than in the morning. 

 Your plan is too much bother for me. 

 Find the queen, then you will know 

 where she is. That is my rule.— C. 

 W. Datton. 



It is always easy to find queens in 

 dividing colonies, and to place them 

 where wanted. The queen will nearly 

 always be found on the frames of 

 brood. It is even rare to find her on 

 the sealed honey of a brood-comb. If 

 the hive is carefully opened, always 

 look for her first on the combs in 

 which eggs are seen.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. l^ou would be in danger of mak- 

 ing a complete failure of the whole 

 business. 2. When you make a busi- 

 ness of producing honey on business 

 principles, you will not care on what 

 frame she is just at each particular 

 moment.— II. D. Cutting. 



1. I hardly know what you would 

 gain by so doing. It woiiid depend 

 upon existing conditions whether the 

 queeu might be on one of the frames. 

 2. 1 do not know in what part of the 

 brood-nest to look for a queen.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



1. Y''ourbest way would be to find 

 the queen, for she might not leave the 

 frame by your proposed plan, and by 

 using it the brood might be in danger 

 of being chilled. 2. From 10 a.m. to 

 4 p.m. the queen is usually on one of 

 the outside combs of brood, but not 

 always.— G. M. Doolittle. 



1. I do not understand the object of 

 leaving the frames in such a position 

 over night. Queens must be looked 

 up before removing the frame. 2. I 

 have seen it stated that the queen 



made the circuit of the brood-nest 

 once in 24 hours, and at such and 

 such hours, she migit be found in 

 such and such places. I have never 

 noticed anything of the kind.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



1. I can see no reason for so doing. 

 My advice is to adopt the nucleus 

 plan of increase ; the plan I made 

 public some years ago, and which I 

 believe is now generally used for 

 increase. By that plan the maximum 

 both of honey-gathering and brood- 

 rearing is constantly kept up ; this 

 cannot be done by ordinary division. 

 2. This is one of those impracticable 

 questions that "no feller" can an- 

 swer. Ordinarily she will be found 

 on or near empty cells.— J. E. Pond. 



1. Before removing frames of brood 

 with adhering bees, I first look up the 

 queen so as to make no mistakes. 

 When I divide a colony with the view 

 of making a new colony of one of the 

 divisions, I do the work early in the 

 morning, and at once. When select- 

 ing combs to make nuclei, or new 

 colonies, I take such as out of which 

 the young bees are cutting or hatch- 

 ing, as we say, in great numbers ; in 

 this lies the secret of forming nuclei 

 or new colonies. I confine the bees 

 to their new quarters the first day, 

 releasing them just after sunset. 2. 

 It depends upon the condition of the 

 brood-nest. She will ordinarily be 

 found wherever her duty leads her. 

 If I always knew the precise condi- 

 tion of the brood-nest, I could guess 

 pretty well where she might or might 

 not be.— G. W. Demaree. 



1. No. 2. Any one can guess, but 

 no one knows. When you find the 

 queen, you will know where she was 

 each time, and probably not twice in 

 the same place.— The Editor. 



NnmliBr Of Frames for Comli Honey. 



Query 420.— How many frames of the 

 Gallup size would be best for producing comb 

 honey, where the honey harvest continues from 

 the last of May until the last of July, with gen- 

 erally a fall crop ?— B., Iowa. 



Nine frames— G. L. Tinker. 



About 12.— J. P. H. Brown. 



About 9 in the spring, or before 

 swarminer ; and 5 or 6 after.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



I have never used the Gallup frame, 

 but I should think about 9 frames.— 

 H. D. Cutting. 



I use 9, and consider them ample 

 for any locality. VVith new swarms I 

 use only 5 — G. M. Doolittle. 



We say 13 or 14 frames. Make your 

 hives the same size as Doolittle's. 

 See his pamphlet on " The Hive I 

 Use."— Dadant & Son. 



Ten until the harvest begins ; 4 

 during the harvest; and 10 after the 

 harvest, is my practice. — C. W. 

 Dayton. 



Twelve frames before swarming, 

 and 6 afterwards, as a rule. Comb 

 honey production without the con- 

 traction system, would be to me like 

 the play of "Othello" with Othello 

 left out.— James Heddon. 



