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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURTI^AL 



^Vltli Replies thereto. 



[It is quite ueeleBS 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 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 ■pace for them in the Journal. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Eo.l 



MBerfect Comlis in Sections, 



Qnery 424.— While taking ofE honey last 

 fall, I noticed that quite a large percentage of the 

 narrow sections hart imperfect combs.caused by the 

 bottom of the sheet of foundation warping out of 

 the center of the section so far that one side 

 would not be drawn out. thus causing a bad look- 

 ing comb. How can this be prevented ?—S. M., 

 Mich. 



By not giving the bees too many 

 sections at a time.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



Use V-shaped pieces of foundation. 

 — C. W. Dayton. 



That is just what I want to Itnow. — 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I cannot tell, for I never have any 

 such work in my supers.— Jambs 

 Hbddon. 



Avoid crowding the ends of the 

 foundation, and place the sections 

 plumb on the hive. — J. P. H. Bkown. 



You should never fill your sections 

 down to the bottom with foundation. 

 The thin grades of foundation in- 

 variably stretch a little, and thus 

 caused your trouble. Read " A Year 

 Among the Bees " on this subject.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



By using a V-shaped starter with 

 separators. Some use with the best 

 of success starters put in this way— 

 X, fastened at the top and bottom of 

 the section.— H. D. Cutting. 



Strong colonies, a full honey-flow, 

 and not too much surplus room are 

 pretty good preventives. A starter 

 of foundation at the bottom as well as 

 at the top of the section will also help. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



By using starters of foundation in- 

 stead of full sheets. Then do not use 

 narrow sections even with open sides. 

 Bees store too much pollen in narrow 

 sections, even if they were otherwise 

 desirable. I gave up my favored 

 system of continuous passage-ways 

 on that account. After a large ex- 

 perience, both with and without sep- 

 arators, I can say nothing favorable 

 of narrow sections.— G. L. Tinker. 



It is possible the foundation was 

 imperfect, by the cells being heavier 

 on one side than the other. A dozen 

 reasons might be given for the trouble; 

 all of which might be wrong. One 

 trouble with the queries sent to this 

 department is, that too little data is 

 given to enable an intelligent answer 

 fo be made. All the facts should be 

 known, and even then the answers 

 may be all " guess-work."— J. E. 

 Pond. 



I never had such an experience as 

 you mention. If the sheets of foun- 

 dation are fastened in the sections, so 

 as to swing clear of the sides and 

 bottoms of the sections,nothing would 

 produce the effect you- describe but 

 an unlevel hive, unless the colony 

 was so weak in numbers that they 

 could occupy only one side of the 

 sheets at a time, and by the weight of 

 the honey press the combs out of 

 position. The latter is hardly prob- 

 able. You may never see the like 

 again.— G. W. Demaree. 



Give less room for surplus at one 

 time ; and either give the bees tri- 

 angular pieces of foundation, or leave 

 J^-inch space at the bottom.— The 

 Editor. 



Mice in Hives in Winter. 



Query 425.— My bees winterlnpr on the 

 summer stands are troubled by mice. What can 

 be done to prevent this ?— W. M. B.. New Yorlt. 



Try poison.- C. C. Miller. 



Use perforated zinc. Or else re- 

 duce the size of the opening by the 

 use of wire-gauze. — A. J. Cook. 



Make the entrances so small that 

 the mice cannot enter. — W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



Never have the entrance over % of 

 an inch wide, and mice will not 

 trouble you.— H. D. Cutting. 



We make our hive entrances only % 

 of an inch deep, and avoid all trouble 

 from this cause. — Dadant & Son. 



Use perfect hives with a %-inch 

 entrance protected by metal.— C. W. 

 Dayton. 



Tack tin up in front of the entrance 

 with slots cut in large enough to ad- 

 mit the bees, but not the mice. — J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



Use tin or other metal to contract 

 the entrances so that the bees can get 

 out, but a mouse cannot get in.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



Contract the entrances of the hives 

 to such capacity that bees, but not 

 mice, can pass. If they gnaw their 

 way in, use metal (tin) contractors. — 

 James Heddon. 



I have had trouble with these little 

 pests for two or three winters past. 

 The only remedy I know of is to 

 make the entrance so narrow that the 

 mice cannot get into the hive. A 

 strip of tin or of wood fitted over the 

 entrance keeps them out for me.— G. 

 W. Demaree. 



There is a field-mouse a little larger 

 than the common house-mouse that 

 is very fond of bees. The house- 

 mouse will also eat them, but is 

 sometimes stung to death, as I have 

 seen. I use very large entrances, but 

 would use wire-cloth guards if 

 troubled by the field-mouse, removing 

 them whenever the bees could fly.— 

 G. L. Tinker. 



The remedy is simple enough, but 

 the question reminds me of " Pat " 

 when helping to build a " railroad " 

 fence. A piece of board was found to 

 be too " long inthirely," and poor Pat 

 says ; " What shall I do wid it V Shure 



an if it was too short I cud sploice it." 

 The simple remedy is to make the 

 entrance too small for the mice to get 

 in ; bees can go where mice can every 

 time, but mice cannot go where bees 

 can. I suppose the story of the cat 

 and kittens of the Poet Watts is 

 familiar, so I won't tell it, though 

 apropos.— J . E. Pond. 



Make the entrances to the hives 

 only % of an inch deep ; if they gnaw 

 the wood to get in, use tin contrac- 

 tors.— The Editor. 



Sunerseding Queens. 



Query 426.— 1. How old ought I to allow 

 queens to become before superseding ? 2. What 

 is the most approved method of superseding ? 3. 

 What time should it be done ? I know how 

 queens are reared, but I do not know how to keep 

 them so as to be rea^y for an emergency.— H, R., 

 New York. 



1. About two years. Some queens 

 are good for a longer time. 2. Intro- 

 ducing young laying queens. 3. The 

 best time is in the spring.— J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



1. Let the bees attend to that. 2. 

 The bees do it best. 3. Queens are 

 most often superseded in July and 



August.— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. Leave that to the bees, so long as 

 the queens do well. 2. Remove the 

 old queen and cage the new one (or a 

 time. 3. It is easy to keep queens in 

 nuclei. — A. J. Cook. 

 ' I am not sure whether it is best to 

 leave the whole matter to the bees 

 themselves, or to replace, each two 

 years, the old queen at or a little be- 

 ifore the close or the honey harvest.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



1. As old as the bees will tolerate 

 before they supersede them. 2. Let 

 the bees do it in most instances. 3. 

 At that time of the year when rearing 

 or introducing, or both, succeed well 

 in your locality.— James Heddon. 



1. The bees will usually attend to 

 the " superseding " without our inter- 

 ference. 2. Remove the old queen, 

 and 4 days after insert a ripe queen- 

 cell. Thirty-five days before the close 

 of the honey harvest.— C. W.Dayton. 



]. Three years. 2. It is best to let 

 the bees do the superseding, unless 

 one is an expert at queen-rearing. 3. 

 During a flow of honey. Queens may 

 be kept in nuclei until needed, and in 

 nursery cages in full colonies for a 

 few weeks.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. There is really no rule that could 

 fix this matter. Some queens are bet- 

 ter at 3 years old than others are at 

 one year old, and this fact makei any 

 fixed rule out of the queition. 2. I 

 prefer to leave the bees to do their 

 own superseding. 3. I keep spare 

 queens in small nuclei, and make the 

 nuclei pay expenses by building some 

 nice worker comb*. — G. W.Demaree. 



I am doubtful about the advisa- 

 bility of superseding. Were I to 

 practice it, I should supersede by 

 killing the old queen after the honey 

 harvest of the second year of her life, 

 and introducing a young fertile queen. 

 Possibly it might be advisable to in- 



