404 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Wltb Replies tbereto. 



^.-^—.—.-f—i - r— > -1 — rri t — ^ I caused the bees to become excited at 

 CqJ I , J M I _t\. _L M I 1^3 a time when too little ventilation was 



given.— J. E. Pond. 



My experience with the Alley drone 

 and queen trap has shown it to be a 

 valuable invention. In the case men- 

 tioned, the hive had not sufficient 

 ventilation, which the beekeeper 

 should have perceived, and remedied 

 when the trap was placed over the 

 entrance of the hive.— G. L. Tinker. 



pt is quite ueeleBS to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 ttirn, 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 

 space for them in the Journal. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Experience w itti tlie Drone-Traii. 



Query 436.— What has been your experi- 

 ence with the Alley drone and queen-trap? Last 

 season I put one at the entrance of a box-hive. and 

 at night 1 found the bees all outside, and the comb 

 all broken down in the top of the hive. I trans- 

 ferred them to a Simplicity hive, and they have 

 done well, filling up the hive, and also another of 

 the same size on top.— W, C New York. 



We do not use drone traps.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



I have had little experience with it, 

 none of which has been like yours, 

 however.— G. M. Doolittle. 



All traps of this kind have objec- 

 tions, but very often as a choice of 

 evils they have to be resorted to.— J. 

 F. H. Brown. 



I have never used a drone-trap. The 

 way in which you used it may have 

 interfered with the proper ventilation 

 of the hive.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I have used it with the best of re- 

 sults. It must be used with judg- 

 ment, and not become filled, tor if 

 allowed to do so like results will 

 happen.— H. D. Cutting. 



I have used the Alley drone and 

 queen trap, and a somewhat similar 

 one made by myself of perforated 

 zinc, with entire success. The bees 

 were not disturbed by it, and they 

 seemed to work as well as when it 

 was absent.— A. J. Cook. 



I have had them in use only a short 

 time, so that I can say but little from 

 experieuce. As yet, no such bad re- 

 sults have occurred from the six I 

 have in use.— C. C. Miller. 



I have examined Alley's drone and 

 queen trap, and can give no reasons 

 why it will not do all he claims for it. 

 Still, I have not tested it in a practi- 

 cal way. I have found the perforated 

 zinc so useful in the apiary, and have 

 used it to good advantage in so many 

 ways, that I have no doubt but the 

 Alley arrangement will work well in 

 the hands of a person who knows how 

 to use it. I have no doubt but you 

 smothered your bees in your tight box 

 hive until they were compelled to 

 leave the hive or perish.— G. W. 

 Demaree. 



I have used Alley's drone and queen 

 trap to some extent since it was first 

 made, and it has worked well with 

 me in every instance. I think well of 

 it, not only to prevent swarming by 

 confining the queen, but also as a 

 means of selection of drones for mat- 

 ing purposes when rearing queens. 

 In the case mentioned above the 

 probability that the use of the trap 



The fault must have been in the 

 way you used it. As the bees were 

 "all outside," it shows that the ven- 

 tilation was interfered with by its 

 use in some way.— The Editor. 



Bees Reareil in Old Comlis, 



Query 43T.— Can bees develop perfectly 

 and afterwards make as perfect bees reared in 

 " combs 15 or 20 years old," as some claim to have 

 them ? This query alludes to Query 409.— Califor- 

 nia. 



Practically, they can.— C. W. Day- 

 ton. 



As far Hs I have been able to dis- 

 cover, they can.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I find them to develop perfectly, 

 and but a little smaller than those 

 reared in new comb. — J. P.H.Brown. 



I have no combs so old, but bees 

 hatched in those 12 years old, seem as 

 perfect as those reared in new combs. 

 — W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I have never noticed any difference 

 between bees reared in such old 

 combs, and those reared in new ones. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



Yes, I have seen bees of the normal 

 size reared in combs that were 30 

 years old. After bees emerge from 

 the cells it is several days before they 

 attain their full size.— G. L. Tinker. 



We think that any cell in which 

 the queen can introduce her abdomen 

 and lay eggs, is large enough to rear 

 worker-bees. When the cells are 

 really too old, she does not lay in 

 them.— Dadant & Son. 



They have in our apiary. I have 

 combs now in use that were in use in 

 1878, surely, and I see no objection to 

 them as brood-combs.— A. J. Cook. 



According to my experience and 

 observation, yes. I have seen bees 

 hatched from very small cells that 

 looked to be under the usual size 

 when they first emerge from the cells, 

 but in two or three days they were as 

 large as other bees of the satoe strain. 

 Still I doubt if it is good policy to use 

 such combs as long as comb founda- 

 tion can be had at reasonable prices. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



1 must answer yes, from my own 

 experience. I have some combs in 

 my bee-yard that are 19 years old, 

 and I see no difference in quality or 

 size of the bees reared in them from 

 those reared in comb only a year old. 

 The cocoon-lining left in the cells is 

 so minutely thin as to be hardly per- 

 ceptible. Perhaps comb -50 years old 

 might bring out smaller bees than is 

 usual ; but where shall we find comb 

 of that age ?— J. E. Pond. 



Yes.— The Editor. 



Natnral Swaraing and Dnsealeil Honey. 



-I 



Query 438.— 1. Will bees swarm naturally 

 without unsealed honey in the brood-chamber ? 2. 

 Will they uncap old honey to swarmon ?— A. F., 

 Oalif. 



1. Sometimes. 2. Y'es.— C. W. Day 

 ton. 



1. I never knew them to do so. 2. 

 They do not swarm unless honey is 

 being stored ; hence there is no neces- 

 sity for uncapping old stores.— W. Z. • 

 Hutchinson. J 



1. I do not think bees will swarm ^ 

 naturally without unsealed honey, 

 2. They will, provided circumstances 

 compel them to swarm. — H. D. 

 Cutting. 



I have yet to see a brood-chamber 

 with brood and bees in it without un- 

 sealed honey, unless the bees are in a 

 starving condition. — G. M. Doolit- 

 tle. 



1. In my experience they have not. 

 Bees only swarm for me after a honey- 

 flow begins, when there will be more 

 or less new honey in the combs.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



A hive that contains sealed honey 

 also has some cells unsealed, and a 

 swarm may issue naturally, without 

 apparently any unsealed honey in the 

 combs. Bees, before leaving as a 

 swarm, always fill themselves with 

 honey, and if they find not sufficient 

 uncapped, they will resort to the 

 sealed.— J. P. H. Brown. 



I think they usually have quite an 

 amount of unsealed honey. They 

 always do when breeding rapidly, and 

 they should be breeding rapidly at 

 the swarming time.— A. J. Cook. 



1. A prime swarm is not likely to 

 come off at any time when honey is 

 not yielding, and at such time there 

 will always, I should think, be un- 

 sealed honey present. Still, there is 

 no telling what bees may do. 2. I 

 should think they might, but I am 

 only guessing.— C. C. Miller. 



Bees will swarm when the fit seizes 

 them, sure. As to the particular 

 point inquired about, I have had no 

 experiuce. I think, though, that as a 

 rule, unsealed honey will be found in 

 the hive a swarm issues from, as 

 they usually swarm during a honey- 

 flow. I have caused swarms to issue 

 by pouring warm honey or syrup into 

 the hive on top of the frames with a 

 sprinkler.— J. E. Pond. 



As a rule they do not, but there are 

 exceptions to this rule, as well as to 

 most other rules, I presume. I have 

 had bees to swarm after the honey 

 season had been over long enough to 

 have no sealed honey in the hive ex- 

 cept the daily supply of uncapped 

 honey always on hand ; but such 

 swarms is the result of a determined 

 effort to supersede the queen, and 

 such swarms will sting everything in 

 sight, because most of the swarms go 

 out empty. If only a few bees in a 

 swarm go out empty, they will be 

 cross when hiving them. 2. I have 

 never known them to cuncap honey to 

 carry it away when swarming in the 

 natural way.— G. W. Demaree. 



