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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



CS^XJEPLIES 



Wltb Replies thereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 tlian one month. They have to wait their 

 torn, 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 ask for 

 them to be inserted here. — Ed.1 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



Query 459.-Last year I took off the 



honey in the cases in September, and some that 

 was partly filled I left on,tbinkinp:thattbe honey- 

 flow might last to fill them, and business hindered 

 me from getting them olT nntil the last of October. 

 The bees had the diarrhea badly in the spring. 

 They were put into the cellar about Dec. 1, and 

 taken out about April 10. Those not disturbed in 

 October were free from diarrhea. How will it do 

 when the flow of honey is about over, to take off 

 the supers and put on empty frames in the middle 

 or at the outside of the brood-nest, so as to avoid 

 opening the hive again until next spring, being 

 sure they have plenty ot stores to carry them 

 through the winter 7-J. M., Illinois. 



It was Dot the October disturbance 

 that caused the diarrhea.— Dadant 



&SON. 



Your plan is perfectly feasible.— J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



Try it and report through the Bee 

 Journal.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I prefer to prepare bees for winter 

 as early as possible, and not disturb 

 them again.— H. D. Cutting. 



I fail to see the object of placing 

 empty frames in the centre or outside 

 of the brood-nest at the close of the 

 honey season.- W. Z. Hutchinson. 



The plan will probably work well, 

 only I would not put empty frames in 

 the brood-nest.— C. C. Miller. 



Sometimes it seems that October 

 disturbing of bees tends to cause 

 winter diarrhea. Again, this same 

 disturbance produces no such effect. 

 — Jasies Heddon. 



Any plan will work well that will 

 insure a sufficiency of sealed stores, 

 say 30 pounds, in such a position th»t 

 the bees can get at and appropriate 

 it. I should judge that the plan in- 

 dicated would not insure this, and 

 should hesitate about adopting it for 

 myself.— J. E. Pond. 



In this locality bees begin to clus- 

 ter about the middle of October, after 

 which time it is not best to disturb 

 them by taking honey or opening the 

 hives. The plan suggested, or any 

 other that will avoid disturbing the 

 bees will be good. But bees may be 

 quietly packed out-of-doors or carried 

 into the cellar at any time without 

 doing them harm.— G. L. Tinker. 



If your bees had a chance to fly out 

 frequently, after you removed the 

 combs, the last of October, I cannot 

 see bow that could have injured 

 them; but the plan you suggest I 

 think is a good one, anyway, if you 

 can be sure that the bees have plenty 

 of good sealed stores for winter. 

 There is nothing like an abundance 

 of good sealed stores when it comes 

 to wintering, and getting bees ready 

 for the early honey harvest in my 

 locality. Plenty of winter stores 



here beats all the wisest manipula- 

 tions that can be brought to bear in 

 my apiary. — G. W. Demakee. 



I always aim to prepare my bees for 

 winter as soon after the first Septem- 

 ber frost as possible. For winter I 

 give five Langstroth, or six to eight 

 Gallup frames at once, and remove 

 all others as soon as the brood is all 

 developed, usually in early October. 

 Then put in a division-board and 

 cover the bees warmly.— A. J. Cook. 



The October disturbance may not 

 have caused the trouble. Prepare the 

 bees for winter in September (after 

 the first frost), and then leave them 

 undisturbed. Empty frames are un- 

 desirable anywhere in the brood-nest. 

 —The Editor. 



Ants in tlie Honey-Room. 



Query 460.— What is the best plan to 

 keep little black ants out of a honey-room ?— Mich. 



Sprinkle in the openings and creases 

 pulverized borax and sulphur.— J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



Trap them with sweet, or destroy 

 their nest.— A. J. Cook. 



I know of no way of doing it except 

 to line the room with tin.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



We do it by proper building, with 

 close carpentering and good mason 

 work, and keeping everything clean 

 and tidy.— James Heddon. 



Kill them by feeding a mixture of 

 Fowler's solution of arsenic and 

 honey, placed near the nest of the 

 ants, but protected securely from the 

 approach of the bees.— G. L. Tinker. 



Use plenty of camphor-gum in small 

 cloth bags, laid around where the 

 ants go. Tansy (green) laid around 

 the honey-house is a great help.— H. 

 D. Cutting. 



Make the room so close that they 

 cannot enter. Failing in this, keep 

 the honey upon a platform, the sup- 

 ports of which rest in dishes contain- 

 ing kerosene oil.— W.Z.Hutchinson. 



I do not know. As many remedies 

 have been made known as there are 

 for a common cold, still the ants 

 come, again and again. Try kerosene 

 and powdered borax, pouring it into 

 their nests. By following them up 

 their homes can easily be found, and 

 there is the place to apply the treat- 

 ment.— J. E. Pond, 



It will be a good plan, if any who 

 have had successful experience in the 

 matter will minutely describe their 

 method of procedure. I have had 

 some experience in the house, and I 

 do not know whether the ants were 

 driven out by persistent trapping and 

 scalding, or whether they left of 

 themselves.— C. C. Miller. 



I have been worried this hot sum- 

 mer to the limits of indurance with 

 ants in my honey store-room. A 

 mixture of air-slacked lime and fine 

 salt strewed around next to the walls 

 of the room has helped matters de- 

 cidedly in my case. Dr. Ed. Drane, 

 of Eminence, Ky., I believe it was, 

 gave me this remedy. 1 believe this 



remedy would be entirely effective if 

 it was applied before the room was 

 taken possession of by the pests. But 

 when they once get possession of the 

 place, it is no little matter to get rid 

 of them entirely.— G. W. Demaree. 



Sprinkle powdered borax about the 

 hills, and scald the mounds with 

 boiling water.— The Editor. 



Holy Lani Bees and Italians. 



Query 461.— How do the Holy Land bees 

 compare with the Italians, in the production of 

 comb honey ?— Ohio. 



They are no better than Italians.— 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



They are not equal to the Italians. 

 —G.L. Tinker 



I have not had them long enough in 

 their purity to say which is best.— H. 

 D. Cutting. 



They compare poorly in this local- 

 ity. Some like them, but with me 

 they are the poorest bees I have ever 

 tried.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Italians are superior, especially so 

 in the matter of capping the honey, 

 and the German bees beat them all in 

 thii respect.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I have Syrian bees and like them 

 very much. They were a little cross 

 the first year, but not since. I think 

 them equal to Italians in all respects, 

 and superior in some. — A. J. Cook. 



From observation I should say that 

 they compare very unfavorably. I 

 have seen to it that none of the later- 

 day varieties of bees have been 

 brought into this vicinity. I believe 

 that all the varieties brought in since 

 the Italians, have been detrimental to 

 American bee-keeping.— J. Heddon. 



I have never tested them, and 

 know nothing of them save from re- 

 ports. From such reports I have 

 arrived at the conclusion that they 

 are better bees for queen-breeders, 

 than for those who are engaged in 

 gathering surplus honey.— J. E. Pond. 



I am not sure that I ever had the 

 Paleitine bees in their purity. Such 

 as I have tried are no improvement 

 on the Italians. All the yellow va- 

 rieties of bees are peculiarly adapted 

 to storing honey to be taken from the 

 comb with the extractor ; not because 

 the dark varieties of bees have su- 

 perior traits as comb-honey producers, 

 but because honey in the virgin comb 

 can only be profitably produced in an 

 extra good season, or an extra good 

 location, and any sort of bees can do 

 well under such circumstances. Both 

 the Palestines and Cyprian bees cap 

 their honey too thin, to make it white 

 and showy. According to my experi- 

 ence the Italians finish their honey 

 the finest of all bees.— G.W.Demaree. 



Some seven years ago we purchased 

 a ten-dollar imported Holy Land 

 queen, put her into a choice colony 

 of Italians in the Bee Journal Apiary, 

 and watched the results very closely. 

 We were obliged to admit that there 

 was no improvement over the Italians 

 in her progeny, and in a few months 

 we superseded her. We much prefer 

 the Italians.— The Editor. 



