548 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Witb Replies tbereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries In this Department In less time 

 tnan one month. They hare 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 

 space for them in the JouKNAii. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Manaiement of Excessive Increase. 



Query 462.— What would you do with 

 increase, natural or artificial (1 do not ask how to 

 prevent "swarming"), if bees were slow sale- 

 cheap 7-F. K. 



Work them for all they are worth.— 



H. D. CUTTIKG. 



Use every means to prevent increase, 

 and if necessary double up colonies.— 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



Keep the increase, and produce 

 honey ; that is what we do, and it 

 pays.— Chas. Dadant & Son. 



Use up the bees pretty well by con- 

 tracting the broodnest with a " ven- 

 geance ;" then either kill the few re- 

 maining bees, or unite them.— W. Z 

 Hutchinson. 



I should prevent it as far as pos- 

 sible, and get honey instead.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



Bees may be united in the month of 

 August to any extent desirable.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



Double up colonies near the com- 

 mencement of the clover bloom in 

 June, in this locality.— G. M, Doo- 



LITTLE. 



Keep the iucrease.if you desire more 

 colonies ; but if not, reduce it back 

 by a good, practical method, which is 

 too long to describe in this place. I 

 consider brevity of both questions aud 

 answers to constitute the soul and 

 spice of the Query Department.— 

 James Heddon. 



One way is to " double up " in the 

 spring, or perhaps it would be better 

 to take brood irom part before the 

 harvest, and build up the others very 

 strong ; in other words, make as many 

 colonies as you can extra strong, and 

 let the others be mere nuclei.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



I know of but three things to do with 

 bees, viz : sell or give them away, kill 

 them, or work them for surplus honey. 

 Probably, if the above case was my 

 own, I should keep them till times 

 were better, or sell Ihem by the pound. 

 I5ees by the pound are largely called 

 for, and even at half the present pri- 

 ces, would prove a profitable business, 

 unless too far from means of transpor- 

 tation.— J. E. Pond. 



If honey is to be found, keep the 

 bees busy, in gathering it, by fur- 

 nishing plenty of room for storing.— 

 The Editor. 



Pnre Italians ys. Hyliriil Bees. 



Qaery 463.-1. Which is considered the 

 best to produce comb honey, pure Italians or a 

 cross of the different races ? 2. What cross would 

 be best for producing comb honey, providing a 

 cross of any kind was desirable ?— M. S. 



Pure Italians.— Dadant & Son. 



I prefer the pure Italians.— J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



A cross between Italians and Ger- 

 mans is superior to pure Italians, and 

 is the cross that " I prefer." — W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



The crosses work the best. I am 

 now trying a cross between Syrians 

 and Carniolans. I hope much from 

 it.— A. J. Cook. 



I consider a wisely-directed cross 

 between the best strain of Italian and 

 German bees to be vastly superior 

 comb-honey producers. — J. Heddon. 



1 . Properly selected cross-bred bees 

 are better than the Italians, to pro- 

 duce comb honey. 2. I prefer the 

 Syrians crossed with Italians and Al- 

 binos.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. The pure Italians. 2. Cross your 

 Italians with other Italians 500 to 

 1,000 miles distant, and you will have 

 the best bee in the world for either ex- 

 tracted or comb honey. — G. M. Dog- 

 little. 



1. The pure Italians, in my own ex- 

 perience. 2. I should prefer an Ital- 

 ian queen crossed with a black drone. 

 My experience, however, has been al- 

 most entirely with blacks and Italians. 

 —J. E. Pond. 



I am experimenting in this line at 

 present for this locality. I am not 

 prepared to give a correct answer, and 

 I do not think this can be answered 

 to the satisfaction of the fraternity 

 at large.- H. D. Cutting. 



I get a " best " imported Italian 

 queen, and then I find that I have 

 crosses enough with the surrounding 

 black bees. It is a good deal like 

 some one said about horse-feed : " The 

 most desirable feed for horses is saw- 

 dust and oats, the less sawdust the 

 better."— C. C. Miller. 



I like pure Italians the best, but 

 Italians and the first crosses between 

 the Italians and black bees make a 

 good mixed apiary, and will give as 

 good results as if the apiary contain- 

 ed all pure bees. If my apiary was 

 run for honey alone, I would not go 

 to the labor and expense of keeping 

 my apiary full of pure bees. Breed- 

 ing-stock must be kept pure, but it is 

 expensive and laborious to keep the 

 working-stock up to tbe pedigree 

 mark. For a comb-honey apiary I 

 would employ graded working- stock, 

 infusing fresh Italian blood from year 

 to year, to keep my stock from going 

 down.— G. W. Demakee. 



1. The Italian bees are no doubt the 

 best, all things considered. 2. The 

 only crossing we could recommend 

 would be selecting the most desirable 

 Italians in your own apiary, and then 

 procuring the best from a distant apia- 

 rist, and them breed. This would be 

 a wise selection.— The Editor. 



flen to Extract Honey. 



Query 464.— An extracting super is be- 

 fore me, filled with comb honey : wben shall I 

 extract} Why?— Bhiloh. 



As soon as you get ready.— J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



When you are ready.— H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



1 . When you get ready. 2. Because 

 that is the proper thing to do.— G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



If it is fit for use as comb honev, do 

 not extract it at all, but sell it as 'it is. 

 If not, extract it at once, as according 

 to your description the honey must be 

 ripe, and you may need the combs to 

 replace upon the hive.— Jas. Heddon. 



I do not think that honey should be 

 extracted until it is fully ripened. If 

 wanted out of the comb, I know of no 

 reason why it should not then be 

 taken.— G. L. Tinker. 



Now, because the weather is warm, 

 and you may stand a chance of getting 

 it filled again this season. Why wait r* 

 — W. Z. Hutchinson. 



As soon as the crop is done. If you 

 extract sooner, you will get some un- 

 ripe honey, and, on the other band, 

 there is no use of putting off till to- 

 morrow what you can do to-day.- Da- 

 dant & Son. 



Extract at the time that best suits 

 your own convenience, but unless you 

 know just how to ripen honey, better 

 let it stay in tbe hive till it is well 

 ripened.— C. C. Miller. 



As soon as the bees commence to 

 cap the honey ; because that saves the 

 time of uncapping, and if kept in a 

 warm, dry room, the honey will be A 

 No. 1, if from the right flowers.— A. 

 J. Cook. 



I do not understand this question. 

 As asked, I should say, extract when 

 most convenient, but not till the 

 honey is well ripened. — J. E. Pond. 



Take the honey out at once ; be- 

 cause it will never get better by keep- 

 ing the "super before you," and the 

 bees ought to have the combs back 

 to fill them again.— G. W. Demaree. 



If the honey is fully ripe, extract it 

 as soon as possible. 2. Because it 

 should be done while the weather is 

 warm.— The Editor. 



Convention Notices. 



CHANGE OF TIME.— The officers of 



the Cedar Valley Bee-Keepers' Association have 

 postponed the time ol the next meeting, on ac- 

 count of its clashing with the State bee-keepers' 

 meeting. The meeting of the Cedar Valley Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will be held at Waterloo, 

 Iowa, on Sept. 20 and 21, ia«7. 



H. E. IIDBBAHD, See., Laporte City, Iowa. 



tW The Iowa Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 meet in the bee-keepers' tent on the State Fair 

 Grounds at DesMoines, Iowa, on Sept. 7, 1^87. at 

 10 a.m., and continue as long as may seem profltar 

 ble. All are invited. A. J. Nokrib, Sec. 



ITnlon Convention at Clilcago.— The 



North American Bee-Keepers' Society and 

 the Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Society will 

 meet in joint conveniiou in Chicago, Ills., on 

 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Novem- 

 ber 16, 17 and 18, 1887. This date will 

 occur during the gecund week of the Fat 

 Stock Show, when excursion rates will be 

 very low. 



