342 



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Queries f Replies, 



The Proper Time to Extract 

 Honey. • 



Written for the American Bee Jmi/mal 



Query 544.— I Intend to work the greater 

 portion of my apiary for extracted honey, and 

 have been tbinliiDg of adopting- the following- 

 plan to keep down the swarming fever : 

 Allow the prime swarm to go out, then after 

 the queen has been caged, remove the old 

 hive a short distance, and place a new one on 

 the old stand having a queen-excluder over 

 the brood-frames. After the bees have been 

 hived, I will shake all of the bees out of the 

 old hive, and run them into the new one, then 

 examine the old frames thoroughly and re- 

 move all queen-cells, after whicn I will put 

 them in a super over the newly-hived bees. 

 1. How long should I wait before extracting 

 from the super? 2. How ami to dispose of 

 the drone-brood in the super? ,3. Would it 

 be advisable to adopt the above method ?— 

 Ontario. 



1. Extract when ' about one-third of 

 the honey is capped. 2. Shave their 

 heads oft' as they are capped over. — P. 



L. VlALLON. 



1. I would extract from the super as 

 soon as the honey is sufficiently ripen- 

 ed. 2. Let it hatch. 3. No. — M. Mahin. 



Instead of taking so much trouble, 

 use 2 hives full of comb on top of each 

 other, and j'ou will have very few 

 swarms, if you give them room in time. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



1. I should wait until at least a third 

 of the comb was capped. 2. Cut it 

 out. 3. I can see nothing gained. — J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



Look here, my friend, letting the 

 bees swarm is not a " plan to keep 

 down the swarming fever." I doubt 

 if you will like the plan so well as to 

 simply keep the honey extracted close. 

 C. C. Meller. 



1. So much depends upon so many 

 circumstances. 2. Cut it out before it 

 hatches. 3. No ; you wont like this 

 plan. I have tested so many similar 

 principles, that I should say, no. — 

 James Heddon. 



1. It will all depend upon circum- 

 stances. 2. Cut it out and melt it up. 

 3. Your method will work all right, 

 and if you prefer that way, follow it 

 until you find a better one.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



1. Wait until all is sealed, or nearly 

 so. 2. I do not have any to dispose 

 of. Use only worker-comb. If there 

 are patclics of drone-comb, cut them 

 out and put pieces of foundation in 

 their place. 3. It is a good plan, but 

 the (lueen-exeludcr is not needed. — A. 

 B. Mason. 



I do not like the method in theory ; 

 I have never tried it. I have had but 

 little trouble to i-ontrol swarming, 

 when working for extracted honey.— 

 Eugene Secor. 



1. Until your frames are filled and 

 capped. 5. With a honey-knife, slice 

 oft'tlie heads of the drone-brood before 

 j'ou put the frames in the supers. 3. 

 It would be tolerably fair practice. — 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. It will probably not do first until 

 all the brood is capped over. 2. Cut 

 it out and insert worker-comb ; but 

 how about the drones above the zinc 

 queen - excluders ? 3. I think that 

 there are several better plans. — C. H. 

 Dibbern. 



I. You could extract at once. 2. I 

 do not know, unless you cut it out, and 

 replace the vacancies with worker- 

 combs. 3. I hardly think j-our plan 

 advisable. Wliy not use large hives ? 

 You will then be trouble but little with 

 swarms ? — J. M. Hambaugh. 



The plan would doubtless work fairly 

 well, but it seems to me that you 

 should have no trouble with swarming 

 when running an apiary for extracted 

 honey. In my experience along this 

 line, not one colony in ten have at- 

 tempted to swarm. — G. M. Doolittle. 



I. Wait until all the brood is sealed 

 over. 2. A small auger-hole in any 

 suitable part of the hive above the 

 queen-excluder will let out all of the 

 drones. 3. In producing extracted 

 honey, the method may be advised 

 where no increase is desired. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



1. Until the combs contain a con- 

 siderable amount of well-ripened 

 honey. 2. That depends. You might 

 cut out the drone-brood and destroy 

 it ; or let it hatch and fly away, as 

 from time to time you open the hive. 

 3. No ; as but few colonies in an apiary 

 properly managed for extracted honey 

 will cast swarms ; unless their queens 

 are past their prime, I should remove 

 the queen, return the swarm and per- 

 mit them to rear a young queen. — R. 

 L. Taylor. 



This question, or the questions, in- 

 volve a big theory. The best I can 

 advise is to test it thoroughly and re- 

 port. The plan suggested would not 

 work at all in my own apiary, as it 

 will cause more labor and trouble 

 than I can aftbrd to give my bees. — J. 

 E. Pond. 



1. Until room was needed, or sooner 

 if desired. 2. Why not prune, so as 

 not to have droue-comb. 3. I think 

 that the plan is not a good one, though 

 I have not tried it. If the queen is to 

 be caged, why not put bees back in 

 the old hive, and put on the super full 

 of empty combs ; or, if you have not 

 combs, use foundation. — A. J. Cook. 



In your statement you fail to tell 

 what is to be done with the old queen, 

 and this is a very important matter in 

 the final results. If the queen is to go 



with the swarm below the queen-ex- 

 cluder, you will delay swarming ; but 

 if the season is a lengthy one, j-ou will 

 most likely have it over again. ]. Till 

 the honey is sealed over. 2. Raise the 

 hive cover in the afternoon, and let 

 the drones escape, and close it when 

 they are out. Keep this up until all 

 are out. 3. Not as you stave it. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



I have not found this plan to lessen 

 the swarming-impulse. By this method 

 you allow the prepartions for swarm- 

 ing to be matured, and the swarming 

 to actually occur, and then place the 

 colony in almost the condition in which 

 it was before it swarmed. I would 

 prefer putting the new hive under the 

 old one prior to the building of queen- 

 cells. In a majority of eases this will 

 prevent swarming entirely. — J. M. 

 Shuck. 



1. When the brood is sealed over. 

 2. Decapitate the drone-brood. 3. The 

 plan is too laborious and uncertain. — 

 The Editor. 



Are Drones AlloM'ed to Enter 

 Ditlerent Hives i 



Written for Oie American Bee Journal 



Query 545.— Will drones from one colony 

 be permitted to go into hives of <tther bees 

 without being troubled by tnem ?— Dixie. 



Yes, usually. — James Heddon. 



Yes, they quite often do. — H. D. 

 Cutting. 



Yes, sometimes. — P. L. Viallon. 



Yes, at times. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



I am not sure. — Eugene Secor. 



They will ordinarily. — Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison. 



Yes, as a rule, but not always. — G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



Yes, if strong colonies. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



Yes, at times ; no, at other times. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



Sometimes they will, and sometimes 

 they will not. — A. B. Mason. 



In the swarming season, or at any 

 time when honey is being gathered 

 plentifully, they will. — M. Mahin. 



Yes, at times when the " other bees" 

 will tolerate their own drones. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



Yes, often ; perhaps always when 

 drones are tolerated. — C. C. Miller. 



I think so, but I am not sure that 

 they will in all cases. — A. J. Cook. 



Din-ing swarming time they will, but 

 not at other times, as a general rule. — 

 G. L. Tinker. 



When hone}' is plentiful they prob- 

 ably often do so, but not when it is 

 scarce. — C. H. Dibbekni 



