1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



169 



4. A virgin is harder to introduce than a 

 laying queen; but an untested queen is intro- 

 duced as easily as a tested one. 



5. A virgin that fails to mate generally dis- 

 appears; but sometimes she lays, producing 

 nothing but drones. 



Buying Bees 



This winter I have lost a colony of three- 

 band Italian bees. These bees were killed 

 through starvation. The bees were thick on 

 the combs and some of them were inside the 

 combs. I want to know if I could buy a 

 colony or a couple of pounds of bees and a 

 queen. Could I use these combs for founda- 

 tion? ILLINOIS. 



Answer. — You can use those combs with de- 

 cided advantage over using foundation. You 

 would hardly buy a colony to put on the 

 combs, for in the ordinary acceptation of the 

 term, when you buy a colony you buy the 

 combs with it. But if you should buy a col- 

 ony with its combs, you could use the combs 

 to good advantage in making increase. It 

 would be good policy to buy a 2-pound package 

 of bees with a queen, putting them on your 

 combs. Brush the combs as clean as you 

 can, and put at one side those that are the 

 dirtiest, or that have dead bees in them. If 

 you dry the combs well you may be able to 

 shake out some of the dead bees by holding 

 the comb fiat and shaking hard. 



Wax Moths in Section Honey 



I am bothered with the wax moths hatching 

 out and damaging my section honey after it is 

 cased up ready for the market. What can I 

 do to avoid this trouble? I am satisfied the 

 moth has already deposited the eggs while on 

 the hive. ARKANSAS. 



Answer. — You are right that the eggs are 

 already on the sections when taken from the 

 hive. You can fumigate the sections with sul- 

 phur a week or two after taking from the 

 hive, and then again two weeks later, and 

 carbon disulfide is still better. The moths are 

 worse with blacks than with Italians. 



Chaff Covering 



Would a chaff tray of six inches depth be 

 either beneficial or detrimental left on hive all 

 summer, run either for extracted or comb- 

 honey production? NEW YORK 



Answer. — It might do some good on cool 

 nights; also on hot days, if hives are exposed 

 to the sun. 



Hives in Open 



Is the best place for hives in the open, or 

 in a protecting shed with open window, giving 

 free access to outer air? NEW YORK. 



Answer. — A protecting shed may be a good 

 thing in winter, but when you come to work 

 with the bees in summer you will find it a 

 good deal handier not to be hampered with a 

 shed. The ideal thing is to have hives sitting 

 under the shade of trees. 



Requeening With Ripe Queen-Cell 



1. Is it practical to requeen without de- 

 queening by placing a ripe queen cell in the 

 brood chamber in such a way that it will not 

 be torn down? 



2. Would the queen be apt to tear it down 

 if it were placed between the frames, say at 

 the back end of the hive? 



3. Does a virgin queen usually overcome a 

 laying queen? 



4. Do you think this is a good way to re- 

 queen with the least amount of work? 



5. Is the L frame and the Hoffman frame 

 the same thing and size? ILLINOIS. 



Answets. — 1. Sometimes it would succeed; 

 oftener it would not. 



2. It would generally be torn down, either 

 by the queen or the workers, or both. 



3. That depends. If the virgin has been 

 reared by the bees themselves, she will be vic- 

 tor; although quite often the old queen and 

 the young one will for a time live peaceably 



together. But if you attempt to get a virgin 

 into a hive with a laying queen, the virgin is 

 practically certain to be killed, unless the 

 laying queen be so old or poor that the bees 

 are anxious to supersede her. 



4. It's hardly a good plan, for if the cell is 

 not torn down its presence will likely make 

 the bees swarm, which you are not likely to 

 want. 



5 The Hoffman frame is a Langstroth frame 

 with shoulders that make it self-spacing. 



Mold in Hives 



1. What causes the mold on the bottom- 

 board and lower parts of the frames? They 

 were packed on all sides with straw and leaves 

 to a thickness of about six inches. 



2. What damage will it do to the bees or 

 comb? 



3. How can it be remedied? 



KANSAS. 

 Answers. — 1. It is likely a combination of 

 dampness and lack of ventilation. 



2. That depends on the extent of the trouble. 

 If severe, it may cause diarrhoea. The bees 

 can clean up the combs, even if very bad. 



3. Have colonies strong, and give sufficient 

 upward ventilation. 



Sulphur for Foulbrood 



By putting supers and empty combs in a 

 light room and burning sulphur, will this kill 

 foulbrood? NEW YORK. 



Answer. — No, not the least little bit. 



Foulbrood 



1. Is the sunken surface of brood-cells al- 

 ways a sure sign that either American or Eu- 

 ropean foulbrood is present, or do you some- 

 times find the surface of cells sunken when no 

 foulbrood is present? 



2. In what way does European foulbrood dif- 

 fer from pickled-brood? How can I tell the 

 difference? 



3. Do the bees build the comb in sections 

 heavier in cold weather than when it is 

 warmer? MINNESOTA. 



Answers. — 1. I think there may be some- 

 times sunken cells without foulbrood, as also 

 foulbrood without sunken cells. 



2. In European foulbrood the diseased lar- 

 vae have a decidedly yellowish tinge. 



3. I don't know; but I hardly think so. 



Miscellaneous 



1. I made some Doolittle queen-cell cups, 

 and while dipping I fastened to it a pin in a 

 horizontal position so I can easily transfer 

 them on any comb. What do you think of 

 this idea? 



2. If I put those cells on the combs in the 

 brood-chamber before swarming will the queen 

 lay eggs in them? 



3. What kind of hives do you use? 



4. What kind of a double-walled hive do you 

 think is best for ordinary use? 



5. Do you know where I can get the old 

 style beveled edge hives? 



6". Does any water run in a straight edged 

 hive when it rains? If so how does it do 

 any harm? 



7. What is the best way to clip a queen for 

 one that is too nervous and excited to hold 

 them in the fingers? 



8. Does it do the bees any harm to handle 



the 



ofte 



9. When is the best time to move bees a 

 short distance of about 50 feet? 



ILLINOIS. 

 Answers. — 1. It may work all right 



2. I don't know; I think she might some- 

 times, but generally not. 



3. Eight-frame dovetailed. Ten-frame would 

 probably be better. 



4 Probably there isn't much difference; and 

 for ordinary use I should not want double 

 walls. 



5. No; their inventor has discarded them, 

 and you would hardly like them if you had 

 them. 



6. A very little may go through, but I never 

 could see that it did any harm 



7. I don't know whether it is longer in use; 



but at one time there wcl advertised a device, 

 a sort of tube in which you put a queen, and 

 through openings she would thrust a wing so 

 you could clip it. 



8 It may not do any great harm; but at 

 least it hinders them in their work, so that 

 they should not be handled without some good 

 reason. 



9. A good time is early in spring when they 

 have hardly begun to fly yet. 



Bees Flying When There is Snow 



1. Should bees be confined to the hive on 

 warm winter davs when there is snow on the 

 ground? 



2. Would the same number of bees be lost 

 if there wasn't any snow on the ground? 



CONNECTICUT. 



Answers. — X. Something dependfe on cir- 

 cumstances. If they had a flight only a week 

 or so before a bright day comes with snow on 

 the ground, then it is well to shade the en- 

 trances so they will not fly out and fall into 

 the snow. If they have not bad a flight for a 

 considerable time, then let them fly, but throw 

 hay, straw, or something on the ground near 

 the hives so they will not sink in the soft 

 snow never to rise again It will help if you 

 do nothing more than to tramp down the snow 

 to make it hard. 



2. No, there are bees that drop into the snow 

 and perish that would not die if they did not 

 leave the hive. 



Wintering 



Is it necessary to put bees in the cellar or 

 use winter packing cases in this locality? 



Could bees be wintered or stored in a shed 

 as well as in the cellar? WISCONSIN. 



Answer. — In Wisconsin it is quite necessary 

 to winter bees in cellar, or else pack them if 

 left outdoors They may be wintered in an 

 old-fashioned shed, with packing about them; 

 but the majority prefer to have them in a 

 good cellar. 



tl, 



Mailing Queens a Distance 



Would queens travel safely to Ireland from 

 States? IRELAND. 



Answer.- — There is so much delay and un- 

 ;rtainty nowadays that you would run some 

 sk in having queens shipped at present. 



Cellar Wintering 



I built two new bee-cellars last fall. They 

 seem to be quite damp, some mold on combs 

 and drops of water on cover; temperature 

 from 44 to 46 degrees. Do you think I ought 

 to warm them up some way? I was in one 

 cellar today; they seem to be quiet. I put 

 away 300 colonies and am quite anxious about 

 them. This is a hard winter up here; 38 be- 

 low zero this morning, Feb. 1. 



MICHIGAN. 



Answer. — The condition of your cellars 

 would indicate that they do not have enough 

 ventilation. It might be a good plan to warm 

 up the cellar a little, provided the temperature 

 is not raised high enough to excite the bees. I 

 believe that if you can open the doors or win- 

 dows when the temperature outside is neither 

 too high nor too low, it may help considerably. 

 Mould on the combs is very disagreeable, but 

 not necessarily injurious to the bees. But it 

 would be much better if the air was dry. If 

 the weather is cold, try using a coal oil stove, 

 giving enough ventilation to keep the excess 

 of heat from disturbing the bees. When they 

 are quiet, it is a good sign. 



I will gladly answer any other question, if 

 in my power. We want to help our subscrib- 

 ers as much as we can. — Editor. 



Increasing 



In Pellett's Productive Beekeeping, pageslll- 

 112, a method of making rapid increase by you 

 (Miller) is described. As I understand it you 

 used nine colonies, but made the increase di- 

 rectly each nine days from "Hive No. 2." Ac- 



