?44 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



lulv 



May Swarm Returning to Hive 



of my swarms iw irmi I or the first 



May, I hived them on the old stand 

 in a new hive with full drawn combs. They 

 seemed .ill right and thej madi some honey. 

 But finally thej came out and wi tit ! u I into 

 the old hive. What was the causi ""I thi y 



» hivi . ■ eel! fa i I two i ggs. I hey 



last year, so the queen could not e 



'"'■ V . T 



i | mj swarms died. In 



... hi I opened up the hive, 1 

 found about 50 poui ds oi hi W 



.in , ause. The h ■- I' W v 



Answers.- i I doi t knov S ou 



ees and il would 1i.it. IU seem 



..-ma! sum. 11 should come out the first 



May. The plurality of eggs in a cell 



swarm was hived looks as if the bees 



had I." i" queen, but laying workei 



I | , . ...... taken tog. ther look as if it 



might hat i sort of a freak 



■ iiM.l iK, 11 in. I., II, i off in the new 

 hive .-iikI then returned. But this guess may 

 be wrong. 



It 



.,1,1,, 



that the i olonj p. tered out 

 because it had a poor queen, or none. 



Sealed Honey for a Swarm 



Should a new swarm be put in a hive 

 has sealed honey in it — ahont 10 



that 



IOWA. 



Answer— There will be no harm in using 

 such a hive for a swarm, provided there has 

 been nothing like foulbrood in it, and in 

 some cases the honey may be a help. 



feet long would have the rather important ad- 

 I, ,i ii would bi easy to level them. 

 i [I,,, would be level from side to side, and 

 the back end should b< about an inch highei 

 than the front i nd. I H has the disadvantage 

 that jarring one hive would jar the whole lot. 

 It has the further disadvantage that when thi 

 bottom-board rests on the scantling th( watei 

 collects at each shower, tending to rot the 

 bottom. I'n tin- "hole, perhaps it is better to 

 havi thi hiv. on bricks. Let the hives il ind 

 in ] airs, thi two hives of each pair as close as 

 be without touching The distance 

 between each pair and the adjoining pail ma) 

 l,,,l, .,. 30 inches if you are badl) 

 crowded Eoi room; but 4 feet is better if there 



is room. N :ed to have the hives very 



high; unless then be some special reason for 

 it. four inches between the ground and the 

 bottom-board will do. 



2. Where white clover succeeds il makes 

 splendid bee-pasture. But have an impres- 

 sion that it .Iocs not succeed well in all parts 

 of Texas. 



3. Sow it spring or fall, perhaps preferably 

 with grain. 



1. Yes, an acre and a half well set with 

 white ciover should yield quite a bit of nectar. 



5. The hives on page 158 are supposed to 

 allow freer examination of combs without dan- 

 ger of killing bees. 



6. The deep side, allowing large entrance. 



Making Frames to Exclude Queen 



I p to the present time I haven't used a 

 queen-excluder, as I run For bulk comb honey. 

 But my bees increase so fast and get so 



crowded thai the en is forced up into the 



supers and nearly all the brood is drone. 

 Couldn't the top bars of the brood-frames be 

 made or spaced so as to exclude the queen, 

 which would do away with the patented ex- 

 cluders, thus saving the beekeeper at least 30 

 on each hive? GEORGIA. 



Answer. — The apertures in a queen-excluder 

 must be very exact. If just a little too small 

 neither queen nor worker can pass, and it 

 takes an exceedingly small increase in size to 

 allow a queen to pass. It would need very 

 line workmanship to have the spaces between 

 top-bars thus exact. Even supposing you had 

 them made thus perfect, the bees would crowd 

 glue, and in only a short time you 

 would find some of the spaces large enough to 

 allow the passage of a queen. I don't believe 

 the thing is worth trying. 



Bees Deserting Hive 



1 had a swarm desert the hive this 

 leaving several patches of brood in combs, but 



I had notii ed il was weak and 



da) before thi ( 

 d, but could find none Thi j 

 all right, but weak. Why did they leave? 



MISSOURI. 



I I . likel) H li.it is called a 

 that is, the bet - desi rted the 



thej ..in out of 



Care of Hives — Clover — Kind of 

 Hives 



I. i have sin In fi.-i.iH- lines and 



ed, 1 want to know how 



to take care of my hives. Had 1 betl 



each one on a brick- Had I better arrange 



.mil how 



How high? 



2 I, wild cl a good 



foi bei 

 : w hi ii an I I 

 I. Woul | b< much help 



: like the 



. 121? 



use, shallow sidi I 



Answers, I. Putting hives on scantling 16 



Kind of Hive 



1. Would you advise a young man working 

 in an office who wishes to keep from 10 to iO 

 colonies of bees to use Jumbo hives, or Stand- 

 ard 10-frame hives? I cannot be on hand to 

 take care of swarming and want to obviate or 

 check swarming as much as possible. I intend 

 to run for extracted honey. 



2. I have read in your "Forty Years Among 

 the Bees," page 190, your experience with 

 lumbo hives. Do you conclude that the Jum- 

 bo hive is of little value in curbing swarming? 



3. How do the Dadant and Jumbo brood- 

 chambers compare in capacity? Mr. Dadant 

 claims that his hive is practically non-swarm- 

 ing. MINNESOTA. 



Answers. — I hardly know what to say. One 

 objection to the Jumbo hive is that being un- 

 usual, in case you should want to sell out you 

 might not find so ready a sale a6 for something 

 more nearly standard. With either hive you may 

 be practically safe from swarming by using the 

 Demaree plan. When you find the bees have 

 started cells, put all but one frame of brood 

 in an upper story over an excluder, leaving 

 ih, queen in the lower story with one frame 

 of brood (preferably one not very well filled 



with l.r Il and the hive filled out with drawn 



combs ',. i' filled with foundation. Some 



think it hitter In have inipl- extracting combs 

 in the second stor) and the story of brood 

 over this. Kill all sealed cells at lime of put- 

 ting up the brood, and again 7 or S days later. 

 2. While it is a fact that the colony in the 

 Jumbo hive was the first in the apiary to 

 swarm, it is hardly likely that such would be 

 the rule. 



8. I don't think there i- much diffi i i 

 in the capacitj of the two. I in- freedom from 

 swarming with the Dadant hiv 



. .ins, of ih. large size ol the hive, bul 



III . s| .,,., ,| ! 



. ,,. the usual I -- 



, timi when bei I work building 



and storing, 1 1 more than a certain space, 

 called bee-space, be allowed, the bees will build 

 in it comb, and perhaps ton hone) therein; 

 and ii less i han a bei -S] a< e be allowi .1. it will 

 he filled with bee-glue. Exactly what be, 

 , . is iinn, too well known, but il 

 in the ... tghboi hood of one fourth of an inch. 

 So, in the busy season it is advisable to havi 

 neithei nun e not h --■ i han a bi e-s] ace abot e 

 thi ii. inns in- ,,t their sides, although as large 

 as three-fourths of an inch may be allowed 

 nn.ii i , he bottoi 



r.nt \ in.li |,i oposal is i" hat e an incl 

 over the top-bars to hold candy for food, and 

 as you would hardl) I" feeding at a time of 

 storing, the larger space could hardl) 

 harm other than to oblige the bees to keep 

 warm the addition i] 

 tage may easily be overcome l>\ the advantagi 



Of giving fond when ne.ileil. lln. In,- will 



readily go above to get (he cand) 



While ii is a good pi. iii to provide thus for 

 the needs oi the bees, there is a still better 

 plan. It is to give the needy bees frames of 

 sealed honey. You sa) you have no such 

 frames. Well, then, feed the candy, bul maki 

 your preparations so you will not need to do 

 so again. Make it part of your plans this year 

 to have two frames of sealed honey saved over 

 winter for each colony you expect to have 

 next spring. Good honey is better than sugar 

 to feed babies, whether they be bee babies or 

 household babies. If you don't need to feed 

 the bees next spring to prevent starvation, you 

 will need to fill up the vacancy in the brood- 

 chamber, and thus allow the bees to begin just 

 so much sooner to store in the supers. 



Wintering 



I am thinking of wintering my bees in two 

 10-frame hives, as a permanent brood-chamber 

 with all the stores they contain. What, in 

 your opinion, do you consider the worst draw- 

 backs to this way of management, and would 

 there be any need of manipulating the supers 

 or combs before swarming time? 



MISSOURI. 



Answer. — I'm not sure that I can tell ex- 

 a< tly why, but there seems to be a limit to 

 the amount of room that can be profitably used 

 in the brood-chamber, anil before deciding that 

 you will run all the colonies in the way men- 

 tioned it would be well for you to try a minor- 

 it) ',! them in that way. Il would hardly seem 

 that any manipulation of supers would ce 

 needed before swarming lime; yet you can't 

 'most always tell. 



Space Over the Bees in the Hive 



How ii i ii, h spa, . is allowable ovei tl 



,,! the lin,-- I think of making boxes an inch 



[thi E a Inn. into which 1 



.m.i inverl ■ .ml boxi 



i. i additional feed. Would the 



i.. harm or 



i. I Will bei i the frames ii 



there is room for feed? IOWA. 



Answer. — It is generally understood that at 



Moving Bees — Distance From 

 Apiary 



i. 'I In- weather being unfavorable lasl 

 spring, ami noi knowing jusi when i" move 



my bees, I waited a little too long. I 



come through the winter strung, had plenty of 



stores, and I finally moved them from winter 



house, to the 



orchards. I did this al evi ning I nightfall I 



All serine, 1 well, out next morning a large 



swarm of bees hovered ovei the old spot and 



i i ni. .1 mi i ii, base "i 



h, -. , Ltl ! ' hOUSe. I then picked 



them up anil gol a bei i v box I nil. .i- 

 ii,, n; before the hive ami they all entered, bul 

 when they had warmed up, " seemed, they 

 , , i in I,,-, i I,, i in- old spol ind hovered ovet il 

 I in ami killed them, w as lln 

 a swarm which had lost its queen, il" you 



•j, i moved the hivi aftei dark and all 



seemed O. K. 1 1 * hal could I 



to save the bees? Would the) have returned 

 thi 1. 1., ii 1 had replaced it in the old po- 

 sition? 



3. \,,i hat Ij.-nl luck, thi hivi 



thrived an, I I gol , supi i ol i ti ai ting honey 

 i .1,, , n,l of tin- sea 



V- 



, 1,11, , loVI I . .I'M I'"-.!, 1- "I ,|ll 1,1 



thickets of buckbi 1Kb. i i sons, on 



the honey claimed it made them dizzy. 



