280 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



queen seems all right, the bees appear to 

 know that she will soon fail, and that single 

 cell points plainly to superseding. 



2. I hardly think bees discriminate against a 

 cell from another colony. It is unnecessary 

 to use a protector where not needed; but if 

 you dequeen a colony and at the same time 

 give it a cell, a protector is needed. 



1 would kill the eggs, and again destroy all 

 cells a week later. Cells with eggs may sig- 

 nify either swarming or superseding. 



Raising Queens — Bee-Tree 



1. If I take a couple of frames of brood 

 containing eggs three days old or younger and 

 some bees without a queen and put them in 



luve without a queen or even a queen- 

 cell, will the bees make a queen-cell out of a 

 worker-cell and rear themselves a queen? 



2. What do the bees get to make the comb 

 of? 



3. If I find a bee-tree on another man's land 

 have I a right to cut it without his authority 

 or knowledge. What would be the best thing 

 to do? 



Answers. — 1. They might rear a queen, but 

 hardly one of great value. To get a good 

 queen your cells should be reared in a strong 

 colony and left there till sealed, or, still bet- 

 ter, until within a day of hatching. 



2. Honey and pollen. 



3. The best thing, indeed the only thing, is 

 to obtain permission of the owner of the tree. 



Queen -Cells — Increase 



1. Can I make queen-cell bases myself? If 

 so, how should I proceed? 



2. How long can a queen be kept in a nur- 

 sery in the hive before mating? 



3. One of my colonies is making two queen- 

 cells on the combs. Now I have a plan of 

 making increase something like this: When 

 the swarm issues I intend to take the brood 

 out, divide it in two parts, 3 combs and 1 

 comb with queen-cell on, put each part in an 

 8-frame hive, then put the swarm back on the 

 old stand on two of the combs of brood still 

 left. It is a 10-frame hive. I would fill the 

 rest of the space in each of the three hives 

 with full sheet of foundation, and the supers 

 of the parent colony on the swarm. The 

 swarm would probably be due about the last 

 part of June. That would give each of the 

 three a chance to build up for the gathering 

 of fire weed, which comes here in August. That 

 would give me 66 per cent increase and some 

 surplus. Now, do you think this will work? 

 I think that one of the queens might emerge 

 before the swarm issues, or that the 2 queen- 

 less but queen-cell parts upon the mating of 

 the emerged queen swarm out with her. 



What is your opinion about this? I expect 

 them to build up on clover. We ha*e prac- 

 tically no rain in July; that would help in 

 pushing them along. Adverse weather condi- 

 tions retarded brood-rearing in latter May. 



Answers. — 1. Yes; any straight bar may be 

 fastened in the frame toward the upper part, 

 and to this the cells may be attached. 



2. I don't know; but I don't believe it is 

 well to keep her more than a week or so; in 

 fact, the shorter the time the better. 



3. Your scheme seems all right in the main, 

 but aren't you a little astray in counting that 

 an increase of two from one would be 66 per 

 cent increase? If you start with one colony 

 and have an increase of one, that would be 

 100 per cent increase; if you have an increase 

 of two wouldn't that be 200 per cent increase? 

 In the hive with the queen on the old stand 

 you will do well to have only one frame of 

 brood instead of two. 



Normally, neither of the young queens will 

 emerge before the swan 



unusual for some of the bees to swarm out 

 with the virgin on her mating trip. 



Super Ventilation 



1. After hiving a swarm of bees, where 

 should the supers be placed on the new hives? 



2. Please state the best method for ven- 

 tilating hives in hot weather. ILL! 



answers. — 1, If you have a queen-excluder 

 on the hive the supers can be put on at once; 

 if not, you should wait until a brood-nest has 

 become established in the brood-chamber, for 



fear the queen will go up and start a brood- 

 nest ao«ve. You will generally be safe if you 

 wait about 3 days. 



2. The best way to ventilate depends some- 

 what on the construction of the hive. If the 

 bottom is not fastened to the hive, it may be 

 raised by a block under each corner. Some 

 have a bottom-board 2 inches deep, and to 

 prevent the bees building down into it there 

 is a bottom-rack which allows free ventilation. 

 There may also be ventilation above the brood- 

 chamber. The first super may be shoved for- 

 ward so as to leave at the back end a space of 

 a fourth inch or a half inch between the hive 

 and super. If extracting-supers are used they 

 may be staggered, the second super shoved 

 back so as to make ventilation in front, the 

 third shoved forward to make ventilation at 

 the back end. The first section-super may be 

 shoved forward as already mentioned, but 

 there can be no ventilation between any two 

 section-supers. There may, however, be ven- 

 tilation at the top by means of a cover so con- 

 structed as to allow the air to pass up through 

 the center of the super. 



Splints or Extra Wires 



Would the No. 30 wire used as you use 

 your wooden splints and imbedded by elec- 

 tricity be of much advantage in a frame al- 

 ready wired with four wires? We have some 

 trouble with foundation buckling between the 

 wires, and the combs sometimes break when 

 new when we extract them. If the wires will 

 be of advantage, bow many would you use? 

 will thev do as well as the wooden splints? 

 COLORADO. 



Answer. — Yes; I've used five wires verti- 

 cally, and it works well. I like the splints 

 better, but you may not. 



Miscellaneous 



1. Is early spring or late fall the best time 

 to unite bees in modern hives? 



2. Are hybrids more cross than blacks or 

 Italians? 



3. Which are best in your climate, the stand- 

 ard 8 or 10-frame hive? 



4. Was last winter very severe in your 

 apiary? 



5. What do you use to pack your hives with 



iuv 



}-.,U 1 



6. How many colonies have you? 



7. Do you advocate the use of full sheets of 

 foundation in hives? 



8. Do you use a veil while handling bees? 



9. In the way of removing queen-cells tc 

 prevent swarming, should it be every 8 or If* 

 days ? 



10. What do you consider the best method 

 of preventing bees from swarming? 



11. How is the honey flow in your location 

 this spring? 



12. From what plant in the first harvest 

 does your main honey flow come from^ 



OHIO. 



Answers.— 1. Generally it is better to unite 

 in the fall. The united colonv will winter 

 better than a weak colony left without uniting, 

 i fall i» better than late fall. 



2. Yes. 



3. 10-frame. 



4. No; the wint, , doi sn'1 maki anj diflfi i 

 ence with my be< s, because thej arc kept in 

 cellar. 



5. In the cellar tin j ; ,, king. 



6. Have had up to 400. ,\t pres< nt onh a 

 tenth of that. 



7. Yes; you lose money by using less. 



S. Always have one on my hat, and gener- 

 ally pul 



9. Ten days will do all right, and even 

 longer; but for fear of bad weather or some 

 other hindrance some prefei I tnalci tin time 

 8 or 9 days. 



1" I doubt if there's anything bett. 

 •i maree plan. 



i] \'"t very good; too much cool weather. 



12. White c!ov< i 



Flax a Good Honey Plant 



1. Is flax considered a good honey plant? 

 There will be quite a little flax raised around 

 here this year. A few years ago we saw a 



2. What do you consider the best months 

 for honey in northwest Iowa? IOWA. 



Answers. — 1. I have never heard of flax be- 

 ing much of a honey plant, but if you saw a 

 field of flax just alive with bees you may count 

 that it is some importance, for bees don't fool 

 away their time where they can get nothing. 



2. Probably June some years, and July oth- 



Swarm Prevention With Queen Ex- 

 cluder 



On May 30 I found one No. 23 colony build- 

 ing 7 queen-cells sealed. I found and caged 

 the queen, destroyed all queen-cells, removed 

 the hive from its stand and put in its place a 

 hive containing four frames of foundation. 

 Upon this hive was put a queen-excluder and 

 over the excluder the old hive with its brood 

 and bees, and over this two supers, and ovei 

 the supers the cover. Then the queen was run 

 in at the entrance of the lower hive and the 

 colony was left for seven and one-half days. 

 There was no ventilation at top and the en- 

 trance was measured "-xl^s 'in June 7 I 

 took away the lower story with its exclude/ 

 and put back the queen in the old hive, which 

 was left on the stand. I found two frames 

 were occupied by the queen. On June 14 the 

 same colony swarmed and the swarm was lost, 



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