314 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



not less, .hist why it is so I don't know. 



i 

 over one of thei newspaper, 



over this set the other hive without any 

 torn. The bees will gnaw a hole through 

 adually, and unite ^ 

 out quarreling. 



If I should h int 1 thi numbi 



colonies less in the fall, 1 would do it by 



put 

 ami 

 bot- 



the 



Time to Catch Drones 



1. When is the proper time to catch drones? 

 I had two swarms come off, and the old one 

 was full of drones; so 1 used the drone-trap 

 and destroyed them. 



2. One swarm came off three times and went 

 hack each tune to the old hive; so I trapped 

 all the drones and queen and they seem fine 

 now. Why did they go back so many times; 

 the hive was a new one, with fresh starters. 



::. If I have a new idea along the bee fix- 

 ture line that 1 know is a g 1 one, at least 



a big time saver, bow am I going to protect 

 myself so as to put my plan out for investi- 

 gation and nol have it taken away from me, 

 and if other people think it < >. K-. then have 

 it patented MINNESOTA. 



A NSW krs. — 1. You did all right, but the 

 best time to catch drones is before they' are 

 born. Use full sheets of worker foundation, 

 so there will be no chance to rear a lot of use- 

 less consumers. If you already have combs 

 containing drone-comb, a good plan is to cut 

 out the drone-comb and fill its place with 

 patches of worker-comb. 



2. I don't know why it is that a swarm will 

 sometimes return and then issue again; possi- 

 bly in some cases because the queen has diffi- 

 culty in flying with the swarm; and in some 

 cases it may be that a virgin may make her 

 nuptial flight. I don't suppose that trapping 

 the drones had any effect in making the bees 

 stay. 



3. Beekeepers are a considerate lot, and anx- 

 ious to give credit where credit is due. But if 

 you expect to patent anything, it should not be 

 published in advance. One way is to submit 

 your plan to some experienced beekeeper and 

 get his opinion about it. But it's dollars to 

 doughnuts that when a raw recruit has made a 

 valuable discovery it will turn out to b 

 thing known years ago. 



Swarming — Foulbrood 



W'he 



pra 



Othei come out if I CUt all remaining 

 cells but one and leave the old hive on the 

 same stand? 



2. I hived a new swarm and put it next to 

 Hi- old stand and moved the parent colony on 

 the eighth day. A few days afterwards a se< 

 ond swarm came out of the "Id hive. Win 



:-i. I have a foulbrood colony. I found the 

 queen, put her on a healthy brood-franu from 

 another colony, filled out the new chambei 



with foundation and placed Mi-- diseased colony 

 over an escape-board on top of new 



■ ii .-I i he di eased hive. 

 W ill that cure them? 



i. Can I hive a prime swarm on stai i 

 out all cells and place old brood-cha 

 top of swarm and make tin new swarm stay 



■ d honey in top ■ 

 without swarming again? NEW VnRK 



BRS. 2. It was an exceptional 

 eurring because the old i 



■ thought n could afford to swarm. Us- 

 ually the first an- ies something like- 

 eight days after the prime swarm, and moving 



in afterswarm wi 

 sue puts ■ aged a con- 



dition to tei ward" 



sorry yon didn't say just how manj I 

 gave time enough for thi 



Eight da;. days" more be 



tween the prime swarm and 

 swarm is something quite unusual. 



1 

 not if American. 

 4. Ye«. 



Purple Martin 



Do rn i pl< iM.ii i ins eal bees ? I i e< enl ly 



■ d sever. il colonies of bees and bat e 



■ ! that the purple martins eal bees If 



t In j do l reg rel h verj mui h , as 1 have some 



30 or 4(1 pairs of martins that build 



i'i.i. i even '■'■■' Personalia I do not be- 



: i In j do eat l" i . W hat I mean bj 

 the purple martin is the martin th.it comes 



oner and builds in boxes or gourds 

 Or thi raise 1 lien young and im- 



mediately go south again. i don't know 

 whether or nol these mar tins go is far north 

 as Illinois or not. The male is a black pur- 

 ple all over, while the females have a gray 



\ll over the south boxes and gourds 



ip on pole; Eoj I In--- martins to build 

 iu .tod tiny will m.t all^w a hawk to come 

 near where thej are raising then' young. They 

 mak< a peculiar clucking sound entirely differ- 

 ent from the noise made by any lard. They 



are not the bee martin, or what is known as 

 the king bird. ALABAMA 



Answer. — I am sorry to say that the purple 

 martin </ is a rather rare bird 



in the extreme northern part of Illinois, when 

 I live, although plentiful in my boyhood home 

 in western Pennsylvania, while it lived mostly 

 — I rather think altogether— in little houses or 

 boxes built specially for it, and put up on the 

 tops of poles or else on buildings. I think you 

 are entirely right in counting it innocent of 

 the slaughter of bi i - 



Hoffman Frames — Foulbrood 



1. Why are the bottom-bars of the Hoffman 

 names so narrow? I should think it would be 

 better to have them as wide as the end-bars. 



2. What causes foulbrood, both American 

 and European? Now don't tell me it is caused 

 by feeding foulbroody honey, for I know that 

 will cause it to spread, but what are the con- 

 ditions that are favorable for the breeding of 

 the germs that cat 



3. Would there be any danger in feeding 

 wild honey that is so contaminated by bark. 

 rotten woo.], etc.. and is unfit for table use, if 

 it is gathered bv bealthv bees? 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



Answers. — 1. I am not sure wdiat are the 

 principal reasons for narrow bottom-bars. One 

 reason may be that the frames are sometimes 

 used to hold extrac ting-combs, and a narrow 

 ai i- less in the way of the uncapping 

 knife. I am rather partial to frames having 

 end bars and bottom-bars the same width as 

 top bars, and have been using them for years. 



2. A microbe is the villain that starts the 

 trouble, just as seeds of weeds make trouble- 

 in the garden. A weak colony and a weak 

 strain of bees is favorable to its growth. A 

 strong colony of bees with a pure Italian 

 queen is, favorable to prevention, and 

 think that such bees will almost entirely pre- 

 vent the encroachment of European foulbrood. 



::. Such honey will be all right to feed to 

 bees. 



Artificial Increase 



1. In your October, (1917} number Mi. Pel- 



■ ribes a method of ar la] 



nlii. h I propose to try out next year, if i can 

 be satisfied on one point, viz. : What 

 oi the held bees which come and go through 

 the augur hole in top storj when this 

 moved to a new location' In Mr, I' 

 example i i ■. ■ ned from time of plac- 



■ jii top and removing same. All brood 

 in this story would, therefore, have hatched, 

 and there should be a great quantity of field 

 bees which know no other entrance than the 

 ;< When top story is removed I 



should expect quite a swarm looking I 

 hoh Is it likely the bees will find thi I □ 

 to the hive below, and, if they did. is 

 there not danger of thcin being rega 



\.\ i In In. 1 1 1 .in i 1 1 1 « 1 1 1 > . as the two 

 hives have really been Separated for a long 

 time? This, of course, could be overcome by 

 plugging the ho i 



irhen top bees would be forced to exit 

 I. -low. However, as that is not suggested b) 

 ett, I should like to know what hap- 

 pens. 



2. Do nd two stories for win- 

 tering, as described Dj on page 

 679 of your November (1917) numbei 



j rig this plan next winter, if you think 

 it O. K... but would utilize half-stoi 



having sufficient full depth stories. Do you 

 adopt the plan? 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Answers. — 1. You are quite right; when the 

 uppei storj i- set On a new stand all the field 

 bees, upon their return from their lirst trip 

 to the fields, instead of going to their new 

 home will go to the old location. I've watched 

 with much interest their behavior when they 

 find their accustomed entrance gone. They fly 

 about 'lie place for some time in evident con- 

 fusion and distress, anil finally settle in a clus- 

 ter upon the part of the hive nearest to where 

 they think then entrance should be. After a 

 time some bee of inquiring turn of mind be- 

 gins to explore for an entrance and finds the 

 nearest one, even if none is nearer than the 

 regular entrance at the bottom of the hive. 

 Then she sets up a call, and it isn't very long 

 before a line of march is started and the whole 

 outfit make their way to the entrance. There 

 is no quarreling; il the bees have been sep- 

 arated oidy by an excludes the^ will have tin 

 same hive odor. Even if entirely separated, as 

 I have often had them, there will he no quar- 

 reling, probably because the bees comity horn 

 the field bring a peace-offering with them. 



2. Wintering a colony over an empty hue 

 is a plan in use many years ago, being espe 

 cially championed by Rev. W. F. Clarke, and 1 

 don't remember that anyone who used it ever 

 reported anything objectionable in it, 1 don't 

 use the plan, as I winter in the cellar. 



Raising Queens — Requeening 



1. Is it more assured to attempt making a 

 colony queenright by giving a frame of eggs 

 for same to raise queen-cells than it would be 

 to give a queen-cell from another colon} - 



2. In a publication I have, it is stated that 

 a good way to requeen is to place a hatching 

 queen-cell in the "super" of the colony to be 

 requeened and paying not attention to tin- "in- 

 ferior" queen below; chances being that the 

 virgin will kill the old queen "below." ts it 

 necessary for the above to have a super on the 

 colony, supposing one is mostly in comb honey, 

 and therefore having supers unfit as stated, 

 does it do as well to insert in the brood-cham- 

 ber a frame from another colony having a 

 queen-cell ? Two of my colonic had jusl one 

 capped queen-cell. As eggs were there I pre 

 same the colonies had queens. Do you think 

 they would have requeened without swarming 

 from that one queen-cell? In each case the 

 i[iK en-ci H was raised by the colony in ques- 

 tion. PENNSYLVANIA 



Answf.rs. — 1. I cannot answer too positively, 

 but I suppose that bees conscious of" theii 

 queenlessness have as much respect for a 

 queen-cell, sealed or unsealed, that is given 

 from another colony, as they do for one start 

 ed from an egg or larva of their >owii brood. 

 It is possible, however, that you might be a 

 little more sure oi success by giving a frame 



md young br I than you would by 



giving a queen-cell, for bees are somewhat no 

 tional, sometimes tearing down cells, even of 



theii own building, when you can see no g I 



reason for it. 



2. If a queen-cell were put in a super, with 

 no excluder under, 1 would expect in most 

 cases that the virgin would be killed upon en- 

 tering the brood-chamber. If, however, the 

 old queen were one that the bees were about 

 to supersede, the virgin would likely be a I 

 lowed to take her place. If a frame having a 

 queen-c< II. i> om anol hei colony, wer< 



in the brood chamber, the bee- would pretty 



certainly tear it down unless the> content 

 plated eithei swarming or superseding. In 

 ■ there was only one queen-cell, 

 and that sealed, it's a \> thai mi 



pi rseding n a intended, ind <■■■■< ■ warming. 



Apiary on Shares 



I am writing to ask wdiat is customary in a 

 I where one leases ground for the pur- 

 oi placing an apiary, the rent to be 



