388 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



6. I have only one colony of bees, in Da- 

 dant hive, and they are none too sti 

 numbers, being started from a 3-pOU 

 age last spring, but they have plenty of honey 

 below, and about two thirds of a super full, 

 also. It seems to be all buckwheat honey. 



■ ■ 

 the cellar on that, or protect the hive good and 

 leave it outside? WISCONSIN. 



Answers. — 1. The ends of the top-bars rest on 

 metal rabbets. The spacers have been added 

 to accommodate the novices. 



2. If the foundation hangs too near the 

 end-bars or bottom-bars, there is danger of 

 curling or crumpling. 



3. No; there is no trouble in such shallow- 

 frames. 



4. The A. I. Root Co., Medina, O., manufac- 

 ture them, and perhaps you may obtain them 

 from other dealers in supplies. 



5. No. for sometimes bees will build a few 

 inches of drone cells over worker base. It is 

 practically impossible to raise no drones at 

 all, in any hive. The excess of drones is 

 what we aim to prevent. 



6. We believe the colony will winter prop- 

 erly on this in the cellar. You are far enough 

 north to try it. 



(The last two answers are by the editor.) 



Swarms 



1. How many times will a strong colony of 

 bees swarm if fed a syrup from April 1 to 

 May 15? 



2. Would you advise me to buy a 10-frame 

 colony and 10 queens and divide into ten 1* 

 frame nuclei? 



3. Would putting a super on cause bees not 

 to swarm? MISSOURI. 



Answers. — 1. Maybe four times or more, and 

 maybe not at all. In an ordinary season, when 

 bees are getting plenty from outside, the feed- 

 ing would make no difference. If there is a 

 time of dearth it might make a great difference. 



2. .Buying a 10-frame colony would not give 

 . you a sufficient amount of brood and bees to 



make 10 nuclei. It would be a great success 

 if you could make half that many nuclei, in- 

 troduce queens to them and build them up 

 into strong colonies the first year. The aver- 

 age beekeeper would not try to make more 

 than 3 out of one, except in extraordinary 

 seasons. 



3. Putting supers, one or more, on a strong 

 hive of bees, does not insure against swarm- 

 ing, but it helps. 



Dead Brood 



1. 1 have three colonies full of bees in four 

 full 10-frame stories each. I had planned to 

 divide these, as I don't see how I can get all 

 bees into one story. I winter outdoors. There 

 have been indications of brood disease in these 

 colonies since early in July; but as they had 

 two stories and I was raising a lot 

 of drones (I bought these colonies last fall, 

 all my new colonies have full sheets of four 



I I nought it might be I 

 brood. The scales carried out were princi- 

 pally drone-brood, but some worker-cell 

 also affected. The larva dies mostl; 

 sealing; the cappings are sunken and some- 

 times perforated. There is no ropiness; the 

 larva dies after being capped and is being car 

 ried out and the cells kept clean. Do 

 think it could be sacbrood? I have re- 

 queened one of these colonies on new sheets 

 of foundation under a er; but it 



did not effect a cure. 1 have the queen caged 

 now, and intend to keep hei so foi I 

 I am going to requeen the othi 

 anything gained by caging as late as this, when 

 brood-rearing will soon 



2. Would you advise dividii g 

 colonies? 



3. Will bees carry honey out of thi 



down into the brood-chamber in the fall? Ii 

 not. what can I do to get them to take it 

 - I cannot winter in I 



■ iNSIN. 

 Answers.— 1. The thing for you to di 

 send a sample of diseased brood to Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. If you write him in ad- 

 vance he will send you a box for you to send 



the sample in, with a frank fur postagt I [i 

 will have an analysis made, will tell \ 



ISC is. and will send you matter indi 

 eating treatment; all without i I 

 get no result from caging the queen after she 

 laying. Moreover caging the queen is 

 only for I ulbrood. 



2. Unless you are very anxious for increase, 

 it will be better not to divide a strong colony 

 I ong colony will not be likely to 



have difficulty in getting into a single story" 

 when the other stories are taken away. 



:; Unless the brood-chamber is already full, 



the bees will be likely to carry down the 

 honey. You can help by uncapping the honey 

 in the super, or by smashing the cells some- 

 what. 



Dividing for Increase 



1. The best way to do in comb honej 



to me, is to leave the queen on the old 

 stand, best to wait therewith until there are 

 capped queen-cells, and then to make of the 

 brood (aside of the poorest frame thereof) at 

 least two nuclei, until one has an abundance 

 thereof — thus there will be lots of new queens, 

 and in a fine season, as it has been here, 

 many of the nuclei will grow into colonies; 

 finally, as a last resort, brood, as you advise, 

 can be piled up. 



2. The grass around here is very tall and 

 coarse — seems unfit to crowd into an en- 

 trance, so I take nuclei— the frames to make 

 two are arranged in the regular upper story 

 of the colony over an excluder— they all soon 

 get heavy with bees;- — then can be taken out 

 and be put into hives; entrances closed up 

 with wire netting for two days or longer; or, 

 exactly as long as one wishes. I have made 

 dozens and know it works well. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

 Answers. — 1. Your plan will probablj work 

 right in most cases. If I understand correctly 

 you will wait till the bees make preparation for 

 swarming, and have cells sealed, then take 

 away all but one frame of brood with adher- 

 ing bees, and make of them two or more nu- 

 clei, leaving the old queen with one frame of 

 brood on the old stand. Sometimes, 

 ever, the bees will not prepare to swarm, 

 and if they do, and you wait for cells to be 

 nit may be too late, for a swarm may 

 issue as soon as the first cell is sealed. To 

 provide against this, as soon as cells are well 

 advanced, or indeed before they are started at 

 all, you can take one brood with queen and 

 adhering bees anu put on a new stand ; then, 

 when cells are sealed in the old hive, or per- 

 1 or 6 days after they are sealed, 

 divide the contents of the old hive into nu- 

 clei and return the old queen to the old place. 



2. It may be better for you to closi 

 trances to your nuclei with wire cloth; but 

 for many there are advantages in using grass 



ad of wire cloth. If a i 

 is in an outapiary where one would not be on 



hand at the right timi 



0] it one is in danger of forgetting in a 



entrance 



bi ifelj lefl to thi nselves El the right 



not present, almi t will do. 



tecting the bees with boards on top and from 



all sides. But now, on the new place here 



at Okawville, 111., we have a barn with a bug- 



to the south, where both doors could 



■ I wide. We thought to bring our 



good friends in this mom as soon as real frost 



The barn remains unused. When the 



warm spi ii we I ould "pen both 



them at night. 



Do vou think this will work all right? 



ILLINi US 

 Answer. — As far south as you are. there 

 should be no trouble, as you are about the 

 latitude of St. Louis. But when you move t.ie 

 bees, if you do not take pains, some may re- 

 turn to the old spot. They should be made to 

 know that they have been moved, by disturb- 

 ing them and using a slanting board or other 

 obstruction in front of the hive to compel 

 them to take notice oi the change in location. 

 After 2 or 3 flights they will be accustomed 

 to the new location and the obstruction may 

 be removed. — Editor. 



Wintering 



On our former place we wintered wil 

 ess on the south side of the schoolho 



Comb — Italians — Concrete Hives 



1. Where do bees get their comb? 



2. Are Italian bees better than common 

 American bees?. If so, why? 



3. K a in frame hive better than an S-frame 

 hive' If so, why? 



4. Wil] nice, clean sorghum molasses kill 

 bees ? 



5. Why are not concrete hives good? 



ARKANS ^S 

 Answers — 1. They make it from wax that is 

 secreted by them a little in the manner milk is 

 secreted by a cow, from the food she eats. 

 The bees must eat honey and pollen to secrete 

 wax. Some say as little as 3 or 4 pounds of 

 honey to make a pound of wax; some say as 

 much as 20 pounds. 



2. Italians are almost universally considered 

 better in this country. They protect their 

 combs better from the bee-moth, but the great 

 thing is that you get more money from them. 



3. The large hive is generally preferred, one 

 important reason being that there is less dan- 

 ger of bees starving in winter. 



4. I don't know for sure; but I think it 

 might kill them for winter stores, although it 

 will not hurt them when flying daily. 



5. They might be all right if not too heavy, 

 or too cold. 



Swarms 



In tlie Septembei number of the American 

 Ilee Journal I notice the Question: "Does a 

 .lrm throw out swarms the first year?'* 

 On t!u- L6th Maj I hived two swarms. On 



the 1 5th of July both threw out swarms. I 

 hived them and today all four swarms are 

 Strong and apparently doing well. 



ILLINOIS. 



Answer. In tin September number to 

 which you refer, I said a virgin swarm occurs 

 "occasionally." You seem to have more of 

 them than usual. 



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 419 Liberty St. Jackson, Mich. 



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