28 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



2. Like enough single-walled, 



3. I have had no experience i 

 it *o be a good hive. 



well packed, 

 itb it. but sup- 



pose 



Sheets of Foundation Short 



I use the regular Hoffman frame, and I 

 bought some comb foundation of a company 

 this fall, and it is about three-eighths of an 

 inch shorter than the length of the frame, 

 leaving a space of about three-eighths of an 

 inch between the foundation and the end-bar. 



Would you advise me to put the foundation in 

 the center of the frame, or put it to one side 

 and leave the three-eighths inch space on the 

 other side, between the foundation and the 

 end-bars? VERMONT. 



Answer. — With proper precautions it is pos- 

 sible to have foundation cut so as to fill the 

 frame entirely, and have it built out all right; 

 but the foundation is quite commonly inclined 

 to do a little stretching, in which case there 

 is some buckling, making bad work. So your 

 foundation was probably advisedly made a lit- 

 tle scant ro a little stretching could be adjust- 

 ed, with the expectation that you would allow 

 the space to be equal at the two ends. 



Queen Cells — Queen Introduction — 

 Brood Wintering 



1. Can one or more queens be successfully 

 wintered in one colony? If so, what is the 

 method? „ , 



2. Are queen cells ever built horizontally? 

 If so, are queens that are raised in them as 

 good as those raised in vertical cells? 



3. Is there any noticeable difference in the 

 activity and production of colonies whose en- 

 trances face the west, as compared to those 

 facing east? 



4. What are the good or bad points ot a 

 frame with end and bottom bars the same 

 width as the top bar, other dimensions being 

 standard? 



5. I introduced queen to colony 24 hours 

 queenless, about September 23. The queen 

 was weakened, some attendants being dead. A 

 week later I could see a few golden bees on 

 the combs among the blacks, but found no 

 queen. Quit feeding on November 1. No 

 brood. Saturday, November 2, the new queen 

 arrived, was placed in the cage on frames 

 above the cluster. At 4 p. m. Monday eve- 

 ning candy was nearly eaten through. Tues- 

 day evening about half of the attendants were 

 dead and beeway not quite through the candy. 

 I removed the screen on edge of cage and re- 

 placed it above cluster. Wednesday evening 

 still some candy in cage; all but queen and 

 two attendants dead; queen still active; re- 

 moved wire screen and placed case on its 

 side over cluster November 16 bees were 

 flying nicely, but no indications of robbing. 

 November 17 opened hive a d found plenty of 

 stores and about 200 cells of capped brood; 

 also about a dozen cells of brood in the 

 earlier stages of development, all apparently 

 unharmed. Every bee was dead, the hive 

 bottom covered; aiso the ground in front of 

 the hive was strewn with dead bees. The 

 queen had what seemed to be a sting in her 

 side near the base of the wing What do you 

 think was cause of this? 



G. Please recommend a good book on the 

 honey flowers of North America. 



?. Is catnip a good honey plant'" 



8. I have some Old brood combs that are 

 quite black. Can they be bleached and still 

 be good for brood? 



a colony winter too warm? For ex- 

 ample, if packed in sawdust so that little or 

 no heat would escape and weather conditions 

 would have to vary extremely to affect it from 

 the outside? 



10. March, 1909, page 101, you say: "Let 

 bees swarm and » • « 21 days later add 

 rest of bees to swarm and melt up the combs " 

 !lst day' If a new queen is 

 present in the old hive, will there not be 

 urood then? 



Answers.- 1. No; although two or more nu- 

 clei, or two colonies, may be wintered in the 

 same hive, separated by thin, bee-tight parti- 

 tions. 



2. In rare cases, when- the cell is crowded 

 for room, as on the edge of a comb next to 

 a bottom bar. I've seen them horizontal. 

 They're likely as good as any. I've turned 

 cells upside down, and the queens from them 

 had a stubby posterior. 



3. I've had 'hem facing all ways and could 



never make out any difference, although it is 

 possible that in some cases there might be a 

 difference. 



4. The Miller frame, which I have been us- 

 ing for yea.s, has top-bar, bottom-bar and end- 

 bars uniform in width, \% inches, throughout 

 their whole dimensions I'm not sure that 

 either advantages or disadvantages are worth 

 quarreling about. The frame is a trifle 

 stronger for the greater width, and the smaller 

 space between end-bars and bottom-bars makes 

 a little less building of bits of extra comb. 

 The wider bottom-bar is more in the way of 

 an uncapping knife. 



5. I don't know. You say there was no in- 

 dication of robbing on the 16th, and plenty of 

 stores the 17th, so that bars out robbing, and 

 I have no other guess. 



6. There is no such book published that we 

 know of. However John H Lovell has pub- 

 lished a book, "The Flower and the Bee," 

 which is on the pollen plants. Our associate 

 editor, Frank C. Pellett, is writing articles on 

 the honey plants, and these will be published 

 in the American Bee Journal from time to 

 time. 



7. Excellent. 



8. I don't think so; the bees prefer the 

 blackest. 



9. I doubt about the "too warm"; but it's 

 just possible too much packing might under 

 some circumstances make it too cold, not al- 

 lowing the sun to heat up the hive on a warm 

 day. But I may be mistaken in that. 



10. The swarm usually issues when the first 

 queen cell is sealed. Then in 21 days the 

 young queen would hardly have more than 

 eggs, or so little brood as to be negligible. 



Moving Bees in Oregon 



We wish to move our apiary of about 120 

 colonies during February or March, 18 miles 

 by river boat, then transfer to box-car, and 

 150 miles by rail. This is a very rough and 

 mountainous country, and travel is often slow 

 and uncertain. Bees may have to be shut up 

 for several days, probably not less than 5 or 

 6. Though we have but little freezing weather 

 there is no really warm weather during our 

 winter months. With a few sunny days now 

 and then bees fly more or less all winter, 

 often bringing in some pollen. Our practice 

 is to leave on a shallow super containing some 

 honey for winter stores, which in moving will 

 give them extra air space. 



1. How much top ventilation, if any. would 



2. If bees are active they will need water 

 2. If bees ar eactive, will they need water 



while shut in?. It is nearly always cool here 

 in the shade, even during summer. Would 

 like suggestions on moving bees under our 

 conditions. Honeyflow starts here in April. 

 OREGON. 



Answers. — 1. Something depends upon the 

 amount of bottom ventilation. If your hives 

 are like mine, with entrance 2 inches deep, 

 and 2 inches space under bottom-bars, in a 

 cool time there might be no need of further 

 ventilation. Otherwise it might not be safe, 

 and it may be better to have wire cloth the 

 full size of the top. 



2. Under such circumstances they are likely 

 to need water, especially if they crowd against 

 the opening, in which case a very strong col- 

 ony might be suffocated. Spraying with water 

 will not only quench their thirst, but cool 

 them off and drive them back. 



Large Packing Cases 



I packed my sixteen colonies of bees in 

 winter case big enough for same by making 

 two rows of them, eight in row, in block form, 

 back to back, and snug in rows; would they 

 mix with one another when out on flights, 

 enough to hurt? 



I use matched lumber 16 ft. long to make 

 this case. I find it cheaper, also much easier. 

 NEW YORK. 



Answer. — With eight colonies in a straight 

 row standing close together, there will be 

 some danger of mixing if all are just alike. 



with no objects to help mark the location. A 

 tree or a post standing in front of the hives 

 will help greatly. If there is nothing of the 

 kind, you can stand a board, leaning against 

 the hives at the middle of the row. It might 

 be better to have two boards, one 5 feet or so 

 from each end. 



Feeding in Winter 



1. I have 29 colonies of bees that will need 

 feeding in early spring. I don't want to dis- 

 turb them to note their condition, on account 

 of the packing, which I want to leave on until 

 warm weather. I want to feed in the open. 

 Will chere be danger of some filling their 

 hives too full? How thin should the syrup 

 be, and how much ought I to allow for each 

 colony? 



2. If I should leave a super of honey on 

 each hive through the winter and remove it 

 before clover blooms, would it extract all 

 right? MISSOURI. 



Answebs. — 1. Without knowing how much 

 honey is in each hive, it isn't easy to say how 

 much you should feed. At any rate, you will 

 hardly be in danger of crowding any brood- 

 chamber if you give not more than 10 or 15 

 pounds of sugar (not syrup) for each hive. 

 Hardly that much will be needed. Equal parts 

 of water and sugar will work all right. 



2. There is some danger the honey may be 

 candied. 



The Illinois Meeting 



Owing to the raging influenza, the 

 Illinois meeting held in December, 

 had the smallest attendance it has 

 had for years, barely 20 being pres- 

 ent. Illinois rarely has a large at- 

 tendance of beekeepers. This is 

 more strange since the association is 

 one of the largest in numbers in the 

 United States, having at present 

 nearly 500 enrolled members. This is 

 probably due to the fact that the an- 

 nual report of the meeting is pub- 

 lished in book form. 



However, if the Illinois beekeep- 

 ers who read this could appreciate 

 what they miss by failing to attend, 

 more of them would go in the future. 

 The personal intercourse, between 

 members, the getting acquainted 

 with leading beekeepers (we had 

 Pettit and Miller this time), the oc- 

 casion offered to ask questions to be 

 solved, all combine to make the 

 meeting both pleasant and useful. 



At this meeting 24 questions on 

 different subjects concerning bees 

 were asked, discussed and answered. 

 Beekeepers of Illinois, do not fail 

 to attend future meetings. 



We will give a short synopsis of 

 this meeting in February. 



Nebraska Meeting Postponed 



Owing to influenza restrictions, the 

 Nebraska meeting, mentioned else- 

 where in this issue, is postponed in- 

 definitely 



Texas Beekeepers 



Dallas County, Texas, beekeepers 

 organized recently with 26 charter 

 members. W. E. Joor, of Dallas, was 

 chosen President, and A. D. Fraser. 

 Secretary. The association will meet 

 again the fourth Tuesday in January, 



Established 1885 



We are still furnishing beehives made of 

 white pine; they will last A I Root Co.'s 

 make of bee supplies kept in stock. Send for 

 catalog giving full particulars; free for the 

 asking. Beeswax in exchange for supplies, or 

 cash. 



JOHN NEBEL & SON SUPPLY CO. 



High Hill, Montg. Co., Mo 



