1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



97 



taining the queen and the one with the queen- 

 cell (instead of the excluder)? 



3. Would the cell hatch and the young queen 

 he laying eggs oefore the two queens got to- 

 gether? 



4. Wouldn't the young one be apt to over- 

 come the old one when thev did meet? 



5. Will bees smother in the winter if the 

 entrance becomes clogged with snow and ice 

 when they have a deep super on top packed 

 with forest leaves, but no ventilation ? 



ILLINOIS. 

 Answers. — • 1. It might be well, and it 

 might not. With young brood of all ages be- 

 low, the bees might start other cells, and then 

 swarm as soon as the young queen was ready 

 to go. It would be entirely feasible for you, 

 instead of killing all cells but one to kill all 

 cells, and then give a cell of best stock. 



2. That would be merely taking away from 

 the story with the queen two frames of brood, 

 and generally that would not stop swarming. 



3. I should expect the virgin to go up into 

 the story containing the queen before it was 

 time for her wedding flight. 



4. Considering that the old queen is cum- 

 bered with eggs and the virgin more agile, one 

 might expect the younger to come off first best, 

 but experience has shown that when the lay- 

 ing queen is satisfactory she will continue in 

 power, either because she gets the better of 

 the virgin, or because the workers take a hand 

 in the matter. If the queen be such that the 

 bees desire to supersede her, the case may be 

 different. 



5. If, as you say, there is no ventilation 

 aoove, then the bees should smother when 

 enow and ice close the entrance. If the pack- 

 ing above is sufficiently open to admit enough 

 air, then there should be no smothering. 



Shed for Bees 



I have built a shed in which I expect to 

 keep all of my bees. I have built it 24 feet 

 long, S feet wide and ' feet high. I can put 

 about 13 hives in a row and I can make 3 

 rows, which is about the width of my shed. I 

 would like to know whether it would be all 

 right to put the hives in front of each other; 

 if so, would there be any danger of the bees 

 from the last row flying into the hives of 

 those in the first row. I have made doors 

 by which I can close the front of my shed 

 when the snow comes. Do you think my 

 plans are all right? ILLINOIS. 



Answer. — It is hard to be sure about any- 

 thing with bees until it is tried, but I'm 

 afraid your plan will not be very satisfactory. 

 With the three rows in the shed the bees in- 

 side would not have a very good chance for 

 light and heat from the sun when a flying day 

 comes, and there would likely also be some 

 mixing o. the bees of different hives. 



How Large an Apiary ? 



1. I have 80 colonies in my home apiary and 

 have bought 70 stands more. I intend to 

 hold my final number to 200, and have within 

 a radius of two miles each way about 800 acres 

 of alfalfa and some sweet clover. Do you 

 think I could secure the maximum amount of 

 honey by having these bees all in one apiary? 

 (centrally located.) 



2. How wide do you make the slats on your 

 rack under bets? NEW MEXICO. 



Answer.. — 1. I confess ignorance in 

 a case, but would guess yes. 



8. About half an inch; but it might vary 



such 



Foulbrood — Requeening 



1. My bees had foulbrood last summer and 

 I caged the queens in the hives that were the 

 worst (The ones I did not cage only had a 

 little foulbrood.) I sent and got a dozen 

 Italian queens and requeened only about one- 

 half of what colonies I have, last September. 

 How is the best way for me to requeen the 

 rest of my colonies next spring from the pure 

 Italians I have? 



2. I have a queen coming to me; what is 

 the earliest time I could have her come next 

 spring, from Alabama? IOWA. 



Answer. — 1. You cannot do it next spring 

 very well, for you can hardly rear queens 

 successfully in Iowa before about June. One 



way will be to let the colony go to near the 

 close of the harvest with its old queen, then 

 make it queenless, kill all queen-cells a week 

 later, and give it a sealed cell of your best 

 stock. That would not materially interfere 

 with the harvest. 



2. So far as your end of the line is con- 

 cerned, it ought to be safe to receive the 

 queen any time in May, and possibly in April, 

 provided a queen is ready to be sent at that 

 time. 



house 



How Far Can the Bee See — -Obser- 

 vations, Etc. 



1. How far do you suppose a 

 an object — tree, water course oj 

 when coming in from a distance 

 two loaded? 



2. If I should look into brood-chamber now 

 would I find any eggs at all or any young bees 

 in cells? 



3. When does the queen quit laying? 



4. I've made an observation hive (1-frarne) 

 and aim to take out a frame from one of my 

 colonies at the proper time and put in my ob- 

 servation hive and let the bees raise a queen. 

 Later on, can I take that frame out. brush off 

 all bees and put a frame of full sheet foun- 

 dation in observation hive for bees and queen 

 to work on and put the frame of young bees 



another colony? Would that cause trouble 



the 



.>!,,,] 



At the proper time next spring I aim to 

 buy a queen and 3 pounds of bees to put in a 

 10-frame hive full sheet comb. When they ar- 

 rive will bees and queen all be together, or 

 will queen be in a cage? 



6. How h u - I better proceed to get them in 

 the 10-frame hive? 



7. Will 3 pounds of bees put in 10-frame 

 hive early build up a full hive by next fall, or 

 had I better buy 4 pounds? 



8. I suppose I had better buy here in Texas 

 or Louisiana, so I can get bees in a few days. 

 How long can bees be in transit and do well? 



9. ^.bout what time should I get my queen 

 and bees I am to buy? 



10. How far noith do bees live? 



11. My observation hive will be in my south 

 colony, in the shade. Will a dark cloth or 

 brown paper over it be sufficient to keep out 

 the light? 



12. I have 4 8-frame hives native bees and 

 will buy one Italian nueen and a few pounds 

 Italian bees. The queen I buy will continue 

 to raise Italian queens and bees, but will her 

 daughters stand 4 chances to 1 to be impreg- 

 nated by my native drones, and vice versa? 



13. If I don't exhaust vour patience I will 

 write again later on— maybe. TEXAS. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know: but I have an 

 idea it can see as far as a man, or further; so 

 it might see a house or a big tree two miles 

 away. 



2. You would probably find neither eggs nor 

 brood. 



3. As far north as I live the queen stops 

 laying in September or October, and maybe 

 in November. I don't know, but I should 

 think it might be a month later in Texas. 



4. You propose to brush off all bees and put 

 the frame of young bees in another colony ; 

 by which I suppose you mean the young bees 

 yet in their cells. No trouble would come 

 from putting these in any colony. 



5. Like enough the queen will be caged. 

 Depends on breedc from whom you buy. 



6. One way is to put a brood-comb from an- 

 other colony in the hive, set the package in 

 the hive beside it with opening close to the 

 comD; cover up and let the bees take their 

 time to occupy the comb or combs in the hive. 

 Possibly instructions may come with the pack- 

 age. 



7. In a gooa season they should not only 

 build up, but yield surplus. 



8. They might stand a week; but of course 

 the shorter the confinement the better. 



9. As early as the seller is ready to send 

 them. 



10 I don't know, but have an impression 

 that I have read of their being about as far 

 north as human habitations are found. 



11. Dark cloth or paper will probably be 

 sufficient. 



12. You can increase the chances of pure 



mating by keeping all drone-brood out of dark 

 colonies, but your neighbors' bees are to be 

 reckoned with. It may take several years to 

 work out all black stock. 



13. I have a good stock of patience on hand, 

 so don't be afraid to come again. But it 

 would help a whole lot if all would take pains 

 to write very plainly. A good way is to try 

 the questions on someone else before sending. 

 If they can rtad them, I ought to be able to 

 make them out. 



Drones in Winter 



The bees were flying this 11th of January 

 and one of my hives has drones in it. Now 

 I have been told that if the bees have drones 

 in the hive in the winter that they are queen- 

 less. What I wish to know is what is best 

 to do with that stand of bees. They are a 

 very strong swarm. INDIANA. 



Answer. — Nothing can be done until bees 

 art thing in April or May. Then see if there 

 is any worker-brood, for there is a bare pos- 

 sioility that they are all right in spite of a few 

 drones. If you find no worker-brood, you can 

 unite it with a weak colony that has a good 

 queen, or you can give it a queen that you 

 will have sent by mail. 



Swarm Control 



1. I run my bees for extracted honey and 

 cannot be with them every day. How can I 

 get the greatest possible amount of honey per 

 colony without any increase and still make 

 sure of having no swarms? Would it be best 

 to shake them at the proper time, giving all 

 but one brood to another hive, or would the 

 colony store more surplus by leaving brood 

 and putting queen below an excluder? If the 

 latter course was followed wouldn't there still 

 be danger of my losing some swarms? 



The honeyflow here is from white clover, 

 only lasting from June 15 to July 15 or 20, 

 with no fall flow. 



2. If a colony be shaken after it has capped 

 queen-cells and left with one brood and no 

 queen-cells, would they still want to swarm. 

 or would they uo good super work? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. You can hardly do any better 

 than what you propose, and you will likely get 

 more surplus from the colony by leaving the 

 orood and putting queen below excluder. Of 

 course, you must kill cells if there be any at 

 time of putting urood above excluder, and 

 also about S or 10 days later. 



2. In such a case you would be quite safe 

 in counting upon excellent super work, with 

 no thought of swarming. 



Bees Smothered 



1. I have several hives in which the bees 

 were smothered out the winter of 1917-1S, full 

 of comb and candied honey; also full of 

 moths and their webs. Would like to ask 

 through the Journal what to do with them. 



2. I would like to requeen; which would you 

 advise, the golden or 3-banded Italians? 



3. Would it not be best to get northern- 

 raised queen. I see they raise more of them 

 in the southern states. IDAHO. 



Answers. — 1. As the moths have had a pret- 

 ty good chance at them, there is likely nothing 

 better you can do than to melt up the whole 

 business, saving the wax and either feeding 

 the honey or making it into vinegar. If any 

 of the combs, however, are not in too bad con- 

 dition, you can put them in the upper story 

 of a strong colony to be cleaned up, or you 

 might give them to a colony that is building 

 up. 



2. Some prefer goldens, but probably more 

 beekeepers like the 3-banded better. Our own 

 preference is for 3-banded Italian stock. 



3. The southern raised queens apparently 

 give as good satisfaction as northern raised 

 ones. 



Increase — Yellow Jackets 



1. I am away from home and have to do all 

 of my work on Sundays. I have 4 swarms of 

 bees and 11 10-frame hives and 45 frames of 

 extracting combs. I lose all of the young 



