1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



129 



Dr. Millers && Answers- 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller. Markngo. II - .. 



He does not answer bee-keeoine Questions by mall. 



Black Beeswax 



I have a chunk of beeswax which is as 

 dark as pitch. I have melted it in a sun wax 

 extractor; also have melted it with hot water, 

 ..ut the color remains unchanged. What pro- 

 cess is best to refine wax? 



ILLINOIS. 



Answer. — I do not know, unless you use 

 acid. If there's any better way Editor Dadant 

 will know it. 



(You do not say how it was blackened. If 

 it was by the use of a rusty kettle, it will be 

 hard to bring it back to good color. You 

 might succeed by melting it several times in 

 the sun extractor. — Ed.) 



Package Bees 



I have recently sent an order fo- £5 2-lb. 

 packages of bees with queens to be delivered 

 about the 1st to loth of next June. What 

 would be the best plan Tor handling these 

 bees? I am using 10-frame Langstroth hives. 

 Could I put in full sheets of foundation and 

 hive them on two or three frames with a di- 

 vision-board, feed them awhile and gradually 

 increase the broodnest and get them built up 

 to full colonies by fall, so as not to require 

 feeding or doubling up for the winter? The 

 yellow sweet clover generally begins blooming 

 here about the 10th to loth of June, and al- 

 falfa about the 15th to 20th of June, and hay 

 harvest begins the last week in June, some- 

 times the first week in July, and swarming 

 season the middle of July to 1st of August. 

 I have read your books, but they say very lit- 

 tle about handling bees in packages, and most 

 of your increase was made with fully drawn 

 combs, and not with foundation. 



WYOMING. 



Answer. — Yes. you can do as vou propose, 

 putting the bees on three frames of founda- 

 tion with division-board and gradually enlarg- 

 ing; but if weather is hot it is doubtful if it 

 will be worth while to use the division-board. 

 Neither will it he worth while to feed if the 

 bees get a reasonable amount of honey from 

 the field so that their combs are never without 

 honey. A package of bees with queen is to be 

 treated just as you would treat a swarm, and 

 you will probably find no difficulty in the man- 

 agement. You ay I had drawn combs in 

 making increase. Well, foundation would be 

 the same, only the bees will get along a little 

 faster with the comb. So far as you have 

 them to spare it will be well to give combs of 

 honey, giving one to each nucleus, and frames 

 of brood and honey will be still better. 



Finding the Queen 



I want Dr. Miller to tell me through the 

 Journal — because I believe others would like 

 to know the same thing— how to find the 

 queen in a hive. I have had bees for five or 

 six years and have found one on one or two 

 occasions, and have been unsuccessful on oc- 

 casions too numerous to relate. . 



OKLAHOMA. 



Answer. — There's no trick about it, and if 

 you keep on trying to find queens, most likely 

 you will wonder that you ever thought it hard. 

 I'^e as little smoke as possible, for if you 

 smoke so much as to set the bees running it's 

 all day with finding queens. But smoke 

 enough to keep the bees in subjection. The 

 queen is nearly always on the brood; so lift 

 out the frame or frames at the side until you 

 come to the first frame with brood. When pos- 

 sible, sit with your back to the sun, so you 

 can see better. As you gently lift out the 

 comb keep watch for the queen on the side of 

 the comb next to you, but as soon as the 



comb is lifted out examine carefully the other 

 side, and then return for another look at the 

 side next you. Continue in this way till you 

 have been over all the combs, and if necessary 

 repeat the whole performance. If you do not 

 find her on the second time going over, you 

 may save time by closing the hive until an hour 

 or more later, or until the next day Handle 

 the combs very gently; a jar is as Dad as too 

 much smoke. My assistant is an expert at 

 finding queens, and I've given you her way. 



Transferring — Packing 



1. I have three colonies of bees which I 

 purchased late last fall, and as we had a poor 

 flow, did not transfer them, but would like to 

 early this spring. Would it do for me to drum 

 them out of the old hive about first bloom time 

 into another hive, then set the new hive above 

 the old one with a separator between them? 

 Would this hinder brood-raising to any extent? 



2. I packed my uees last fall in individual 

 packing cases with about 6 inches of leaves all 

 around, then I put burlap in the bottom of su- 

 per and filled it with leaves, leaving the hive 

 top off. I filled the packing case on up, this 

 making about 12 inches of packing above the 

 hdes. Then I put on the top of the packing 

 case, which is covered with tarred paper. I 

 then bored two 1-inch holes just below the 

 roof for ventilation. The hive sets about 6 

 inches higher than the bottom of the packing 

 ca?e. I put the opening of the packing case at 

 the bottom and put a slanting chute from the 

 hive entrance to the packing case entrance. 

 Will that help the bees any to keep the dead 

 bees out of their entrances? Packing case en- 

 trance is three-eighths by 4 inches. Hive en- 

 trance thre.e-eighths by full width. 



3. The dead bees seem to come out fine and 

 the bees seem to be doing just fine. We have 

 had two or three warm days here of late and 

 every hive has taken one day's flight. They 

 looked like they would swarm, they were out 

 so thick, but up till then they have never been 

 out that I know of, and I find very few dead 

 bees at the entrances. Don't you think that 

 would indicate they were doing well? 



ILLINOIS. 

 Answers. — 1 I think not. 



2. I suspect it would be as well if you had 

 bored only one hole instead of two. That 

 slanting entrance would make it at least a lit- 

 tle easier for the bees to keep the dead bees 

 cleared away. 



3. You would be hard to please if you were 

 not satisfied with their behavior. Still, you 

 have not reached the time of greatest mor- 

 tality, your letter being dated January 19. You 

 will probably find that more bees will die in 

 the last month of confinement than in all the 

 previous time. They are evidently wintering 

 well. 



Size of Frames — Packing 



1. I am a beginner in beekeeping. I ex- 

 pect to work for extracted honey As all 

 frames in the apiary should be the same size, 

 what hives and what size frames would you 

 advise me to get? Some say the queens will 

 lay more eggs in large frames than in small 

 ones. 



2. What size pocket honey extractor would 

 you advise me to get? 



3. Can a 9,'6-inch frame be successfully ex- 

 tracted in a 12-inch pocket honey extractor? 



4. What is the best to put over the brood- 

 frames, straw mats, oil cloth, or just the cover 

 alone? 



5. There is no rye straw around here. Could 

 mats be made out of timothy hay? 



6. When do you examine your bees for the 

 first time in spring? Do vou examine them at 

 their first flight, or do you wait two or three 

 weeks later? 



7. Do you disturb your bees on warm win- 

 ter days to make them fly? 



8. I have often read: Dark honey should 



not be .eft in the hive in fall, as it causes dys- 

 entery. How about buckwheat honey? 



IOWA. 

 Answers. — 1. Some agree with the Dadants 

 that it is better to have extractin frames 

 shallower than the brood-frames. You will dn 

 well to have 10-frame dovetailed hives, unless 

 you have the Dadant. Like enough queens 

 may lay at least a little more in large frames. 



2. That depends on the size of your extract- 

 ing-combs. The pockets should be at least 

 large enough to take the frames easily. 



3. Yes. 



4. As you appear to winter outdoors, you 

 should have straw mats or something to take 

 their place. 



o. I'm afraid not. Leaves are excellent for 

 packing. 



6. Sometimes on the day they are taken 

 from cellar, but usually not till some warm day 

 a week or more later. 



?. No; because I winter in the cellar. 



8. Buckwheat honey is good for wintering. 



Insulating Materials 



On page 24 of the Januarv issue is an in- 

 teresting table of the relative* insulating value 

 of :i tew packing materials. Where, in vour 

 judgment, would hay and straw, nicelv packed, 

 stand in this list? NEW YORK 



Answer.— I don't know, but should think it 

 would come in between dead air space and cor- 

 rugated cardboard. 



Swarm Control 



1. I have three stands of bees in 10-frame 

 hives. Two stands are blacks and the third I 

 requeened last spring with an Italian queen. 

 I wish to limit them to 4 stands, total, next 

 spring, and intend to let my strongest blacks 

 swarm, but intend to clip the queens of the 

 other two early, and then kill them when they 

 come out to swarm. What better way would 

 you suggest that will give me my objective and 

 still keep the bees happy?. My bees are lo- 

 cated on a small town lot. 



2. In what way would a change of next sea- 

 son, from normal, influence these plants^ 



INDIANA. 



Answers. — 1. When a colony swarms and 

 you kill its queen and then leave it to its 

 own devices, there's hardly anything surer 

 than that it will swarm again in a week or so. 

 You may avoid this if you kill all cells but 

 one. 



Perhaps .you might like to have all Italians, 

 and this might suit you: Call the Italian A, 

 and the two blacks B and C. and let them 

 stand thus: 



ABC 



Strengthen A by giving it frames of sealed 

 brood from B and C, with or without adhering 

 bees. That will make A swarm first. When it 

 swarms, set the swarm, which we will call D, 

 in place of A, put A in place of B, and set B 

 on a new stand, thus: 



D A C B 



In perhaps eight days A should swarm again, 

 when you will put the swarm E in place of A, 

 put A in place of C, and put C close beside B. 

 thus: 



D 



BC 



When A swarms again, put the swarm F in 

 place of A, and put A close beside B and C, 

 thus: 



D E F BCA 



A week later kill the queens of B and C. 

 and four or five days later kill all cells in B 

 and C and pile them on A. Thus you have 

 your four colonies with an Italian queen m 

 each. 



2. A season might be so poor that the bees 

 would not swarm. 



Drawn Combs for Swarms 



1. If. when a colony swarms, a hive full of 

 drawn combs is given, will not the bees im- 

 mediately rill them with honey and soon crowd 

 the queen very uadly? 



•J. N there not likely to be another swarm 

 sooner where drawn combs are used? 



