166 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



Answers. — 1. I have had no experience in 

 the matter, but have read a good deal about it. 

 and have confidence that queens thus marked 

 are much more easily spotted than queens not 

 marked. There are two reasons for thus mark- 

 ing queens. One is that you may know the 

 age of a queen. I don't need to mark a queen 

 for that purpose, since my book tells me the 

 age of a queen, and I can tell the age of a 

 iny time of the year without opening a 

 hive, unless the queen has been superseded 

 and I can tell that by her whole wings. If I 

 lived in Switzerland, however, I might think 

 it worth while to mark queens for the sake of 

 finding them more easily, for there they pre- 

 fer black queens, and they are harder to find 

 than Italians. 



2. I have never tried it, as I cellar my bees, 

 but from the testimony of others it seems quite 

 a success. 1 don't know whether any means 

 are used to keep the frames rigid, but should 

 hardly suppose it necessary. I have sometimes 

 set the hive on end, and there is no danger of 

 the frames tonnling over unless they are 

 turned beyond the perpendicular. 



3. It might be a good thing in some cases, 

 but usually by the time a second shift would 

 be made the queen has slackened in her laying 

 so that she has enough room. 



4. I think there would be advantage in it. 

 With an entrance a little above the bottom- 

 board there would be no danger of the en- 

 trance being blocked with dead bees, and there 

 would be the advantage, probably an import- 

 ant one, that the cold wind could not so easily 

 reach the cluster. 



oe used .although a newspaper will answer. 

 Brush off all the bees from one or two frames 

 of brood; put these in an upper story over the 

 cardboard or paper and put the new bees and 

 queen on these combs. After being absent 4S 

 1 mrs, the queen could be safely returned with- 

 out killing cells. 



Re-Queening — Increase 



I have about 25 colonies of bees, black and 

 hvbrids all in 8 and 10-frame Tri-State hives, 

 and 1 want to Italianize them all this spring 

 and make some increase by introducing queens 

 and 1 or 2-pound packages, with three or four 

 objects in view. First, to get Italian stock. 

 Second, to have them strong when the white 

 clover flow opens Third, to control swarming, 

 and to work with the object in view of getting 

 rid of all unnecessary drone-comb in the fu- 

 ture. , . , , , 



I had thought of following this plan (close 

 to the Demaree plan) : I will take one hive, 

 to illustrate, a hive that is strong at time of 

 apple blossom, or later as you would advise. I 

 will take one frame of brood (or two, as you 

 would advise) out of old hive, place it in a 

 new hive, fill up with full sheets of foundation 

 and place old hive on new hive on old stand, 

 with queen-excluder between; leave till time to 

 introduce packages and queen. Then move the 

 old hive to a new location and from 24 to 48 

 hours (as you would advise), hunt out old 

 queen and introduce the packages with queen 

 into old hive by liberating in empty super with 

 perforated cardboard on bottom, with small 

 opening in center for them to enter brood- 

 chamher below. How soon would it be safe 

 to introduce a new queen in the new hive that 

 was left on the old stand? Or should I not 

 want to 'talianizc them, would they readily re- 

 :, old queen after being without her 

 24 to 48 hours; and would it be necessary to 

 destroy all queen-cells in introducing by this 

 plan. ILLINOIS. 



I'm not sure that I am competent to advise 

 about a plan I am not acquainted with, but I'll 

 try. You do not say whether you will leave 

 the queen above or below the excluder at the 

 time the excluder is given, but I suppose you 

 will leave her below, and I wouldn't leave 

 more than one brood with her; and unless the 

 colony is very strong in fruit bloom you will 

 do well to wait till the blooming of white 

 clover. It will be well to wait 48 hours be- 

 fore introducing the new bees into the old hive 

 on the new stand, and it will not be necessary 

 to use the super and cardboard, for there will 

 be only young bees in the hive, and the new 

 Dees and queen should be directly received. 

 Still the extra precaution will do no harm. 

 the other hive more precaution is 

 Eithei 24 or 48 hours aft. 

 queen is removed the new bees with the new 

 queen may be given, and your cardboard may 



Floors — Increase 



1. Would concrete be all right for a homy 

 house floor? If not, why would you object to 

 it? 



2. What is your method of running a colony 

 for comb-honey production. 



S. What is the best method of artificial in- 

 ld yet secure a crop of honey. 



4. Would Italians and Carniolans crossed be 

 a good cross? ONTARIO. 



....Answers. — 1. I don't know from experience, 

 but I should suppose it would be all right. 



2. To give even a brief answer to such a 

 question would be beyond the scope of this de- 

 partment, but in my nooks you will find in de- 

 tail just how I manage when running for comb 

 honey, 



3. "You cannot have your cake and eat it, 

 too," and if you make increase you must count 

 on a smaller honey crop, unless in a location 

 where an exceptionally heavy crop comes late. 

 However, you may make increase and get a 

 seasonable crop, and perhaps you might like 

 the Alexander plan. When a colony is very 

 strong, put all but one brood in a second story, 

 leaving one brood with the queen in the lower 

 story, with an excluder between. Kill any 

 queen-cells that may be present and fill all 

 vacancies with frames of foundation. In 5 

 days, if you find queen-cells started in the 

 upper story take it away and set it on a new 

 stand, leaving it to raise its own queen. If the 

 colony is not of good enough stock to breed 

 from, then all cells should be killed at the end 

 of 5 days and the upper story of brood left over 

 the excluder 5 or 6 days longer. It should 

 also be left 5 or 6 days longer if no cells are 

 started. At the end of this time, that is, 10 

 or 11 days from the time of the first opera- 

 tion, the upper story should be set on a new 

 stand, and 24 hours later a laying queen should 

 hi introduced, or else a virgin or a ripe cell. 



4. Yes; but I should prefer pure Italians. 



Increase 



1. Last spring a second hive-body was put mi 

 a stand oi bees. This spring they will be 

 strong e tough to divide. Is it preferable to in- 

 troduce a new queen into one stand when they 

 are divided, or to allow them to raise their 

 own queen? 



2. About what time should they be divided? 



3. A swarm is to be transferred from a box- 

 hive. Your statement in "Thousand Answers." 

 page 253, edition of 1917, would indicate there 

 would be no queen in the old box at time it 

 was broken up three weeks after the swarm is- 

 sued. Is this correct? KANSAS. 



Answers. — 1. You are assuming quite a hit 

 when you say they will be strong enough to 

 divide. You gave them a second hive body, 

 and it is possible that both stories will be oc- 

 cupied in tlu s- ring, but more likely only one, 

 and possibly that one may not be half full. At 

 any rate, when you do divide there will be an 

 important gain to give the queenlcss part a lay- 

 ing queen rather than to let it rear its own 

 queen. 



•-.'. Wait unlit about the time colonies begin 

 i; naturally in your locality, or until 

 tin opening of white i ' I hen un- 



til tlie colony is strong. 



■ I] ves; there will be a young queen in 

 tli. il, I hive, but you will pay no attention to 

 that. If, upon uniting, the young queen is 

 killed, it will be all right, and if the young 

 queen kills the old one, that will likely be bet- 

 ter still. 



Royal Jelly — Foulbrood 



I ■.]■!! royal jelly mad< , 



- i.ilh 



icribe American foulbrood, also the dif- 



ferei ce between American and European foul- 

 brood. 



3. What is the most effective way to intro- 

 duce queens? 



4. What do you think of Mr. C. B. Banks- 

 ton's queen mating nuclei? Do you think it 

 as effective as the baby nuclei? 



VIRGINIA. 



Answers. — 1. The bees make it of honey and 

 pollen, somewhat as a cow makes butter out 

 of grass; but I don't think it can be made ar- 

 tificially. 



2. The outstanding symptom of American is 

 that when you thrust a toothpick into it and 

 draw it out the dead matter will string out in 

 a thread an inch or two long. In European the 

 dead larva has a yellowish look. 



;'.. I'rrhaps as good as any i= the usual one 

 of caging the queen in the hive in such a way 

 that the bees will let her out of the cage in 3 

 or 4 days. 



4. I do not recall just what it is. but I would 

 expect that anything C. B. Bankslmi uses 

 would be good. 



Moving Short Distance 



I have 26 colonies of bees which I desire to 

 move a distance of about 50 yards to a shed 

 which I have prepared for them. Now, I do 

 nut wish to do anything that will cause a very 

 great loss of bees and thus work against my 

 honey crop. 



How and when can I move them with the 

 least loss of bees? 



Is it best to move them after a confini mi pi 

 of a few cold days, or had I better wait till 

 nice, warm weather? 



Will there be danger of their drifting very 

 much? 



I have owned bees ever since I was a little 

 boy, but never had experience in moving any 

 even a short distance. KENTUCKY. 



Answer. — Don't wait for warm weather, for 

 the longer they have been flying the worse they 

 will be about flying back to the old plac Put 

 a board in front of each hive entrance after 

 you put them on the new stands, and before 

 you open the entrance of a hive pound good 

 and hard on the hive, so as to get the bees to 

 roaring. That will help to make them mark 

 the entrance and the new location. There 

 ought to b: no great trouble about drifting. In 

 spite of your precautions, some bees will likely 

 ret.-rn to the eld location. To catch these let 

 a hive containing combs with a little honey, or 

 else empty combs, be set in the old location, 

 and each day, as long as the bees keep re- 

 turning, let the bees be* brushed from the 

 combs in front of any hives in the new loca- 

 tion. 



Packing for Winter 



1. To winter bees out doors in central Indi- 

 an,!, ho« would it do to place hives on a plat- 

 form in a row, covering them with tar paper 

 cover all over except the entrance, and over 

 the top place tin to shed the water? 



2. Would you leave the hives as close to- 

 gether in the summer? INDIANA. 



Answers. — 1. To pack in that sort of whole- 

 sale way would be less expense and labor than 

 to winter in smaller groups or singly, and this 

 obvious fact could not fail to have been sug- 

 gested to anyone studying the problem. The 

 fact, however, that it has not generally been 

 adopted is pretty clear proof that experienced 

 practitioners do not consider it a very satisfac- 

 tory way. One trouble is that the bees would 

 be likely to enter wrong hives. 



2. By no means. There would be too much 

 mixing of bees from different hives. 



Spacing Frames — Sweet Clover 



1. ,)o the Dada ' i ' r ' ' ' '' ''" 



bottom of their deep brood-frames? Are they 



a. How could I fix my Hoffman frames so 

 they would space I'A inches from center to 

 center? v/ould you advise me to use the 

 il 1 i inch spacing? 

 i, r use something to ki i the 

 , „.,,,,, i . loth Erom toui hing the frami i W bal 

 could 1 use? 



4. Would two division-boards, one on eacn 



