1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



313 



taminated cell of brood, it will spread through- 

 out the hive. 



2. They take honey from the brood-chamber, 

 but in a flow they do not carry it down. When 

 the flow is over they are likely to carry it 

 down as fast as vacancies occur in the brood- 

 chamber. 



3. Yes; only you had better brush instead 

 of shake. 



Equipment 



1. Are the protection or double-walled hives 

 satisfactory, and what size frame is best? 



2. How large a bee-space should a honey- 

 board have, .163 inch perforations, or .172 

 inch? 



3. What bees are the best? 



4. Is bee-bread any good? 



5. Are the aluminum honeycomb frames sat- 

 isfactory' Would you advise me to get them 

 altogether 5 



6. Are the wiring, nailing and wedge clamp- 

 ing devices advertised all right? 



7. What is the best device for putting to- 

 gether sections, in starters, etc , at one 

 handling. IOWA. 



Answers.— 1. Opinions differ, and localities 

 differ. Most Iowa beekeepers prefer single- 

 walled hives wintered in cellar. 



2. Likely .163 is better. 



3. Three-banded Italians are generally pre 

 ferred. 



4. It is often of more value than honey. No 

 young bees can ue reared without it. 



5. They are as yet new, and largely un- 

 tried. 



6. Likely they are, although all may not be 

 of equal value. I must confess ignorance, in 

 that I have not tried all of them. 



7. I don't know. Some think it better to 

 have two machines, one to put the sections 

 together and one to put in the foundation. 



Foulbrood 



In treating foulbrood nearly all writers say 

 to put the bees on foundation starters until 

 they have cleaned themselve of infected 

 honey and wax and then give them full sheets 

 to begin over with. Please tell me why it 

 would not do as well to cut out all brood and 

 honey from infected frames of combs, just 

 leaving enough dry comb at the top to show 

 them where to start, instead of furnishing new 

 frames with starters to be destroyed as soon 

 as used? KENTUCKY. 



Answer. — Instead of brushing twice, as you 

 mention, isn't it the general practice nowadays 

 to do the one brushing upon full sheets? One 

 objection to your plan is that it would be in- 

 convenient. You would hardly want to cut 

 out combs in less than three weeks after treat- 

 ment, for you want the brood to hatch out. 

 Also, to leave a margin of dry comb would be 

 just what you don't want, for you don't want 

 the bees to have a place to deposit the in- 

 fected honey, but you want them to use it up 

 before there is brood to be fed. 



Extracting — Bees Loafing 



1. I am just a beginner in this busy bee 

 business and would like to know how honey is 

 extracted, where only one or two stands of 

 bees are kept and no extractor in the neigh- 

 borhood. 



2. I have a 10-frame hive with super in a 

 well-shaded place and for three weeks or 

 more a large number of bees cluster on the 

 outside of the hive, and sometimes nang in 

 bunches the size of a baseball under hive-stand 

 in the hottest part of the day. Sweet clover 

 is in full bloom and the worker bees seem to 

 be just as busy when this occuis as at any 

 other time, but have difficulty in entering hive 

 with so many bees crowding the entrance. 



UTAH. 

 Answers. — 1. Without an extractor there is 

 no way to get the honey and save the comb. 

 You can crush the comb and strain out the 

 honey through a cloth, or you can melt the 

 combs, let cool, and then take the cake of 

 wax off the top, but neither of these ways is 

 very satisfactory. 



2. It is nothing very unusual for bees to 

 hang out in this way. and when it occurs at 

 a time when there is plenty of bee-forage in 

 the fields, it is generally due to the heat and 

 too little ventilation. Give plenty of shade 

 and ventilation; you can hardly overdo the 

 matter. (Possibly they need more super 

 room.— Ed.) 



Wintering Equipment, Etc. 



1. Which is the best way to winter bees, in- 

 doors or outdoors? 



2. Is Michigan a good state for beekeeping, 

 and which part is the best "- 



3. Which is the best packing when you win- 

 ter bees outdoors' 



4. Does it pay littler to feed bees honev. or 

 syrup, in spring? 



.">. How do the Dadants winter their bees? 



6. What is the average of pounds in Texas 

 of honey secured as a surplus' in Michigan' 



7. Should bees have shade or not' 



- Where can one secure a 20-frame hive; 



0. One of the most successful beekeepers of 

 the United States told me that Texas was the 

 best State for beekeeping; do you ag 

 think the temperature is unbearable down 

 there, and unhealthy, so I would not like it 

 much there. 



10. Is the Dadant hive a better hive than 

 the Langstroth, and how many frames has it? 

 ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. North of parallel 40 or 41 

 bees are generally cellared, although some pre 

 fer outdoor wintering; south of that they are 

 wintered outside. 



2. Michigan is good, especially north, where 

 fireweed and wild raspberry abound. 



3. It is largely a question of what is con- 

 venient for you. Chaff is good, also leaves, 

 and planer shavings. 



4. Honey; it contains elements necessary 

 for the welfare of bees that are not at all 

 found in sugar. 



5. Outdoors. 



6. I don't know. 



7. Better in general to have shade. 



8. I suppose they can be made to order at 

 any hive factory. 



9. For those who live there and like Texas 

 best, it is probably the best State. Like 

 enough Illinois is better for you. 



10. The Dadants and others who use it 

 like the Dadant better, and like enough some 

 others who do not use it would also like it 

 better if they should try it. 



Shaking 



1. In the American Bee Journal for April, 

 1917, page 135, in answer to "Pennsylvania," 

 paragraph 3, you say: "However, it will be 

 all right if you leave at least one frame with- 

 out shaking, provided it contains one or more 

 good cells." Do you mean by that that the 

 bees will rear a good queen if they are not 

 shaken, which I never do, until the cells tney 

 have started are well advanced or nearly 

 ready to seal, or would it be better to take 

 away the queen and two frames of brood as 

 advised? I want to raise the best queens 

 possible, but have a hard time finding the 

 queen, and want to avoid that trouble if pos- 

 sible. How would it do to leave three or 

 four frames unshaken, including the one with 

 the cells, set the hives close together at the 

 old location and within a week- shake or 

 brush again and put the hive with the sealed 

 cells on a new stand ? 



2. The first lot of honey I took off 'he 

 hives this year has, when the combs are held 

 in front of a strong light, a deep orange or 

 reddish color, and the honev seems to be 

 rather thin, and to me it hasn't the flavor of 

 other years, although people to whom I have 

 given some thought it was good. I have not. 

 however, so far noticed any peculiar smell 

 about it. Do you think there is honeydew 

 mixed with it' If there is, is it fit to eat' 

 Would it be all right to feed to the bees next 

 spring, if they need it? Other years my honey 

 was always of a very pale yellow color when 

 held to the light, and people here and at 

 Philadelphia always told me that it was of ex- 

 tra fine flavor. The honey that is ready to 

 take off now looks much better. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

 Answers. — 1. In the sentence quoted the 

 point made was that it would not do to 



shake queen-cells, as that would spoil them, 

 but to avoid shaking, the bees must be 

 brushed from the combs, or at least one 

 frame containing one or more cells should be 

 brushed and not shaken. So I hardly meant 

 just what you say. Still it is true that if you 

 wait till the cells be about ready to seal, and 

 then brush (not shake) you ought to secure 

 good queens. The only object of removing 

 the queen in the instructions given was to 

 get cells started, and if the cells are already 

 started there is no need to remove the queen. 

 If I understand your present proposal, it is 

 to divide the colony into two hives, cells be- 

 ing in each hive, and then a week later move 

 to a new stand the queenless hive, leaving on 

 the old stand the queen and most of the bees, 

 and on the new stand all or nearly all the 

 brood with bees enough to protect the brood, 

 no cells being left with the queen. That will 

 be all right, only that in some cases there 

 might be danger of the queen swarming before 

 the second taking of brood from her. 



2. It looks as if the specially colored honey 

 was from some particular plant rather than 

 from a mixture of honeydew. However, even 

 if there is honeydew in it, it will be all right 

 for the table for anyone who likes it, and it 

 will be all right to feed next spring, although 

 honeydew is not good for winter stores. 



Division — Packing 



1. Our 'bee forage through the season is 

 first the willows, soft maples, fruit bloom, al- 

 falfa, yellow and white sweet clover, bass 

 wood, sumac, heartsease or smartweed, besides 

 other flowers. Now I want to divide my 

 colonies. Frost comes about the 10th or 15th 

 of September, here in Nebraska. Would it 

 not be better to divide about the 10th or 15th 

 of August. 



2. Now, about packing for winter. I in- 

 tend to leave them on their stands. I thought 

 of taking tar paper and wrapping it around 

 the hives, driving a stake at each corner, io 

 leave a space of about 4 or 5 inches and pack 

 ing with dry leaves or fine straw, putting a 

 super on top with leaves in it with cover on 

 top and bring the paper up to the cover and 

 tacking it to keep the water out. 



3. Would it do any harm to give them ail 

 the sugar syrup they will take? 



4. Would you winter them in 2 hives or just 

 brood-nest, with a packed super on top? 



NEBRASKA. 

 That is likely to work well if 



that 



you save up frames of sealed honey fr 

 gathered earlier, so as to give to any colonies 

 that do not gather enough after the division. 



2. That ought to work. 



3. You are not likely to have the brood- 

 chamber too full of stores unless it be so full 

 next spring that the queen hasn't room to lay 

 in; only remember that sugar is not as good as 

 good honey. (It is better winter feed for bees 

 outside. — F. C. PJ 



4. If you mean two stories without the 

 packed super on top, I should prefer the one- 

 story with packed super; but would a little 

 rather have the two stories with packed super. 



Metal Covers — Honey Plants 



1. Which would you prefer, a wood or metal 

 cover for a hive? Would not the metal cover 

 have a tendency to heat and smother the 

 bees and melt the honey more than the wood 

 if hive is exposed to sun? 



2. Could not alfalfa be used for hay and 

 at the same time for a honey plant? 



3. Describe buckwheat as a honey-plant; 

 time it should be sowed, etc. 



MISSOURI. 



Answers. — 1. Metal; that is, a wooden 

 cover covered with zinc or tin. I have such 

 covers that have an air "space between two 

 layers of thin boards, and I think there is 

 less trouble from the heat witli them than 

 with covers all wood. 



2. I don't know that there's any place 

 where at least part of the alfalfa is not used 

 for hay. But there will generally be some 



