24 
DR. MILLER'S 
Black Bees.— Q. I bought some bees last year for pure Ital- 
ians, but now there are black ones in the hive. Could they have 
been pure Italians? This is my first year with bees. (July.) 
A. You do not say whether there were any black bees in the 
hive last year. If the workers were all properly marked last year, 
it is possible that the queen was superseded last fall or this 
spring, and that the new queen is mismatcd. If there are only a 
few black bees in the hive, they may be from other colonies; for 
bees do more in the way of shifting from one hive to another 
than is generally supposed. Look in the hive and see whether 
there are any black bees among the downy little fellows that have 
just hatched. If there are, then either the queen has been 
changed or the queen you bought was not pure. 
Q. Does the black bee enter the supers more readily than the 
Italian ? 
A. I think so; but I have no trouble with Italians. 
Blackberry. — Q. Does blackberry yield much honey? 
A. Blackberry is not generally in sufficient number to count 
much. I don’t know for certain, but I think it might be important 
where there are large fields of it. In any case, whatever it does 
yield is of importance because it comes early enough to fill in the 
gap between fruit tree bloom and clover. 
Bottom -Boards. — Q. As I expect to make my bottom-boards. I 
would like to know how deep an entrance can be before the bees 
will build comb from the bottom-bars to the bottom-board. I 
have been using seven-eighth inch deep, but I notice the bees 
alight outside and crawl in, the same as a three-eighth inch en- 
trance; but if one and one-quarter inch they don’t alight on the 
bottom-board, but on the combs. It seems to me that this must 
save quite a little of the bees’ time. Would two inches be too 
deep? 
A. I don’t know just how deep a space would do, but I’m sure 
2 inches would be too deep. I have had bees bfiiid comb in a one 
and one-quarter inch space, although from what you say your 
bees may not yet have built in such a space. I should feel safe 
with a three-quarter inch space, and likely there would be little 
building with a space of one inch. My bottom-boards however, 
are all 2 inches deep; then during the busy season I fill half or 
more of the space with a sort of rack, which prevents the bees 
building down, yet gives them the chance for much ventilation. 
In winter the bees have the whole 2-inch space which is an im- 
portant advantage. 
