MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

206 DR. MILLER SQ. This last summer, after the honey-flow was over, I noticeda lot of robber bees prowling around, and every now and then onewould manage to slip past the guards and steal a load of honey.Finally they overpowered one and came very near robbing it beforeI got them stopped, and I got them perfectly quiet at onetime and contracted the entrances to all the colonies. In a fewdays ther^ came a little rain, and after it cleared up they startedto prowling around again, and kept it up until cold weather, butthey were worse after a rain or damp spell than at any othertime. Is that their natural way of doing, or should they keepquiet during a dearth of honey, and would it have resulted in ageneral case of robbing if I hadn't contracted the entrance?A. It is a common thing for bees to prowl about and try allcrevices of hives at any time \\hen gathering has stopped, andafter a rain, and it is quite possible that your narrowing the entrancesmay have prevented a bad case of robbing.Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.—Q. Please give a description ofcleome. If planted in the spring, will it flower during the summer?What soil is best for it? Is it an annual? What time inthe year should it be planted?A. Cleome integrifolia, or Rocky Alountain ^beeplant, growswild in some parts of the AVest in large quantities, and is an excellenthoney-plant. Some years ago it had quite a boom, andseed was planted largely. But it is doubtful that anyone whosowed seed ever got back the cost of the seed. A. I. Root found itinferior to its near relative, the spider plant, although neitherwas worth cultivating. It is doubtful that it is worth while foryou to try it if it does not grow wild with you. It should be sownin spring; is an annual, so blooms the first year. I don't knowwhat soil suits it best. I know it does well here in good gardensoil; but the acres of it I saw out West were grownig wild onland that looked to me poor.Roofins Paper.— (J. Please discuss the advantages and disadvantagesof roofing paper, such as "Ruberoid," as a wrappingpaper for the winter protection of bees.A. I don't know enough about "Ruberoid" to discuss it fully,yet if you mean to use it to wrap about the hives in winter, Ishould think it altogether too heavy, if it is the same materialthat is used for roofing. It has the advantage of durability, andfor covering over the top is no doubt excellent. But its heaviness,and especially its stiffness, would make it unfit to wrap about ahive to be tied on. The lighter tarred building paper is better forthat, and less expensive. But I am not speaking from experience,as I winter bees in the cellar, where nothing of the kind is needed.