MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

38 DR. miller'sping, and how to load them in a car. Can the hives be placed ontop of each other in the car?A. Perhaps 500. The hives must, of course, be fastened beetight,but with plenty of ventilation. The hives must be placed sothe frames will run parallel with the track, so the bumping willstrike the combs lengthwise and not sidewise. If there are nomore than will stand on the bottom of the car— say 90 to 100 hives—the only fastening needed will be strips nailed to the floor, sothe hives cannot move in any direction the strips being one or twoinches thick. If the hives are piled on top of one another, thenthey must be strongly fastened by braces running from side toside, or else from top to bottom, perhaps both.Carniolans.—Q. Describe the color of the Carniolan bee.Some say that this kind of bee has yellow bands, and others saythere are none of yellow color, but that they are all gray.A. I think you would not recognize any yellow in Carniolans.They have very distinct rings on the abdomen, but these rings arenot yellow, but whitish. They look much more like blacks thanItalians, but have the credit of being a little larger than blacks.Q. Is the quality of honey of the Carniolans better than ofother races of bees? I have been told so, and that they don'tgather honeydew as much as the other bees. Is there any truthin the statement?A. The quality of honey gathered from the same source willno doubt be the same, no matter what bees gather it. I don'tknow whether Carniolans are less inclined than others to gatherhoneydew. I didn't know it was claimed for them.Q. I have some Carniolan bees in 8-frame hives. If I hadthem in a larger hive would they swarm less? Can I get surplushoney in bigger hives, that is, if I have bigger brood-chamber?I like the Carniolan bees; they stand the severest winter andbreed up faster in the spring. They gave me a nice surplus of~honey early in the season, two supers to each colony. I sold thehoney and got a good price for it. I have some colonies that willgive four supers, and this is not the best honey year for Illinois,either.A. Yes; a large hive will reduce the probability of swarming,since a crowded condition of the brood-nest is one of the chieffactors in producing the swarming fever. Neither will a largerhive take away your chances for getting surplus. Formerly Iused 10-frame hives, and changed to 8-frame hives chiefly becauseit was the fashion. If I were to start in afresh I would studysome time before I would decide to adopt the smaller hive. With