MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

68 DR. miller'sDesertion of Swarms.—Q. A neighbor of mine says that whenhe kept bees and was ready to hive a swarm, he would first washthe hive thoroughly with salt water, and then hive the bees; andsaid he never had a swarm leave when he hived it in that way.What do you think of it?A. Washing out a hive with salt and water is an excellentthing, if the hive is dirty. It might do as well without the salt.If the hive is clean, it may do as well without any washing. Theprincipal precaution against having a swarm desert the hive is tosee that the hive is well shaded and ventilated. You can wash ahive in an ocean of salt water, and if you set it in the hot sunwith a small entrance, a swarm may desert it.Q. I had 32 colonies of bees, and I have lost five of them. Theywill swarm and come out of their own hive and settle on the outsideof some of the other hives, and leave their own hives empty,with lots of honey in them. When they settle on the other hivesit causes a fight. What makes the bees do this?A. Bees sometimes seem to have a mania for deserting theirhives in spring and trying to force their way into other hives, andit isn't easy to say just why. Some think because they are weakand discouraged. Some think because they have started a lot ofbrood, and then the old bees have died off so rapidly that enoughare not left to cover the brood. In any case the advice given isto have only strong colonies in the fall. This is sound advice ongeneral principles, even if there should be some absconding thefollowing spring in spite of strong colonies.Diseases and Enemies of Bees (See Foulbrood, Dysentery, BeeParalysis, Moths, Isle of Wight.)Distance Bees Fly.—Q. How far will Italian bees go for nectarin a fairly good clover location, with 100 colonies in the apiaryand about 100 acres of alsike within two miles of the apiary?A. Italian bees, or any other bees, work perhaps to good advantagea distance of one- and one-half to two miles — perhapsfarther. In the cases you mention they would probably go thatdistance. The lay of the land governs to some extent the distanceoitheir flight.Q. My apiary is l^g miles from the Red River bottom— a bottomabout eight miles wide, containing a very dense forest. It isabout five miles to the river where there is a very extensive agriculturalbusiness carried on. I can see my bees going to the bottoms.How far do you think they will go in the bottoms?A. Bees have been known to go as much as seven miles, butprobably not with profit more than two or three.