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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 1, 1904. 



Wintering Bees on Sugar Syrup. 



Will bees winter successfully fed entirely on syrup made 

 of granulated sugar? About how many pounds of syrup 

 will an ordinary colony consume from Oct. 1 to May 1 7 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — Yes, many colonies have been thus wintered, 

 and sugar syrup is better than some kinds of honey, but not 

 better than good honey. About 22 pounds of best granu- 

 lated sugar will answer. The best way is to feed early equal 

 quantities of sugar and water. It is none too early to feed 

 now. If fed later a thicker syrup must be made, 5 pounds 

 of sugar to 2 of water. 



Was It Poul Brood? 



Last October a friend of mine told me that his bees had 

 been inspected by a foul-brood expert, and foul brood dis- 

 covered in one of his best colonies. The inspector advised 

 him to have the hive burned, bees, combs, and all. I asked 

 permission to inspect it before it was destroyed, as I had 

 never seen a case of foul brood, and wished to learn how to 

 distinguish and treat it. My friend gave the colony to me, 

 and I took it to my farm, placing it one-half mile from my 

 own apiary of 14 colonies. I did not examine it for some 

 time, but when I did I found the hive full of bees, brood and 

 and honey, with no sign of disease that I could see. I ex- 

 amined them again in April, and found everything all right. 

 I did so several times after that, and it seemed to be very 

 prosperous. May 25 I removed it to my own apiary, and 

 May 26 it cast a fine, large swarm, which I saved. Eight 

 days later another swarm issued, and this, too, I saved. 

 About 30 days later I inspected the 3 colonies, and found 

 both swarms in fine condition, and the prime swarm had 

 the hive filled and was ready for the super, but the parent 

 colony was in bad condition, with little honey, not very 

 many bees, and dead brood in all stages. The uncapped 

 brood had both ends turned up, and everything had a bad 

 look, but there was no bad odor. I shook the bees into a 

 new hive on clean foundation, and they went to work with 

 renewed energy, and the queen (which appeared to be a 

 good one) was soon laying ; then brood appeared with no 

 sign of foul brood. 



I boiled every part of the old hive, also the combs, 

 honey, brood, and some bees that were just hatching. I 

 have since put the hive together and repainted it, and am 

 going to use it. 



I do not think it was foul brood, but whatever it was it 

 was carried over from last season, and only broke out when 

 the colony was reduced by excessive swarming. 



What do you think was the trouble ? and do you think 

 it is apt to appear again ? The combs in the foul-broody 

 hive were very old. Kansas. 



Answer. — It doesn't seem that it could be foul brood, 

 and yet it will not do to be too positive. Even genuine foul 

 brood seems to disappear sometimes when a good flow of 

 honey is on, only to reappear later. If it turns up again, 

 your best plan will be to send a sample of the brood to Gen- 

 eral Manager France, together with a dollar for member- 

 ship, if you are not already a member of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. 



Burr-Combs and Propolis— Bee-Space Between Supers. 



My two chief sources of trouble in getting a satisfactory 

 crop of comb honey during the three years I have been ex- 

 perimenting, are burr-combs between the tops of brood- 

 frames and bottoms of section-holders, and propolis be- 

 tween the top of sections and honey-board. Taking the 

 last-named trouble first, I sometimes found propolis filling 

 the entire space — ^s inch — from the top of the sections to 

 the honey-board. 



First I tried cutting strips of heavy white paper and 

 tacking them down on the top of the sections (leaving the 

 bee-way open at each fence). The next day I wondered 

 what white stuff the bees were carrying out, but never im- 

 agined it was the paper, so you may judge of my surprise 

 when I looked into the super on the third day, and found 

 nothing left but the tacks. I am now using oilcloth, and 

 find that gives better results, but I want something better. 



Why is it necessary to construct the super so that we 



have a bee-space on top of the sections ? When oilcloth is 

 used on top there can be no bee-way. Why have any ? It 

 seems to me that if the upper edge of the super were planed 

 oif so that the honey-board would rest evenly on top of the 

 super and sections, there would be little propolis there. 



In regard to burr-comb, I use the Langstroth hive, 8- 

 frame, with Hoffman frames and Js-inch top-bar. Each 

 super I put on seems to be worse than the preceding one. 

 In taking a super off last week there was so much burr- 

 comb that frames and all came with the super. 



I am trying a Danzenbaker hive this year for an experi- 

 ment, and I find no burr-combs there at all. Is this your 

 experience ? Massachusetts. 



Answer. — I thought I had had in my time some bees 

 that scored high as storers of propolis, but I never had any- 

 thing that would fill a Js-inch space over sections. (It may 

 be said in passing that a fs space over sections is rather 

 large ; '4 is usual. But it would not help the glue question 

 to have a smaller space.) I don't know of anything likely 

 to help such a case unless it be a change of bees, and there 

 is a marked difference in bees as to propolis. Oilcloth over 

 sections will make some difference, but the bees will thrust 

 a lot of glue under the oilcloth on the edges of the sections. 

 If you plane down the super so as to have no bee-space on 

 top, it will be much the same as with the oilcloth ; you can 

 hardly make so close a fit that the bees will not push propo- 

 lis in the crack. Besides, if a board fits down tight on the 

 sections, you will be sure to kill many bees unless the work 

 of covering is so slowly done as to be intolerable. 



I have used oilcloth, also wide frames in which the wood 

 fit close down upon the sections, and much prefer to have 

 nothing touch the tops of the sections. The little glue that 

 is spread over the tops — generally only late in the season, 

 and less than in either of the other ways — can readily be 

 scraped off. 



The burr-comb problem is more difficult to manage. 

 Burr-combs will gradually accumulate between top-bars as 

 time goes on — the Danzenbaker probably the same as the 

 others when older — and there may be more or less building 

 between top-bars and anything placed over. If you will 

 take the trouble to clean the burr-combs from between top- 

 bars in spring, there will be little trouble with burr-combs 

 over them. The trouble will be aggravated if the bees are 

 crowded for room. If your bees are good honey-gatherers, 

 and you try to limit them to two supers at a time, you may 

 count on burr-combs galore. A space not more than ,'+ 

 inch over top-bars and between supers, plenty of super-room, 

 and cleaning up each spring will meet the burr-comb nui- 

 sance perhaps as well as anything else you can find. 



Italianizing Vicious Bees. 



I have handled bees for over 12 years, but have never 

 seen any so vicious as some I now, have. I wish to Italianize 

 them this fall. How can I "subdue the brutes" long 

 enough to hunt out and kill the grand " head center " of all 

 their meanness ? Tobacco won't subdue them — as soon as 

 they can breathe they are " up and at it " again. I believe 

 they have the longest stingers — if not tongues — of any bees 

 I ever saw — ordinary summer clothes are no protection. 

 They are great workers. I have just taken off some honey, 

 and my right wrist is big enough for two. I've handled 

 some very cross bees, but these take the cake — also the 

 plate. I hate to own up beat, but I reckon that's about the 

 size of it. New York. 



Answer. — I hardly know. You might try chloroform. 

 Or, try this : Move the hive some distance from its stand, 

 setting on the stand another hive containing perhaps a 

 frame of brood so as to catch the returning field-bees. In 

 about two days the fielders will all have left the hive, and 

 the younger ones will be more ready to listen to reason. 

 When through manipulating them, return the hive to its old 

 stand, allowing the old bees to join the colony. You might 

 also try spraying thoroughly with very weak syrup. 



