20 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



exppii-^ive, requiring twice thi> quaiuiiy of sheet- 

 ing mid top, besides covering so nnich ground. 

 They are so easy to manipulate that a bee- 

 Ivfippcr of little experience has not the judg- 

 ment lo lea'e a sufficient amount of honey for 

 the brood. C). M. Blanton. 



Greenville. Miss.. Dec. 1. 



WINTERING BEKS IN HIVES PAUTLY FILLED 

 WITU COMBS. 



Question.— Please give me a little informa- 

 tion in Gleanings in regard to my bees. I 

 have them in a cellar under a part of the house 

 where the temperature can be kept at from 40 

 to 45 degrees. A part of the colonies tilled only 

 one-half of the hive with comb, the other half 

 being empty. What ought I to do with these 

 to have them winter to the best advantage? 

 U Answer.— Much depends upon the shape of 

 the empty space. Jf it should so happen that 

 the bees are in frame hives, and that half of 

 the frames were filled with comb and the other 

 half empty, the proper course would be to take 

 out the empty frames and insert a division- 

 board close up to the frames left. But if, as 

 would most likely be the case where the bees 

 were left to themselves, the comb was in box 

 hives, or was built in all of the frames about 

 half way down, the middle frames containing 

 more and the outside less, then it would be as 

 well to leave them as they are, for they could 

 not be helped much by any contraction of the 

 hive which could be done. Bees winter best 

 with a vacant space under the combs, and for 

 this reason they would winter well as they are, 

 providing all other conditions were favorable. 

 However, I should advise that, in the future, 

 the bees have only the number of frames, or 

 amount of hive space they can till, given them 

 when they are hived, if you have not already 

 looked after this; for then, in the case of frame 

 hives (and you should use no other), it would 

 be easy to fill out the hivo with frames from 

 other hives, or contract with a division board 

 as best suited to your wants. 



FEEDING BEES WHEN IN WINTEK QUARTERS. 



Question.— I hardly think that the bees spok- 

 en of above have honey enough to last them 

 until s-pring. How can I feed them? I shall 

 have to feed them sugar syrup, as 1 have no 

 honey of any kind on hand. 



Answer. — In the first place, this matter 

 should have been looked after last fall, during 

 the month of October, or earlier, if you do not 

 have flowers which are likely to yield honey 

 during the month of September, for the winter 

 is a very poor time to feed bees. But as this 

 was not looked after when it should have been. 



we must meet the conditions as we find them. 

 Therefore I should arrange the hives so I could 

 inspect them every week without disturbing 

 them after the arranging, except to lift the 

 covering over them, which can be done so gen- 

 tly that the bees will not notice it. To inspect 

 them, take a sperm or wax candle with you in- 

 to the cellar, as this is far better than a lamp 

 for this purpose, as you can throw the light 

 just where you want it without the heat af- 

 fecting the bee, or running the oil out of your 

 lamp, both generally being done where a lamp 

 is used. Having the candle held nearthetop 

 of the hive, carefully raise the covering, which 

 should be of cloth (put on in arranging, if you 

 did not already have this cloth on); and as soon 

 as raised, run the eye over the tops of the 

 combs; and as long as any sealed honey is seen 

 near the bees, no feeding is necessary, and the 

 bees should not be further disturbed. If no 

 such honey is seen, then the bees must be fed. 

 If it should so happen that there is plenty of 

 sealed honey on one side of the hive, while the 

 cluster of bees is on the other, the combs should 

 be clianged so the honey will be near the bees, 

 fixing something over the tops of the frames, 

 but under the covering, so that the bees can 

 easily move over the tops of the frames on to 

 this honey, else they may starve by failing to 

 cross over or around to the honey. If it be- 

 comes necessary to feed, remove one or two of 

 the empty combs from the side of the hive 

 farthest from the bees, so as to disturb the 

 bees as little as possible, and also not to have 

 live bees on the combs when the combs are 

 taken to the shop or house and filled with 

 syrup. This syrup should be of about the con- 

 sistency of honey, and about blood warm, so as 

 to go into tiie cells easily. To get it into the 

 Cells, pour in a tine stream fiom a dipper, or 

 some utensil having a spout, which should be 

 held a foot or more above the combs so that the 

 falling liquid will force the air out of the cells, 

 thus tilling them. If this is not done, the syrup 

 will simply run over the tops of the cells, not 

 tilling them at all. To prevent spattering and 

 daubing things, it is best to lay the comb flat 

 down in some rather deep vessel so that the 

 sides will catch all that tiies off, preventing all 

 waste also, so that what is caught in this ves- 

 sel can be used for tilling other combs. After 

 tilling as many combs as you wish, spread the 

 frames of comb in the hive till you divide the 

 cluster apart, .-"Omewhat, on one side, going 

 slowly so that no bees need drop down out of 

 the hive, and place the combs of s^yrup in the 

 empty space thus made, when all should be 

 brought up to bee-space apart again. Enough 

 should be set in to last until spring, so as not to 

 be often disturbing the bees. If you set the 

 candle a little way from the bees, and work 

 carefully, being especially careful not to 

 breathe upon them, you will have no trouble 



