riSBRi'Ain', 1918 



G T. E A N [ N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



101 



wind is blowing. F.su;il!y the wind will 

 scattor snow all around the hives; but we 

 would never pile wet or soggy snow around 

 the entrances. A lot of fluffy snow, or snow 

 that falls in extremely cold weather, will do 

 no harm. 



L. O. P., Elorida. — I moved into Florida this 

 winter and bonsjht a few colonies of bees; but some 

 red and some black ants seem to be making some 

 trouble. What should I do in such a case? 



Answer: We would advise putting the 

 hives up on posts and putting around the 

 posts some smeary and sticky substance like 

 tar. Setting the hive on four legs, each leg 

 in a little dish of water, is often practiced. 

 The ant nuisance in the southern states is 

 serious only in certain localities. In some 

 cases it may be abated by having a flock of 

 chickens. The large red ants that live in 

 the trunks of trees are particularly ferocious 

 to man and beast as well as to bees. In some 

 cases it may be practical to hunt out the 

 nests and destroy them with bisulphide of 

 carbon. 



J. C. M., Indiana. — In view of the shortage of 

 sugar would it be possible to use srrape sugar, glu- 

 cose, or Karo ? I can buy plenty of Karo, but only 

 a very limited quantity of sugar. 



Answer: We tried feeding raw glucose 

 years ago, but we could not get the bees to 

 take it. Bees will eat commercial grape 

 sugar, but it is very apt to cause dysentery 

 in the spring. It is not a good winter food. 

 We should be afraid of Karo because it con- 

 sists of a large percentage of glucose as 

 compared with cane sugar. It might work 

 all right, however, in preventing starvation 

 in the spring. We would advise trying it. 

 The glucose in Karo may be of a superior 

 quality — it probably is. The presence of the 

 cane sugar would probably insure the bees 

 taking it down into the hive. 



J. E. H., Michigan. — Some three or four years 

 ago you told how you put four and five frame colo- 

 nies in the cellar along in January, and built them 

 up to 10-frame colonies by April. How did you 

 do this? 



Answer: In order to make bees breed in 

 the cellar the conditions must be just right. 

 The temperature should be somewhere about 

 40 or 45 degrees, and the ventilation nearly 

 perfect. During the latter part of January 

 cakes of hard candy, if set on top of the 

 clusters, may be given. The bees will ap-^ 

 propriate this sweet very slowly, and start 

 breeding providing the cellar temperature 

 is not too low. Contrary to the general 

 belief, young bees do not necessarily need 

 a flight; but, if cellar conditions are bad, 

 or if the stores are poor in qu^ility, there will 

 be dysentery and -the bees will die. 



The experiment of breeding in the cellar 

 is risky, unless conditions are good. More- 

 over, bees won 't breed when sealed combs or 

 stores are given. 



Making bees breed in the cellar is a nice 

 operation and we would not advise the average 

 beginner to attempt it except on a few colo- 

 nies; and then if there should be flight days 

 out doors,, those colonies should be given a 



(light and set back again after it has turn- 

 ed cool. 



F. A. B., New York. — My beeis in tlie cellar are 

 flying out and dying on the floor. UTiey keep com- 

 ing out, and there is now about an inch of dead 

 bees on the floor. Is there anything I can do to 

 stop it? 



Answer: Your cellar is probably too warm, 

 with insuflicient ventilation. The remedy 

 for bees flying out is plenty of fresh air, and 

 a lowering of the temperature down to 45 or 

 50. If the cellar is too cold, running down to 

 38 or ,30 or lower, bees in their efforts to kee]) 

 warm become uneasy and fly out on the cel- 

 lar floor, and, of course, die. With plenty 

 of fresh air the temperature may go up as 

 high as 60; but it is advisable to have it be- 

 tween 45 and 50 — fresh air, either continu- 

 ously or given at night. All daylight should 

 be shut out — keep it dark. 



Avoid, as much as possible, disturbing the 

 bees in the cellar. If they begin to show 

 signs of dysentery toward spring, set the 

 soiled hives out during the first warm day 

 when bees can fly, and set them back again 

 after they have had their flight. 



W. C. J., Idaho. — What is the reason that some- 

 times bees in single-walled hives in an exposed 

 location winter better than other bees in double- 

 walled hives in a protected location ? 



Answer: This is hard to answer. Lack of 

 protection and exposure in exceptional cases 

 of successful wintering do not prove that 

 such conditions are good for wintering. A 

 man may drink whisky all his life, and yet 

 live to be 80 years old; but that does not 

 prove that whisky promotes health and 

 longevity. It is the exception that proves 

 the rule. The colonies in single-walled hives 

 in an exposed location may have been made 

 up largely of young bees on good stores, 

 while those in the double-walled hives in the 

 protected location may have been made up 

 of old bees on stores of inferior quality. 

 That being the case, it can be very easily 

 explained why the first-mentioned bees came 

 thru in better condition. 



J. M. C, Alabama. — I recently moved into this 

 state. I understand that there is no wintering 

 problem in the South. Is this so? 



Answer: Indeed there is a wintering 

 problem in the South. There is great dan,- 

 ger of starvation and of robbing. When the 

 bees can fly out almost every day they are 

 inclined to breed. Breeding causes bees to 

 go for water and pollen. Many are lost on 

 these trips, with the result that the colony 

 gradually dwindles. Sometimes the hatching 

 bees just about make up for the lost bees go- 

 ing to the field to get pollen and water. In 

 any case, stores are used very rapidly — much 

 more so than in the North. A good colony 

 in the Southern states requires about twice 

 as much honey or syrup as a colony in the 

 North. It is, therefore, advisable that the 

 owner of the bees look into his hives every 

 now and then to see if the bees are in dan- 

 ger of starvation or are dwindling down to a 

 small cluster. 



