GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



c 



GLEANED BY ASKING 



E. R. Root 



618 



QUESTIONS. 

 — (1) Is it 

 really of much 

 importance to 

 requeen colonieiS 

 which have queens 

 two or tliree years 

 old? (2) I find 

 that my swarms, if 

 strong, very often 

 store more honey 



than the old colony. If there is any great advan- 

 tage in a young queen, this would indicate that the 

 old queen remains with the old hive. Is this true? 

 Louisiana. John M. Ware. 



Answers. — (1) It is very important to 

 keep only young queens in the hive. Colonies 

 having old queens are much more inclined 

 to swarm and usually do not work with the 

 vigor of those colonies having young queens. 

 Of course there are some exceptions to this, 

 but, as a general thing, we find it does not 

 pay to keep queens more than two years, 

 and we prefer those only one year old. (2) 

 When a swarm issues the old queen goes 

 with the swarm. The reason that this new 

 swarm with the old queen stores more honey 

 than the old swarm is simply because the 

 old working force is with the new swarm. 

 In the old hive there are only brood and 

 young bees, and but very few workers. 



Question. — -My bees are wintered in the cellar. 

 Please tell me wh&re to put the frames of honey — 

 on the sides, in the center, or alternate the combs 

 of honey and brood? Fred Siman. 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — The combs should not be al- 

 ternated, as the frames of brood should be 

 left together. Aside from this, we do not 

 think that, when wintering in the cellar, it 

 really matters where the honey is placed. 



Question. — Could you tell me of a substitute for 

 honey or sugar to feed the bees for winter? 



California. A. P. Manz. 



Answer. — For suitable winter stores we 

 know of no substitute for honey or a sugar 

 syrup. If anything else is used for stores, 

 the bees will not winter well and will prob- 

 ably contract dysentery before spring. 



Question. — I have today found one of my hives 

 queenless, and the colony not very strong . The only 

 brood in the hive is drone brood. Do you think it 

 advisable to requeen at this time of the season? * 



Ohio. Albert Supply. 



Answer. — Such a small colony, made up of 

 old bees, it would hardly pay to requeen at 

 this time of the year. Young bees are 

 necessary for safe wintering. We suggest 

 that you kill these bees and give their 

 stores to other colonies. 



Question. — After the close of the honey flow, I 

 introduced seiveral queens in mailing cages. Seven- 

 ty-two hours after introducing I opened the hives 

 and found some of the queens released and others 

 not released, but an excessive number of queen- 

 cells present in both cases. When destroying the 

 cells I precipitated several bad cases of balling and 

 lost three queens thereby. Now wherein was my 

 practice faulty? Should I have left the cells, trust- 

 ing the queen or the bees to destroy them? 



California. E. O. James. 



Answer. — After ttu> introduction of 



3 



OCTOBEK, 1918 



queens, colonies 

 do sometimes 

 start queen-cells, 

 but the queens 

 m a y usually be 

 trusted, to d e - 

 stroy such cells, 

 if given suffi- 

 cient time. It is 

 generally not 

 safe to open a hive in less than five days 

 after a queen has been introduced; and at a 

 time when the bees are especially cross, it 

 would probably be safer to allow even a 

 longer time than this to elapse before ex- 

 amination of the colonies. 



Question. — What sort of place must I have to 

 keep my bees in this winter? I have a good cellar, 

 but it freezes. It is dry and free from mold; and 

 then I have a room finished off from the stable 

 floor that is clean and dry. It is double-floored, and 

 boarded and clapboarded, 8 by 20 feet. 



Maine. H. L. Cray. 



Answer. — ^Rather than keep the bees in a 

 cellar that goes below 32 degrees Fahren- 

 heit it would probably be better to winter 

 thorn outdoors or in a room in the barn, as 

 you suggest, in double-walled hives with a 

 four-inch tray of packing above the brood- 

 chamber. If in the barn, they should 

 have an outside entrance, so that they 

 may be able to fly on warm days in the 

 spring. If you decide to place them in the 

 barn, they should not be put there until 

 after the bees have stopped flying in the 

 fall. If they have a flight in less than two 

 weeks after they have been moved such a 

 short distance, they would be apt to return 

 to the old location and be lost. 



Question. — Can yon tell me how to avoid robbing 

 when using the Boardman feeder? 



Long Island. E. M. Barteau. 



Answer. — These feeders are now made in 

 one piece and not nailed together as pre- 

 viously. This helps somewhat in preventing 

 robbing, but in our own apiaries we have 

 been using a plan that we are sure you will 

 be glad to try. Instead of placing these 

 feeders at the front entrance we cut an 

 opening at the back of the hive just the 

 right size to insert the feeders. In this 

 way there is not room for the admission of a 

 single bee, and not one drop of syrup is ex- 

 posed. This works well and does away with 

 the robbing trouble entirely. 



Questions. — (1) I wish to improve my bee cellar 

 by putting in an underground ventilator. How 

 far must the trench run from the cellar to thoroly 

 warm the fresh air? (2) How many feet deep 

 should it be? (3) How many inches in diameter? 

 (4) What material is the best and cheapest. (5) 

 Do you think 8-oz. duck is heavy enough for covers 

 on hives where the temperature stays around 40-42 

 degrees? Walter J. D'Allaird. 



New York. 



Answer. — (1) -The trench running from 

 the cellar should be about 150 to 300 feet 

 in length, depending on the soil ana on the 

 depth beneath the surface. (2) The under- 

 ground ventilator should be on the level 

 witli the Itottom of the celbir and then grad- 



