0(;tobek, 191S 



GLEANINGS T N B K K C U L T U K !•; 



619 



ually come to the surface at the outer end. 

 (3) The sub-earth ventilator should be from 

 4 to G inelies in diameter. (4) The upright 

 ventilator sliould be a wooden shaft ex- 

 tending up thru the roof, and the sub-earth 

 ventilator should be made of tile or sewer 

 pipe. (")) The 8-oz. duck is all right for 

 covers, but if this is used, the entrance 

 should be contracted to two or three ins. by 

 % in., or perhaps to four or live %-in. holes. 

 If sealed covers are used, then a full en- 

 trance should be given. The main point is 

 to have an entrance of such a size that the 

 temperature of the cluster will be about 57 

 degrees Fahr. 



Questions. — AVill you pleaso iiifonn me wliat 

 size and kind of nuclei the most scientific queen- 

 breeders are u.sing today. I have been using twin 

 nuclei with four small frames in each compartment, 

 I'ut these give the queen too little space to lay in, 

 run short of stores quickly, and cause a more or 

 less unsettled condition among the bees. Do you 

 think I would h& better satisfied with a 10-frame 

 hive divided into three or four compartments ? 



California. E. M. H. 



Answer. — The size of nuclei for queen- 

 rearing will depend upon the size of your 

 queen-rearing business, and how long you 

 will have to hold the queens before mailing 

 them. When the business is large and 

 queens can be sent out the day they lay, the 

 baby nuclei are preferable. The queens can 

 be found more readily, they take fewer bees, 

 and are more kindly disposed toward virgins 

 or cells given them. But with baby nuclei 

 queens must be removed the day they begin 

 laying. When the breeder's orders come in 

 irregularly, such nuclei are not as satisfac- 

 tory as two-franie nuclei using full-sized 

 standard Langstroth frames. Queens can be 

 kept in these indefinitely. They are easier 

 to make up, and at the close of the season 

 '•an be united with other nuclei near by. On 

 the other hand the baby nuclei, as the season 

 winds up, if there are any bees left, are not 

 worth anything. A 10-frame hive divided 

 into three compartments, each having an en- 

 trance on a different side or end of the hive, 

 is very satisfactory. If one has a small busi- 

 ness, it is preferable to the large-sized nuclei 

 on separate stands. It has the great advantage 

 at the close of the season that the division- 

 Imards can be removed and the nuclei united 

 with one queen. 



Questions. — Is it sufficient to shake bees having 

 American foul brood, only once and onto full sheets 

 of foundation ? 



I have some frames containing full sheets of 

 foundation which have been in supers over Ameri- 

 can foul brood colonies. Some are partly drawn 

 and some not drawn at all. Are these safe to use? 

 I also have some filled with honey in the super. 

 These would be infected, would they not? 



Pennsylvania. C. R. H. 



Answer. — We do not believe that ordi- 

 narily it is necessary to shake twice for the 

 treatment of American foul brood. One 

 shaking is a severe enough strain on a colo- 

 ny. If any rare case should later show evi- 

 dence of the disease, it could be treated a 

 second time. But in all our years of experi- 



ence, we have never found a second shaking 

 necessary, and we consider it only a waste 

 of material and time. In supers of foul- 

 brood colonies, the frames containing full 

 sheets of foundation would in all probability 

 be free from disease. But it would be hardly 

 safe to use them, and much less would it be 

 safe to use those partly drawn out which 

 contain honey. We would consider any combs, 

 especially if they contain honey, in supers 

 over colonies affected with American foul 

 brood, as decidedly unsafe for use again. 



Question. — Objection has been made to solid 

 combs of stores, on the ground that these cold slabs 

 of honey are a decided hindrance to good wintering. 

 Now, it has lately occurred to me that solid combs 

 of stores are beneficial instead of detrimental, for 

 two reasons: (1) TliPi more solidly the combs are 

 filled with stores, the less hive space there is to l;e 

 heated. (2) A solid comb, when once heated, re- 

 tains its warmth much the same as a warm brick. 

 Is my reasoning correct? 



Missouri. .1. H. Fisbeck. 



Answer. — As for the extra hive space to 

 be heated, less heat is required to heat air 

 than to heat honey. We have no fear of 

 over-emphasizing the importance of retain- 

 ing the cluster unbroken and undisturbed 

 thruout the winter. As the honey is gradual- 

 ly eaten, the warm compact cluster slowly 

 moves upward. The parts of the combs in- 

 cluded within the cluster have their cells 

 tightly wedged full of live bees, which is a 

 much warmer arrangement than cells filled 

 with honey. Please note that during very 

 cold weather, the principal difference in com- 

 pactness at the center of this winter cluster, 

 and that of a cluster hanging from a tree, 

 is in the thin midrib and layers of wax and 

 cocoon walls separating adjacent cells. 



Question. — When packing in the quadruple case, 

 wliy would it not be a good thing to go a step fur- 

 ther, and, after packing as recommended, placing 

 two entrances e.ast and two west, put on top of these 

 four to six inches of di'y sawdust and then another 

 C(uadruple case with entrances north and south, and 

 then four to six inches more of sawdust and an- 

 other case on top with entrances east and west, the 

 same as the lower tier ? This would make a case 

 holding 12 colonies, and only requires the material 

 for one roof and one floor. Of course, the middle 

 tier would have an unfavorable direction of fac- 

 ing, but this disadvantage would be more than 

 offset by the added warmth of position between the 

 first and third tiers. Angus Edwards. 



Ohio. 



Answer. — Some examination during the 

 spring will be desirable before it is time to 

 unpack. Tiierefore we do not think it ad- 

 visable to tier them up three high, as you 

 suggest, for it would be very difficult and 

 unhandy in the spring to be obliged to un- 

 pack and repack, to say nothing of lifting 

 off eight colonies in order to examine the 

 four lower ones. 



Question. Please send me instructions how to 

 keep my old queens so as to use them if some of 

 the new queen.s fail to get introduced. 



Pennsylvania. B. P. Forsyth. 



Answer. — Just cage them in separate 

 cages and place the cages on top of the 

 frames of another colony. 



