354 



October, 1916. 



American Bee JoornaJ] 



good for the beekeeper as those made at a 

 hive factory. When I began beekeeping 

 there were no hive factories, and I got a 

 cabinet maker to make some hives They 

 were neatly made, -but had no entrance for the 

 bees. The cabinet-maker had overlooked 

 that rather important part. Like enough 

 you will find it cheaper to buy hives made 

 in a factory rather than to make them your- 

 self, or have them made near home. At any 

 rate, get at least one hive as a model 



The outside of the hives should be planed, 

 and it is generally thought they should be 

 painted. White is a good color. 



Amount ol Sugar to Feed— Wintering, Etc. 



1. Can you tell me how many pounds of 

 sugar a strong colony needs for winter in a 

 lo-frame hive; that is. when they have very 

 little honey ? 



2 Some books say not to heat sugar syrup 

 to the boiling point, as it kills the bees Do 

 you think it does ? 



3 My bees have brood in the extracting 

 super, what can be done about it ? 1 would 

 like to have it filled with honey, as the 

 combs are all built. 



4 Is it best to winter bees in a cellar here 

 in Montana ? 



5. Is a cellar with ground over the top and 

 sides all right to winter bees in? 



6. What month do bees start to swarm 

 in this section ? Montana. 



Answers.— I. To be on the safe side, bet- 

 ter not give less than about 30 pounds. 

 That's for the weight of the dry sugar. But 

 you must remember that sugar doesn't 

 equal good honey if you want vigorous bees. 



2. It is generally believed that burnt sugar 

 is death to bees in winter, and I suppose 

 that's right. But you can boil syrup without 

 burning it. But what do you want to burn it 

 for. or even boil it ? The sugar has already 

 been cooked all it needs, and if you dissolve 

 it in cold water it will be just as well as to 

 boil it. The only thing gained by boiling the 

 water, or even warming it. is that it dis- 

 solves the sugar more quickly. 



3. You can leave the brood there until the 

 young bees emerge, and then the bees will 

 fill with honey the cells as they are vacated. 

 Unless, however, an excluder prevents the 

 queen going up. she is likely to lay again in 

 the same cells. 



4. I don't know very much about Montana, 

 but as it lies above the parallel of 45 degrees 

 it must be pretty cold in winter, and I should 

 suppose cellaring would best, but a man loo 

 miles northof me might winter much betiei 

 outdoors than here, if he is in a very still 

 place 



5. Yes. 



6. You ought to know about that better 

 than I. At a guess I should say about the 

 first week in June, and if I am wrong some 

 one from Montana may be kind enough to 

 correct me. 



Fastening Foundation in Frames — Keeping Pollen 

 Out of Extracted Honey 



1. What is the very best method for fast- 

 ening founHaiion on fiit lop bars in extract- 

 ing frames ? 



2 Describe one good way by which the be- 

 ginner can melt ola combs into wax. 



3 What should I do to make the bees build 

 comb clear from the top to the bottom bar 

 in the brood and extracting frames ? 



4 Describe the correct method of wiring 

 brood-frames so that when ihe wire is im- 

 bedded in the foundation it will be perfectly 

 straight. 



5. Is there any way to prevent bees from 

 putting pollen or bee bread in the extract- 

 ing frames? if large extracted honey pro- 

 ducers like the Dddants are troubled with 

 pollen, how do they keep it from getting in 

 the honey and spoiling its taste ? 



6- What is the best thing 1 can use to warm 

 my wire imbedder or uncapping knife ? 



Missouri. 



Answers.— I. Probably nothing better than 



melted wax poured along the joint. 



2. I suppose you mean a beginner who has 

 no wax-press. Here is a way given in " Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees": "An old dripping 

 pan (of course a new one would do) had one 

 corner split open, and that made the extrac- 

 tor. The dripr ing-pan is put into the oven 

 of a cook-stove with the split corner project- 

 ing out. The opposite corner, the one 

 farthest in the oven, is slightly raised by 

 having a pebbleor somethingof the kind un- 

 der it, so that the melted wax will runout- 

 ward. A dish set under catches the drip- 

 ping wax. making the outfit complete. Of 

 course, the material to be melted is put into 

 the pan." 



3. There is probably no better plan than 

 to use foundation splints. and havethe foun- 

 dation entirely fill the frame, as described 

 in " Fifty Years Among the Bees." page 8o, 



4. Use the spur embedder. doing the work 

 in a room so warm that the foundation will 

 be somewhat soft. 



■5. There is little trouble unless the brood- 

 frames are shallower than the Langstroth 

 (o'/b). The Dadants have a still deeper 

 frame. Even if there should be some pollen 

 in the extractingcombs. it will not generally 

 be thrown out by the extractor. 

 6. A dish of hot water. 



Keep Comb Honey in Dry Place 



I took off some sections of comb honey 

 July Ai and put them in ihe ordinary ship- 

 ping-cases andstacked them in a moderately 

 warm place On examining them a few days 

 since. 1 found the honey oozing out of the 

 combs. 



I What is the cause of this ? 



2. Does honey that is not good and ripe do 

 this way ? It was well sealed over and 

 tastes all right yet I think it is mostly gath- 

 ered from sunflowers, as that is the best 

 honey flow we have here. It has been very 

 warm and dry here for the last 25 days 



3 Does honeydew fall this time of year ? 



4 What kind of honey does honevdew 

 make? I notice it is not accepted in most 

 grading rules as good honey. 



5 If I have a lot of extra hive-bodies con- 

 taining honey and pollen that the queen is 

 not occupying at the close of the season, 

 which is the better way to keep them over 

 winter by placing them under or over the 

 hive ? If under, would it be a good idea to 

 have an entrance between the two ? 



Missouri. 



Answers.— I. When honey oozes through 

 the cappings it is because the air in which 

 they are is laden with moisture. That hardly 

 seems to agree with your statement that it 

 was very warm and dry. Still, as it was in a 

 moderately warm place, it may have been in 

 a place somewhat cooler than the air sur- 

 rounding the place, in which case the in- 

 coming air would give up some of its mois- 

 ture upon cooling. There might have been 

 less trouble if the honey had not been 

 closed in cases, but loosely stacked up. with 



fair ventilation. 



2 Yes. the less it is ripened, the more dan- 

 ger. But as it was sealed, it would be ex- 

 pected to be ripened, and yet honey is 

 sometimes sealed without being fully rip- 

 ened. 



3. Yes. 



4 It varies very much, from very dark, 

 disagreeable stuff to that which is palatable 



5. I don't believe it makes a wonderful 

 sight of difference, although they are usually 

 placed over. If placed under, there would 

 be less danger of having the entrance 

 clogged if it were between the two stories. 



Swarming — Feeding 



1. Does extracted honey bring more than 

 comb honey, and how much ? 



2. What can be done to make bees work in 

 the sections ? 



3. Will bees swarm when the sections 

 are on ? 



4. How many times does a colony swarm 

 in a season ? 



5. What is the best feeder for winter use I 

 6 Would it pay to feed bees in the spring 



before the flowers bloom ? Vermont. 



Answers —I. In a very few places ex- 

 tracted honey brings as good a price as 

 comb honey, but in most places comb honey 

 brings something like so percent more than 

 extracted ? 



2. Give tliem a bait in the form of comb 

 that has been previously drawn out ? 



3 Yes. indeed. How I wish they wouldn't. 



4. Sometimes not at all; and from that all, 

 the way from once to five or six times. 



5. To feed in the fall for winter use. prob- 

 ably the Miller feeder is most generally 

 used. 



6 If the bees are short of stores it will pay 

 big; if they have honey enough in the hive it 

 will not pay at all. 



Using Bisulfide of Carbon 



How can I use bisulfide of carbon for the 

 wax moth ? How much does it take, and 

 does it in any way injure the honey ? 



Vermont, 



Answer.— At one time I fumigated a lot of 

 brood-combs with bisulfide of carbon, or 

 carbon disulfide, and I'll tell you iust how 

 I i'\i it. I piled up the combs in hive-bodies 

 four or five high. I made dough of flour and 

 water, and upon the upper edge of each 

 story I put dough, so as to make a close fit. 

 Overall I put an empty hive-body, and in 

 this put a saucer into which I poured nearly 

 a saucerful of the liquid, and quickly put on 

 the cover, of course having the cover a tight 

 fit with the dough I left all closed two or 

 three days. Larvae and eggs of the wax- 

 moth were all killed. I don't think it would 

 injure comb honey, and I hardly think there 

 is danger from too much. 



Reports And ^ Experiences 



Queens in Upper Story 



DR. C. C Miller, Marengo, 111.— 



Dear Doitor: — \n answer to one of your 

 querists, you refer to the rearing of queens 

 and their fertilization in the second slories, 

 but that it was not yet a success. Now. here 

 is a plan that has been a success with us 

 this season (one swallow doesn't make a 

 summer) 



In the spring all colonies, as a rule, have 

 single stories, and we put on a second story 

 (without queen excluders) as needed We 

 have an entrance in this second story, turn- 



ing it to the rear of the first story, so the 

 entrances will be inoppositedirections. We 

 leave the colony in this way until in need of 

 more room, the queen will by this time 

 probably have brood in different stages in 

 the second story. Now find the queen so as 

 to be sure where she is. put her in the first 

 story, put on excluder (on first story) raise 

 two story and put empty super between it 

 and the first story, being sure the entrance 

 is kept opposite to the first story entrance. 

 The empty super (of course filled with 

 combs or foundation) should have no en- 

 trance in it. Now as room is needed, keep 



