1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



149 



supply queens ? or can wintered-over queens 

 be obtained ? 



[ 1 . No positive reason can be assigned, unless 

 it be, perhaps, that one colony has bees that 

 have long tongues, and another has those with 

 short ones. If there is any thing in long 

 tongues, then 1 should be inclined to believe 

 that one colony had bees that were better 

 workers, simply because they were physically 

 able to gather honey when the others could 

 not. 



2. Yes, it is a good plan to destroy queen- 

 cells in colonies where you desire to prevent 

 swarming, and where the stock is such that 

 j'ou do not care to breed from it ; but if the 

 bees of that colony are extra good workers, 

 and of good blood, then I would save the 

 cells. There is not much danger of a colony 

 becoming queenless from the practice of cut- 

 ting out cells or destroying them. If the old 

 queen should happen to fail, or go out with a 

 swarm, there would be enough young larvae 

 or eggs from which some cells would be rear- 

 ed and a queen raised. 



3 There is no way except artificial swarm- 

 ing or dividing. Where increase is desired I 

 would by all means prefer to get it by divid- 

 ing, as being much more convenient. 



4. Usually after the honey season, when 

 queens are the cheapest. But the best time to 

 rear queens is when plenty of swarming-cells 

 can be obtained from good colonies during the 

 height of the honey flow. It is always diffi- 

 cult to rear queens when no honey is coming 

 in, and I would advise the beginner, if he can 

 not afford to buy queens, to requeen at some 

 time in the year when honey is coming in 

 slowly. 



5. In the North, about May 15 or June 1. 

 Breeders in the extreme South can furnish 

 queens almost any month in the year. — Ed.] 



CELLAR WINTERING ; DOES NOISE DISTURB 

 BEES? 



1. Can you tell me some simple way to re- 

 move wax from utensils ? 



2. If bees have their last fly for the fall on 

 Nov. 1, how long can they be confined, and 

 still come out alive and healthy, last brood 

 hatched about Oct. 15 ? 



3. About how many pounds of stores will it 

 take to feed an average colony of bees from 

 Sept. 10 to April 15, bees to be deposited about 

 Nov. 15, and taken out about April 15 ? 



4. Do you consider pollen in cells topped 

 off with honey, and capped, as sealed winter 

 stores ? 



5. My bees are in a large cellar under a 

 house where a large family of noisy young 

 folks live, and they have dances or parties oc- 

 casionally. Will the noise disturb the bees, 

 or will they become accustomed to it? 



6. I winter my bees a quarter of a mile from 

 their summer stand. If I take the bees out of 

 the cellar, and haul them to their summer 

 stand before I let them loose, will they soil the 

 combs or the inside of the hive ? or should I 

 set them out near the cellar and let them have 

 .a fly, and haul them that night? In the latter 



case, would any of the bees go back to the cel- 

 lar location ? Geo. F. Hanegan. 

 Hersey, Wisconsin. 



1. To immerse the article smeared with pro- 

 polis in boiling hot water is the most satisfac- 

 tory way of cleaning it. Scraping can be 

 used, but it is at btst a very messy and tedious 

 job. Propolis on the fingers may be removed 

 by using a little gasoline or weak lye, ether, 

 or alcohol. The first named is the most con- 

 venient for the average bee-keeper. 



2. If bees are put up properly they will 

 stand confinement from Nov. 1 till May 1. A 

 good deal depends, however, on the mode of 

 packing if outdoors, the kind of cellar if in- 

 doors, or whether the hives have plenty of 

 bottom ventilation. No definite statement on 

 this point can be made, as sometimes colonies 

 prepared in the best manner possible, with the 

 best of food, will die in spite of us. 



3. From your other questions I should as- 

 sume that you refer to indoor or cellar winter- 

 ing. There have been various figures given 

 that ran all the way from 4 to 15 pounds as the 

 amount of stores consumed ; but I should call 

 it good wintering if a good average colony 

 consumed from 7 to 10 pounds in the cellar ; 

 if outdoors, we should have to add from '3 to 

 Yz to these amounts. If the climate were very 

 cold, and the protection poor, we would have 

 to double the figures. 



4. There is no objection to a little pollen in 

 the combs. There was a time when it was ad- 

 vised to see that all combs were free of pol- 

 len. But very little attention is paid to the 

 matter now. 



5. This is a question that is a little hard to 

 answer ; but we know that bees are wintered 

 successfully under a living-room ; but just 

 how much noise the bees will stand, I can not 

 say ; but my impression is, they will take a 

 great deal when they become accustomed to it. 

 But as a rule we would say the less jar and 

 noise the better. I have been in bee-cellars, 

 and have noticed that when some one stomped 

 on the floor above, the bees would give forth 

 in unison a peculiar sharp quick "zzz" 

 sound. Then I tried shouting, and obtained 

 the same response. Once I shouted so long 

 that finally the bees began to come out at the 

 entrances to see what the rumpus was ; .so I 

 conclude that an excessive or unusual amount 

 of noise upstairs, like romping or jumping, 

 would disturb the bees, with the result that 

 they would become uneasy, consume too much 

 food, and thus bring on dysentery. 



At this present time we are wintering some 

 of our colonies in a cellar under our machine- 

 shop ; but there is no more noise under this 

 room than under an ordinary living-room 

 where there are children romping around. 

 ' 6. I would advise you to carry your bees 

 from the cellar direct to their permanent 

 stands. I can see no object in putting them 

 down for a fly near the house, and then mov- 

 ing them again. Whenever bees are set out of 

 the cellar, they are pretty apt to void their fe- 

 ces all over every thing. Especially is this 

 noticeable on snow or white clothes hung out 

 to dry. — Ed.] 



