174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1919 



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QUESTIOifS.— 

 (1) Iq work- 

 ing for ex- 

 tracted hon- 

 ey, why are stories 

 tiered up four and 

 more stories high ? 

 Why not extract a 

 super when filled, 

 replacing the same 

 with an empty su- 

 per or a super just 



extracted? (2) When hives are removed from 

 their cases and placed on their stands in late spring 

 after the bees have begun to fly freely, will there 

 not be a great loss of bees, since they are not only 

 moved from their old place but also faced in a dif- 

 ferent direction? (3) What is the difference be- 

 tween Langstroth and Hoffman frames, especially 

 as to size? Which is preferable? I understand the 

 Hoffman is the standard (being regularly furnished 

 by the supply houses, Langstroth frames not even 

 being listed). (4) Referring to the hole sometimes 

 used above the entrance, how far above the lower 

 entrance should it be bored? W. E. Reim. 



Wisconsin. 



Answers. — (1) Some beekeepers extract 

 before the close of the season; but if honey 

 is left on the hive for a time it becomes 

 much riper and better-flavored. If extracted 

 as fast as filled by the bees there would be 

 danger that the honey would be so thin that 

 it might ferment. (2) When removed from 

 their winter cases colonies should be left in 

 the same grouping and the hives facing in 

 the same direction as when in the case. If 

 moved to entirely new locations, as you sug- 

 gest, there would certainly be drifting; and 

 in order to even up the colonies it would 

 be necessary to equalize the bees, which 

 would certainly be a great deal of trouble. 

 This is the method employed by as good a 

 beekeeper as Ira Bartlett, East Jordan, 

 Mich. Yet we can hardly recommend it, 

 since it is much more simple to prevent the 

 drifting than to remedy the trouble. (3) 

 The Langstroth and Hoffman frames are 

 the same size; but the Hoffman allows for 

 equal spacing by projections on the end- 

 bars. The Hoffman frames are now stan- 

 dard, and are a decided advance over the 

 Langstroth. (4) The hole is usually placed 

 two or three inches above the entrance. 



Question. — Can the best New Orleans molasses be 

 used as a feed for bees? A. H. Moore. 



New York. 



Answer. — Not during the winter, since it 

 would cause dysentery. Tho bees do not 

 take it readily, it may be used safely as 

 soon as the weather becomes warm enough 

 to permit the bees to have several flights 

 each week. 



Questions. — (1) Please give me a recipe for 

 making bee candy. (2) Would a cellar where there 

 , is running water all the year round, and where 

 the temperature never goes below 40 degrees Fahr., 

 be as good as a cellar where it gets much colder but 

 is dry ? Chester Steinbacher. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers. — (1) Put granulated sugar in a 

 granite dish and add a little water. Place 

 the dish on the stove and keep stirring until 

 the sugar is all dissolved and the syrup is 

 very thick. Then bring the syrup to a boil 



GLEANED by ASKING 



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and keep on 

 wil h the b o i 1 - 

 Ing, without 

 stirring, until 

 when you dip 

 your finger in 

 cold water, then 

 into the boiling 

 sj^rup and im- 

 mediately back 

 into cold water again, a thin film of harden- 

 ed sugar on your finger will just crack 

 when you bend your finger. At this state 

 the syrup should be removed and poured in- 

 to paper pie plates, placed where they are 

 to stand until cooled, and the syrup poured 

 into them immediately after removing from 

 the fire. Do not scrape the dish when pour- 

 ing out the syrup. The candy when cool will 

 be hard and transparent. This kind of 

 candy is not wasted as much as a softer 

 candy by parts of it dropping to the floor of 

 the hive, but it is more difiicult to make and 

 get just right. (2) Yes, better. If the ven- 

 tilation is right, that dampness will do little 

 harm. 



Question. — I h^ve combs of sealed stores stored 

 in hive bodies where they are exposed to freezing 

 weather. Tlie cappings are bursting, and the honey 

 is dripping. How can I prevent this? 



West Virginia. P. B. Cook. 



Answer. — If honey in the comb is allowed 

 to freeze, the wax contracts so that the 

 combs are broken, and the honey runs out. 

 In order to prevent this the honey should be 

 stored in a temperature between 80 and 90 

 Fahr. Not only will this temperature pre- 

 vent the combs from breaking, but the hon- 

 ey would be less likely to granulate. 



Question. — Will you kindlj' let me know how to 

 prepare the inside of any tin vessel so that, if melt- 

 ed wax is poured in, it will not stick to the sides 

 when cool, but may be removed. 



Pennsylvania. Chas. Reynders. 



Answer. — Hot wax will not stick to clean 

 new tin; but if the vessel is at all dirty, or 

 if there is rust in the cracks or sides, then 

 the wax will stick tightly. In such a case 

 the inside of the vessel should be well soap- 

 ed, and the soap allowed to dry before the 

 wax is poured into the dish. When cold, the 

 wax will withdraw from the sides and the 

 cake may be easily removed. 



Question. — ^Last summer I accidentally got two 

 queens above the excluders, and at extracting time 

 I found brood in 12 of (he extracting-frames. This 

 brood is now decayed. If I use these combs in the 

 spring will theje be any danger of disease? 



West Virginia. .Toseph McCrickard. 



Answer. — There have been in the past a 

 few instances in which a beekeeper has be- 

 lieved that dead brood caused foul brood. 

 However, we think it has been pretty clear- 

 ly proved that this is not true. Foul brood 

 is caused by the presence of bacilli, either 

 Bacillus pluton or Bacillus larvae — the for- 

 mer occurring in European foul brood and 

 the latter in American foul brood. Now, 

 brood may be allowed to decay until it has 

 reached the last stages" of decomposition, 

 and still neither of these bacilli be found 



