March, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



wluMi oxaiiiiiiod iiiieroscopicjilly. Altho we 

 l;eel sure that decayed brood will not cause 

 foul brood, still we believe it would be a 

 very poor plan to give one colony very 

 many of such combs. If given more than 

 one comb apiece, the colony might become 

 discontented and swarm out. More than 

 this, colonies in such condition could not be 

 expected to have the vitality and resistance 

 to disease that a normal colony would. Tho 

 decayed brood does not cause foul brood, it 

 is probably an excellent medium for its 

 growth. 



Question. — iWliieh is better — to take bees right 

 out of the cellar and move them to their location 10 

 miles away or give them a flight first and then 

 move ? R. A. Schwarzkopf. 



Answer. — That will depend to a great ex- 

 tent on the way they are moved. If by 

 auto you could probably move them imme- 

 diately after taking them from the cellar, 

 with no bad results; but if several hours are 

 to elapse, a flight would be much better be- 

 fore moving, tho we should prefer to give 

 a flight before moving, in any case. 



Questions. — (1) Now that the weather is rather 

 warm, and the bees are more active than in the 

 severe weather, is more honey used? (2) Will you 

 kindly tell mei if they ought to he fed about the lat- 

 ter part of March and the first part of April? (3) 

 Is the packing to be taken off gradually or all at 

 one time ? Miss Adelyn M. Lindnei'. 



New York. 



Answer.^ — (1) We do not think so — not 

 unless the colony begins brood-rearing, in 

 which case large quantities of honey are 

 consumed. (2) If the colonies were left last 

 fall with 25 or 30 pounds of stores as we ad- 

 vised, they should need no attention before 

 fruit bloom. But if you have reason to be- 

 lieve them short of stores they should be 

 examined on the first day warm enough for 

 flight. If found necessary, a comb of honey 

 or a cake of candy should be given. (3) 

 Some seasons the packing may stay on in 

 your locality as late as the last of May. It 

 should not be removed until settled warm 

 weather, when there will be no danger Qf 

 chilling the brood. 



Questions. — (1) I have 40 or 50 pounds of taf- 

 fy candy. Would bees make it into honey after 

 theiy begin to work in the spring? (2) I have one 

 colony that is very cross. The others are not so 

 cro.ss. Can you tell me why they are cross ? 



Missouri. S. M. Wickman. 



Answer. — (1) Bees are not able to change 

 candy into honey. They do, however, use 

 candy stores. When they store such candy 

 in the combs they simply dilute the candy 

 and store the syrup, and the result is sugar 

 syrup but not honey. We should like to give 

 a word of caution concerning that taffy. 

 Any candy that is the least bit soft should 

 be placed in a dish inside the hive, on top 

 of the brood-frames, covering the frames 

 and dish warmly so that no heat from the 

 cluster can escape. If the candy is placed 

 directly on the frames it is liable to become 

 so warm that it may run down between the 

 frames, and cover the cappings of the brood, 

 in which case the brood and perhaps many 

 bees would be killed. (2) Colonies facing 



toward moving objects sometimes are 

 crosser than others; for this reason those 

 located in an apiary destitute of trees or 

 shrubbery have their attention more easily 

 distracted and are sometimes quite cross. 

 But if two colonies with the same environ- 

 ment and same treatment differ in temper, 

 it is probably due to a difference in heredi- 

 ty. In such a case the cross colony should 

 be requeened. 



Questions. — (1) Why do not the manufacturers 

 of foundation make sheets large enough so that 

 when one puts thei sheet in the groove of the stan- 

 dard frame it will not leave a space at the bottom 

 between the foundation and bar? My bees seldom 

 fasten the comb at even onei place on the bottom-bar 

 in spite of the the fact that I wish the comb fasten- 

 ed on four sides, as I believe it insures solid combs 

 for extracting, utilizes a needless waste of space, 

 eliminates drone comb, and improves the general 

 appearance of the comb. (2) On the side of the 

 combs in one of my hives of hybrids I noticed a 

 bluish tint on the cappings of the stores. As I am 

 a beginner I wonder if it is not a sign of insufficient 

 stores. (3) My hives face southeast. Is this the 

 proper direction ? Several beekeepers have told me 

 that southwest is better. George Kissam. 



New Jersey. 



Answers. — (1) If the sheets of foundation 

 were made as large as the frames they 

 would buckle, and crooked combs would re- 

 sult. For this reason a space is left at the 

 bottom to allow for the stretching of the 

 wax. Many plans have been made for get- 

 ting the bees to attach the combs to the 

 bottom-bars. Some use vertical splints, and 

 others various ways of wiring. Some have 

 used bottom starters with the ordinary full 

 sheets of foundation; others have inverted 

 the supers until the space was built in; and 

 still others have used side entrances, be- 

 lieving that cold winter drafts at the en- 

 trance might be responsible for the unde- 

 sirable space at the bottom. (2) There is 

 nothing unusual in the color. Cappings over 

 honey are usually white, bluish white, or 

 yellowish in color. (3) Some good beekeep- 

 ers — such as E. F. Holtermann of Brant- 

 ford, Canada — pay no attention to the di- 

 rection of facing; but we believe that, if 

 colonies are to be left outdoors during the 

 winter, they should face away from the pre- 

 vailing winds, which are usually from the 

 north and the west. 



. Question.- — Would a frame of sealed brood, a 

 frame of honey, and two pounds of bees with lay- 

 ing queen be the thing to start a colony? 



Ohio. Paul Short. 



Answer. — Yes, if started in fruit bloom 

 and kept supplied with stores, they ought 

 to build up by July. 



ANSWERS BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Question. — What is the construction of your bot- 

 tom-board and bottom-rack? 



Answer. — The bottom-board is a plain 

 box, two inches deep, open at one end. It 

 is made of six pieces of % stuff; two pieces 

 22% X 2; one piece. 12% x 2; and three 

 pieces 13% x 71/0. To prevent the bees from 

 building down in summer a bottom-rack is 

 used. As material for a rack there are two 

 pieces 18 x 1 x %, and 21 pieces 10% x % x 



