Al'RII., 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C U L T U K E 



249 



lots of catnip in tlie proves. Ciui T keep a hniulrod 

 colonies in one apiary? (2) My becis are in a cave 

 with only tho inner cover on top. These seem to 

 warp up on the sides so there is ji crack of about a 

 i|uartcr of an incli with fully a %-inch opening: in 

 front. Will this he all right for the beeis ? (3) 

 Tlierc is a little nmld in tlic cave. Will it do any 

 harm .' (1 ) If I put scuue bees in the hivcB, with 

 foundation, how inucli should they be fed fO' draw 

 out the combs when there is no natural honey com- 

 ing in? There is about three pounds to the swarm. 



Iowa. 



Answers. — (1) It is hard to speak with 

 definiteucss about such things, but I should 

 count it quite a safe thing to have 100 colo- 

 nies in "one apiary in such a place. (2) That 

 ^y4-inch crack will do good, and likely make 

 the ventilation of the hive all right, provid- 

 ed the ventilation of the cave is all right. 

 (3) A little mold will do no great harm, al- 

 tho it would be better not to have an3\ The 

 mold and the warping of covers indicate 

 dampness and lack of ventilation. Perhaps 

 j-ou can increase the ventilation. It is also 

 not unlikely that the cave is too cold. If 

 below 45 or 50 degrees, warming up a little 

 will help both as to dampness and ventila- 

 tion. (4)1 don't know definitely. Counting 

 that no drawn comb is jjiescnt in which the 

 syrup can be stored, I should guess that a 

 pound a day of equal parts of sugar and 

 water might do, and that more would make 

 faster work if the bees will take it. This 

 answer is subject to modification by any 

 one in the office of Gleanings who is not as 

 ignorant about it as I am. [From our ex- 

 perience this would depend greatly on the 

 temperature. We should guess from one to 

 two pounds a day. — Editor.] 



Questions. — Please pardon me. I do not come 

 criticising nor dictating, but merely seeking infor- 

 mation baseid upon facts. (1) On page 23, -January 

 Gleanings, in regard to field bees carrying honey to 

 the top super of a hive containing five or six siiper.^, 

 would the fact of the bees unloading their pollen in 

 the brood-chamber, where they know it is required, 

 be any evidence that they dO' not carry their loads 

 of nectar far above, where they also know it is re- 

 quired, and that there is room for it? (2) If, as 

 you seem to think, the field bees merely cari-y the 

 nectar in and dump it into empty cells in the brood- 

 chamber where the young bees take it into their sacs 

 and evaporate by thrusting it out with their tongues, 

 then I should like to have you explain how they can 

 do this when the brood-chamber is already filled with 

 honey and brood; and, if such might be the case, 

 how do you account for the nectar being so thin that 

 you can shake it out of the combs by hand, or even 

 have it drip out by turning the comb on its side 

 after this imaginary evaporation, and storing in the 

 topmost super? (3) In the same issue, page 24, 

 you say that at the approach of winter the 10-frame 

 hive would have two frames more of honey than the 

 eight. Yes, theiy would have at least two " frames 

 more," but not always two frames more of honey; 

 but conceding this to-be a fact, would they not nor- 

 mally also contain proportionately more bees? (4) 

 On the same page you tell us the threei varying tem- 

 perature-s of your cellar, yet you failed to tell us 

 what the month was at tho time this test was made, 

 what the outside teimperalure was, what the condi- 

 tion of the bees Was as to quietness, and whether 

 the three tests were made with three different ther- 

 mometers (which I presume was the case). If 

 they had not been tefsted togcithcr, is it not j)ossible 



that tliey loo may liave varied, at least slightly? 

 (5) -I should also like to ask if you or any one elsei 

 can tell me about what the winter loss by weight 

 in dead bees should l;e in 13.5 colonies, mostly 10- 

 framc, in the cellar, being confined from Nov. 23 

 till April 6, dry cellar, and covers and oilcloths on 

 (he hives — a winter, say, like the one a year ago, all 

 but one colony coming out alive? Elias Fox. 



M^isconsin. 



Answers. — (1) You are quite right that 

 the fact that bees unload their pollen in the 

 brood-chamber is not proof that they uiiload 

 their honey-sacs there. It was a poor at- 

 tempt at proof. (2) You ask how the bees can 

 unload their sacs in the brood-chamber when 

 said brood-chamber is already filled with 

 honey and brood. There are cells partly 

 filled with honey that offer some room. Then 

 each day there are young bees emerging 

 from their cells, into which cells the fielders 

 can temporarily thrust their honey. If there 

 is not room enough in the brood-chamber, 

 there is no law against using the nearest 

 cells to be found in the supers. At any rate 

 the thin liquid is there, in the brood-cham- 

 ber, as you can easily satisfy yourself, and 

 if the fielders didn't put it there, who did? 

 You ask how to "account for the nectar 

 being so thin that you can shake it out of 

 the combs by hand." That shaking busi- 

 ness is really a proof that the fielders dump 

 their loads in the brood-chamber; for the 

 brood-combs are the very ones where the 

 honey shakes the most. Indeed the first 

 delightful proof that the bees have begun to 

 bring in a surplus is when upon shaking the 

 bees off a brood-comb we cry out, ' ' The 

 honey shakes." Anyhow, there's the thin 

 stuff in the brood-chamber. Don't you think 

 the fielders put it there? There's another 

 proof that has been brought forward. Into 

 a colony of dark bees introduce a light 

 queen. Then a few weeks later, when the 

 old bees have all become fielders and the 

 nurses are all light, take the cover off the 

 top super and see the color of the bees in it. 

 Few or no dark bees there, but lots of yel- 

 low ones, showing that the young bees are 

 the ones that bring up the honey. I think 

 I ought to add that most of what I have 

 here said I should credit to that close 

 and reliable observer, the late G. M. Doo- 

 little. (3) As to there being more stores in 

 a 10-frame hive in proportion to the number 

 of bees, ask any observant inspector in which 

 hive he finds tlie most starving, and also 

 read what Miss Fowls says on page 24. (4) 

 When I gave the temperature at three differ- 

 ent points in the cellar I didn't report upon 

 the things you mention, and it didn't occur 

 to me that any one would want to know. As 

 to thermometers, I used the same thermome- 

 ter, taking the temperatures in immediate 

 succession, making it practically at the same 

 time. (5) I don't know the answer to this 

 question. C. C. Miller, 



I arise to remark to ye editor or any one 

 of his fellow-conspirators that I 'm glad Mr. 

 Fox didn't "come criticising." If he should 

 come in a really critical mood I'm afraid it 

 might go hard with me. C. C. M, 



