1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1367 



CONVERSATIONS WITH 

 DOOLITTLE 



QUERIES ANSWERED. 



A correspondent propounds the following 

 questions which he saj'S he wishes me to answer 

 through these columns: 



1. Would it pay me to take a big swarm of 

 bees, which a party here will drive for their hon- 

 ey, and feed them for winter? I can have them 

 as a gift, and the time of driving will be about 

 October 20. 



I would say, that would depend, on whether 

 you had combs to give them or not. If you 

 had a hive filled with empty combs which you 

 could spare to put the driven colony in, it would 

 pay you well; or, rather, it should if nothing 

 unforeseen happened; but if you have no combs, 

 and have to feed to have them built, and fo; win- 

 ter stores also, it would be a doubtful investment 

 as late in the season as you name. With the 

 combs, 30 pounds of syrup fed, at a cost of 

 about $1.25 for sugar, there should be no ques- 

 tion about the profitableness of the matter. Bet- 

 ter still, if yo" have five or six frames of sealed 

 honey to give them, together with three or four 

 frames of empty combs to alternate in the cen- 

 ter of the hive where the bees should cluster, you 

 will be almost sure of success. By this giving 

 of sealed stores I have saved many doomed col- 

 onies in years gone by, some of which gave me 

 from 150 to 200 pounds of section honey the fol- 

 lowing summer 



2. What is the best time to feed for winter, 

 and how is it done.? 



Ansiver. — The proper time to feed when bees 

 lack for winter stores is at the earliest possible 

 moment after the bees cease to obtain a living 

 from the fields, and as soon as most of the brood 

 has emerged from the cells of the combs. This 

 comes from the 10th to the 25th of September in 

 this locality, and I should say feeding for winter 

 ought to be done in September in any locality if 

 possible. This gives the bees a chance to evap- 

 orate the feed properly and seal it over before 

 much freezing weather sets in. For feed, combs 

 of sealed honey have my preference; but if these 

 are not obtainable, make a feed of water, sugar 

 and honey, as follows: Take 15 pounds of water, 

 putting the same in a suitable-sized vessel which 

 is to be kept over the fire till the water boils. 

 When boiling, 30 pounds of granulated sugar is 

 to be stirred into the water, the stirring being 

 done so that the sugar shall not settle to the bot- 

 tom and burn before being thoroughly incorpo- 

 rated with the water, as is often the case where 

 the sugar is poured in without any stirring. As 

 soon as the whole boils again, remove it from 

 the fire and stir in 5 pounds of extracted honey. 

 This makes 50 pounds of feed equal to the best 

 of honey. There are other ways of making feed 

 for bees; but after trying all that have been rec- 

 ommended I prefer the above to any of them, 

 and consider the feed enough superior to pay for 

 any extra labor it may cost. When many colo- 

 nies are to be fed, the formula may be multiplied 

 to meet all requirements when the bee-keeper 

 has some large vessel to make the syrup in. To 

 feed, use feeders if you have them; but in the 



absence of such it can be done very acceptably 

 as follows: Remove the cover or cap from the 

 hive, and use an ordinary four-quart pan. Fill 

 it with the syrup, and put on a float of some 

 kind to keep the bees from rushing into it and 

 drowning. I often pull up two or three hand- 

 fuls of grass near the hive and put on top of the 

 syrup for this purpose. Now open a hole in the 

 honey-board, or turn up one corner of the quilt 

 a little, and set a chip from the hole to the edge 

 of the pan, so the bees can climb up to the feed. 

 Pour a spoonful or so of the feed down through 

 the hole to show them where it is, and put the 

 cover on over all, making sure that no crack 

 is left so any robber bees can get in. To guard 

 against robbing, it is best to feed between sunset 

 and dark at all times. 



3. What is the best thing to do when neigh- 

 bors' bees are robbing yours .'' 



Auj-Tucr. — The best thing to do is not to let 

 the bees get to robbing. This is quite easily ac- 

 complished by keeping none but strong colonies, 

 and allowing each colony an entrance or door- 

 way, according to its strength. In early spring, 

 when robbers are the most persistent, allow room 

 for only two or three bees to pass at a time where 

 any colony may be somewhat weak, and give 

 not more than two inches in length of entrance 

 to the very strongest. Colonies so weak as to 

 be unable to defend themselves, together with 

 any and all queenless colonies, should be united 

 with stronger colonies or with those having 

 queens. If it is desirable to save a colony which 

 has been neglected till robbing has commenced, 

 close the entrance so only one bee can pass at a 

 time, and leave them till near night, or till all 

 the robbers have gone home, then go to some 

 strong colony and take a frame having the most 

 young bees emerging from the cells that you can 

 find. After brushing the bees from this, insert 

 it in the center of your robbed colony. After 

 having done this, close the hive tightly except 

 the entrance, so as to preserve all the warmth 

 possible, carrying the hive to a darkened cellar. 

 Leave it there three or four days till the rob- 

 bers have partially forgotten the place and the 

 matter, and until many young bees have emerg- 

 ed from the comb given. Now take it from 

 the cellar near sunset, after the other bees have 

 largely ceased flying, placing the hive where it 

 stood before, and you will have no further trou- 

 ble if you are careful (as you ought to be at all 

 times) not to let the bees get a taste of exposed 

 sweets. 



4. Would bees driven out in August and put 

 in a hive without combs or honey work as well 

 as a new swarm ? 



Ansnver. — That would depend upon the honey- 

 flow at the time the driving was done. If at the 

 beginning of the buckwheat bloom, and the 

 bloom were giving nectar, there would be nothing 

 to hinder their doing well, as we often have 

 swarms at this time which fill their hives in good 

 condition for winter, besides yielding a surplus 

 if the season proves good. However, if the sea- 

 son for buckwheat were nearly or quite over, 

 either a driven or natural swarm would not do 

 any thing. There are sections of our country 

 where the asters and goldenrods, together with 

 other fall flowers, abound, in which both kinds 

 of swarms might fill their hives with comb and 



