230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr 15 



falL Another reason was that it made trouble to 

 have free opening for the bees all around. They 

 would come out at the side and attack my legs 

 when I sat at work beside a hive. When a swarm 

 issues it's much easier to watch for a queen com- 

 ing out at the entrance than to watch for her at 

 all four sides. Then, the hives being close to- 

 gether, in groups of four, the bees of a swarm 

 would get into the adjoining hive at the side or 

 at the back end. A queen would sometimes be 

 lost that way. 



Where hives are not placed back to back, Un- 

 cle Joe's plan ought to work nicely. But instead 

 of having to raise the hive to put something un- 

 der the sides, why not merely leave out the back 

 end.? Then, when desired, a block could close 

 the back end. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



THICK VS. THIN SYRUP FOR FALL 

 FEEDING. 



Some Experiments to Show that Bees 

 Need to Consume Considerable Honey 

 in Order to Evaporate the Excess of 

 Moisture from Thin Syrup. 



BY I. E. CRANE. 



Some of the readers of Gleanings may remem- 

 ber I reported quite a loss of bees in the winter of 

 1907 from starvation because I fed thin sugar syrup 

 instead of the thick syrup that I had been in the 

 habit of feeding in previous years. The trouble 

 was that the bees consumed a large quantity of 

 the feed I gave them in reducing it to the consis- 

 tency of honey. During the summer, therefore, 

 I determined to make some experiments to find 

 out, if possible, how much honey, or sugar syrup 

 of the consistency of honey, it required to evap- 

 orate the water from thin syrup fed to bees. I 

 also wished to know the possible loss resulting 

 from feeding syrup cold instead of warm. 



In order to carry out the experiments planned 

 above I weighed three groups of colonies, five in 

 each group. To the five colonies in one group 

 I fed 75 pounds of sugar mixed with 37)4 pounds 

 of water, making a syrup of two parts of sugar to 

 one of water. To another group I fed 75 pounds 

 of sugar mixed with 75 pounds of water, making 

 a syrup of equal parts of each. This was fed 

 warm. To the last group I fed the same amount 

 as to the second; that is, 75 pounds of sugar and 

 75 pounds of water, but the syrup was fed cold. 



The weather was warm and favorable; and aft- 

 er two weeks I again weighed the colonies and 

 found that the colonies of the first group — those 

 fed with the two-to-one syrup^had gained 74 

 pounds. Those of the second group, which had 

 been fed the warm thin syrup, had gained only 

 65 pounds. The last group, which had been fed 

 cold thin syrup, had gained but 64^ pounds. 

 Now, the difference in the gain of the first and 

 second groups shows the amount of honey, or su- 

 gar syrup the consistency of honey, which the 

 bees were obliged to consume in evaporating the 

 extra amount of water given to the colonies of 

 the second group. In other words, it required 9 

 pounds of honey to evaporate the extra 37>^ 

 pounds of water fed to the second group. We 



see further that, if the syrup is fed cold, it re- 

 quires 944 pounds to do the evaporating. 



If we were to take 75 pounds of sugar and mix 

 it with 15 pounds of water the syrup would be 

 of about the same consistency as honey. If there 

 were no loss, therefore, the increase in weight 

 would be 75 plus 15, or 90 pounds. 



We have found that it required 9 pounds of 

 honey to evaporate 37 ^z pounds of water; or, in 

 other words, 1 pound of honey to evaporate 4^- 

 pounds of water. We can see, also, that the col- 

 onies of the first group were obliged to evaporate 

 just 22/^ pounds of water in order to bring the 

 syrup fed to the consistency of honey (Il2j4 — 90 

 =22)4). This means that the bees used just 5'i 

 pounds of honey in evaporating it (22^-i 4J = 

 5^). The colonies in the second group, which 

 had been fed the thin syrup, were obliged to evap- 

 orate 60 pounds of water (150 — 90=b0). This 

 means that these colonies in this second group 

 were obliged to consume 14? pounds of honey to 

 do the evaporating of this 60 pounds of water 

 (60 .45=14?. These results show us that, while 

 74 lbs. of thick syrup, of the consistency of well- 

 ripened honey, can be secured by feeding 75 lbs. 

 of sugar in a thick syrup (two of sugar to one of 

 water), we get but 65 lbs. when fed as a thin syr- 

 up (equal parts sugar and water), or J/s as much, 

 thus losing yi when fed thin, almost exact 



There is another thing that we may learn from 

 these experiments. In addition to that which 

 the bees required to reduce the syrup to the con- 

 sistency of honey, it would seem that they con- 

 sumed 10-, pounds; thus, 74 lbs. stored -j- 5'i lost 

 in reducing -f- 10;-,=90 lbs., or approximately 2 

 lbs. 2 oz. to the colony. This does not seem a 

 large amount for the two weeks' time, consider- 

 ing the increased activity of the bees, causing, of 

 course, a greater consumption of stores. I regret 

 that I did not select five colonies that were not 

 fed at all, and weigh them to find exactly the loss 

 due to the extra activity during the time when 

 the feed was being given. Doubtless a part of 

 the less was also caused by the bees changing. the 

 sugar syrup into wax. 



As I said before, the above experiments were 

 made for the purpose of finding out to my own 

 satisfaction the cost of evaporating the excess of 

 water; or, in other words, reducing the syrup to the 

 consistency of honey. Perhaps I should add that, 

 in this experiment, I assumed that no brood was 

 reared. I did not examine any hives to see; but 

 I have found it rare indeed that any brood is rear- 

 ed at the season the experiment was made, Sept. 

 15, unless in a colony that has recently supersed- 

 ed its queen. I also assumed that no honey was 

 coming in. There may have been a very little, 

 but I think not enough to affect the result materi- 

 ally. It is reasonable to suppose that, although 

 the hives were filled with comb, yet that some 

 wax was elaborated or produced for capping tf e 

 syrup, and perhaps for building out to some ex- 

 tent the combs, or lengthening out the cells in 

 which it was stored. I might say further, that, 

 while the amount fed to each group was accurate- 

 ly weighed, that to each hive was not accurately 

 weighed; but by the use of feeders of a given size 

 I could tell quite closely the amount given to each 

 colony, and I found some variation in the amount 

 required for reducing the syrup in different hives 

 of the same group. This is as we should expect. 



