786 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 16 



winter? Where can one get good barrels for storing 

 and shipping extracted honey? Will alcohol-barrels 

 spoil the honey? RICHARD Hanlon. 



Inland, Neb., Aug. 20. 



[We know of nothing better for the average person 

 than hot water to clean tanks, extractors, and the like. 

 Steam is better where it is available. 



We question very much whether the odor of rosin 

 from the slight amount in the cans can be imparted to 

 honey; and on this point we would be pleased to get 

 reports from bee-keepers who may be in position to 

 offer facts. In the mean time we should be glad to 

 have you send us a sample of the honey in question. 

 It is our opinion that the flavor you find in it is due to 

 some particular source, and not to any substance in- 

 side of the storage-receptacles. 



You can doubtless get comb-buckets for the Danzen- 

 baker frames by applying to your dealer. An ordina- 

 ry extracting-super, or, rather, a couple of them, 

 placed on a hand-cart or wheelbarrow, would be 

 cheaper and have a much larger storage capacity, and 

 more satisfactory in every way. See " Extractor " 

 and "Extracted Honey" in the A B C and X Y Z of 

 Bee Culture. 



There is no practical way of spacing Danzenbaker 

 frames further apart in the extracting-super. 



Weak colonies may be united in the fall; but if any 

 during mid-winter become weak, and the weather is 

 warm enough so bees can have occasional flying days, 

 they can be united; but before doing so we would ad- 

 vise shaking the bees, to be moved to another loca- 

 tion, into a wire-cloth cage, and keeping them there 

 for 2-t hours. At the end of that time scoop them up 

 by the dipperful and deposit them in front of the en- 

 trance of the hive or hives where they are to make 

 their permanent abode. They will soon crawl in, and, 

 to all intents and purposes, will stay where put like a 

 swarm. If united in the regular way, by carrying 

 frames of bees to the hive to be united, a large num- 

 ber of bees will be sure to go back and get lost.— ED.] 



OLIVE-GREEN HONEY. 



Under separate cover I am sending a sample of hon- 

 ey, and your opinion as to its kind and quality would 

 be appreciated. I think it is from asters, as bees were 

 working on that flower when the honey was stored. 



It might be well to explain that I have a single hive 

 of bees on my back porch in the city; and while in 

 Stapler's supply store one day about the tlrst of Octo- 

 ber they told me they were selling honey to the coun- 

 try folks to feed their bees for winter. This being the 

 case, I purchased a feeder and went home prepared to 

 feed. Upon taking off the super I found the brood- 

 chamber full, and 6 lbs. in the super of honey, like the 

 sample. The last time I looked into the super was 

 about Sept. 15. when it was empty, so the flow had oc- 

 curred during the last two weeks of September. How 

 can you account for my getting a surplus when the 

 country folks were compelled to feed? 



Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 18. R. McCullough. 



[The sample has been examined, and it is quite re- 

 markable. It is the only one we have ever seen where 

 the honey was of a deep olive-green color. The flavor 

 is suggestive of some fall source — possibly aster; but 

 an aster honey does not have this peculiar color. The 

 fact that all your neighbors' bees were on the verge of 

 starvation, and that your one colony stored all of this 

 honey, would lead us to suspect that your bees helped 

 themselves to some artiticial supply. Possibly, if you 

 would make inquiry you would find where your bees 

 had been helping themselves freely to some green 

 fruit-preserves of some sort, for the strong olive-green 

 tinge rather suggests this.— ED.] 



PREVENTING WAX FROM STICKING TO THE FOUNDATION- 

 MILL. 



When running sheets of wax through a foundation- 

 mill, try putting a rather heavy piece of paper on the 

 end of the wax as it starts between the rolls. When 

 the paper is used it is very easy to get the end of the 

 wax sheet loose from the roll. 



Ontario, Ore. M. TOWNSEND. 



[If the rolls of the mill are set close enough together 

 to give a good thin base to the cell we should be afraid 

 that there would be danger of crushing the metal if 

 thick paper were used. We tried very thin tissue pa- 

 per bent over the end of the wax, and are not sure but 

 it helps. Furthermore, if this very thin paper were 

 used it would not be necessary to throw away the end, 

 as it yields perfectly to the shape of the foundation, 

 and it is so thin that it probably would not be objec- 

 tionable to the bees.— Ed.] 



KEEPING BEES IN GARRETS; WILLySUCH COLONIES 

 SWARM? 



I have eleven colonies of bees that I purchased some 

 years ago, and have kept them on the ground— that is, 

 in hives on blocks. I have a large attic in my house, 

 and it has been suggested that I could fit it up as a 

 large bee-hive, placing, say, one hive inside, and then 

 putting the small pound boxes along on poles, etc., al- 

 lowing the bees to fill these boxes, and removing them 

 when full, etc. In this way the bees would never 

 swarm, and would continue to multiply indefinitely. 



Gulfport, Miss., Nov. 1. Geo. L. Carley. 



■- [Under the head of " Swarming," in our ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture, you will find, toward the close 

 of a general discussion on that subject, an article on 

 keeping bees in upper rooms and garrets. As this ap- 

 peared in our 1879 edition you can see that the idea is 

 old. It is perfectly feasible to keep bees in a garret; 

 and while some hang the frames on supports without 

 a hive, others find it more feasible to use ten or twelve 

 frame standard hives tiered up four and five stories 

 high. Such hives are vastly more convenient to han- 

 dle, and, when tiered up as explained, always keeping 

 well ahead of the queen, there will be little or no 

 swarming. 



We do not think it would be practicable to put the 

 section boxes on poles or supports in the room. The 

 sections themselves would have to be in close contact 

 with the general cluster of the bees. If it is your pur- 

 pose to keep down swarming you had better not at- 

 tempt to produce section honey. — Ed. J 



THE ABSORBENT MATERIAL BECAME DAMP; SEALED 

 COVERS PREFERRED. 



In the fall of 1907 I packed some 35 colonies outside, 

 using an old piece of woolen carpet and several folds 

 of newspaper directly over the frames, and the b«»es 

 came through all right the next spring. In the fall of 

 1908 I tried the same plan with 70 colonies, but for some 

 reason or other the carpets were very damp when I 

 opened them up last spring, and in a good many in- 

 stances not only was the carpet damp but it was wet 

 enough to wring water out. The newspapers were 

 damp as well, and altogether I found conditions far 

 from favorable. I packed the hives which were plac- 

 ed 15 in a row all around and over the top with forest 

 leaves, leaving the front or south end exposed. My 

 winter loss last winter was only one colony out of the 

 70 so packed, while those put in the cellar did not give 

 as good an account of themselves. I think I am safe 

 in saying, however, that those with the damp carpets 

 did not build up as fast as those that were in the cel- 

 lar, possibly due to the excessive moisture. I shall 

 use sealed covers this fall with some 150 that I expect 

 to pack outside. My hives were all slanted toward the 

 entrances, and I noticed considerable water running 

 out on warm days last winter, so that the carpets must 

 have frozen stiff or else the moisture collected on the 

 sides of the hive and then ran down. Which was it? 



Morrison, 111., Nov. 2. Chas. G. Macklin. 



[Our experience has been practically the same as 

 yours. We can't understand why any one should get 

 better wintering results by the use of damp, wet, or 

 (worse yet) frozen absorbents.— Ed.] 



CANDIED HONEY FOR A WINTER FOOD. 



We have a lot of section honey that has partly can- 

 died on account of dry hot weather and no honey-flow, 

 and so it could not be capped. Can this be fed back 

 by putting it in supers and putting a super on the hives 

 and leaving it there all winter? 



Glyndon, Md., Oct. 21. C. Stansfield & Bros. 



[While you might be able to feed your colonies by 

 giving them this candied section honey in the manner 

 you outline, we would recommend holding it until next 

 spring. In the mean time, if the colonies are short of 

 stores, feed ihem sugar syrup. While bees will winter 

 after a fashion on candied honey, we would much pre- 

 fer to give sugar syrup. 



You say that the sections are not capped over. If 

 that be the case they might be soaked for a few hours 

 in warm water and placed in the honey-extractor, 

 where most of the water and the honey would be 

 thrown out. This product could be fed to the bees 

 next spring in regular feeders, and the sections could 

 be placed upon the hives for the bees to clean up in 

 the manner outlined in your first paragraph. 



If any one has had any experience in giving candied 

 or partially candied honey for the bees to winter on 

 we shall be glad to have him report what success he 

 had.— En.] 



