618 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Although drones are all gone, she may 

 have mated earlier and not commenced 

 laying very promptly, or there may have 

 been drones that you didn't see. If 

 there's a fairly strong colony, I think I 

 would let them alone to winter over. 



Refuses to Take Winter Stores. 



Once a week the "American Bee Jour- 

 nal " comes to our house. I suppose we 

 could get along without it. So a man 

 miqht worry through a Wisconsin winter 

 without mittens, but he would lose more 

 time slapping his hands to warm them, 

 than the cost of mittens would amount 

 to. So with the "Bee Journal" — one 

 gets five times its cost in little " kinks." 



I have one colony that for the past 

 two months I have tried to get to store 

 their winter supply, but nary a store. 

 It is a good, strong colony, with one of 

 Hutchinson's queens, and has had plenty 

 of brood at all times. I have fed honey, 

 both comb and extracted, granulated 

 sugar syrup, both thick -end thin, but 

 they will not store more than four or 

 five pounds. I would trot them in with 

 another colony, only for their queen be- 

 ing an Italian. 



The honey was a very light crop this 

 year. I got 95 pounds from 13 colo- 

 nies. My neighbor, with 45 colonies, 

 took but 150 pounds of honey. Honey 

 sells at 12Ji cents for cash, or 15 cents 

 in store trade. 



I have taken the hives from their sum- 

 mer stands, and set them in a small 

 building until time for cellaring; the 

 bees are out on warm days, still gather- 

 ing pollen. E. G. 



Cylon, Wis., Nov. 3. 



Answer.— When a colony refuses to 

 take winter stores when others do so 

 freely, the first question that arises is 

 whether they haven't had enough al- 

 ready. Still, there's a difi'erence in ray 

 colonies about taking feed, and I can't 

 tell why. If you had told how you gave 

 the feed it would have been well. 



When you gave comb honey, if you 

 gave It in frames anywhere near their 

 brood-nest, they may have folt satisfied 

 with it there without disturbing it till 

 they wanted it. But wherever it was, 

 if you uncapped it, or daubed it over 

 with honey in case it was not sealed, 

 you might count pretty safely on their 



cleaning it up, and putting it in reach of 

 the brood-nest if needed there. I had a 

 colony to which I gave some combs to 

 empty, setting the combs under the col- 

 ony, but they said it was all right there 

 and let it alone. Then I set an empty 

 hive over the hive containing the combs, 

 and set the colony over the empty hive. 

 The combs in the lower hive were then 

 promptly emptied. 



Sugar syrup will be taken down hot 

 when it would be neglected cold. 



One thing you could have done. When 

 you found they would not take the feed, 

 you could have given them filled combs 

 from another colony, then fed up this 

 latter —providing you had such a colony. 



If you got them to take four or five 

 pounds of syrup, and they had the 

 chance to take more during two months, 

 I shouldn't feel very uneasy but what 

 they had enough to take them through 

 till spring, then give them more. Re- 

 member the spring is the time when 

 they consume stores more rapidly than 

 in winter. 



Seems to me I'd rather let the bees 

 stay on their summer stands till put into 

 the cellar. 



Borage as a Honey-Plant. 



Why don't some one say something 

 about borage as a bee-plant? I have 

 not seen a word regarding it in all that 

 has been written on bee-pasturage. It 

 began to blossom here with the bass- 

 wood and continued until the drouth 

 withered it, and as soon as the fall rains 

 came it began again and lasted until we 

 had a frost that froze ice as thick as 

 window-glass. I do not know what the 

 bees get from it, but it must be useful to 

 them or they would not be fooling their 

 time away on it when basswood is in 

 bloom. J. H. D. 



Belleville, Wis. 



Ans. — Borage is a well-known honey- 

 plant, formerly more spoken of than 

 now. I suppose less is spoken of it than 

 would otherwise be if it were found in 

 larger quantities, or if it were valuable 

 for some other purpose than bee-pasture. 



Read our great offer on page 610. 



