28 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Q. When extracted honey granulates is that 

 an indication that It was adulterated with 

 sugar? 



A. No, for almost every kind of pure 

 honey will granulate or crystallize in time. 

 Some kinds of honey produced in the South 

 will crystallize In only two or three days' 

 time, but usually from two to six months' is 

 required. The honey may be returned to the 

 liquid state by heating it gently in hot water. 

 For the very best results the water sur- 

 rounding the dish of honey should be no hot- 

 ter than 140 degrees. A temperature much 

 higher than this will give the honey a burnt 

 flavor. 



Q. I have some combs that contain granu- 

 lated honey that I cannot extract. What 

 shall I do with them? 



A. Sciak them in v.-arm water and place in 

 a super above a strong colony. The bees will 

 usually clean out the cells although the combs 

 may liave to be wet two or three times be- 

 fore the work is finished. 



Q. What is the reason my bees will not go 

 into the supers and store honey? 



A. Several causes might be assigned. 

 First, no honey coming in, or at most a very 

 light honey-tlow; second, a colony too weak. 

 There must be a large force of bees to store 

 enough honey to fill the brood-nest to keep 

 up brood-rearing, and yet leave a surplus to 

 be stored in the sections or extracting-combs 

 above. Third, sometimes a strong colony in 

 a good honey-ttow will not enter the super. 

 In that case, if other bees are storing, an 

 examination of tlie brood-nest may show that 

 the brood-frames in the colony that sulks are 

 "honey-bound" — that is, honey has been 

 stored in brood frames until the queen has 

 been compelled to stop laying. To remedy 

 this, uncap all the combs and put on some 

 sections from some other colony, which the 

 bees have already partly drawn out and 

 filled. This will usually have the desired ef- 

 fect. 



Q. How can finished honey be removed 

 from the hive? 



A. The old way was to set the hive over 

 a hole in the ground in which there was some 

 burning sulphur, and after the bees were all 

 killed to take the honey out with a spade. 

 The modern bee-keeper as mentioned above, 

 does not remove the honey the bees need but 

 simply takes the surplus. A board contain- 

 ing what is called a bee escape, is placed be- 

 tween the super and brood chamber and the 

 bees go down through into the lower part 

 where the brood is and cannot get up again. 

 In a few hours they are all out of the super 

 and the surplus honey can then be removed 

 without the knowledge of the bees. There 

 is then no uproar, no stings, no confusion and 

 no trouble of any kind. 



Q. What is done with bees during winter? 



A. If the colonies are not already in double 

 walled hives the space between being filled 

 with shavings or leaves, a winter case may 

 be put over the regular hive and packing ma- 

 terial put in after which a water proof cover 

 is put over the whole thing: or the colonies 

 may be wintered in a cellar which is kept 

 reasonably dark and even in temperature. 

 Except in the northern part of the northern 

 states, however, it is usually safer to winter 

 on the summer stands in double-walled hives 

 or other hives especially packed for the cold 

 weather. For further particulars, see ABC 

 & X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



Q. What is a winter nest? 



A. It is a space of empty cells in the cen- 

 tral combs three or four inches below the top 

 bars. Bees if left to themselves will form 

 this clustering space in the empty cells so 

 that they can get closer together for warmth. 

 If this winter nest is disturbed in the re- 

 arrangement of combs, it must be put back. 



Q. How do we determine when a colony Is 

 strong enough to go through the winter? 



A. The answer to this question depends on 



the latitude or climate, the kind of hive and 

 whether the bees are to be wintered outdoors. 

 In a warm climate fewer bees will be re- 

 quired than in a cold, but more stores will 

 be needed. In a cold climate for outdoor 

 wintering we figure on not less than 7 frames 

 covered with bees. For cellar wintering 4 or 

 5 frames will answer but more will be better. 

 In the extreme south two or three frames of 

 bees may be enough providing pollen and 

 honey can be gathered in late winter. In all 

 cases, it is better to have a hive full of bees; 

 but in that case there should be 5 or 6 frames 

 of stores or the equivalent in S or 10 frames. 



Q. How can I stimulate brood rearing In 

 the fall when queens ordinarily stop laying? 



A. Queens two or three months old will 

 lay when queens one or two years old will 

 not. We usually advise having young queens 

 in the fall, not only because they stand the 

 winter better, but because they supply the 

 hives with a force of young bees, so neces- 

 sary for successful wintering. Byt old queens 

 can be made to lay to some extent by feed- 

 ing outdoors a sweetened water consisting of 

 15 parts of water to one of granulated sugar. 

 This mixture should be thoroughly stirred, 

 and then put into Simplicity or Alexander 

 feeders, about fifty yards from apiary. The 

 feeders will need to be filled two or three 

 times a day, depending on the number of bees 

 in the yard: but do not give them more than 

 they can take up in a day, for in warm 

 weather it will sour. 



Q. What is the best way to unite bees in 

 the fall? 



A. If there are two colonies neither of 

 which have strength enough to go into win- 

 ter quarters, the weaker should be united 

 with the stronger. Ordinarily, the old bees 

 of the moved cokmy will go back to the old 

 stand. To provide against this, proceed as 

 follows: In the cool of the inorning, or better, 

 the last thing at night, smoke the bees thor- 

 oughly that are to be removed. Pound on the 

 hive considerably, so that they will be demor- 

 alized. Carry the hive and set it down be- 

 side the other and shake the moved bees in 

 front of the entrance of the other hive. If 

 they are pure Italians, no smoke will be re- 

 quired. If they are dark hybrids or blacks, it 

 may be necessary to examine the bees in fif- 

 teen or twenty minutes to see if they are 

 fighting. In this case, smoke the hive thor- 

 oughlv and shut it up. After they are nicely . 

 united rearrange the combs to form a winter 

 nest. 



Q. In uniting, what should be done with 

 the queen? 



A. Where there is no choice especially if 

 neither queen is valuable, the two lots of bees 

 can be vmited, and, as a rule, one of the 

 queens will be left and the other destroyed. 

 But where there is a choice, which is usually 

 the case, the better one should be caged and 

 introduced, and the other destroyed or put 

 into some other colony. 



Q. What Is meant by balling a queen? 



A. When bees are hostile toward a queen, 

 they will cluster about her very thickly, 

 sometimes forming a ball of bees anywhere 

 from one to three inches in diameter. Every 

 bee in the ball seems to be struggling to get 

 at her to sting her. Unless she Is released 

 she will either be smothered to death or stung. 

 To release her, use plenty of smoke, blowing 

 it on the ball, until the mad bees disperse and 

 then pick her up and cage her. Another way 

 is to dip the ball in a pail of water, when 

 the bees will immediately float away from her. 



Q. If colonies die through the winter may 

 new swarms the next season be put in the 

 same hives? 



A. If the bees did not die because of the 

 result of disease, but simply starved or chilled, 

 there is no harm in putting new swarms in 

 these same hives. By careful attention, how- 

 ever, the winter loss may be reduced to a 

 very small percent. 



