■J92 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE 



tliis and other advertising I number probably two- 

 thirds of the people in this community among my 

 honey customers, although there are several other 

 beekeepers in this vicinity, and some of them sell 

 tlieir extracted linnev two cents a pound cheaper 

 tlian I do. 



Barryton, Mich. LEON C. Wheelee. 



The Proportion- of Sugar to Water in Nectar 



I should like to know how much evaporation is to 

 nectar gathered from clover. We have a hive on 

 the scales that is running in an average of ten 

 pounds a day ; but it lightens up a pound and a half 

 each night. Would that be equal to eight pounds 

 and a half a day, or not ? 



Brook Park, Minn., June 29. Bell Bros. 



[It is not possible to give a definite answer to this 

 question, for the simple reason that so much depends 

 upon general conditions. Some nectars are very 

 much thinner than others, and of course there would 

 have to be more evaporation or ripening in order to 

 reduce it down to a honey that will run between 

 eleven and twelve pounds to the gallon. Ordinary 

 nectar, we should say, would run anywhere from 

 two to ten parts of water to one part of solid sac- 

 charine matter. The evaporation that you discover 

 in your hive, where they gather ten pounds per 

 day and lose a pound and a half at night, we 

 should say was very nearly normal. Of course, not 

 all evaporation takes place in twenty-four hours. 



It is possible and probable that some of the excess 

 of water is discharged by the bees while on the wing 

 before reaching the hive. You will find some inter- 

 esting facts bearing upon this subject by referring 

 10 Gleanings for Sept. 1, page 514, and Sept. 15, 

 page 549, 1911. Refer to what is said on the sub- 

 ject of feeding outdoors sweetened water of a sugar 

 of about nine parts water to one of sugar. — Ed.] 



To Get a Swarm Out of a Box 



A drone-traiJ I bought last year let the queen 

 through every time, and the two last swarms I saved 

 I put the perforated zinc over it. Can you tell me 

 which is the best way to get a swarm out of an old 

 Lo.x now? I intend to put the combs in the new 

 hive. I should like to get new queens ; but it will be 

 a hard thing to put them in the new hive that I 

 hived this summer, for they build the combs cross- 

 wise. I had no foundation. 



Ft. Wayne, Ind., June 30. jNo. W. Hoevel. 



[As the queen and drone traps all have standard 

 width of perforation, your letter shows either that 

 the queen in question was abnormally small or else 

 that the trap had been bent or injured in some way, 

 allowing an opening for the queen to get through. 



If we were in your place we would treat the hive 

 in which the combs are built crosswise just as 

 though it were a bo.\ hive, and drum the bees out 

 according to the plan described in the enclosed cir- 

 cular on transferring bees. — Ed.] 



When the Giving of Foundation Causes Swarming 



I have six colonies of bees; and, although the 

 past winter on Long Island was the coldest we have 

 had for thirty years, my bees came through the win- 

 ter in better condition than ever before. I did some- 

 thing I never did before — namely, left the entrance 

 wide open and put one super on the top of each 

 hive. The result has been at this date. May 23, that 

 I have had more swarming than ever before. A 

 swarm has issued from each hive, and in some cases 

 two already. 



What is the best way for me to prevent swarm- 

 ing? I use the ordinary eight-frame dovetailed hive, 

 and do not think much of it. It seems to me that a 

 Jumbo hive would prevent swarming. I understand 

 that the Dadants do not have swarming, but do not 

 know what they use. E. Griswold. 



Great Neck Station, N. Y., May 23. 



[Mr. A. B. Marchant, of Sumatra, Fla., one of 

 the largest honey-producers in the United States, be- 

 lieves that the giving of supers of foundation will 

 start swarming when the giving of supers of drawn 

 comb will check it. Beginners will often give sec- 

 tion supers to a colony before it is strong enough 

 to enter. This may or may not have a tendency to 

 check sv; arming: but nothing is accomplished by 

 giving supers too soon. On the other hand, when a 

 weak colony has filled its brood-nest clear full of 



honey, the giving of a suTier of sections will not help 

 much. If the colony is too weak to go into a section 

 super, a better way is to take away the combs that 

 are full, providing they contain no brood, and sub- 

 •stitute empty combs. Or this may be done: Give a 

 ■s, allow extracting super of drawn combs; but don't 

 expect a weak colony to draw out foundation in sec- 

 tions or shallow frames anless there is a very strong 

 honey flow on, for they will probably sulk just as 

 soon as they get the brood nest full, and then 

 swarm. Before bees will enter a super containing 

 foundation the colony must be strong' enough so that 

 the super will be filled with bees. And even a 

 strong colony will refuse to go up unless there is 

 plenty of bottom ventilation, and it may even be 

 necessary to set the hive U'^ on four blocks. 



The question whether the hive is eight or ten 

 frame or a jumbo, in your particular case, had no- 

 thing to do with swarming, except that the jumbo or 

 ten-frame would have a little more storage capacity, 

 and according as it is larger it would delay swarm- 

 ing. — Ed.] 



Springs to Hold the Brood-frames Close Together 



As I have had a great deal of trouble in reaching 

 the brood-chamber, owing to the fact that the frames 

 have a tendency to spread out and fill up the hive 

 until there is no room to break the first frame loose 

 when cutting it out, I have adopted the following 

 plan : I take two sections, cut them down to the 

 length and width of the spacing part of the frames, 

 and tack them on the hive body so that the frames 

 will come against them, making a full beespace be- 

 tween the top-bar and the body. On the other side 

 I use super springs to press the frames together. I 

 cut the spring long enough to make the pressure 

 half way on the spacing part of the frame. I also 

 equip my shallow supers in the same way. 



Ashville, Ala. W. D. Prickett. 



[It is seldom or never necessary to use springs ta 

 hold brood-frames together ; and although springs 

 are very useful in a comb-honey super, we think 

 the more you use the arrangement you describe, the 

 less you will like it. Mr. Danzenbaker provided 

 springs in the brood-chamber of his hive; but in 

 actual practice we do not use springs in the brood- 

 chamber, for we consider them not only unnecessary 

 but too much extra machinery to handle every time 

 the hive is opened. — Ed.] 



Stock Eat Sweet Clover Down to the Stubble 



I noticed on p. 324, May 15, that the stock refer- 

 red to do not eat sweet clover readily. In this vicin- 

 ity all kinds of stock eat it down to the ground, and 

 the only trouble is that there is not more of it to be 

 eaten. This, however, is a dry locality, and there is 

 not much natural pasture. The plant does not grow 

 on the high land here, but along creeks and in can- 

 yons. 



Mohler, Wash., May 25. 



To the Discouraged 



Come, you discouraged ones ; why should you mur- 

 mur, 



Mourning for bees that will gather no more ? 

 Look not at hives that are piled by the corncrib ; 



Smell not the odor that comes through the door. 



Clean up the old hives ; of dead bees make compost ; 



Bury them well in the rich garden soil; 

 You can replace them by carefully trying — 



A little less mourning, a little more toil. 



See! the white clover lies thick on the hillsides; 



Basswoods so budded the branches will bend; 

 Harvests like this may be often repeated ; 



Do not be thinking of what might have been. 



Gather the combs for a careful assorting ; 



Melt up the poor ones and care for the rest ; 

 Keep your heart fixed on the main proposition — 



Mayhap these losses were all for the best. 



One thing is certain; the prices of honey 

 Now will be better than ever before ; 

 Work, in the future, may bring you more money; 



Then work with the vim and the courage of 

 yore. 

 Bridgeport, Wis., June 13. Harrv Lathrop. 



