746 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jfov. 19, 



strength, some using twice as much as others. Five pounds 

 of sugar are equivalent to 7 pounds of honey, and that makes 

 the same as 17 pounds of honey for a colony covering four 

 frames. That ought to last out-doors till April 15, although 

 an exceptional one of the lot may want more. In the cellar 

 they can do with less. But it's a good plan always to give 

 them what you think will last till the middle of May or later. 

 I would rather, however, run the risk of losing one or two than 

 to try to feed syrup as late as this. It may be well to say that 

 it takes two very heavy Langstroth combs to contain 10 

 pounds of honey, and there may be a question as to the 

 amount of honey in the two combs you have given. They may 

 weigh 12 pounds and contain less than 8 pounds of honey. 

 An old comb weighs a good deal when it's empty, and there 

 may be a large amount of pollen present. 



2. That depends. If the combs are plumped as full as 

 possible, no feeding ought to be needed in the spring. 



3. I don't know anything about it from experience, and 

 think I would rather wait till spring. You can take pains to 

 keep all drone-brood out of the black colonies, or you can 

 keep drone-traps at the entrance. Still it might work all 

 right to give queens now or later. During winter bees are 

 little inclined to quarrel with new comers. But one trouble in 

 the case is that you cannot always be sure of warm weather 

 to make the change, and you can do a lot o harm by hunting 

 a queen when it is too cold for bees to fly. 



■ ■ 



Separators — Cellar- Wintcriiis:. 



1. Can I use separators, either tin or wood, in the Ira- 

 proved-Lacgstroth Simplicity supers ? If so, is there any par- 

 ticular kind ? 



2. I took off all surplus honey as soon as the honey-flow 

 ceased. I then placed the empty supers back on the hives, 

 put a piece of burlap on the pattern slats (full size of super), 

 then filled the supers with clean, dry wheat chaff. Would you 

 consider this all right for cellar-wintering, providing the bees 

 have plenty of stores ? 



3. Would you leave the covers off? My cellar is frost- 

 proof and dry. j. e. 



Wadena, Minn., Oct. 12. 



Answers. — 1. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 

 " Improved-Langstroth Simplicity " supers, but there is prob- 

 ably no super on the market now that does not admit the use 

 of separators. The kind called "section-holders" have tin 

 separators attached to the holders, and T supers have loose 

 wooden separators. 



2. That's all right. Whether the bees will winter enough 

 better in the cellar to pay for the trouble of putting in the 

 chaff is a question. Try one or two with no super or chaff, 

 just the cover, and see whether there is any difference in win- 

 tering. 



3. Probably it will make little difference. If there is very 

 little chance for ventilation at the entrance, then it may be 

 best to leave the covers off, but I should leave abundant room 

 for ventilation at the entrance in either case. You can hardly 

 do any harm by having the entrance too open in the cellar. 



Coveriiisr Over Frames— Wintering; Two Colonics 

 in One Hire. 



1. What sort of cloth or covering over the frames is best 

 for wintering colonies ? cr: _ 



2. Can two small colonies be wintered in one hive with a 

 division-board between, with plenty of honey also, without 

 having either queen destroyed ? 



We had a good season for honey, and fine honey, too. I 

 have successfully kept down swarming the past season, hav- 

 ing had but one swarm from three strong colonies. 



The Bee Journal should be read by all bee-keepers, 

 whether large or small ; certain articles, alone, being worth 

 the subscription price. W. G. 



Answers. — 1. Perhaps the most popular covering nowa- 

 days is a pine board wtth no cloth whatever. If you winter 

 your bees out-doors, having a very small entrance and depend- 

 ing'On what are called absorbents— that is, some kind of pack- 

 ing on top that shall allow the air and vapor to pass up 

 through very slowly— then there is nothing perhaps better 

 than some coarse, open cloth such as burlap. If you have a 

 large entrance so that all can be closed above, then it matters 

 little what kind of cloth is above, or whether it be a board. 

 But in any case it is probably better to have a packing over 

 the top, for without that there is danger of the moisture in 

 the hive condensing above the bees and giving them a cold 



bath. In the cellar it doesn't make so much difference, but 

 even there it's a good thing to have them warm overhead, 

 then you can give them unlimited ventilation below. 



2. No trouble at all about it. I've wintered dozens in 

 that way. Be sure that your division-board is bee-tight. 

 Make it of thin boards not more than ?« thick. Have the en- 

 trances five or six inches apart. Let the cluster of bees on 

 each side be close up to the division-board. Then the two 

 nuclei will cluster in one sphere just as though there was a 

 single colony with the thin board pushed down through the 

 middle. 



-^ 



"Adels" vs. Italians— Some Bees that Work 

 more than Others. 



1. What difference is there between the Adel bees and the 

 Italians? (Our bees are mixed, Italian and German.) I can- 

 not see any difierence in the markings. I think the Adels are 

 about the size of the mongrels, and probably the abdomen is a 

 little flatter and blunter. I think the Italians are a little 

 smaller, and in shape like the mongrels. Are the Adels non- 

 swarmers, and don't they sting ? Are they good workers? 



2. I have just been looking at the bees, and one colony is 

 working like in summer, and most of the others not a bee is 

 out. It is a hybrid that is working. Why? 



Steveston, B. C, Oct. 14. M. S. 



Answers. — 1. If I am rightly informed, the Adel bees are 

 Carniolans. The name was given to them in this country, 

 and I suppose you have the same right to give any name you 

 please to any strain of bees you may cultivate. Adel is the 

 German word for " nobility," and the claim is made for these 

 bees that they have not swarmed, a claim that has been made 

 for other strains, but so far this trait does not seem to have 

 remained permanently with any. I did not know that the 

 Adels were non-stingers, but you probably can tell whether 

 yours are or not. 



2. It isn't easy to say. Of course, there must be some 

 reason for it, and that reason may lie in the natural traits of 

 the colony, or it may lie in the different conditions. Some 

 families seem to be more industrious than others under the 

 same conditions. A very strong colony might have bees out 

 at work while the bees of weaker colonies remained at home. 

 A colony whose queen had lately begun to lay might show 

 more industry, and other conditions might also make a differ- 

 ence. 



Uniting Late in the Fail— When to Soiv Sweet 

 Clover Seed. 



1. What can I do with weak colonies that have not suffi- 

 cient stores for wintering ? Is it too late to feed them sugar 

 syrup ? or can I unite them ? and how is that done at this 

 time of the year ? 



Bees did not do well here the past summer. But very few 

 people keep bees here, and those that do, want to sell. If I 

 can unite or feed them I would like to buy, as I can buy at a 

 trifle over the cost of hives. 



2. I would also like to know when to sow sweet clover 

 seed in this latitude. J. U. 



Glandorf, Ohio, Oct. 30. 



Answers. — 1. Better unite than try feeding so late. 

 Suppose you have two to unite. Go to the stronger of the 

 two and take out the unoccupied frames, putting to one side 

 of the hive the frames covered with bees. Then go to the 

 weaker one and do the same thing, only instead of putting the 

 frames to one side, put them in the center of the hive. Let 

 them be so far from each other that you can squeeze the ends 

 of your fingers between the top-bars. This can be done 

 almost any time, but perhaps better on a day warm enough 

 for bees to be astir. A day, or several days, later, when it's 

 too cool for bees to be flying, carefully uncover the stronger col- 

 ony, then go to the weaker one, liftout all the frames together 

 — there will be only three or four of them, and you can lift all 

 together by putting your fingers between them--then carry 

 them to the other hive and space them up close to the frames 

 already there. Then add the best frames of honey saved 

 from each or got elsewhere. This is the plan followed by. that 

 excellent authority, G. M. Doollttle. But remember that no 

 amount of uniting will be successful without stores, and be 

 sure there are stores in plenty, only it will take less stores for 

 the two together than if left separate. If you want to unite 

 three, the third will be mananged just as the second. — [For a 

 detailed description of Mr. Doolittle's method of late uniting 

 of colonies, see page 743 of this number. — Editor.] 



2. [For a reply to this question see page (49. — Editok.1 



