762 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



J^nv. 26, 



good purpose, but it is a good deal more trouble to make it, 

 and it can be used only for winter and spring feeding. 



Into a tin sauce-pan put some granulated sugar with a 

 little water — a very little water will do. Make it boil, and 

 stir it ; and when it is done enough to " grain " when stirred 

 in a saucer, take it quickly from the stove. While it is " cook- 

 ing," do not let the fire touch the pan, but place the pan on 

 the stove, and there will be no danger of its burning. Cover 

 the dining-table with some newspapers, that you may have no 

 troublesome daubs to clean up. 



To see when it is Just right, you can try dropping some 

 on a saucer ; and while you are at work, be sure to remember 

 the little folks, who will doubtless take quite an interest in 

 the proceedings, especially the baby. You can stir some until 

 it is very white indeed for her ; this will do very well for 

 cream candy. We have formerly made our bee-candy hard 

 and clear ; but in this shape it is very apt to be sticky, unless 

 we endanger having it burned, whereas if it is stirred we can 

 have dry hard candy, of what would be only wax if cooled 

 suddenly without the stirring. Besides we have much more 

 moisture in the stirred sugar candy, and we want all the mois- 

 ture we can possibly have, consistent with ease in handling. 



If your candy is burned, no amount of boiling will make 

 it hard, and your best way is to use it for cooking, or feeding 

 the bees in summer weather. Burnt sugar is death to them if 

 fed in cold weather. You can tell when it is burned by the 

 smell, color, and taste. If you do not boil it enough, it will 

 be soft and sticky in warm weather, and will be liable to drip 

 when stored away. Perhaps you had better try a pound or two 

 at first, while you "get your hand in." Our first experiment 

 was with 50 pounds; it all got "scorched" "somehow." 



As the most convenient way of feeding candy that will 

 probably be devised is to put it into your regular brood-frames. 

 I shall give directions for making it in that form. If you do 

 not like it so, you can break it out, or cut it in smaller pieces 

 with a knife, when nearly cold. 



Lay your frames on a level table, or flat board ; perhaps 

 you had better use the fiat board, for you need some nails or 

 wires driven into it, to hold your frame down close, that the 

 candy may not run out under it. Before you fasten the frame 

 down, you will need to put a sheet of thin paper on your 

 board, to prevent the candy's sticking. Fix the board exactly 

 level, and you are all ready to make your candy. If you have 

 many colonies that need feeding, you can get along faster by 

 having several boards with frames fastened on them. You 

 will need some sort of satice-pan (any kind of a tin pan with a 

 handle attached will do) that will hold 10 pounds of sugar. 

 Putin a little water — no vinegar, cream-of-tartar, or anything 

 of the sori is needed, whatever others may tell you — and boil 

 it until it is ready to sugar off. You can determine when this 

 point is reached, by stirring some in a saucer, or you can learn 

 to test it as confectioners do, by dipping your finger in a cup 

 of cold water, then in the kettle of candy, and back into the 

 water again. When it breaks like egg-shells from the end of 

 your finger, the candy is just right. Take it off the stove at 

 once ; and as soon as It liegins to harden around the sides, 

 give it a good stirring, and keep it up until it gets so thick 

 that you can just pour it. Pour it into your frame, and get in 

 just as much as you can without running it over. If it is done 

 nicely, the slabs should look like marble when cold, and should 

 be almost as clean and dry to handle. If you omit the stirring, 

 your candy will be clear like glass, but it will be sticky to 

 handle, and will be very apt to drip. The stirring causes all 

 the water to be taken up in the crystallization, or graining 

 process, and will make hard dry sugar of what would have 

 otherwise been damp or waxy candy. If you wish to see how 

 nicely it works for feeding bees, just hang out a slab and let 

 the bees try it. They will carry it all away as peaceably as 

 they would so much meal in the spring. 



You can feed bees with this any day in winter, by hang- 

 ing a frame of it close up to the cluster of bees. If you put it 

 in the hive in very cold weather, it would be well to keep it in 

 a warm room until well warmed through. Now remove one of 

 the outside combs containing no bees, if you can find such a 

 one, spread the cluster, and hang the frame in the center. 

 Cover the bees at the sides and above, with cushions, and they 

 will be all safe. If a colony needs only a little food, you can 

 let them lick off what they like, and set the rest away until 

 another time, or until another season. [Maple sugar, poured 

 into wired frames while hot, makes excellent bee-candy. 

 Cakes of maple sugar laid over the frames answer equally 

 well.] 



^ I — ■ 



Drone-Lisyiiij; Queen. 



I have a young queen that was reared last spring, c She 

 layed well all summer, but for the last six weeks shej^has.been 



laying drone-eggs in the worker-comb. The brood is about 

 half drone-brood. There is no attempt made to supersede, 

 and the colony is too weak to think of swarming. The workers 

 make no effort to drive out the drones. What Is the cause of 

 so many drones so late? Had I best supersede her next 

 spring ? Will those drones be good next spring ? 



Waring, Tex., Nov. 3. A. G. A. 



Answer. — Although the queen was reared last spring she 

 is no doubt practically an old queen. The contents of her 

 spermatheca are nearly exhausted, hence many of the eggs 

 laid in worker-cells pass out without being fertilized, and can 

 produce nothing but drones. In the spring such a queen 

 would likely be superseded by the bees, but sometimes no 

 such steps will be taken later in the season than the close of 

 the honey harvest. Yes, supersede her in the spring if the 

 colony is strong enough to be worth it, which is not at all 

 certain. But in all probability the bees will see to the super- 

 seding in the spring without any meddling on your part. 

 Drones from such a queen ought to be as good as any, provid- 

 ing they are reared in drone-cells. 



Drops of l^tweat over the Bce§. 



When I put oilcloth on top of my 8-frame hives, there are 

 drops of sweat standing on the oilcloth. Will that do any 

 damage ? If so, what can I do to prevent it ? J. S. 



Answer. — Very decidedly, drops of sweat over the bees 

 will do mischief. They will drop right down on the cluster of 

 bees, chilling them badly. During very cold weather, frost ' 

 will form on the oilcloth, then when it gets warmer it will 

 melt and drench the poor bees. The drops of moisture form 

 on the oilcloth because it is cold. Put plenty of covering of 

 some kind over the oilcloth, then it won't be so cold. If you 

 have nothing better, several thicknesses of old newspapers 

 will help. If the packing cannot conveniently be put immedi- 

 ately over the oilcloth, it will do some good to put packing 

 over the wood cover. A large entrance will be a help toward 

 preventing the drops on the oilcloth. If the entrance is too 

 small the moisture is confined ir; the hive and condensed on 

 the cold surfaces. 



Feeding Bees in the Cellar — Kind'of Hire to Use. 



1. Can I feed bees honey that has-been melted [in combs 

 and all from the brood-nest ? c_t 



2. Can bees be fed after they are put inio'the cellar ? 



3. Do you think it an advantage to hive the^bees on the 

 supers? 



4. As I am a beginner I have not .fully satisfied myself as 

 to what kind of hive I should adopt. Do you think I should 

 try the Langstroth or Heddon? : ~ _ 0. P. 



Goodhue Co., Minn. 



Answers. — 1. You can'melt up brood-combs and take the 

 honey you get from them to feed the bees, providing the honey 

 has not been burned. One way to avoid such overheating is 

 to melt the combs in a vessel that stands inside another vessel 

 containing water. For example, put a dripping-pan on the 

 stove, and set in it the crock or dish containing the combs, 

 first putting in the dripping-pan pieces of shingle or something 

 of the kind to prevent the vessel from sitting close down on 

 the bottom of the dripping-pan. Now fill up the dripping-pan 

 with what water it will hold, and there will be no danger_of 

 burning the honey. 



2. Yes, but it's ever and ever so much better to have them 

 fed all they need as early as September, or even August. But 

 it's better to feed them in the cellar than to let them starve. 

 Give them combs of honey if possible, and if you can't do that 

 give them sugar candy, a [See page 70 1 for fuUJdirections. — 

 Editor.] 



3. I'm not sure whether I know what you meau by hiviug 

 bees on supers. If you meau giving to a swarm nothing but a- 

 super, I certainly shouldn't think there would be any advan- 

 tage in that. More likely you mean hiving the swarm in an 

 empty hive and then giving it the super that was on the par- 

 ent hive. With the right precaution there is advantage^.in 

 that. If given immediately on hiving the swarm, there is 

 some danger that the queen may go up and lay in the super. 

 To avoid this, put a queen-excluder between the hive and 

 super, or else wait a day or so before giving the super, so the 

 bees will make a start in the brood-chamber. 



4. The majority of bee-keepers seem to prefer the I ang- 

 stroth or Dovetail, so it is more likely you would be jof that 

 number; still there are a few who prefer the Heddon. 



