644 



I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Cider and Bees. 



Qaeryi Ko. ISO.— A cider-mi)I is about to be 

 built opposite my place, and about >^ of a njile 

 away. Will the cider liill the bees 1( they worlc on 

 the pomace that is thrown outside the mill? 

 Would it do to maite a cage about 2 feet square 

 for each hive, and put water and syrup inside of it 

 to lieep the bees at home ?— F. H. I. 



I should fear t!ie cider but little, 

 but many bees would get killed by 

 having pomace thrown on them. I 

 do not think the cage-plan would work 

 well, but you could tell by trying it on 

 one or two colonies. — G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



The cider may or may not be in- 

 jurious, who knows ? It would be 

 just as well not to have any cider in 

 ihe hives, and it would be better to 

 keep the bees away from the mill and 

 pomace, bv using wire-screens at the 

 mill.—W. Z. Hutchinson. 



If plenty of pure stores are con- 

 tained in the hive, or fed in season to 

 have them sealed, I do not think the 

 cider will do any harm. It would not 

 do to cage the bees as described, as 

 they would most certainly be killed 

 by so doing. It would be far better 

 to cage the cider-mill and pomace.— 

 J.E. Pond, Jit. 



The cider f lom pomace would not 

 hurt bees much, and I am sure that 

 any method of confinement at a time 

 when the bees want to go abroad will 

 cause more loss than is likely to be 

 sustained from the effects of " drink- 

 ing " cider.— (4. W. Demaree. 



If well supplied with other stores, 

 I should not object to their working 

 on pomace a little. I should not want 

 to cage the bees, but might want to 

 cage the pomace.— C. C. Miller. 



I should not like the cider, though 

 I am not sure that it will do the bees 

 any harm. Can you not arrange to 

 have the mill and all enclosed so the 

 bees may not get to it? Access to 

 pomace I should not much fear. Yet 

 we need more real knowledge as to 

 effects of apple juice.— A. J. Cook. 



I do not think that the cider will kill 

 your bees, for mine work on pomace 

 and in the mill nearly every year, and 

 their cider gathering seems to have 

 nothing to do with their success or 

 failure in wintering. Do not try to 

 keep your bees in by any such ar- 

 rangtment.— -James Heddon. 



lam not one of tliose who think 

 cider or other fruit juices are so very 

 injurious to bees in winter. If pro- 

 vided with a warm hive they will 

 evaporate the excess of water. I 

 think that a greater injury comes 

 Irom the decimating of colonies, the 

 bees being killed in the cider-press 

 and in other ways about an open 

 cider-mill. Were such a mill to be 

 erected opposite my apiary, I would 

 willingly pay for putting up screen- 

 doors to keep the bees out, and then I 



would be sure to keep on the right 

 side of the elder man. I should care 

 nothing for the pomace that is thrown 

 out if no bees were killed.— G. L. 

 Tinker. , 



Preparing Hives for Winter, etc. 



Query, No. lai.-l. lam using the Vander- 

 vort chaff-hives with ii frames, and the young 

 colonies have their hives tilled with nice, white 

 basswood honey. Would it be best to extract a 

 part of that this fall and spread the frames for 

 winter, or leave them as they are? -. I notice 

 that in the A B C of Bee-Culture it is recom- 

 mended to cover sections with chaff-cushions. 

 Will it pay to get them made purposely for that ? 

 3. Is tiering-up the surplus boxes advantageous?— 

 C. B. K 



1. I think I should prefer to leave 

 them as they are. 2. It would hardly 

 pay. 3. I think so.— C. C. Miller. 



1. I would spread the combs. 2. I 

 never cover the sections with chaff 

 cushions, and do not know why it 

 sltould be done. 3. Yes.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



1. I should leave the honey as it is, 

 and if I wished to spead the frames I 

 should take out one and hang it away 

 for future use. 2. I use a sheet of 

 enameled cloth or an old quilt, which 

 I think is just as good as a chaff 

 cushion.— G. M. Doolittle. 



1. I would leave tliem only enough 

 stores to winter upon, and extract 

 the balance. 2. Xo. 3. I consider 

 the tiering-up of surplus- cases the 

 most advantageous procedure in ob- 

 taining a large surplus either of comb 

 or extracted honey. — G. L. Tinker. 



1. I would extract all in excess of 

 30 pounds We always do this in 

 autumn. Do not spread the frames 

 much, but close up by the use of 

 division-boards. 2. Fill burlap sacks 

 with fine dry sawdust ; these cost but 

 little, and are very good. 3. I tliink 

 that tiering-up is just the best way to 

 get nice comb honey. — A. J. Cook. 



1. If my hives were /i(H of early gath- 

 ered stores, I would remove some of 

 the center frames and put one or two 

 empty combs in their places. I be- 

 lieve it is best to leave the combs as 

 nature dictates, when the bees are 

 building them. 2. Xo. 3. Decidedly 

 yes. No other plan will ever super- 

 sede the " tiering-up " system.— G.W. 

 Demaree. 



1. I should not do it. You might 

 do so and winter them nicely if they 

 liave a great deal more honey than 

 they will consume, in the manner you 

 winter them. 2. I shall never make 

 any more chaff' cushions, for it does 

 not pay. 3. Yes ; I believe it to be a 

 system that will soon become uni- 

 versal.— .Ia.mes IIeddon. 



1. I should extract a small quantity 

 from the lower portion of each comb, 

 and leave 7 frames in each hive con- 

 taining about o pounds of honey per 

 frame. 2. I find it most economical 

 to place a piece of burlap over the 

 frames, and fill on top of that with 

 forest leaves or chaff', pressed loosely 

 down. 3. Yes, ordinarily, by placing 

 the empty boxes below the partially 

 filled ones.— J. E. I'ond, Jr. 



Tiering-Up Hives in the Cellar. 



Query, No. 188.— Is it proper to tier-up bee- 

 hives in the cellar 4 or ^ high, in this wise ? Place 

 at the bottom a hive having a strong colony, with 

 bottom-board only, over which place wire-gauze, 

 and over that two thicknesses of burlap ; and so 

 on without either bottom or top, up to the top 

 hive : also giving them good ventilation, leaving 

 the entrances open and putting in wedge-shaped 

 stlcits projecting sufficiently to hold up the burlap 

 as an alighting-board for a play-ground. The ob- 

 ject of the tiering-up is to create an upward 

 draft, and thereby secure good ventilation. ~ 

 Glenn, Kans. 



I see no object in tiering-up hives 

 in the cellar, except to gain room. — 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



I should prefer to leave on the 

 covers. If such a plan should be 

 used, the temperature of the cellar 

 should be pretty high.— W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson. 



Your plan is very good. Plenty of 

 ventilation, regular temperature, and 

 a dry cellar, are all that is required, 

 provided the bees are in good condi- 

 tion when put in. — Dadant & Son. 



This would be good if the tempera- 

 ture could be kept down. If the bees 

 get too warm, look out for trouble. — 

 A. J. Cook. 



I should prefer to have the ventila- 

 tion of each hive independent of the 

 others. If I understand correctly, 

 the plan proposed, none but the bot- 

 tom colony would have entirely pure 

 air. — C. C. Miller. 



I have thought of this plan as a 

 preserver of heat, but I should never 

 adopt it as a means of securing ven- 

 tilation. Probably such a plan will 

 not be needed to" succeed, and will 

 never become popular. — Jajies Hed- 

 don. 



I think that hives in well ventilated 

 cellars should have only lower venti- 

 lation. But if the repository is not 

 freely ventilated, I should want both 

 free upward and free lower ventila- 

 tion. I should prefer to have each 

 hive rest upon its own bottom-board, 

 but raised one or two inches by means 

 of blocks at the corners. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



What Ails the Bees? 



Qnery* No. 133.— I have 33 colonies in good 

 condition, and gathering honey in abundance 

 from buckwheat, Spanish-needle and Koldenrod, 

 But one of them Is affected with a malady which 

 suggests poison ; but if that were the case other 

 colonies would be affected. The badly affected 

 bees 1 should think would number ■2,00i). They 

 are constantly cleaning themselves by rubbintf 

 their bodies, legs and wings, and turning on their 

 sides ; they will not run from smoke. Their ab- 

 domens are shining, and the black portions are 

 intensely so ; they are shrunken and pointed. 

 They are taken from the hive in a string or path 

 extending 6 feet from the hive. The first indica- 

 tion WHS about a quart of dead bees that aug- 

 geated robbing. The weather has been wet and 

 cool one week of the past two. They have a One 

 queen, but she is not laying to the extent that the 

 others are. They also have preserved their 

 drones. What ails them ?-W. B. T. 



I would guess that this colony had 

 found some liquid sweets in bulk, and 

 were robbing.— James Heddon. 



