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Combs Filled with Pollen for 

 New Swarms. 



Written far the American Bee Journal 



Query 635.— Wben the bee-keeper has 

 combs filled with pollen (otherwise good 

 combs), are they suitable to put into the 

 brood-chamber for new swarms ?— Ont. 



Yes. — A. B. Mason. 

 Yes. — R. L. Taylor. 

 Yes. — Mahala B. Chaddock. 

 Most assuredly, veri/ suitable. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



They are as good as any. — P. L. 



VlALLON. 



I think so. — C. C. Miller. 



Yes, if not moldy ; but we would not 

 want many such in a hive for a swarm. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



I never tried it, but if I had such 

 combs, I would not hesitate to use 

 them for new swarms. — G. L. Tinker. 



I would use them in the brood-cham- 

 ber for new swarms, if necessary. — J. 

 P. H. Brow^n. 



Yes; but I never saw a comh Jilled 

 with pollen. Did any one ? — G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



Realh', I do not know. I have used 

 them, but I am not satisfied that the 

 practice is economical. — E. Secor. 



I should certainl}' use them, and I 

 think myself fortunate in their posses- 

 sion. — J. M. Shuck. 



Yes ; the bees will arrange the pol- 

 len to suit themselves. — C.H. Dibbern. 



Yes, the bees will soon clean out the 

 old pollen. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Yes, sir ; the bees will take care of 

 the old-pollen business. — James Hed- 



DON. 



I would rather not use them, though 

 a small quantity of pollen will do no 

 harm. — J. M. Hambadgh. 



Yes. If the pollen is drj^ and hard, 

 it is well to soak the combs until it is 

 soft ; and much of it can be thrown out 

 with the extractor. If soft, the bees 

 will clean it out in a very little time. — 

 M. Mahin. 



Take a tooth-pick and stir up as 

 much of the pollen as you can, turn 

 the comb over, and jar out as much of 

 it as you can. Treat the other side the 

 same, and the swarm will take it more 

 quickly than they would gold !— Will 

 M. Barnum. 



If the combs have been well kept 

 during the winter, so as to keep the 

 pollen sound and sweet, as many as 

 two such combs may be profitably used 

 in each hive proposed for swarms. 



Such combs maj' also be profitably 

 used in the brood-chambers of all good 

 colonies in the early spring, instead of 

 feediug meal, etc., as a substitute for 

 pollen. — G. W. Demaree. 



Most certainly they are, unless so 

 completely filled with pollen as to give 

 the queen no room. In this answer I 

 assume that the pollen is all right as 

 such. Ample cell-room must be given, 

 both for eggs and storage.— -J. E. 

 Pond. 



Yes ; they are suitable, and will be 

 readily appropriated by the bees. — 

 The Editor. 



Evaporating Water from Honey 

 in the Cells. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



Query 636.— Do bees evaporate water from 

 honey or nectar.after it is placed permanently 

 in the cell preparatory to sealing ?— Nebr. 



Yes. — Dadant & Son. 



Yes. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



I suspect that they do. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



Yes, through the warmth of the 

 hive. The honey evaporates con- 

 tinually till sealed, and often still 

 later. — A. J. Cook. 



Yes, and that same honey may ab- 

 sorb water, or evaporate it, after it is 

 sealed. — James Heddon. 



I think that they do. It seems clear 

 that the evaporation does take place. 

 The heat of the cluster appears to 

 hasten it. — Eugene Secor. 



If Mr. G. M. Doolittle has seen 

 straight, and guessed correcth', we 

 might say no; but I am "kinder 

 'fraid " he is mistaken. — A. B. Mason. 



Yes, they do evaporate honey or 

 nectar, just as you please to call it. — 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



Yes, and may even after it is sealed, 

 by means of the heat of the colonj'. — 

 R. L. Taylor. 



Yes. Instinct teaches them not to 

 seal it till it is sufficiently evaporated 

 to keep. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Yes. The heat of the hive keeps up 

 evaporation as long as the air in the 

 hive has access to the honey. — M. 

 Mahin. 



Yes. The circulation that is kept 

 up in the hive takes the moisture out 

 of the honey as long as it is unsealed. 

 — Mahala B. Chaddock. 



Chemicallj', honey and nectar are 

 two diflerent things. Nectar is prin- 

 cipally cane-sugar, and contains no 

 glucose ; while honey is principally 

 natural glucose, and contains no cane- 

 sugar. Nectar is gradually trans- 

 formed into honey by the action of 



formic acid, incorporated into it by the 

 bees. At the stage referred to in this 

 query, there may still be some of the 

 sugar not entirely transformed, and, 

 no doubt, there are both nectar and 

 honey. — P. L. Viallon. 



Probably ; but the bulk of all nectar 

 carried in is co-operated from the 

 bodies of the bees during the night of 

 each day succeeding a flow of nectar. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



Only as the heat from the hive does 

 it, the same as would be done in a 

 warm room. The bees do their part 

 in evaporation by manipulation. — G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



No more than is evaporated by the 

 heat of a colony ; honey sealed or un- 

 sealed, if kept in a warm room, grad- 

 ually becomes thicker. — Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison. 



Yes. The quiet humming so often 

 heard upon hot days and nights, is 

 caused by the bees circulating a cur- 

 rent of air through the hive. Other 

 bees stir the honey with their tongues 

 or trunks. — Will M. Barnum. 



Nectar, when first gathered, is quite 

 thin and watery, and if then sealed up, 

 would prove insipid, and speedily be- 

 comes sour from fermentation. Leav- 

 ing the cells unsealed, allows the 

 watery excess to evaporate, thus 

 "ripening" (as it is called) the nectar, 

 so that it becomes the honey of com- 

 merce. — J. E. Pond. 



I think not, except as they may con- 

 tribute to this end, by their heat and 

 the circulation of air produced in the 

 hive by their movements. That the 

 bees do handle the nectar and thus re- 

 duce it, I have no doubt. After the 

 bee puts the honey into the cell to 

 stay, and labels it with waxen caps, 

 after-evaporation must be trifling.— J. 

 M. Shuck. 



According to my observations, nec- 

 tar in the flower varies in densit}', or 

 what we call "thickness," in precise 

 relation to the condition of the atmos- 

 phere at the time the secretion of nec- 

 tar is going on ; and when the nectar 

 is quite "thin," the bees, guided by 

 instinct bordering upon judgment it- 

 self, spread the nectar over as wide a 

 comb-surface as they can command, to 

 hasten evaporation ; and as the nectar 

 "thickens," it is transformed to the 

 cells at the tops of the combs where 

 the evaporation goes on till "thick" 

 enough to be finally sealed. How much 

 more rational are these practical facts 

 than is the "digested nectar" theory! 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



Evaporation of the water in the 

 honej- takes place in the hive, and is 

 caused mainly by the heat and air 

 therein — and these are controlled by 

 the bees. — The Editor. 



