748 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Oct. 26, 1905 



around. There was indication of robbers and 

 DO fighting. What is your opinion of the 

 cause? Ohio. 



Answer.— 1. The queen is in the lower, not 

 the upper story. Queen-cells or virgin queens, 

 caged in some way for protection, may be 

 kept in the same story with the queen ; but 

 generally, for the sake of convenience, they 

 are kept in an upper story over an excluder. 



2. I don't know. It may be that a small 

 vagrant swarm entered, and its bees were 

 killed by the colony. 



Feeding Bees for Winter 



1. I started with one colony last spring, 

 and now have 6. I am feeding some of them, 

 and getting them ready for winter? Should I 

 put the frames that are filled best in the cen- 

 ter of the hive, and the poorest on each side? 

 I use 8-frame dovetail hives. 



2, How many pounds of syrup does it take 

 to equal a pound of honey, if it is made of 

 equal parts sugar and water. I suppose this 

 is quite hard to estimate, but could you give 

 me some idea? My bees may go through all 

 right, but I think the hives are a little light 

 to be safe. Minnesota. 



Answers. — 1. I really don't feel sure just 

 what is the best arrangement. Following the 

 example of the bees themselves, it would be to 

 have the outside frames entirely filled, and 

 the upper parts of the central frames well 

 filled. But you may not have exactly that 

 kind of combs, and if you have combs that 

 are entirely filled and others that are practi- 

 cally empty, it might be best to put the 

 empty combs all at one side. 



2. Take 5 pounds of sugar and 2 pounds of 

 water, and you will have a syrup of about the 

 consistency of honey. According to that, if 

 you take 5 pounds of sugar and 5 pounds of 

 water, and the bees evaporate it down to the 

 consistency of honey, you will have about 7 

 pounds of the evaporated syrup. Not quite 

 so much as that, for there is some loss in the 

 evaporating. But look here, my good friend, 

 you're not thinking of feeding equal parts of 

 sugar and water, are you* That would be all 

 right for August, and even early in Septem- 

 ber, but as late as this the proper proportion 

 is 5 pints or pounds of sugar to 2 pints or 

 pounds of water. And next year please get 

 your feeding all finished before it is so late. 



2leports anb 

 (Sxpcrtences 



Honey Almost a Failure 



The honey crop is almost a total failure, 

 have none to sell from 60 colonies. 



.J. W. .Johnson. 

 Stephenson Co., 111., Oct. 2. 



Long Season for Bees 



This has been a long season here for bees to 

 gather nectar. My bees have worked a 

 greater number of days since April 1 and up 

 to the present time than ever before in my 

 recollection in one season. 



W. E. Williams. 



Hillsdale Co., Mich,, Sept, 22. 



Records of Good Queens 



On page C20, E. J. Bryant, of Kane Co., 111., 

 gives this queen record: " I got the queen 

 in 1904. Last spring the colony was very 

 strong, and was divided .Tune \b. A monster 

 swarm issued on July fi, and on July 13 an- 

 other swarm, making 4 swarms [should be 4 

 colonies], and the honey product is 20U 

 pounds from one queen, or. in other words, 

 from 4 colonies " . 



Now I will give the record of another good 

 queen: 



The first swarm I had thi^ year issued June 



25. I gave the colony from which it issued a 

 super for comb honey to prevent an after- 

 swarm. This virgin queen would not hatch ; 

 left the hive and began to lay before July 4 ; 

 on the 10th I bad to give 2 more supers, 

 which were all filled by the 28th, and on Aug. 

 15 1 had taken off 136 finished sections; on 

 Sept. 25 they had completed 48 more, and had 

 24 more about ),< drawn out, making 184 fin- 

 ished sections. This is the individual record 

 of a young queen. Who has one that will 

 beat it? I call her a good queen. 



The swarm that issued stored 72 sections. 

 If I double them up, giving the record of the 

 old queen, like Mr. Bryant did. it would read : 

 2 colonies, and 256 sections of comb honey. 

 But I can not see how it is right. I believe in 

 individual records. 



I do not know whether the tongues of my 

 bees are long, or whether their wings are 

 strong, but I do know they are hustlers, and 

 there has been scarcely a day but what from 

 1 to 2 quarts of bees have bung out in front; 

 with 3 or 4 supers on to-day, fully 2 quarts of 

 bees are hanging out, with a partly drawn 

 super. But the harvest is over. 



T. R. G. Welch. 



Morgan Co., Utah, Sept. 27. 



Uaple-Leaved Goosefoot 



I send a plant found in a corn-field that 

 grew quite large, and was loaded with bloom, 

 and bees were working on it very freely. I 

 have never seen anything like it before. 



This has been a poor season, only about 

 half a crop of honey. Slill I would not do 

 without the "old reliable" American Bee 

 Journal. E. C. Messing. 



Randolph Co.. W. Va., Sept. 27. 



[The plant is the maple-leaved goosefoot or 

 pigweed — Cherwpocllmn hybriduni — and is so 

 named because the leaf resembles that of the 

 maple. It is not an exceptionally good bee- 

 plant, but may yield some nectar. — C. L. 

 Walton.] 



Drawn Sections Changing Color 



On page 683 is a question asked by one who 

 signs himself "Ohio," about his "combs 

 turning straw color if left on the hive over 

 winter," and Dr. Miller replies that he " never 

 knew such change of color," etc. I never 

 used " bait-combs " until last spring, when 

 having a lot of sections filled about one-quar- 



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