THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



31 



Ventilation of hives.— Cleaning combs from 

 which the honey has been extracted. 

 Amana, la. 

 Mu. Allev :— Please answer the following ques- 

 tions tluough the Apicultuuist: 



1. By what niethoils can a strong colony be ven- 

 tilated in hot weather and at the same time so ar- 

 ranged that the ventilator can be closed handily 

 on cool days and nights? 



I use the 10 Irame L. hive and sometimes tier 

 them two and three stories high, and only leave 

 the entrance at the bottom open, which is % inches 

 by \i\ inches long. 



2. Which is the best way to have combs cleaned 

 by the bees horn whicih the iioney has been ex- 

 tracted? Last fall I put such combs on my hives 

 to have the bees clean them, but instead of clean- 

 ing the honey out the bees put more in. 



Jacob Wagner. 



1. Whore hives are tiered two and 

 three stories high, there should be a 

 small entrance, say three inches long, 

 at the bottom of the top hive. The 

 bees would not have so far to travel, 

 and the liive would be much better 

 ventilated. There would be no dan- 

 ger from robbing if the colonies are 

 strong. No such entrance should be 

 made in case a colony is weak in 

 numbers. 



2. The best way to get the ex- 

 tracted combs cleaned of honey is to 

 place such combs under the brood- 

 nest ; that is, remove the bottom of a 

 hive containing a strong colony and 

 place the bees over the combs. Bees 

 usually remove all loose honey to the 

 combs at the top of the brood-chamber. 



Bees dying in the cellar. 



North Greenwich, N. Y. 

 Mr. Alley : — One question I would like to ask 

 you. 



1 winter my bees in the cellar. I set them on 

 shelves and have something over 100 colonies ni 

 one small room with the entrance to the hives 

 open. They come out of the hive, one at a time, 

 and fly so that the cellar bottom is nearly cov- 

 ered. Shall I close tlie entrance or what shall I 

 do? 



Seth \V. Green. 



Do not close the entrance to any 

 of the hives. All the bees would die 

 in that case. 



I should sa}' that your cellar was 

 imperfectly ventilated, or that you 

 have too many colonies in one small 

 room. The food may be unsuitable. 

 I find that poor stores is usually the 

 cause of bees leaving the hives in the 

 way yours do. 



Jt is so late in the season and as the 

 bees are in the cellar, I must say that 

 we can give no advice that will help 

 yon in the matter. 1 think, however, 

 that it would have been a good plan 

 to have given the bees a cleansing 

 flight by removing them from the cel- 

 lar during the warm weather in De- 

 cember. 



Powdered sugar and honey.— How to 

 mix. 



Voluntown, Conn. 

 Mr. Alley : — How can I mix powdered sugar 

 and honey so it will not separate and run? 1 have 

 tried it a number of times, and it will sep^irate 

 and the hone.v run out. 



F. S. BiTGOOD. 



Add one pound of good, thick honey 

 to four pounds of powdered sugar 

 and knead like dough for half an 

 hour. If it sticks to the hands add 

 sugar till it does not. 



We find the following in the Canadian lieeJour- 

 nal : 



Take absolutely pure granulated sugar and pul- 

 verize it. Put It in a granite dish and pour over 

 it enough pure honey (lirst having heated the 

 honey to a little belo'w boiling point), to thor- 

 oughly saturate it and stir the mass until the su- 

 gar and honey are well mixed. Then place the 

 vessel in hot water, in which it should be allowed 

 to stand (keeping the water about l)oiling point) 

 until the sugar and honey become thoroughly in- 

 cori)Oi-ated, When coof, it will be found quite 

 waxy. It will not melt and run easily, and the 

 bees take to it very kindly. 



Still another way. 



Mr. Alley:— I notice in sample copy of Api- 

 CULTURIST sent for April, you wish to know of a 

 good "sugar cake" recipe "for feedmg bees. Will 

 give you one I have tried ami proves good. 

 Perhaps you have used it before. 



Take one part extracted honey and four parts 

 pulverized sugar and stir them together. It will 

 not run and makes a nice feed. 



W. L. Warner. 



Late Drones. 



Lebanon, O., Nov. J2, 1889. 



BunOR APICULTURIST: 



Did you ever know a colony of bees to keep 

 their drones as late as this without they were 

 queenless. 



Wm. M. Adams. 



No, we never did ; should say the 

 colony is queenless. 



Beekeepers' Supplies. 



We can furnish Bee Supjilies of all kinds. What 

 we do not keep in stock we will order from the 

 manufacturer and no aiticle shall cost the pur- 

 chaser more than the manufacturer's price. 



