THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



263 



Deak Editor :— I have a colony of 

 bees (Italians) that have not yet disposed 

 of their drones, at this date, Oct. ir)tli. 

 Can you account for it? What shall I 



do ? A SUHSCHIBEK. 



Examine the hive and be sure they 

 liave a queen. Tlie unseasonable appear- 

 ance of drones sometimes indicates that 

 there is no queen. If they are all right in 

 this respect, do nothing about it. The 

 cold nights that are at hand will dispose 

 of them. When honey is plenty, bees 

 tolerate drones in the hive until they die 

 a natural death. 



Another season be sure you do not 

 have too much drome comb in the hive. 



Ed. Journal : — Why does some of my 

 honey granulate while others does not? 

 Is there any remedy ? How can I restore 

 it to liquid form ? Inquikek. 



We cannot tell why honey granulates. 

 If any onr can, let us hear from them. We 

 only know that some honey in some sea- 

 sons granulates vcrj' quickly, while other 

 seasons the same quality of honey appar- 

 ently remains liquid. 



Some tell us that if no particles of comb 

 are left in the honey it will not granulate. 

 If this u so, why is it ? What can the 

 comb have to do with granulation ? 



Others tell us that if kept air-tight, in 

 the dark it will never granulate ; yet we 

 have had it in tight oak barrels become as 

 solid as tallow. Certainly the barrels 

 were "air tight" and in them the honey 

 was in the dark ! 



We find Linden honey almost sure to 

 granulate. Honey from the fall flowers 

 we have had no touble with. Can any 

 one tell us why this is so ? 



If there is a remedy we do not know it, 

 will the "doctors" answer this question. 



To restore it, requires heat. We place 

 it in shallow pans over steam — and it 

 melts readily. If not done in this way 

 there is danger of burning it. It melts 

 before it reaches boiling heat. Many peo- 

 ple prefer to use it in the solid state, but 

 as a rule it does not sell until melted. 



Some honey dealers refuse to purchase 

 honey of strangers unless in this state, 

 reasoning that they are "sure of its purity 

 when granulated, for none of the imita- 

 tions of honey will harden." Another 



merchant advises putting acid in the bar- 

 rels of extracted honey to prevent granu- 

 lation. We would give no such advice. 

 Put honey into clean sweet barrels, or 

 kegs, letting it settle a day or two first, 

 and straining carefully ; if it hardens melt 

 it, but add nothing to it, selling pure hon- 

 ey just as it is thrown from the combs. 



Ed. Journal : — Sliall I break up my 

 nucleus hives, or can I keep them over 

 winter in any way? If I cannot, what 

 shall I do witii the young queens in them ?• 

 A little information on this point will be 

 valuable to us. 



Can weak columns be wintered over, 

 and how ? J. E. R. 



Olmstead, Minn. 



We have kept neucleus hives over win- 

 ter, but always found it cost too much 

 time and care. To be safe, they must be 

 kept in a very warm place, nearly at sum- 

 mer heat and often examined as to their 

 condition, and if neglected you find them 

 dead, and all past trouble with them 

 thrown away. We kept a pint of bees, 

 one winter in a small hive, and in the 

 spring built it up by June to a 15 frame 

 colony, full of brood, from which we 

 made two other strong colonies and took 

 some surplus honey. But we w^ere satis- 

 fied by the experinant that it could be 

 done and since then have never tried the 

 same experiment. It was a costly one. 



We hardly know how to answer the 

 question as to wintering weak colonies, 

 because it is so hard to know what you 

 mean by weak colonies. Hosmer winters 

 only colonies that are what he calls 

 "small ones." He does not believe in 

 winteriug too many bees, but he keeps 

 them in a very warm place and knows 

 just how to manage them in spring. He 

 is one of our most successful bee-keepers, 

 and we have no doubt his theory is a cor- 

 rect one. Yet he said to us on one occas- 

 ion, "I do not like to have you say too 

 much about my method of wintering ; it 

 is so hard at a distance to explain just 

 how many bees go to make up one of my 

 little colonies ; or to tell just how I pro- 

 pare them for winter. People misunder- 

 stand me, and then when their bees die 

 call me and my method "humbugs?" 



Our advice to beginners, and indeed to 



