1897. 



TEE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



293 



(From American Bee Journnl.) 



KEEPING EMPTY COMBS, AND 

 COMBS FILLED WITH POLLEN. 



1. I have five colonies run to ex- 

 tractiog. They have filled their su- 

 pers, and I have extracted them and 

 put them back The harvest is past. 

 How long must I leave the frames 

 with the bees to keep the moth away ? 

 And what woilld you do with them in 

 winter? The bees are wintered in the 

 cellar; the brood-frames are packed 

 with brood, and not 10 pounds of honey 

 in the brood-chamber. I want to feed 

 sugar syrup for winter. How soon 

 could I take the supers away, and 

 where would you put them ? Would 

 it do to put them upstairs ? I have 

 never seen bees breeding as much at 

 this lime of the year. There is very 

 little honey coming in. There is no 

 buckwheat near me, so not much pros- 

 pect for. a fall flow. 



2. Will combs filled with pollen 



keep all right through the winter, 



away from the bees ? Would the bees 



use it in early spring ? 



New York. 



Answers: 1. The longer frames 



are left with the bees the safer the 



combs are, so long as warm weather 



lasts, but there is not likely to be any 



trouble if they are taken away when 



it begins to get cool, say towards the 



last of September. To make more 



sure, you might hang them pretty well 



apart. They may be kept upstairs, or 



in any dry place through the winter, 



better where they will freeze, for hard 

 freezing will kill any young wax- 

 worms that may be present. About 

 as good a place as any is to keep them 

 right out-doors, making sure that mice 

 cannot get at them. Make sure that 

 no honey is left in them. To this end 

 it may be well to take them from the 

 bees earlier than you otherwise would 

 do, even taking them off as soon as 

 this reaches you, and setting them 

 out where the bees can get at them. 

 If left on the hives the bees will not 

 empty them entirely of honey, some- 

 times, whereas they will be promptly 

 cleaned out if placed where they are 

 public plunder. If the least honey is 

 left in the combs, it will granulate, 

 and that will have a bad effect on the 

 honey stored in them next year. 



2. If not kept in a damp, moldy 

 place, the pollen will be all right for 

 the bees to use riext spring. 



(From Progressive Bee Keeperj. 



SWAKMING, MARKETING HONEY 

 ETC, 



BY J. \V. ROUSE. 



Perhaps it has been a long time, if 

 ever such a honey season occurred be- 

 fore, and I suppose that all or most of 

 the supply dealers have now a broad 

 grin on their face, this being the best 

 honey season so far that I have ever 

 noticed. But after all, there are many 

 beekeepers who have only got a large 

 increase of bees, instead of honey. 

 Many seem to not know what to do to 

 obtain honey instead of letting the 

 bees swarm. Swarming may not al- 

 ways be controlled or prevented, but 

 early in the season when the honey 

 flow first commences, if the bees are 

 induced to go to work in the surplus 



