1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



281 



hive, slightly raised up. The bees took the 

 flour through the sieve with far more conven- 

 ience, and qiiiqker. than out of old comb. No 

 particles of flour were left remaining; whereas, 

 by the methods used before that time, the flour 

 became somewhat granulated, so that the bees 

 could not carry it out. Wlicat flour works the 

 best. Even several days after the pollen began 

 to come abundantly, the flour was eagerly tak- 

 en by the bees. The sieve should fit in the box 

 in such a manner that it can be pushed down 

 as fast as the flour diminishes in volume. It is 

 best not to select too small a box, for the pres- 

 sure of the bees is generally great. 



Medina. ()., Mar. Hi. Karl R. Mathey. 



C. C. S., of Ark., asks how to move an apiary 

 a quarter of a mile without having the bees go 

 back to their old stand. ^?is.— We would re- 

 fer you to the article by G. M. Doolittle on p. 235 

 of our last issue. 



J. S. L..of N. 1'., has from four to six frames 

 of bees, brood, and honey, in an eight-frame 

 hive, and would like to know whether he should 

 put in the rest of the eight frames. ^?is.— On- 

 ly as fast as the bees require them for room in 

 which to cluster. 



A. M.. rif 0., inquires whether it is necessary 

 to wire shallow or half-depth frames for ex- 

 tracting. u4?i.9.— We would advise putting in 

 two wires, first to fasten the foundation cen- 

 trally in the frames, and. second, to prevent any 

 liability of the combs breaking out. 



IF. M. H., of Mich., bought two hives, pre- 

 sumably two-story, in the upper story of which 

 the bees built combs up against the cover. As 

 nearly as we can make out from the letter. 

 there were no frames in tiie upper story. Ans. 

 — We would remove the upper stories and trans- 

 fer according to the directions given on page 19 

 of our catalog. 



J. P. G.. of Ky., referring to the short meth- 

 od of transferring, given in our catalog on page 

 19, would like to know whether there is any 

 danger in leaving the old hive with the few 

 bees to take care of the brood, honey, and 

 combs, ^ns.— No, there will be enough bees 

 to take care of it; but the entrance should be 

 contracted so that the few bees may be better 

 able to resist robbers. 



F. C. of O.. has 7.5 or SO lbs. of wax. and in- 

 quires how many pounds of foundation he can 

 get out of it. ^n.s-.— You ought to get as many 

 pounds of foundation of any kind as you have 

 pounds of wax, less th*^ impurities that may 

 have been in the original cakes; and this, in 

 case of good wax, is practically nothing. Of 



course, if you are slovenly and wasteful irt 

 your work you will have proportionally less 

 foundation. 



L. II. L., of Pa., wishes to know how much 

 acid to use to a two-gallon bucketful of comb. 

 Ans. — For wax that has not been rendered into 

 cakes — that is. broken combs, more acid must 

 be used. A good deal depends upon how old 

 the comb is — that is, how many cocoons are in 

 the cells them.selves. At best, out of two buck- 

 ets of comb only, you will not get very much 

 wax. If you have a solar wax-extractor, we 

 would advise you to use that. A tablespoon ful 

 ot raw sulphuric acid to about half a pail of 

 water would be sufficient for the quantity of 

 comb you mention. 



T. E. H., of Ark., notices that we advertise 

 starters for brood-frames, and would like to 

 know how wide these starters should be. Aiift. 

 — They may be anywhere from half an inch to 

 full width of the farmes; but generally about 

 half an inch is used. The main purpose of the 

 starter is to get the bees to build the comb cen- 

 trally in the frames. Without starters there is 

 danger that the bees, as you say, will build 

 crooked combs, sometimes crosswise of the 

 frames. The only way that we know of to 

 make straight comb is to use starters, or, better, 

 full sheets of foundation, wired with horizon- 

 tal wires. 



W. L. M., of O.. has r^O colonies of bees to 

 move a distance of 20 miles, and wants to know- 

 when it would be the best time to do it; and 

 would we advise him to do it at night? Ans.— 

 You can move them at any time after settled 

 weather. If the weather is not too hot you can 

 do it as well or better in the day time. Make 

 sure that your frames are secured, and that the 

 bees have plenty of ventilation. Wire cloth 

 over an ordinary entrance, if the colony is not 

 too strong, or weather hot, will afford sufficient 

 ventilation; otherwise remove the top, and tack 

 mosquito-netting or wire cloth over it. Tf the 

 dav is frosty, ventilation at the entrance may 

 be sufficient. 



J. E. M., of S. C., desires to know, 1. wheth- 

 er he should extract what hou'^y the bees may 

 have in their hives in the spring, so as to stim- 

 ulate them to greater energy, or let them have 

 what they may have. 3. " Uo you recommend 

 putting in full-sized sheets of foundation in 

 sections?" :$.'• Is it necessary to wire founda- 

 tion in frames if we do not expect to extract?" 

 Ans.—l. No, no. Leave the honey in the hive. 

 It is poor policy to try to starve the bees to 

 work, on the principle of "sink or swim." Let 

 them have all the stores they have, and more 

 too. 2. Yes. 3. No, it is not absolutely neces- 

 sary, but decidedly advisable. Why any one 

 should think wiring is unnecessary, when it 

 costs so little to make a sure thing of the combs, 

 is beyond our comprehension. The expense of 

 the wiring material is about 10 cts. per 100 



