176 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Mar. 



melted. It was caused by my neglecting to raise 

 the flat cover of the hive, which I had been in the 

 habit of doing during the summer months. It was 

 then when I adopted cottage-rooC-shaped roofs, 

 which admit of a circulation of air below. 



Chas. F. Muth. 

 Yes. We have a large Concord grapevine, cover- 

 ing a trellis ten feet square, which shelters eight 

 hives— 4 on the east and 4 on the south. It is an 

 agreeable and profitable shade for the bees and 

 their owner. Trees will do very well; but if the 

 shade has to be created, grapevines will produce it 

 the quickest and cheapest. Sunflowers answer the 

 purpose tolerably well, and the seed is good food 

 for fowls. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



There seems to be a diversity of opinion 

 in regard to this matter of sliading ; but if 

 I am correct, there are periods during al- 

 most every season when shading is of' con- 

 siderable advantage ; and it is also true, that 

 there are periods during tliis same season 

 when shading is quite a disadvantage. All 

 things considered, I am not sure there will 

 be any increase in the crop of honey unless 

 the shade-l)oard or shade arrangements are 

 more or less manipulated ; and if you un- 

 dertake to do this, you will be pretty sure to 

 have them off when they ought to be on, 

 and on when they ought to be off, unless 

 you make it a constant and regular business ; 

 and I am not satisfied that this will ])ay the 

 cost. Grapevines or trees admit a good cir- 

 culation of air. and give a shade in the mid- 

 dle of the day, but none morning and even- 

 ing. Where tlie vines and trees can also be 

 made to yield a profitable crop of fruit, I 

 think it pays. Our Concord grapevines now 

 give us more or less fruit every year ; biit 

 even as go >J a man as Neighbor H. says if 

 our apiary belonged to him his first job 

 would be to pull all those grapevines up by 

 the I'oots. 



Question No. ;38.— Do bees consume more honey in 

 hica'ities where they can fly almost every day, than 

 where they are housed up three or four months hy the 

 coldl 



Yes. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 



We should think they would. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Judging from reports of Northern friends, I 

 think they do. P. L. Viallon. 



A swarm will consume more, as they raise earlier 

 and more brood. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Without a doubt. Exercise consumes the tis- 

 sues, which can be renewed by food only. 



A. J. Cook. 



I should think they would; but ray experience 

 has been altogether in the colder climate. 



C. C. Miller. 



One or two flights a month give the best results. 

 More flights or less often cause a greater consump- 

 tion of food. G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I think it would be all guesswork to answer this 

 question. It would take two men to answer— one 

 in a warm location, and one where it was cold; 

 then weigh the honey and weigh the bees, and 

 then guess. E. France. 



That depends upon how cold it is in the instance 

 where they ai-e housed up " four months;" and also 

 how much they fly " almost every day " in the warm- 



er location. I think bees consume more honey in 

 Florida in winter than in this latitude, when the 

 winters are mild. James Heddon. 



We think that depends on a great many things. 

 Where they can fly every day, the winter is shorter 

 and they most likely consume less. Whenever 

 they breed they consume more than when they do 

 not breed. On the other hand, they eat more in 

 cold than in warm weather. Dadant & Son. 



I believe less honey is consumed when the weath- 

 er is such as to permit flying when " housed up 

 three or four months hy the cold," provided brood- 

 rearing is not going on. My experience is confined 

 to the same locality, but I apply the question to dif- 

 ferent seasons of the year, as, for instance, fall and 

 winter, or to a mild and a severe winter. If, how- 

 ever, the question applies to confinement in a good 

 cellar, the answer should be reversed. 



Geo. Grim.m. 



I have kept bees in only one locality (the north 

 line of Ohio); but my impi-ession is, that bees 200 

 or 300 miles further south i-equire more honey to 

 winter them. This would probably not be true of 

 very cold single-walled hives. 1 let my bees go in- 

 to the winter with 10 or 13 lbs. of honey— sometimes 

 with much less than that— even as little as 4 lbs. 

 The question seems to refer to the Gulf States, and 

 the respondents who have lived down there must 

 tell us. E. E. Hasty. 



I confess, friends, I feel as much undecid- 

 ed about it as you do. Some winters I have 

 felt satisfied that frequent fiights consume 

 the stores ; other winters I changed my 

 mind. Where the bees rear brood largely 

 they consume stores largely. There is no 

 question about that. 



Question No. 39.— i. How long can eomh honey 

 hekcpt wiOioiit xacrifti-itig any of itsflavorf 2. How 

 long can it he hcfit without candying and leaking, with 

 good care' 3. Mliat is the best method of keeping it 

 from one year to another? 



1. An unlimited time. 3. For all time. 3. A uni- 

 form temperature of 85°. G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. Don't know. 3. Ditto. 3. Keep in a dry room 

 of eren and reasonably warm temperature. 



Geo. Grimm. 

 1. Under proper conditions, indefinitely. 3. Same.' 

 3. In a dry room, and not allowed to freeze. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 If kept in a warm even temperature we think it 

 might be kept indefinitely, but we do not know. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Our climate here is so damp that I find it very 

 hard to carri'comb honey from one year to another. 



P. L. VlALLON. 



I. Indefinitely. 3. Ditto. 3. Keep in a clean warm 

 dry place. I have kept comb honey for years; and 

 I think if there was any change it was for the better. 



A. J. Cook. 



1. I don't know just how long, but for several 

 years. 3. Some honey will candy in a few months, 

 and other not for years, and, " with good care," can 

 be kept indefinitely without leaking. 3. Keep in 

 a warm place. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



If this question had been asked me a year or two 

 ago my reply to 1 and 3 would have been, " Less 

 than a year." With my present light I answer 1 

 and 3, "Perhaps several years." 3. I don't know; 



