804 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct 



0aR QaEgn^i0]M-B@^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent In for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question No. 82.— (a) Describe briefly your method 

 of making winter food for bees, (h) W hat proportion 

 of water to sugar have you found best? 



See No. 83. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I never used any thing but honey for winter food. 



E. France. 



One pound of water to two of sugar. Bring to a 

 boil. P. H. Elwood. 



I endeavor to have them supplied with natural 

 stores. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



One part of water to two of sugar, either by 

 weight or measure. Heat until dissolved. 



H. K. Boardman. 



Boil one gallon of water, and then stir in two gal- 

 lons of sugar and a quart of extracted honey. 



A. J. Cook. 



About a pint of water to a pound of sugar, or 

 about 35 per cent of water added to good extracted 

 honey. Chas. F. Muth. 



We use best granulated sugar with about .5 lbs. of 

 water to 10 lbs. of sugar, and add 10 to 30 % of 

 honey. Dadant & Son. 



One part of water to two parts of granulated su- 

 gar. Melt by a gentle heat, and add about a tea- 

 spoonful of cream of tartar to each 3 pounds of 

 sugar. Paul L. Viallon. 



Take 3^ lbs. of water; bring to a boil, and stir in 

 ten pounds of granulated sugar. Add one tea- 

 spoonful of tartaric acid, dissolved; bring to a boil 

 again and feed as soon as cool enough. 



James A. Green. 



1 made a tank, or strong box, to contain 3 bbls., 

 with a close cover, and a faucet at the bottom. 

 Into this tank I empty 1 bbl. of A or C sugar. Pour 

 over it ii bbl. of boiling water, and stir well with a 

 hoe. R. Wilkin. 



For winter food for bees I use granulated sugar. 

 Though T have done a good deal of feeding, I can 

 not give the exact proportion. I always gauge 

 the quality by the advance of the season, using 

 slightly thinner syrup if I feed early, and thicker if 

 I feed late. Geo. Grimm. 



a. I'm not sure but I prefer the way I'm doing 

 this year, taking combs of honey from the fullest 

 and giving to others. Otherwise, slowly stir 30 lbs. 

 granulated sugar into 4 qts. boiling water, and 

 when dissolved add an even teaspoonf ul of tartaric 

 acid previously dissolved in a little water, b. One 

 quart of water to 5 lbs. of sugar. C. C. Miller. 



I have never fed a pound of sugar syrup for win- 

 ter stores in my life, and can not answer any of the 

 questions from ><'i to 85 inclusive. My brother, who 

 has charge of my apiary in Iowa, was forced to 

 feed sj'rup largely last season, and he reports to me 

 that the colonies wintered on honey did better than 

 those wintered on sugar syrup. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



Three pounds of water to ten of granulated sugar, 

 and tartaric acid as large as a hickory-nut, or, say, 

 a level teaspoonful. There is a great deal of granu- 



lated sugar that even then will crystallize after be- 

 ing well boiled. To guard against this diflBculty, 

 mix honey one to two, or half and half. Honey 

 from buckwheat or fall flowers is fully the best for 

 that purpose. James Heddon. 



a. My winter feed is combs of sealed honey, b. 

 As indicated above, my formula is water 0, sugar 

 0. This appears like a captious answer, but it is 

 not really such. It is a maxim of my bee-keeping, 

 to avoid feeding whenever I possibly can; and I al- 

 most always succeed in avoiding it. I have never 

 even once in my life fed a colony sugar to winter 

 them. I must confess, however, that I do some- 

 times lose bees by starvation. E. E. Hasty. 



Well, friends, the above replies are ex- 

 ceedingly interesting to me for many rea- 

 sons. One part of water to two of sugar 

 seems to be pretty nearly the general deci- 

 sion ; and I am glad to see that a man with 

 the experience of R. Wilkin agrees with me 

 exactly, that just as good syrup can be 

 made by stirring up sugar and boiling water 

 with a hoe, as to do it in any other way. 

 Our good friend Hasty sometimes lets bees 

 starve, but he never feeds for winter. May 

 be he would be able to give us some bigger 

 reports in honey-yields, even in his locality, 

 were he a little more given to liberal feed- 

 ing when it seems to be just what is needed. 



Question No. 83.— Have you found it necessary to 

 boil the synip for winter food? In either case, have 

 you found that granulation ivas prevented by the ad- 

 mixture of a small quantity of acid? 



No experience. E. E. Hasty. 



No experience in that line. E. France. 



Yes. I use a small quantity of acid. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 No. Heat only until dissolved. Yes. 



H. R. Boardman. 

 1. No. 3. Yes. Acid or honey. We prefer honey. 



Dadant & Son. 

 I have never used acid. I add honey to prevent 

 candying. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



I just boil it. I have found that acid and also ex- 

 tracted honey prevents granulation. A. .1. Cook. 



Yes. I would boil the syrup for winter food, but 

 I would make it the consistency of ripe honey, and 

 feed tolerably early. James Heddon. 



Not necessary, but highly advisable. Yes, tartar- 

 ic acid or cream tartar will prevent granulation, 

 and not Injure the bees. James A. Green. 



It needs to cook until the sugar is thoroughly dis- 

 solved. This can be done without boiling. I have 

 not used acid for many years. P. H. Elwood. 



It is not necessary to boll the syrup; use only 

 just sulficient heat to dissolve the sugar. Yes. 

 Cream of tartar or citric acid. Paul L. Viallon. 



I have not found it necessary to boll the syrup, 

 but I think it best to heat it nearly to the boiling- 

 point. I have never tried acid. Geo. Grimm. 



I use granulated or A coffee sugar; make it the 

 consistency of new honey, let it boll up so as to dis- 

 solve all the crystals, and use no acids. 



Chas. F. Muth. 



