1802 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



419 



brood to hatch any better than that in the hives 

 that iiad no hot wati-r. In tlie one and two 

 pallnn jiijrs. and in tlie two and tiiree {gallon 

 jars, tile water, after ".M lionis. wonld still lie as 

 warm as fresh niilU. Tiie jiiiis and Jars retain- 

 ed their heat better liian larjie stones, and lliey 

 did not endanger the oluilT by heat. Neither 

 eould we see tliat tlie water was an injury, as 

 all tlie brood they had was stored in the lirst or 

 secoiui ooiiili nearest tlie heat, and tlie liees 

 would (.•lusti'r the most on the eoiiib nearest the 

 heat. 



The two Doolittle colonies tliat were fed np 

 early in the summer and fall, and had iilenty of 

 bees when set out of the cellar, had plenty of 

 eggs all the time, and did not feed ii|) their lar- 

 v;e. nor caji over any more brood than the other 

 colonios. and dwindled just as much as the oth- 

 er. In fact, there were a few colonies that win- 

 tered on hom>y-dew that did not spring dwindle 

 as mudi as theydid. To keep tliem from dying 

 we have had to help them w itb lirood from oth- 

 er colonies, as we wished to save their queens. 



This we have observed: The blacker the bee, 

 the better they have wintered. Our hybrids 

 wintered better than our pure Italians, and our 

 neighbors" blacks are now in better condition 

 than even our liybrids that have been given so 

 much care. 



The jugs of hot water wei-e corked, and the 

 jars were covered, to prevent steam from get- 

 ting out into the hives. We did not expect to 

 put the water in so long when we began. We 

 thought if we could only keep up the warmth 

 for ten days or so after first taking them out of 

 the cellar, so that they could get capped brood, 

 that the weather by that time would be warm; 

 but we have been having an unusually cold, 

 backward, and rainy spring all through March 

 and April, so we kept up the hot water until the 

 weather got warmer, and until w(^ concluded 

 they would be just as well off to put the combs 

 in the center of the hive, and put dry chaff 

 around them and leave them alone, closing the 

 entrances v(>ry small, putting them on from 

 one to three and four com lis, the size of our 

 combs being 11,'..' x 1931. Now. as we have them 

 on so few combs, and there are so few old bees, 

 the next thing is to keep them from starving, 

 as we want them to have fresh sugar syrup. 

 They won't take syrup from our feeders to 

 amount to much; but they go for the honey in 

 the combs, so we have been pouring very rich 

 syrup into the combs, in one side only, setting 

 the combs in a barrel, with the mouth of it 

 pointing toward the sun. We first lay a strong 

 comb in the barrel to catch the drip, if there is 

 any, and then set the combs on top of this. 

 Drone combs are the easiest to till. The bees 

 take the syrup out of these combs nicely on 

 warm days : but there are so many cool and 

 cloudy days that we have to feed some in their 

 hives' or they would starve. As we have not 

 had to feed much in the hives, we have made 

 the syrup very rich, and poured it down be- 

 tween the combs and between the combs and 

 division-board, but not a great deal on the clus- 

 ter of bees, as we feared it might injure their 

 wings in getting it cleaned off. The hives must 

 be level or it would leak out. We never bi'fore 

 saw bees refuse to take syrup from the feeders, 

 or work in them so lazily. It is the condition of 

 the bees. I think. 



One day about the last of March the bees 

 brought in natural pollen quite freely, and then 

 for three weeks they brought none in. We 

 mixed graham and fine flour with corn meal, 

 and fed them. They took it quite freely after 

 they got started. 



Now. I should like to inquire why the two su- 

 gar-fed colonies that w^ere fed early in the sea- 

 son dwindled this spring so badly. Why did 



not the other colonies that were fed up late, but 

 sealed up their stores, winter iiiitter, as we have 

 in past years led just as late, and yet they win- 

 tered weir.' Was it not liecanse the colonies on 

 honey-dew became diseased, and infected the 

 rest? If tiiat was the reason. tluMi why did our 

 neighbors' black bees, that were wintered whol- 

 ly on hon<'y-dew, winter better than ours? 



We had several days of cold high winds; and 

 as our Dees havt> dwindled down so much we 

 thought to sliut them in the hives two niglits 

 and one day; liut tin y were so uneasy that a 

 few coloni«^s of tlu^ liees crowded out through 

 holes that they could not get back in again, and 

 we w(M'e busy and did not notice all of them. In 

 tlu! morning, after a cold rain, I found one liivt; 

 where they had crowd(!d out and remained all 

 night. I picked them up and put them in a big 

 cup and brought them to the lire. They soon 

 became lively, and I carried them back to the 

 hive, and they went in. In another hive they 

 crowded up through tlie straw, and quite a lot 

 lay stupid in the top of tlu^ hive. I took those 

 in and warmed them up, and they became live- 

 ly, and I returned them to their hive; so 1 con- 

 clude that, if bees are fastened in the hives, 

 there ought not to be any chance for them to 

 crowd out of orupintotiie tops of the hives; 

 for they will crowd harder to get out than they 

 will to get in. I believe I prefer to close the 

 entrance, leaving only room enough for a few 

 bees to get out easily, and then they will not be 

 so uneasy. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., May 11, 1892. 



[Well, Mrs. A., you have been going through 

 with some experience with bees. The results 

 of your experiments with artificial heat in 

 warming up colonies, so far as we remember, 

 have been like all the rest— a failure— at least, 

 productive of no very great good to the bees. 

 The results of youi' wintering seem to show 

 that your bees Were bent upon spring dwin- 

 dling, whether they had sugar stores or honey- 

 dew. After all, we question very much whether 

 honey-dew has not been condemned a great 

 deal more severely than it deserves, as a winter 

 food.] 



PROPOLIS. 



AND HOW TO REMOVE IT FROM SEPARATORS, 

 HIVES, ETC., WITH LITTLE LABOR. 



When I cleaned the T tins with concentrated 

 lye. I felt pretty sure that hives, supers, separa- 

 tors, etc., could be cleaned in the same way, but 

 was so busy I could not take time just then to 

 experiment, so concluded to say nothing about 

 it till I could find time to test the matter. This 

 morning. May .">, being the first opportunity I 

 have had. 1 concluded to experiment a little. 



I put on ray wash-boiler with water and lye, 

 then went to the shop and selected the most 

 badly propolized supers and separators that I 

 could find as fit subjects on which to experi- 

 ment. I dropped a few separators into the 

 boiler whih; the water was yet cold, to see what 

 effect it would have on them. I couldn't see 

 that it affected them in the least until the 

 water almost reached the boiling-point, when 

 the propolis disappeared. 



What I was most afraid of. was, that the 

 separators while wet would cling so closely to- 

 gether that the lye would not reach every part, 

 and that th(!y would not be perfectly clean. I 

 was glad to find these few did not bother at all, 

 but came out perfectly clean. I stirred them with 

 the poker while boiling, although I don't know- 

 that it was necessary, as I tried another lot 

 without stirring, and they came out just as 

 clean. I next tied up a bundle of 5!> separators, 



