810 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



ble to granulate, and that is one of the reasons 

 why it should be mixed with water. 



Syrup or thin honey may be fed to bees by 

 pouring it into the combs from a height, and 

 then giving to the bees ; but it is a messy job 

 at best, and the bees can do it far cheaper 

 than we can. 



As to the amount of feed to be given a col- 

 ony, that will depend on how late it is in the 

 season, and whether or not we desire to stim- 

 ulate brood-rearing at the same time. If the 

 bees are short of stores and settled cold weath- 

 er will set in in a few days, I would give all 

 the feed the bees require, at one time. If the 

 colony be strong, and they have very little 

 food, I would give them 25 lbs. of syrup in a 

 large feeder ; or if no large feeder is to be had, 

 use a smaller one, giving the amount in two 

 or three feeds. — Ed. "1 



Is the honey with which bees fill themselves 

 when smoked a total loss to the bee-keeper, or 

 is it stored in the cells again when the bees 

 become quiet ? A. B. Fish. 



Hartford, Ct. 



[I do not know ; but I believe the honey is 

 not, in the majority of cases, put back in the 

 combs afterward. Too much smoking will 

 sometimes cause the bees to uncap the sec- 

 tions. If they do not consume the honey ta- 

 ken out, then the probabilities are they will 

 store it in the brood-combs. If any one can 

 answer this more definitely I shall be glad to 

 have him do so. — Ed.] 



F. H. //., Mich. — I would not feed to bees, 

 for winter stores, honey that is slightly fer- 

 mented ; but you can find a market for it at 

 the large baking concerns. You woiild prob- 

 ably get a price this year that would more than 

 pay you for good syrup. We would suggest 

 that you send a sample, giving quantity you 

 have, to the National Biscuit Co., Chicago, 111., 

 asking them to name you price that they will 

 allow you. 



G. W. B., Mich. — We would not advise you 

 to kill off the drones, for the bees will kill 

 them off quickly enough themselves after the 

 honey season, if they have a queen in normal 

 condition. If you have an excessive number 

 of drones in the hive at this time of year, I 

 should judge that either the hive is queenless 

 or else it has a drone-laying queen, or one or 

 more laying workers. If there are laying 

 workers, scatter the brood and bees in several 

 other hives. A room upstairs would not be a 

 good place to winter bees. Better put them 

 in a cellar and have the cellar darkened. 



W. A. C, Oregon. — The statement in the 

 A B C of Bee Culture means that in the ordi- 

 nary average flights a bee will go a mile in 

 five minutes, which would be the rate a good 



fast-driving horse and buggy would' make on 

 a common road. I have personally followed 

 bees going at the rate of about ten or twelve 

 miles an hour up the road, for bees will very 

 often fly down or up a roadway because it is 

 free from barriers in the way of hedge fences, 

 trees, and the like. With regard to the weight 

 of bees and the amount of honey they can 

 carry, I would refer you to the 1899 edition of 

 the A B C of Bee Culture. As you may not 

 have that copy handy, I would state that there 

 are about 4000 or 5000 bees in a pound, and it 

 takes about 10,000 bees to carry a pound of 

 nectar ; but probably twice this number would 

 be more nearly the average. 



F. v., Ga. — It is alwa}-s a good practice, 

 when robbers have been working at a colony, 

 to close the entrance down so that only one 

 bee can pass at a time It is true that Doo- 

 little did get 600 lbs. of 'honey from one hive; 

 but that was some 20 years ago, and it is re- 

 garded as a very unusual yield. From 75 to 

 100 lbs. would be a large yield nowadays in 

 almost any locality. By " spreading brood" 

 is meant the separating of the combs contain- 

 ing brood and putting down between a frame 

 of empty comb for the queen to lay in. This 

 spreads the brood, resulting in a larger increase 

 of bees. For particulars see the new edition 

 of the ABC book, not yet off the press, un- 

 der the head of " Spreading Brood." 



H. Z., Ark. — Entrances to a house apiary 

 should properly face toward the south and 

 east. However, if you build one on the Mor- 

 ton plan I would have the entrances face the 

 east and west rather than the north and south. 

 I would build a permanent building as light 

 as possible, one that can be put upon wheels 

 after it is emptied of the hives, and hauled to 

 a new location. A building 10x20 would ac- 

 commodate a large number of colonies ; and 

 if it is built light it could be easily drawn 

 from one location to another without taking 

 down ; but, of course the hives and every thing 

 else should be taken out. I would suggest 

 that you make the inside of the house-apiary 

 exactly on the plan Salisbury does, which you 

 will see described fully in the ABC you have, 

 under the head of " House- apiaries." 



A. //., Texas. — We can not explain why 

 your bees carry out pupae from the combs be- 

 fore they are fairly developed, unless you have 

 moth-worms in the hive. In such case their 

 galleries will extend through the brood, kill- 

 ing some of it, with the result that the little 

 corpses of the pupae are carried out as you de- 

 scribe. If this is not the case, then the bees 

 must have some disease, or they gather some- 

 thing somewhere that is poisonous ; but this 

 hardly seems tenable in view of the fact that 

 the larvae are permitted to develop to the pupa 

 stage and die. This would point to the pres- 

 ence of pickled or black brood, and you would 

 do well to have a sample or such comb exam- 

 ined by Dr. Wm. R. Howard, a specialist in 

 bee-diseases at Fort Worth, Texas, inclosing 

 12.00, which is the fee for making the exami- 

 nation. 



H. C. A., III. — Colonies apparently queen- 

 less will sometimes refuse to start queen-cells 



