1160 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



they do not clog up with dead bees. In the 

 cellar, entrances can not be too wide. They 

 should be as large as the hive will permit. 

 Some go so far as to remove the bottom- 

 boards entirely, and leave the whole bottom 

 of the hive open. 



2. Wedges are made just short enough so 

 that there will be a good big bee-space at 

 one end for any bees that may be imprison- 

 ed to escape into the body of the hive. 



3. It is our practice and that of Mr. Dan- 

 zenbaker to keep the supers as warm as 

 possible. They can not be protected too 

 much. A super that permits warm air in 

 the top to escape unless in extremely hot 

 weather will not give good results in comb- 

 honey production. 



4. Bees will not fill up the space between 

 the ends of Hoffman top-bars if J inch be 

 allowed, unless the locality is one that fur- 

 nishes large quantities of propolis. As a 

 rule this J-inch space is left intact. 



5. This statement is not strictly correct, 

 although one quite similar to it has been 

 made. The bottom-board should slant from 

 center to side, so there would be a deep 

 space under the center of the frames and a 

 shallow one under the outside frames. This 

 is to make it easy, so it is said, for the bees 

 laden with honey to go to the outside combs 

 first; but practice does not seem to confirm 

 the theory. When there is a fence used on 

 each outside row there is usually better fill- 

 ing of the outside rows than when there is 

 no such fence. 



6. You can not measure the amount of 

 feed a colony requires in ounces, as so much 

 depends upon general weather conditions 

 and the strength of the colony. Two ounces 

 may be enough in some cases, while '2 -lb. 

 may not be too much in others. For stimu- 

 lating feeding, no more should be given 

 than just enough to keep bees rearing brood 

 nicely. If more be given they will be liable 

 to store it in the super if there is one, or 

 crowd the queen by filling up the outside 

 combs, and even the center ones if feeding 

 be continued. — Ed.] 





SIZE OF WINTER ENTRANCES OUTDOORS FOR 

 A WARM CLIMATE. 



. How much ventilation should bees have in 

 a climate where the temperature hangs close 

 to 50'^' all winter, very seldom going down 

 to the freezing-point, and where bees fly 

 some every day or so? If we give them as 

 much as 8X§ we are bothered by robbers 

 and also by yellow- jackets. I give mine 4X 

 I on 8 frames, Hoffman, with one fly of bur- 

 lap and four of paper over bees. 



Bees need no protection from cold here— 

 only protection from rain, which is hard on 

 them, as it is rather cool in the spring in 

 brood time. Do you think the chaff hive 

 would pay for the extra trouble of handling? 



Adna, Wash., Nov. 14. B. W. Blake. 



[The question of size of entrance in your 

 case would be dependent wholly upon the 

 size of the colony and its ability to resist 

 robbers. Your climate being so mild you 

 will not need to contract the entrance to keep 

 out the cold. Usually I would say that a full 

 colony should have an entrance 8 inches by 

 I; a weaker one about half as wide; a nucle- 

 us, perhaps one inch wide. But if robbers 

 are bad these widths should be reduced about 

 half. The chaff hives in your case would not 

 be enough better to offset the added cost and 

 inconvenience. — Ed. ] 



WILL an APIARY CONTRACT FOUL BROOD FIVE 

 MILES AWAY? 



An apiary of 300 colonies within five miles 

 of me, with a continuous swamp between, 

 was completely demolished by foul brood 

 the last two seasons. My bees are free 

 from it as yet, I think. Do you think it 

 would pay to move them on account of the 

 same? I have some 300 colonies. 



Macon, Ga., Nov. 11. Judson Heard. 



[We hardly think there will be any danger 

 of your bees getting foul brood across the 

 swamp. They are not liable to fly more than 

 three miles from home. In case of an ex- 

 treme dearth of honey, possibly they might 

 fly far enough to rob out some of the hives 

 infested with foul brood five miles away. 

 To avoid any possibility of this it might be 

 well to feed a little outdoors. Feed slowly, 

 and dilute the syrup down so that it is very 

 weak, about two pounds of water to one of 

 sugar. —Ed.] 



WHAT TO do WITH UNSALABLE CHUNK HONEY; 

 THE UTILITY OF A SOLAR WAX- 

 EXTRACTOR. 



I have quite a lot of chunk honey from 

 transferring bees from old box hives into 

 Danz. hives, and no market for such honey 

 here, and I have no extractor. Can that 

 honey be used to feed bees in spring, after 

 heating it and taking the wax off when cold? 

 Section honey is sold here at 10 cts. a pound, 

 and broken comb from 6 to 8, and granulat- 

 ed sugar costs 6 to 7. Can that honey be di- 

 luted with water when the honey is granu- 

 lated? J. J. Stoltz. 



Park City, Mont., Nov. 16. 



[I would recommend you to put the chunk 

 honey you speak of in an ordinary solar wax- 

 extractor. The honey and wax will lain out 

 together in the pans, the wax rising to the 

 top. After it cools it can be removed and 

 the honey fed to the bees. While you could 

 give this chunk honey to the bees it would 

 be better for you to convert the wax into 

 money at once and give the bees the honey 

 without the comb. — Ed.] 



