26 



(JLKAXINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1 



Feeding During the Winter in Tennessee. 



Having purchased several stands of bees this win- 

 ter at 81.50 per hive, in log and board hives, with- 

 out any frames or boxes inside, I desire to know 

 how 1 shall feed; or, will they need feeding? The 

 combs are built on the same principle they are in 

 the bee-tree. Ha! ha! what comb I can see by re- 

 moving the cover seems empty! I Intend to trans- 

 fer to Danzenbaker hives in the spring. 



Would you think that old burlap bags wrapped 

 around these box hives would be ample protection 

 in this latitude? Our bees tly every month in the 

 year; but many of the nights are very cold. 



At what date would you advise feeding for stimu- 

 lating or for increase In the spring. Fruit-blossoms 

 open in March. 



Maryville, Tenn., Nov. 28. C. R. Coulter. 



[If your weather gets warm enough for you to 

 make an examination it would be well to remove 

 enough of the cover or side, as the case may be, of 

 one of the hives and ascertain the condition of that 

 colony so far as stores are concerned. If you do not 

 find that there are 20 to 25 lbs. of honey, you had 

 better do some feeding. It is a question whether 

 you can feed sugar syrup; but as your bees can fly 

 every day we should think that you can. It is well 

 to feed toward evening, so that the excitement 

 caused by the syrup may subside before morning, 

 so that other bees may not be unduly stirred up 

 and robbing started. After you have examined 

 one colon V, if the others are about the same size 

 and the hives about the same, you can probably 

 get a pretty good idea of the condition by lifting or 

 weighing the hives, noting any that may seem un- 

 duly light. 



Without knowing more in particular in regard to 

 how cold it gets, etc., we can not be sure how much 

 protection these hives need; but we presume that 

 burlap sacks wrapped around and covered with 

 some waterproof material in the shape of a cover 

 would be sufficient. Do not put on any packing 

 that can get soaked with water and then frozen, for 

 such packing is only a detriment. Whatever pack- 

 ing you use, keep it dry. 



Most progressive bee-keepers of to-day say it is 

 much better to provide the necessary amount of 

 stores in the fall, and do no feeding for stimulating 

 in the spring. However, exceptions must be made 

 in case of colonies that, for some reason or other, 

 have not the necessary amount of stores. Colonies 

 which are well supplied, ordinarily do not need 

 feeding in the spring.— Ed.] 



Carbolic Acid for Driving Bees Out of Supers. 



Will you be kind enough to give me some infor- 

 mation about the use of a carbolic solution for qui- 

 eting bees? 



Lordsburg, Cal., Dec. 1. John Stripsky. 



[Carbolic acid iia a diluted solution for quieting 

 bees has been used to only a very limited extent. 

 Our British cousins sometimes use a piece of mus- 

 lin saturated in a weak solution of carbolic acid, 

 laid on top of a super of sections. It is said that the 

 odor of the acid is so repugnant to the bees that in 

 a very short time they will all go down into the 

 brood-nest below. How true this may be, we do not 

 know from personal experience; but the fact that we 

 do not hear very much of these carbolized cloths 

 for the purpose mentioned would rather lead us to 

 believe that the scheme works prettier in theory 

 than it does in actual practice. If anybody knows 

 to the contrary we should be pleased to have him 

 report.— Ed. J 



Feeding to Prepare for a January Honey-flow. 



About the 10th of .January we have a flow of nec- 

 tar lasting about two weeks. Queens quit laying 

 in October, and by January the colonies are very 

 small. Bees fly nearly every day in the year at my 

 place, and there has never been a week when I 

 have not seen a few bees bringing in pollen. Would 

 you advise feeding when the colonies can say. 



Millions of honey at our house"? With strong 

 colonies I think more honey would be stored here 

 in January than in any other month. 



Bakersfleld, Cal., Nov. 24. C. G. Knowles. 



[Under the circumstances we would advise you to 

 practice a little stimulative feeding along about the 

 middle of November or first of December, and con- 

 tinue it up to within a week of the honey-flow. 

 Enough feed should be given so that the bees will 

 have the brood-nest filled with brood and sealed 



honey. We say sealed, so that they will not carry 

 any of the led syrup up into the supers. For that 

 reason we advise discontinuing stimulative feeding 

 just about a week before the honey-flow actually 

 begins.— Ed.] 



How to Make a Weak Colony Robber-proof. 



Mr. G. H. Latham, p. 737, Nov. 15, take that rather 

 weak colony from its stand early in the morning; 

 put it in a safe place when its bees can go out at 

 will. Put a baited robber-trap in its place with a 

 screen cover and a tight cover on top. Leave it 

 there until you have trapped all the bees needed, 

 which will include many of the field bees from the 

 weak colony. Take your catch into the part of a 

 room furthest from the window; remove the cover; 

 set it on end with the screen facing the light (which 

 should be rather limited) . Let it remain all day or 

 until the bees realize they are hopelessly caged; 

 then give them time to repent. Unite the weak 

 colony with the catch. After 12 hours they may be 

 placed anywhere in the yard, and you will have a 

 colony as nearly robber-proof as any. This not 

 only abates a nuisance but turns the nuisance to 

 good account. 



Sonora, Cal. A. D. Herold. 



Why the Honey was Not All Capped Over, 



I should like to know why my comb honey con- 

 tained so many cells partially and entirely filled 

 that were not capped. In other words, why was 

 not the comb filled out to the edge of the section? 

 A great many colonies had sections partially built 

 that were never finished. 



East St. Louis, 111. J. c. Reader. 



[It looks to us as if you had an extraordinarily 

 good flow of honey that ceased suddenly. This near- 

 ly always results in a lot of uncapped honey and 

 unfinished sections. It may be that you put on su- 

 pers a little too rapidly, and did not give the bees 

 time to finish what they had. Of course, it is a reg- 

 ular practice to add new supers before the first, 

 ones are entirely finished; but in case the honey- 

 flow is nearly at an end, a new super put on will 

 result in only a lot of unfinished combs. For this 

 reason the putting-on of more supers must be done 

 with extreme caution. — Ed.] 



A Steady Temperature of 33 F,, in the Cellar; 

 the Probable Effect on the Bees. 



Having my cellar full of bees I was compelled to 

 put 47 colonies in a neighbor's stone cellar, size 20x 

 10x7. The thermometer registered steady 33 above 

 with no way of raising it except artificially. How 

 are these bees likely to come out after perhaps four 

 mouths of confinement? I am a little worried 

 about them. 



Fawndale, Minn., Dec. 8. John S. Lind. 



[A steady temperature of one degree above freez- 

 ing is altogether too cold for a bee-cellar. You will 

 probably find that, before spring, many of the col- 

 onies will be dead outright, and others much weak- 

 ened down, and suffering from dysentery. You 

 ought to arrange to put in artificial heat to bring 

 the temperature up to 45; and you probably would 

 require, also, some ventilation, although a cellar 

 20x10x7, for only 47 colonies, ought, with proper 

 temijerature, to take care of that number with very 

 little ventilation. Probably opening and closing 

 the cellar-door at night at intervals would be suffi- 

 cient.— Ed.] 



How Much Honey should a Purchaser Expect to 

 Receive in a 60-Pound Can ? 



I bought 120 lbs. of honey, and when it arrived It 

 was weighed; and with the cans which contained it 

 it weighed exactly 120 lbs. Now, I wish to know if 

 the purchaser of honey should jtay for 114 lbs. of 

 honey and 6 lbs. of tin, or should he receive 120 lbs. 

 of honey net? An answer through Gleanings 

 would probably be of interest to other bee-keepers 

 who buy honey to help out their shortage. 



Pawtucket, R. I., Nov. 21. F. E. Curran. 



[A good deal will depend on how the honey is 

 bought and sold. If it is bought by the can the 

 seller may put in less than 60 lbs. to the can. It is 

 our rule in selling honey to put in full 60 lbs. in 

 each can. — Ed.] 



