Oct. 15, 1911 



635 



to the bees, or whether It would be likely to im- 

 part an offensive odor to the sections under the 

 cloth? If there is nothing objectionable about it I 

 have thought I would put a sheet of thin cloth or 

 heavy paper, painted with this substance, between 

 the regular hive-cloth and the cover. In the ad- 

 vertisement in Gleanings it is claimed that it will 

 drive ants away. 



I am very much pleased with the German bee- 

 brush. It is the best thing I ever had for brushing 

 either bees or ants. Wm. MtJTH-RASMUSSEN. 



Independence, Cal., June 27. 



[We would advise you to collect a few samples of 

 ants, put them in a small glass bottle, and mall 

 them to your State entomologist. He could give 

 you some formula or some preparation that you 

 could spray on the back of your hive-cloths that 

 would keep the ants out. We have never had any 

 experience with the Avenarius carbolineum, but 

 would think that a spray of that preparation ap- 

 plied to your hive-cloth and to the cover of the 

 hive would keep the ants out. Possibly it might be 

 cheaper to spray on top of the hive-cloth some sort 

 of insect-powder. Spraying a little carbolic acid — 

 that is, a very weak solution of it — might answer 

 an equally good purpose and cost far less. It Is our 

 opinion that Avenarius carbolineum or even the 

 carbolic-acid solution sprayed on top of the hive- 

 cloth would not cause any trouble on the part of 

 the bees. It would be necessary, however, to see 

 that the hive-cloth is tucked down very closely so 

 that the odor of the other substances will not drive 

 the bees dowh into the brood-nest. 



A very thin sheet of tarred paper placed on top of 

 the hive-cloth and under the hive-cover might ans- 

 wer just as good a purpose as any thing you could 

 use. — Ed.] 



Is Foundation from Foul-broody Combs Safe ? Bees 

 in a Vegetable-cellar. 



1. If beeswax is melted in a copper or galvanized- 

 iron boiler, will it hurt the quality of the wax for 

 foundation ? 



2. If combs containing foul brood are melted in a 

 boiler, and rendered with an unhealed press, will 

 the wax be safe for foundation ? 



3. Which is better for shade — a shade-board or a 

 grapevine trained to grow upon a post by the hive? 



4. Would it be safe to winter two colonies of bees 

 in a cellar containing apples, potatoes, etc.? 



Cedaredge, Colo. L. Rinehart, 



1. When you melt beeswax you should put water 

 in the bottom of the vessel first. Wax melted dry 

 in a metal vessel is almost sure to be discolored. 

 Copper should always be avoided, for the high tem- 

 perature causes the wax to act upon the copper to 

 a certain extent, so as to give a green tinge instead 

 of the desirable lemon-yellow color. Galvanized 

 iron is better, but not nearly as good as bright tin 

 or clean black iron. Rusty iron of any kind will 

 discolor wax. 



2. When rendering wax, if the combs are put into 

 a boiler containing three or four inches of water, 

 and this water is boiled until the contents have a 

 mushy appearance, all the hard lumps being bro- 

 ken up by the long-continued boiling of the water, 

 we do not think there is very much danger of 

 transmitting disease if such wax is used at once for 

 making comb foundation. The great trouble with 

 the average jierson is that, in order to save time, 

 the combs are either not left in the boiler long 

 enough, or else they are not thoroughly stirred. 

 The result is that the whole mass does not reach 

 the boiling-point of water. This not only makes it 

 very difficult to get all the wax out of the combs, 

 but certainly fails to kill foul brood if present. In 

 any foundation-factory, however, the boiling is so 

 thoroughly done that no bad results can follow. 



3. It depends a good deal upon your own person- 

 al preference which you should use for shade — a 

 grapevine or a shade-board. If you have a perma- 

 nent location for an apiary, and you are sure that 

 you will not want to move the colonies to some 

 other place, the grapevine makes a very pretty and 

 effective shade: but, of course, the vines need more 

 or less trimming every year; and. take it all in all, 

 unless you have a permanent location, and want 

 the grapes, the shade-board is probably the cheap- 

 er and more practical means of partially shading a 

 hive. 



4. Ordinarily a cellar that is ideal for the bees is 

 good for the vegetables also. The mere fact that 

 apples, potatoes, etc., keep well in a cellar, howev- 



er, would not show that such cellar was also well 

 adapted for wintering bees, for it might be too 

 damp, or the temperature might fiuctuate too 

 much. A low temi>erature, combined with a moist 

 atmosphere, makes a very bad place for bees. B^or 

 the best results the temperature should be kept 

 pretty uniform — from 40 to 45 degrees — and there 

 should be a good circulation of pure air. — Ed.] 



Can Granulated Sugar be Used for Feeding that 

 has Kerosene in it ? 



I have an opportunity to buy several sacks of 

 granulated sugar that has been soaked with kero- 

 sene oil: and as my bees need feeding very badly, I 

 should like to have you advise me whether the su- 

 gar would cause any trouble, in case I get it to feed 

 them, on account of the oil. 



Morral, Ohio, Sept. 29. O. T. Pierman. 



[If the sugar has been soaked clear through by a 

 considerable quantity of kerosene, we doubt if it 

 would be safe for you to use it for the bees, even if 

 they take it down; but if there is only just enough 

 to spoil it for domestic use, we would say that you 

 could use it. It might be well to try one sack first, 

 to sec how well the bees take it. If you melt it up 

 and can eat any quantity of it yourself, it probably 

 would not hurt the bees. — Ed.] 



Brown Sugar for Bees. 



I notice that granulated sugar is usually recom- 

 mended for making syrup. While it may be a lit- 

 tle better, as a rule, 1 have failed to find any differ- 

 ence so far, and I have had considerable experi- 

 ence. I have used all kinds of sugar with good 

 results — even the cheapest grades of brown sugair. 

 I have also failed to see any difference in the effect 

 of feeding thick or thin syrup; but I generally use 

 a slightly larger weight of sugar than of water. 

 The tliin syrup, of course, would cause the bees to 

 do some more work in evaporating the excess of 

 water which it contains; but I have never noticed 

 that this made any difference in the long run. As 

 the climate is much more mild here than in the 

 North, the question of winter feed is not very im- 

 portant, as the bees seem to winter on honey-dew 

 just as well as on any kind of honey. While we 

 sometimes have a very cold sn.ip, it rarely lasts 

 long, as it is very uncommon for the bees to be 

 kept in the hives by cold weather for more than a 

 week or ten days. 



Stonecoal, W. Va., March 23. W. C. Mollett. 



Slow Feeding in a Super from a Mason Jar. 



Replying to your article. Aug. 15, page 483, regard- 

 ing feeding for increase and stimulation, and feed- 

 ing slowly, 1 would say I have practiced feeding 

 slowly for quite a while. This is the way I do it; 



I take a two-quart Mason jar; make a syrup, 

 three parts of water to one of sugar ; remove the 

 porcelain part of the cover of the jar, after which I 

 punch a hole large enough for a cabbage seed to 

 pass through. In a piece of two-inch plank I cut 

 about a three-inch hole; set the plank over the 

 hole in the super-cover made for the Porter bee- 

 escape, and invert the jar with the syrup. The 

 hole in the piece of plank holds it. I then put on a 

 super-body and close the whole with bags or car- 

 peting to retain the heat. It is astonishing how 

 quietly the bees will empty the jar, and how fast 

 they will build up. 



Vernon, Ct. J. G. French. 



Carbolic Cloths Satisfactory. 



I have noticed that one or two of your corre- 

 spondents have written about carbolic cloths. I 

 myself have used carbolic acid a great deal in this 

 way, and have found it very handy and useful. I 

 used to have a bottle with three parts of water to 

 one of carbolic acid—" Calvert's No. 5 " it was call- 

 ed. I might say here that, when away from home, 

 I bought another sort of carbolic acid, but it was 

 quite useless for my purpose. If a few drojjs are 

 shaken on a piece of soft calico or linen, and then 

 this piece rolled up tightly, and put in a small tin, 

 like a ten-cent tobacco-box, they are ready when 

 wanted, and can be drawn slowly over the frames 

 or sections. The bees soon get out of the way. If 

 used too strong, or left on top of the frames, one 

 would soon see the bees in front of the hive. 



Wellesley, Mass., Aug. 1. W. H. Scott. 



