JANUARY 16, 1914 



67 



placed against the hive ; the bees of the 

 succeeding ones and the first as well are 

 shaken into the hive (not in front of it). 

 Where are the bees which were shaken oif 

 one or two bodies of combs while the lattet 

 are being extracted? In my own practice 

 they are already at work on the empty 

 combs, which I left there when removing 

 full ones. If I have no spare emj^ty combs 

 when commencing extracting I replace tlie 

 first full combs removed with frames of full 

 sheets of wired foundation. The extracted 

 combs as they come from the honey-house 

 are exchanged for full ones, and so on to 

 the end of the day's work, when the remain- 

 ing bodies of extracted combs are placed on 

 top of the hives to be extracted next day. 

 Thus it will be seen that taking away the 

 lioney and returning extracted combs is one 

 operation. 



Is there an entire absence of drone comb 

 in the upper stories? No, not entire; but 

 as nearly so as the use of full sheets of 

 foundation in all new frames can make it. 

 To make the best use of a heavy honey-floAV, 

 such as Ave get from some of our eucalypts. 

 one must have plenty of supering. It is all 

 a matter of preparation during the short 

 winter, and the investment of a little extra 

 capital. When the flow is on, the bees will 

 draw out one set of frames of foundation 

 after another with astonishing rapidity. 



There are conditions of Aveather or other 

 circumstances which Avill sometimes prevent 

 extracting Avhile yet the bees are storing 

 steadily. Well, put on more supers, and 

 you will increase your yield considerably. 

 Bees Avill not fill up a cell to the rim with 

 thin honey, because it Avould not evajDorate 

 properly; and Avhen the cells of one set of 

 combs are half full, and no other empty 

 ones available, the bees are not doing what 

 they might do. 



HoAV is it that, out of eight colonies in an 

 apiary of 100 stocks, some are numbered 

 above one hundred (page 535, Aug. 1) ? 

 The answer to this question is : All my colo- 

 nies are numbered. The number individ- 

 ualizes the colony the same as a name does 

 a horse or a cow, and therefore the number 

 follows that colony AvhereA^er it goes. The 

 colonies in the apiary referred to were se- 

 lected from my home apiary, those in the 

 best condition to stand the transportation 

 being picked out. They retained their orig- 

 inal numbers, otherwise I should lose all 

 record of their past jjerformances, pedigi'ee 

 of queens, etc. 



In reply to the question as to keeping 

 surplus combs during winter. I can add 

 nothing to what appears on page 547, Aug, 

 1, and in the A B C and X Y Z book, except 



that I have never fumigated combs in any 

 way, and never have any trouble with wax- 

 Avorms, although they aie plentiful enough 

 in tiiis district. I put the combs aAvay in the 

 supers, covered moth tight in a bee and 

 moth proof honey-house; and as the combs 

 of Italian bees are free from moth eggs 

 while on the hive, the important point is 

 not to let the moths get access to them by 

 leaving them unprotected after removal 

 from hive and before putting away moth- 

 tight. It is little use putting combs away 

 secure from moths when the moths are al- 

 loAved to lay eggs in them first. I am of 

 opinion that the combs in the galvanized- 

 iron tanks Avere destroyed by the action of 

 e-arbon bisulphide applied to excess. 

 Tooborac, Victoria, Australia. 



WINTERING BEES ON LOAF SUGAR 



BY E. G. CARR 



In replying to the question as to Avhen to 

 transfer bees, somebody has said, " When- 

 ever you Avish." While this can not be 

 taken literally as meaning at any time of the 

 year, still if one has the material and skill, 

 transferring can be successfully done at 

 seemingly very unfavorable times. 



A neighbor Avishing to " take up " a box 

 hive asked hoAv best to kill the bees. Wish- 

 ing to exjieriment Avith loaf sugar alone as 

 a substitute for honey for Avintering, I of- 

 fered to take the honey from the box and 

 leave it Avith him and take the bees. 



On Dec. 16, 1912, the Aveather being fair 

 and the temperature near 50, the old box 

 was turned bottom side up, well smoked, 

 and the side pried off. The combs were 

 removed one by one, the bees brushed into 

 a box, taken home, and dumped into a ten- 

 frame hive containing Avet extracting-combs. 

 These combs Avere extracted late, and con- 

 tained perhaps a pound of honey in all. A 

 tAvo-inch rim was put on top of the hive. 

 The folloAving day an unsuccessful searcli 

 was made for the queen. 



On Dec. 21 another search Avas made for 

 the queen ; and Iavo patches of brood, each 

 about six inches in diameter, were found 

 Knowing the queen to be safe, ten pounds 

 of loaf sugar was put on top the frames, 

 and an ordinary flat cover placed on the 

 hive. No packing Avhatever was used. 



An examination on Feb. 1 shoAved the 

 cluster of bees partly above the frames and 

 through the loaf sugar, this being also the 

 condition on Feb. 8. 



March 20 the sugar was removed, weigh- 

 ed, and found to be 6 lbs., 4 lbs. haAang been 

 taken down in three months. At this time 



