GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



GLEANINGS FROM QUESTIONINGS 



B. F. S., Newburg, W. Va. Will bees 

 start queen-cells when there is a caged queen 

 on top of the frame? 



A. No hard and fast rule can be laid down 

 in answer to this question. Ordinarily the 

 bees will, but sometimes they do not. If a 

 queen-excluder confines the queen below in 

 a double-story hive, and a comb of eggs and 

 young unsealed brood is put in the upper 

 story queen-cells are apt to be started on 

 that comb. 



F. A. C, Golconda, Nev. — I have some 

 weak colonies. How would it do to winter 

 them over stronger colonies with an excluder 

 between? 



A. The plan of wintering two colonies 

 with only an excluder between is not likely 

 to be successful, for the bees are almost sure 

 to desert one hive or the other, and all clus- 

 ter together, leaving one of the queens to 

 die because of being unable to get thru the 

 excluder. 



H. W. A., Watertown, Tenn. We still 

 have a few drones. If a very late queen 

 jhould mate now, how long would it be be- 

 fore she would begin to lay? 



A. The queen may be mated this fall and 

 not lay till next spring. In your locality she 

 ought to lay soon after being mated. 



C. R., Bedford, N. H. Do shallow extract- 

 ing-frames have to be wired to prevent 

 breakage in the extractor? I have 20 colo- 

 nies. What size of extractor should I get? 



A. Usually the shallow extracting-frames 

 do not need to be wired. Some wire them, 

 it is true, but only two strands of wire are 

 necessary. 



If you do not expect to enlarge your api- 

 ary a two-frame non-reversible extractor 

 would probably be large enough. 



S. S. B., Loveland, O. One of my colonies 

 has just killed a queen which I introduced. 

 What had I better do? 



A. Rather than risk another queen as late 

 as this we think it would be far better for 

 you to unite the colony with some other 

 colony weak in bees but having a good 

 queen. While queens may be introduced as 

 late as this it is a little risky, for the cold 

 weather is likely to come on at any time to 

 prevent any further examination. 



A. G., Ben Avon, Pa. How can I get the 

 honey out of some wired combs and still 

 save the combs? I have no extractor. 



A. It is very slow and tedious work 

 attempting to get honey out of combs with- 

 out a honey-extractor. If you do not wish 

 to save the combs you could crush them up 

 and strain the honey thru cheese-cloth by 



means of pressure; but about the only way 

 you can do and save the combs is to slice 

 the cappings off, place the honey in a warm 

 place, and let it drain out into a dish be- 

 neath large enough to catch it. This is 

 very slow, however, for the honey evapor- 

 ates and becomes quite thick so that you can 

 not get it all out, but it is the only way that 

 we know of. 



L. S. B., Toronto, O. I have a colony 

 with a young queen, and there are many 

 small drones not much larger than workers. 

 Thev were hatched in worker cells. What 

 had'l better do? 



A. The chances are this young queen was 

 reared late — too late to be mated — and has, 

 therefore, become a drone-layer. Of course, 

 there may be some other reason why she 

 has become a drone-layer. At any rate, the 

 colony will not be likely to winter. If there 

 is a pretty good force of worker bees that 

 are not old it might pay to unite the colony 

 with some other colony having a queen; but 

 if the bees are all quite old, and the colony 

 not very strong anyway, we do not think it 

 would pay you to try to save it as late as 

 this. 



O. B. C, Utah. Referring to your edito- 

 rial on ' ' Best Temperature to Heat Honey to 

 Keep Liquid ' ' you do not state the length 

 of time that the temperature may be main- 

 tained at 160 F. We should also like to 

 know if the can should be open while being 

 heated, to give the best permanent results. 

 Will a lower temperature maintained for 

 several hours after honey is liquefied give 

 the same results, say at 130 or 140, as higher 

 tem])erature for shorter period of time? 



A. When honey is heated to a tempera- 

 ture of 160 degrees Fahr., it should not be 

 kept at that point much over an hour. The 

 shorter the time the better. Honey that is 

 heated to, say, 130 degrees and kept at that 

 point for four or five hours, will keep liquid 

 for a longer period under a variety of con- 

 ditions than honey heated quickly to 160 

 and cooled quickly. But the trouble with 

 the honey that is heated to 130 and kept 

 there for four or five hours is that it turns 

 darker than honey heated quickly to 160 

 and cooled quickly. Honey should never be 

 heated except thru the medium of hot water 

 or with steam. With the latter agent there 

 is danger of getting the temperature too 

 high. Hot water is better, provided the 

 thermometer is used to test it. No honey 

 should be heated without having a ther- 

 mometer in it all the time the temperature 

 is being raised. When the high point is 

 reached, the heat should be shut off. The 

 screw cap should be left off while the honey 

 is heating if the can is full. If it is clear 

 full some should be taken out or it will 

 run over. 



