708 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1917 



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AD. K., Minne- 

 sota. — The 

 • "Long Idea" 

 hive of 20 to 

 2.5 frames has been 

 spolien of very fa- 

 vorably in Glean- 

 ings from time to 

 time. I am past 65, 

 and cannot do heavy 

 lifting. Would not 



such a hive be better for me than the regular stand- 

 ard hive necessitating the lifting of heavy bodies or 

 supers off and on the hives ? I simply cannot do 

 any lifting, as I hurt my back some years ago, and 

 yet I should like to produce extracted honey. Is 

 there any real objection to the Long Idea hive, so 

 called ? 



A. For your particular case the Long Idea 

 hive would be better than the regular stand- 

 ard ten-frame that can be tiered up. It is 

 very easy to give additional room in such a 

 hive, because all that is necessary is to shove 

 the division-board over and put in frames. 

 The usual capacity of 25 frames is large 

 enough for the average queen or colony. 



Such a hive will not be blown over by high 

 winds, and, furthermore, there is the advan- 

 tage of wintering in a double-walled hive by 

 contracting the brood-nest down to eight 

 frames of bees and honey, and putting them 

 into an eight-frame case without cover or 

 bottom. This case should be set down 

 lengthwise in the hive. When packing ma- 

 terial is poured around the sides we have a 

 double-walled hive ready for winter. The 

 credit for this scheme of wintering belongs 

 to J. E. Hand, Birmingham, Ohio. 



Taking it all in all, the Long Idea hive for 

 women, children, and old men, and others 

 who cannot do heavy lifting, is ideal, pro- 

 vided extracted honey is the object. It is 

 not suitable for the production of comb 

 honey, altho sections can be put into wide 

 frames, each frame holding eight sections. 



A. L. C, Vermont. — How large an entrance 

 ought bees to have in the fall ? 



A. Ordinary summer entrances that are 

 none too large at the height of the honey- 

 flow should be contracted down from one- 

 half to one-third their normal capacity. We 

 usually use a slot about % inch deep and 8 

 inches long for a strong colony. The same 

 area in a square or round hole is not as 

 good, as it will not keep out the field mice. 

 In some localities these mice do considerable 

 damage. When they nest in a hive they 

 keep the colonies stirred up, and by spring 

 every bee will be dead. 



If it were possible to contract the en- 

 trance automatically during cold snaps, and 

 enlarge it during warm spells, it woiild be 

 advisable. It is best not to make the en- 

 trance too small, as it might clog up with 

 dead bees, and a clogged entrance usually 

 means the death of the colony. 



T. N. G., Michigan. — What is the most satisfac- 

 tory way to store combs ? 



A. If the moth-miller is not bad in the 

 locality, empty combs may be taken off the 

 colonies after the season is over and stored 



GLEANED by ASKING 



1 



E. R. Root 



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iU 



up in hive-bodies 

 or supers. These 

 should be placed " 

 on the floor, and 

 the tiers of su- 

 pers covered in 

 every case to 

 jsrevent the en- 

 trance of moth- 

 millers when the 

 bees are away from the combs. Where moth- 

 millers are prevalent it may be advisable to 

 fumigate the combs first before putting away. 

 This procedure will not be necessary in a 

 cold climate unless the combs are stored 

 three or four months before freezing* 

 weather sets in. Freezing will kill the 

 millers and the worms, and probably the 

 eggs. If the combs are not used the follow- 

 ing summer after cold weather is over, they 

 should be carefully examined from time to 

 time, to see that the moth-miller does not 

 get into them. Hundreds of good combs are 

 often destroyed when they are not thoroly 

 protected after a good freeze. 



It is always advisable to keep any combs 

 stored in supers so that neither bees nor the 

 moth-miller can get at them. If left un- 

 covered in a building one may find that his 

 good extracting-combs are ruined by the 

 moth-worm. There is no better asset in the 

 bee world than good combs, especially if one 

 is running for extracted honey. 



W. N. v., Wisconsin. — Is it true that hybrid bees 

 will gather more honey than either blacks or Italians 

 in their purity ? 



A. Yes and no. Hybrids are surely su- 

 perior to the average blacks, but not neces- 

 sarily ahead of the pure Italians. Hybrids 

 are so mean to handle that we much prefer 

 a strain of pure yellow bees than to fuss 

 with them. Just as good or better workers, 

 by careful breeding, can be secured from the 

 Italians than from hybrid stock. It is not 

 an easy matter to have a hybrid queen dupli- 

 cate herself, because her daughters will have 

 a tendency to revert either to blacks or 

 Italians. 



W. F. E., Michigan. — Some of my colonies are 

 hardly strong enough to go into winter. I have 

 heard it said that when one or more nuclei in the 

 same yard are united into one colony the old flying 

 bees will go back to their old stand. Is this true ? 



A. Yes, to a great extent. It is usually 

 advisable to unite in brood form. Hatching 

 brood from a very strong colony can be 

 given to a weak one; but uniting in brood 

 form should be practiced usually in August, 

 or at about the close of the honey harvest. 

 If this has been neglected, your only re- 

 course will be to unite the bees, brood and 

 all. If the two hives are side by side, unit- 

 ing can be done very easily by taking away 

 one of the hives and putting all the bees 

 and brood in the other hive. If there are 

 three hives in a row, the bees and the 

 brood should be put in the middle hive and 

 the other two removed. Where hives are re- 

 mote from each other in the same yard, bees 



