October, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



789 



newspaper plan during hot. weather. Unit- 

 ing should usually be deferred until a cold 

 day comes — so cold that the bees cannot lly. 

 If the weather continue cold for two or 

 three days, all the better. 



Some beekeepers make a narrow slit in 

 the paper between the two hive - bodies. 

 Others make a hole thru with a leadpencil, 

 which the bees gradually enlarge. 



Another plan of uniting that has worked 

 very satisfactorily with us is to shake the 

 bees of several nuclei all into one box. We 

 have sometimes shaken a dozen nuclei into 

 one hive-body containing a screen at the 

 bottom and a screen on to]). The bees are 

 kept this way over night in a cool place. If 

 the following morning is quite cold the bees 

 are thoroly mixed up and then dipped up 

 by the dipperful and distributed <xt the en- 

 trances of colonies that need bees. The 

 general mix-up of so many different bees 

 seems to have a tendency to break up the 

 family spirit, making them, to all intents 

 and purposes, a swarm. The plan is not as 

 simple as the newspaper scheme, but is to 

 be preferred when there is a large number 

 of weak nuclei to be united. 



C. J. W., New Jersey. — My bees have gathered a 

 great deal of aster honey. I read somewhere that 

 such honey is a very poor winter food. Would you 

 advise me to extract and feed sugar syrup ? 



A. That depends. If the aster honey was 

 gathered early, before it gets very cold, and 

 is all capped over, there is not much danger 

 of winter losses. But late-gathered aster 

 honey left unsealed is liable to cause dysen- 

 tery before spring; but it does not always 

 do so. It should be remembered that dysen- 

 tery is caused by two conditions — poor qual- 

 ity of stores and too much cold. The latter 

 condition can be corrected by having a colo- 

 ny very strong or the hive well packed, so 

 that the bees are not subjected to extremes 

 of temperature. But even when the hives 

 are packed, unsealed aster honey may cause 

 trouble before spring. 



If we found unsealed aster honey we 

 would remove the combs containing it and 

 substitute those with other stores sealed 

 over. Of course one can remove the aster 

 stores and feed sugar syrup composed of 2% 

 parts of sugar to one of water, if he does 

 not have combs of sealed stores. 



A. L. C, New York. — My business is such that I 

 was unable to begin extracting from my hives until 

 the first of September. If it had been possible I 

 would have extracted immediately after the honey- 

 flow in .luly. Did I lose much by extracting on the 

 first of September ? 



A. If 'the honey was left on. the hives until 

 the first of September considerable of it may 

 have been carried below into the brood-nest. 

 But this extra honey must have kept breed- 

 ing up to a good point, and left nice colonies 

 for winter. One objection to leaving honey 

 on the hives is that some fall honey may 

 be mixed with light. Moreover, the honey 

 when extracted may have a ])ollen taste, es- 

 pecially if it is in old combs containing a 

 little pollen. It is advisable to extract ei- 



ther during a honeyllow or very soon after, 

 to get a first quality ol' honey. It is a good 

 and safe rule to extract only from sealed 

 cells, altho thei'c are times when extracting 

 can be done when only two-thirds of the 

 cells are sealed. 



C. G. G., Wisconsin. — American foul brood has 

 developed in three of my colonies this fall. Shall I 

 treat by the shaking plan now or do the work u(;xt 

 spring? 



A. It is a little late to shake and feed 

 up. We would advise taking out combs that 

 contain the foul broou and substituting 

 combs of honey from other hives. Then 

 you had better treat by the shake plan next 

 spring. Combs that contain foul brood 

 should be either melted or burned up. 



G. H. W., Ohio. — In feeding during late October 

 or early November, will it do to use the syrup half 

 water and half sugar? 



A. It could be so used; but it is mufh bet- 

 ter to use a syrup two of sugar to one of 

 water. It may be advisable to make it 2^2 

 of sugar to one of water. The syrup should 

 be thoroly heated and the sugar dissolved 

 when it is 2% to one. When as thick as this 

 it is advisable to use a little vinegar or a 

 little honey to prevent granulation. But be 

 sure the honey is free from disease. 



J. L. H., Indiana. — We used to hear a great 

 deal about sub-earth ventilators for bee-cellars ; 

 but lately I have seen nothing in the bee-journals 

 about it. Why is this ? 



A. Some years ago sub-earth ventilators 

 were discussed considerably in the bee-jour- 

 nals, and great claims were made for them. 

 They were nothing more nor less than six- 

 inch glazed tile laid in the ground at the 

 bottom of the cellar, and gradually rising to 

 a point three or four hundred feet from the 

 cellar until they came to the surface. The 

 argument was made that the air would be 

 warmer in its downward passage; and if 

 there was a ventilator connected with a 

 house chimney fresh air would be sucked in- 

 to the cellar.' Under these conditions the 

 ventilation was good, and sub-earth venti- 

 lators served a useful purpose; but a sub- 

 earth ventilator without a chimney or pipe 

 running up thru the roof of the building is 

 not of much use; and even then the chimney 

 should be hot in order to create a draft. The 

 ordinary .chimney that goes into the cellar, 

 and which takes care of a stove in a room 

 above, will furnish a good upward draft. 



Many cellars nowadays have furnaces in 

 them. If the bee-room joins the furnace- 

 room, with a door that can be opened or 

 closed, excellent ventilation will be secured. 

 The opening of one window in the bee-room 

 will let fresh air in. This window should be 

 so blinded that the air can enter but shut off 

 the light. 



F. H. R., Wisconsin. — Does the use of queen-ex- 

 cluders interfere with the bees storing honey in 

 supers ? 



A. Those who use them extensively say 

 not. There is no reason why they should 

 make any difference if properly made. 



