March, 1920 



GI-EANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



169 



GLEANED by ASKING 



lona Fowls 



r^^^^^2^ 



QUESTIONS.— 

 (1) We are 

 wintering 

 some Italian 

 l>ees in a Buckeye 

 hive up here, 8,000 

 feet above sea level, 

 and there is lots of 

 activity in and 

 around the hive on 

 warm, sunny days; 



but a good many bees are dead outside the hive 

 entrance, and the floor of the hive near the en- 

 trance, as well as the floor of the room directly in 

 front of and below the hive entrance, is covered 

 with a powdery substance. Has this substance any 

 connection with the death of the bees? (2) When 

 would it be safe to open and go thru the hive? 

 Wyoming. C. M. Cosby. 



Answers. — (1) At this time of the year 

 on warm days it is natural that the bees 

 should fly from the hives and some perish. 

 These are old bees that would not survive 

 the winter anyway. The powdery substance 

 on the floor of the hive and also at the en- 

 trance need cause no worry on your part. 

 This powder is made up mostly of particles 

 of wax from the cappinjjs. On warm days 

 in the spring you will often notice bees car- 

 rying this out at the entrance. (2) During 

 the winter the colony should not be disturb- 

 ed, but in the spring as soon as it is warm 

 enough for the bees to fly freely the hive 

 may be opened and an examination made. 



Questions. — (1) Is it advisable to combine two 

 weak colonies? Please explain the operation in de- 

 tail. (2) When there are more queens than one 

 in a hive, should all but one be removed? Please 

 explain the process afid when to look for them. (3) 

 Explain in detail the use of queen-catchers. 



New York. William L. Hughey. 



Answers. — (1) During winter it would not 

 be good beekeeping practice to unite colo- 

 nies, for, of course, they should not be 

 handled at all during very cold weather; 

 but in the spring weak colonies may be 

 easily united by placing the brood-chamber, 

 holding the combs and bees of the one colo- 

 ny immediately over the brood-chamber of 

 the one with which it is to be united, hav- 

 ing only one thickness of newspaper be- 

 tween the two supers. The bees will soon 

 gnaw thru the newspaper and unite peace- 

 ably. (2) During the swarming season when 

 colonies sometimes start a great many 

 queen-cells, the various colonies in the yards 

 should be examined at frequent intervals of 

 a week or so to make certain that no young 

 queens are hatching. For, if the colonies 

 are neglected at this time and allowed to 

 raise as many queens as they choose, the 

 result will be that swarms will issue. Ex- 

 cept at swarming time, there would be no 

 danger of having more than one queen in 

 one hive unless the queen became, in some 

 way, defective and the colony should at- 

 tempt to supersede or replace her with a 

 young queen. In such a case, however, you 

 would not wish to remove a second queen. 

 For, in cases of supersedure, the two queens 

 will usually live together peaceablj' in the 

 new hive until the death of the old queen. 

 (3) When a swarm issues from a hive it is 



^su 



accompanied by 

 the old queen. 

 Tlie bees, to- 

 gether with the 

 queen, in case 

 she has not been 

 clipped, then 

 cluster near, and 

 when the cluster 

 has become 

 quiet, the beekeeper may, by means of a 

 swarm-catcher (which is simply a basket or 

 other receptacle on the end of a pole) cap- 

 ture the swarm by shaking them into the 

 swarm -catcher and then jolting them down 

 in front of the new hive in which they are 

 to be housed. 



Question. — How is the best way to introduce 

 queens to bees bought in pound packages? 



Utah. Dewey S. Olson. 



Answer. — When buying pound packages, 

 the queens are purchased separately. If 

 the buyer so requests, the queens will be in- 

 troduced before sending. We know of two- 

 queen-breeders who introduce the queens 

 by simply shaking the bees into the package 

 and then half an hour later immerse the cag- 

 ed queen in lukewarm water, give the bees 

 another shake, and run the queen into the 

 package of bees. 



Question. — How can fruit trees be sprayed ef- 

 fectively without killing bees? Jas. Kirkland. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — If the trees are sprayed while 

 in full bloom, the delicate reproductive or- 

 gans of the flowers are injured and the bees 

 are poisoned by the spray. Sometimes much 

 brood is killed; at other times entire colo- 

 nies perish. The spraying should never be 

 done while the trees are in bloom. We will 

 be glad to send you free a booklet entitled 

 "Bees and Fruit," that you can show your 

 fruit-growing neighbors to convince them 

 that they should never spray while their 

 trees are in blossom and that bees are of 

 great service to fruit orchards. We will 

 also send to beekeepers, who write and ask 

 for them, printed post cards headed "Don't 

 Kill the Bees." These can be mailed out 

 to the beekeepers ' fruit-growing neighbors. 

 These post cards explain to the fruit-grower 

 the value of bees to fruit and when to spray 

 so as not to poison the bees. The post card 

 kindly requests the fruit-grower not to 

 spray his trees while in bloom. State the 

 number of such post cards wanted. 



Question. — Can you advise me as to how you pre- 

 vent your honey from candying in the glass? 



New York. H. C. Mills. 



Answer. — There is no way to prevent hon- 

 ey from granulating. There is a great dif- 

 erence in honey in this respect, some granu- 

 lating in less than a week. A few other 

 kinds remain liquid for long periods, years 

 in some cases. We advise that if the honey 

 is heated properly at the time of bottling, 

 it will remain liquid a much longer time. 

 Some beekeepers when selling their honey 

 agree to replace any that may granulate in 

 the jars while in the hands of the retailers. 

 The grocer is a little more apt to purchase 



