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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1920 



When placing weak or very weak colonies 

 above strong ones it is important that there 

 be brood in the upper hive, and that the 

 work be done without stirring up the bees. 

 If done very carefully, the bees will not 

 even know tire change has taken place. 



Question. — I would like to know .whetheir brown 

 sugar may be safely fed my bees, or whether cane 

 syrup or corn syrup could be used, or whether we 

 liad better buy buckwheat honey from the East, 

 provided it is from a healthy apiary. 



Saskatchewan. .Tohn Hubbard. 



Answer. — Any of these syrups may be 

 used for feeding in the spring, if they do 

 not contain too large an amount of glucose. 

 If there is too much glucose, the bees are 

 reluctant to accept such feed. The brown 

 sugar would be all right in the spring, as 

 also would be maple sugar or stale candy, 

 such as may often be purchased at a low 

 price. As long as the bees are able to have 

 frequent cleansing flights, such feed will do 

 them no harm. We strongly advise you not 

 to use buckwheat honey purchased from a 

 stranger, unless you are absolutely certain 

 that the apiary from which the honey comes 

 has been free of disease for several years. 

 Otherwise you would be taking chances on 

 foul brood. 



Que.stion. — I put one colony in a building close 

 to an opening in the wall and they did finely, but 

 were very cross. They would crawl and fly and 

 when the opportunity offen-ed they would sting. I 

 got more stings from that one colony than from all 

 the other 2.5 colonie.s. Did I just happen to get a 

 cross colony or are they proved to be cross in a 

 building? I am thinking of having several colonies 

 inside a binlding, but if it makes them cross, they 

 will makei it pretty warm for me. 



Montana. Hiram Miller. 



Answer. — Evidently you hajipened to 

 choose a particularly cross colony for plac- 

 ing in the building. It is generally claimed 

 that bees in buildings are better-natured 

 when being handled than are those outdoors, 

 for as soon as they leave the hive their 

 main idea is to get outdoors, rather than to 

 sting the beekeeper. 



Question. — What should bei the proper space un- 

 der the frames in winter and summer ? 



Ohio. Geo. H. Foote. 



Answer. — The ordinary bottom-boards are 

 niade with a space % inch on one side and 

 % inch on the other. The original intention 

 was that the bottom-board should be used 

 with the %-inch space under the frames dur- 

 ing the summer and the %-inch space during 

 the winter. It has been found, however, 

 that many of the beekeepers jnefer the %- 

 inch si)ace thruout the year .and so do not 

 turn the bottom-boards. 



Question. — I would like to ask liovv many bees 

 Mr. Thompson puts in his inniliiig and introducing 

 cages when preparing them for shipping queens ? 

 I think 12 is about right for the small Benton cage, 

 but his cage has one more hn'.e for bees than the 

 small Benton cage. .lames McKec. 



California. 



Answer. — On inquiry we lind that Mr. 

 Thompson puts from eight to twelve bees in 

 a small three-hole Benton cage, from 17 to 

 20 in the six-hole long-distance cage, and 

 from 40 to 50 in the large export cage; so 



the cage with fi^'e holes would require from 

 12 to 15. In the spring and fall of the year 

 the larger number should be used. 



Question. — In Doolittle's book on queien-rearing, 

 he gives an ea.sy way of requeening by putting a 

 frame of brood with a queen-cell in an upper story 

 above a queen-excluder, the excluder being removed 

 as soon as the queen hatches. It appears to me 

 that this would be a very useful method, if it will 

 work successfully. Please advise me. 



Illinois. R. S. Barber. 



Answer. — This plan will work under fa- 

 vorable conditions, but we would prefer to 

 wait a day or two after the queen hatches 

 before removing the excluder. The young 

 queen being so much more active than the 

 laying queen usually has little trouble in 

 disposing of her rival. At swarming time, 

 however, there is always a chance that a 

 swarm may issue. 



Question. — When in England I noticed all hives 

 are about 12 inches from the ground. Is this ad- 

 visable here or not? S. C. Wolcolt. 



Virginia. 



Answer. — In the South where ant.-5 and 

 other insects trouble the colonies, it is neces- 

 sary to have the hives some distance from 

 the ground. In other places it is not neces- 

 sary to go to the trouble, and when work- 

 ing with colonies that are piled high with 

 supers of honey, there is, of course, less 

 lifting to do if the hives are near the 

 ground. 



Question. — I have ten hives of bees and I know 

 very little about the bees and don't care to buy an 

 extractor this year. I think I could get soma chunk 

 honey if I knew a little more about it. I would 

 like to know if the frames need to be wired for 

 chunk honey, and if an inch or two for a starter 

 without wiring won't do ,iust as well, and how chunk 

 honey is put wp and sold. Samuel M. Turner. 



Florida. 



Answer. — The frames need not be wired, 

 nor are full sheets of foundation necessary. 

 Simply starters will be sufficient. The hon- 

 ey is cut from the frames in chunks and 

 placed in glass jars, tin pails, or cans, and 

 the container then filled with liquid honey. 

 It is much easier to produce chunk honey 

 than regular comb honey, since even partly 

 sealed sections may be used for chunk hon 

 ey. 



Question. — A man who was troubled with asthma 

 quite badly told me that he took a little horse- 

 radish and honey for his trouble, and it was the 

 only thing for him. This man is an auctioneer, cry- 

 ing sales every day at tliis time; so he has lots of 

 use for a good voice. I would be very much pleas- 

 ed to kno*" if anyone having asthma would bei bene- 

 fited by this simple remedy. F. A. Dahl. 



South Dakota. 



Answer. — As to whether honey and horse- 

 radish would offer any relief in case of 

 asthma, we do not know. It is true that we 

 have had a few reports of people with asth- 

 ma being benefited by the use of honey; 

 but, as you know, there is no remedy offered 

 for any purpose whatsoever that does not 

 a[>parently help some peo))le. If we were 

 tioubleil with this malady, however, we 

 woidd certainly tiy your suggestion. We 

 might also add that some have found a mix- 

 ture of honev and cream beneficial. 



