018 



G L E A N 1 ^Mi S IN BEE t' U L T U K E 



OCTUIJKK lyjl) 



c 



GLEANED BY ASKING 



u 



r^^^^^?^^ 



QUESTIONS.— 

 ( 1 .) Is it ad- 

 visable to put 

 ii super with sec- 

 tions on the hive 

 in the fall and let 

 the bees have it 

 over w inter and 

 until the h o n e v 

 flow so that no 

 spring feeding will 



be necessary? (2) Can the queen and drone trap 

 be used to prevent after-swarms '! 



Minnesota. Harold Hanson. 



Answers. — It would not be advisable to 

 leave sections on the hive over winter. It 

 would be a very cold arrangement. The 

 section boxes are so small that the bees 

 do not enter them readily, and the combs 

 in the sections are so new there would be 

 little warmth in them. Combs that have 

 been used for rearing Ijrood are much 

 warmer and better adaptt'd for wintering. 

 If the colony has enough food to last them 

 over winter, the sections might be saved, 

 however, and given the bees, placing above 

 a queen-excluder in the spring before the 

 bees would have a chance to gather nectar 

 from the fields. (2) Altho the queen and 

 drone trap could be used to prevent after- 

 swarms, we do not recommend its use. 

 It is much cheaper and more satisfactory 

 after the first swarm issues to move the 

 hive to a new location and tear down all 

 but the one best queen-cell. When colonies 

 are treated in this way they almost never 

 cast after-swarms. 



Questions. — (1) I intend to give my bees four 

 or' five standard frames of clover honey and would 

 like to know the best way to give it to them. My 

 extracting frames are placed nine to the super. 

 T could take one extra comb out of the brood- 

 chamber in the fall, and that would make room 

 t'(n- the w^ider combs, but would the bees winter 

 as well and build up in the spring as well when 

 tlie combs were as far apart? (2) I had thought 

 of uncapping; them and putting them on over an 

 escape-board at the time I have my combs cleaned 

 out after the fall flow. Or, I could give them combs 

 that were drawn from foundation and would be 

 the right thickness for the brood-chamber, but have 

 understood that bees winter better in old combs 

 than on new. E. C. Hardri. 



Ontario. 



Answers. — (1) Since your extracting combs 

 are so much thicker than the brood-combs, 

 we advise removing two or three frames 

 from the brood-chamber, and then placing 

 the combs so that there will be a bee-space 

 between all of them. If this leaves a space 

 at the side of the hive, place a thin divis- 

 ion-board next to the combs" and fill the 

 space next to the wall of the hive with 

 jiaeking material of dry leaves or planer 

 sliavings. (2) Altho it would be possible 

 for you to feed the honey by uncapping it 

 as you suggest we do not advise this, for 

 it would be more expensive, since the bees 

 would consume quite a little of the honey 

 in removing it from the combs and storing 

 it in the brood-chamber. You could use the 

 iiictliod in case you have comlis pailly filled 

 witli Ikiiu'v, but would not advise it for 



1 



Zona Fowls 



entire combs of 

 honey. It is true 

 that bees do 

 winter better on 

 old c m b s in 

 which brood lias 

 been reared, and 

 y e t, we never 

 hesitate to give 

 a colony a few 

 extracting combs of honey in case they need 

 them in the fall. We place these combs in 

 the brood-chamber just at the side of the 

 brood-nest. This will give the bees a chance 

 to cluster on the old warmer combs. 



Questions. — (1) How many pounds- of honey 

 should be in the brood-chamber of an eight-frame 

 hive when ready for winter? (2) Is beebread 

 as good a food as honey for winter? (3) "What 

 time of the year does the queen stop laying? 

 Does she stop liefore you are ready to pack them 

 for winter? If so. how long before? 



Minnesota. Charley Krueger. 



Answers. — (1) At least 30 pounds in your 

 locality. (2) No, the stores should be honey 

 or a good sugar syrup. Beebread will not 

 suffice as a winter food. It will be needed, 

 however, in the spring when the colonies 

 are raising brood. (3) After the main 

 honey flow the queen lays fewer eggs and in 

 some cases, if old, stops entirely. In the 

 fall, in your locality, we believe queens 

 might be expected to stop laying at least 

 by the middle of October. But the time 

 Would vary several weeks with the season 

 and with the age of the queen. 



ANSWERS BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Questions. — (1) In regard to the size of the hive, I 

 should be glad to make my Danzenbaker hives 

 deeper by adding a rim to the bottom if you think 

 well of it, making it a ten-frame Langstroth : or 

 add more and make it a Jumbo L. hive. Of course, 

 being a woman, I am trying to avoid heavy hives. 

 Then, too, I read in an old issue of Gleanings, that 

 .J. L. Byer claims the ten-frame Langstroth is not 

 so easy to manage as an eight-frame Langstroth 

 or a -Jumbo. I am more than anxious to avoid the 

 swarming, as that is all my bees have ever done 

 so far. The bees generally light too high, and we 

 do not like to saw oflf the limbs of the trees as a 

 rule. What would be your choice of the following? 



(a) Ten-frame Langstroth hive, wintering in 

 two hive-bodies; (b) Jumbo Langstroth hive, winter- 

 ing in one hive-body; (c) An eight-frame hive, 

 11 % inches deep. I should be glad to have a hive 

 made by most (or several) firms so I could order 

 supplies that fit, but I also want something that I 

 can manage too. (2) In regard to swarming, on 

 page 409, .fuly (1918) Gleanings, you say you 

 like the Fowls plan. Is it the one described in 

 the ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture (1917 edition)? 

 You also speak highly of Miss Fowls' description 

 of the Demaree plan on paire 338. But thwc is no 

 page 338 in July (1918) number of Gleanings. 

 Can you tell me where I can find the article re- 

 ferred to ? I do not find it in the ABC & XYZ 

 •of Bee Culture. (3) Do you think the best plan 

 for me to use this spring would be to put a large 

 hive-body over my Danzenbaker hives and trust to 

 the bees and queen to go up and draw out the 

 comb and spread themselves out to their own 

 satisfaction? If .so, when would you put the 

 larger hive-bodies over the brood chamber ? (4) 

 Are tlio Dan/.enliakcr hives exactly the same in 



