102 



G I. E A N I N G S IK B K E C U L T U R E 



QUESTION. — 

 I have 27 

 c o 1 n ies in 

 the bee cel- 

 lar under my resi- 

 dence. They are 

 never absolutely 

 quiet, there always 

 being a hum to be 

 heard, but vehem I 

 listen at the en- 

 trance of any single colony I cannot detect any 

 extra activity. Should they be absolutely quiet? The 

 temperature of the cellar is 50 degrees F., and 

 the entrances are % inch by the full width of the 

 hive. I have a hot-water heater, with two pipps 

 passing thru the bee room, which room is aliso 

 lutely dry. Just what is meant by quiet? Is it dead 

 (|uiet or otherwise? Max Tompson. 



New York. 



Answer. — 'Bees do not hibernate as do 

 many other insects and therefore do not be- 

 come absolutely quiet during the winter. 

 Even under the best of conditions there is 

 a slight humming, so that when many col- 

 onies are in the cellar, a slight murmur can 

 be detected when entering the room. It 

 would be difficult to say just how much 

 noise is permissible in good wintering, since 

 this must be learned from experience. It is 

 not always possible to maintain the same 

 degree of quiescence year after year in the 

 same cellar on account of the variation in 

 the character of the winter stores if natural 

 stores are used, on account of the variation 

 in the colonies themselves as to numbers 

 and age of the bees, and on account of the 

 variation in the conditions under which 

 they were put in especially with reference to 

 the thoroughness of their cleansing flight 

 just before being put in. As the winter ad- 

 vances cellar-wintered bees usually make 

 more noise, or at least are more easily dis- 

 turbed by slight disturbances such as light. 

 It may be well for you to experiment with 

 slightly changed temperatures to see at 

 what temperature the bees are most nearly 

 quiet. It may be necessary to lower the 

 temperature a few degrees in February and 

 March to keep the bees as quiet as they are 

 now. 



SNOW AND ICE CLOSING ENTR.^XC'K. 



Questions. — (1) In the A B C and X Y Z of Bee 

 Culture one is warned (under "Entrances") against 

 leaving a "doorstep" at the entrance of the hive 

 when wintering bees. Just what does this mean? 

 The liive itself has a doorstep or ledge which will 

 catch and hold snow and the hive-stand only adds 

 to its width. How is one to do away with the door- 

 step? (2) Is there not danger when using small 

 entrances that bees or snow may close the entrance 

 and cut off ventilation. Magdalen Spraull. 



New York. 



Answers. — (1) When a winter case is used 

 it should be built without a doorstep. Simply 

 bore holes thru the front of the winter case 

 to line up with the tunnel thru the packing. 

 "When the Buckeye hive is used the ledge 

 in front of the entrance will catch and hold 

 the snow, but this trouble can be reduced 

 to some extent by tilting the hive forward. 

 Loose snow covering the entrance does no 

 harm; but, if it thaws a little and then 



Ekbruarv, 1921. 



freezes, the en- 

 trance may be 

 scaled by ice. 

 (2) There is dan- 

 ger that small 

 entrances m a y 

 be blocked by 

 dead bees or ice 

 under some 

 conditions, and 

 it is sometimes necessary to clean out the 

 dead bees or clear away the ice if the en- 

 trances should be closed in this way. If the 

 bees are well protected they will need but 

 little air during the winter; but, if they are 

 not well jirotected or if for any reason they 

 are not wintering well, they will need much 

 more air. While the entrances might be en- 

 tirely closed with ice for a short time with- 

 out harm when the bees are wintering well, 

 it could cause serious trouble under less fa- 

 vorable conditions. 



WINTERING WE.^K COLONIES. 



Qaestion. — I have two colonies of bees that cover 

 about three frames of brood each. I have them in- 

 side and would like to winter them in order to 

 save the queens. How can I do this? 



New York. Stanley B. Austin. 



Answer. — Put these small colonies in the 

 warmest part of the cellar. If you have 

 other colonies in the cellar, the weak ones 

 should be placed on top of the pile of hives 

 near the ceiling. The entrances should be 

 reduced, unless your cellar is warmer than 

 most bee cellars, in order that the small 

 colonies may be able to maintain the nec- 

 essary cluster temperature. If these colo- 

 nies had three frames well filled with brood 

 last fall, you should have no trouble win- 

 tering them in a good cellar provided they 

 ha\e good winter stores. 



HOW TO MAKE HARD CANDY. 



Question. — How do you make the candy that 

 you recommend for feeding the bees in winter? 

 I know that some of my colonies are short of stores, 

 and I have no honey to give them. .John Rudd. 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — Into an ordinary kettle of good 

 size pour sugar and water in the proportion 

 of three parts of sugar to one of water by 

 measure. Stir thoroly. For every 20 pounds 

 of sugar put in about one-fourth teaspoon- 

 ful of tartaric acid. The mixture should be 

 dissolved before applying the heat. Boil for 

 an hour or so. As the white scale or incrus- 

 tation forms on the inside of the kettle, 

 scrape it down. While it is cooking, tests 

 should be made frequently as follows: Dip 

 up a spoonful of the boiling mixture and 

 slowly pour it back. When it leaves a fine 

 string it is cooked nearly enough. Now, 

 then, from time to time, with the spoon let 

 a stream fall into a cup of cold water. When 

 the boiling has proceeded far enough the 

 string under water will be brittle and crack. 

 Another and a better way to determine 

 when to stop boiling is to use a thermome- 

 ter and bring the temperature up to 276 de- 

 grees F. By that time the water will have 

 been evaporated, when the hot mixture can 



