c 



GLEANED 



Geo. S. 



ur 



710 



QUESTION. 

 — W ill a 

 pound of dry 

 sugar fed as 

 syrup make more 

 or less than a 

 pound of sealed 

 stores if none of it 

 is used in comb- 

 tuildingl How 

 much more or less ? 



Indiana. John Lon-:rakpr. 



Answer. — Much depends upon the time 

 the feeding is done, as well as upon the man- 

 ner in which it is done. If it is done before 

 brood-rearing ceases, it may stimulate ad- 

 ditional brood-rearing, thus causing the bees 

 to use a large portion of the syrup in feed- 

 ing the additional brood. This is especially 

 the case if the syrup is fed slowly or a little 

 at a time, or if it is made quite thin so the 

 bees are compelled to ripen it. Under such 

 conditions the bees sometimes consume half 

 or more of the syrup as it is fed. 



On the other hand, in feeding for winter, 

 if the feeding is postponed until after 

 brood-rearing has ceased and at the time the 

 bees naturally begin to carry honey from 

 the more remote parts of the hive and store 

 it in the empty cells^where it will be within 

 the cluster, loss in feeding will be slight, 

 especially if a thick syrup is given while 

 still hot and the feeding is done in such a 

 manner that it is all taken down and stored 

 within a few hours. By taking advantage 

 of the natural instinct of the bees to trans- 

 port thick stores to the inner portion of the 

 winter nest after the brood has emerged, 

 the bees do not waste much of their energy 

 and food. 



In practice, it will be well to count on as 

 many pounds gain in weight of stores when 

 a heavy syrup is fed (not less than two parts 

 of sugar to one part of water) as there are 

 pounds of dry sugar, but when the feeding 

 is done as indicated each pound of dry 

 sugar will result in more than a pound of 

 stores. Just how much more will depend 

 upon how rapidly the bees store it. If the 

 hives are packed when the feeding is done, 

 and the packing is placed around the feed- 

 ers to keep the syrup warm, there will be 

 but little loss in weight resulting from the 

 bees handling the syrup. 



rOOD VALUE OP HONEY. 



Question. — What is the amount of calories in 

 one pound of honey in the comb ? What in ex- 

 tracted? What about the vitamines in each? 



West Virginia. T. K. Massie. 



Answer.-^^he energy value of honey is 

 usually given as 1485 calories per pound. 

 This figure is for extracted honey. The num- 

 ber of calorics in a pound of comb honey 

 would be slightly less since the weight of 

 the wax must first be deducted, the wax 

 not being digestible. Experiments conduct- 

 ed by Philip B. Hawk, Jefferson Medical 

 College, indicate the presence of distinct 

 amounts of vitamines in comb honey, espe- 

 cially the fat soluble vitamine. In these ex- 

 periments the animals which were being 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BY ASKING 



Demuth 



1 



^^^^^^^^ 



TU 



November, 1921 



fed, grew about 

 as well on comb 

 honey as when 

 5 per cent of 

 butter was add- 

 ed to their diet. 

 Butter is known 

 to be rich in the 

 fat soluble vita- 

 mine. 



WHAT IS NOSEMA APIS ? 



Question. — Will you please state in detail just 

 what Nosema Apis is? Ralph Gaston. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — Nosema Ajns is the name ap- 

 plied by Zander (1909) to a parasite some- 

 times found in the walls of the stomach of 

 the honeybee. The disease brought about 

 by this infection is called Nosema disease. 

 This disease of adult bees is not considered 

 a particularly serious disorder in this coun- 

 try where it is widely distributed and often 

 found in colonies which appear to be 

 healthy. In 1912 and 1913 Graham Smith 

 and others put forward Nosema Apis as the 

 cause of the Isle of Wight disease, but in 

 1919 Anderson and Eennie and Eennie and 

 Harvey succeeded in establishing that No- 

 sema infection is not found in Isle of Wight 

 disease but is the cause of a distinct mal- 

 ady. A similar conclusion had been drawn 

 by Dr. White in this country in 1918. 



TEMPERATURE OF HONEY FOR BOTTLING. 



Question.— When heating honey for bottling 

 should the water in the tank which surrounds the 

 vessel containing the honey be permitted to boil? 



New York. William Dermody. 



Answer. — No. The water should not be 

 above 180°F. If it is permitted to boil 

 there is great danger of scorching the hon- 

 ey. The honey itself should not be heated 

 above 160 °F. and should not be held at this 

 temperature long, for the flavor of some 

 types of honey will be injured even at 160° 

 F. if kept hot too long. 



MOVING, BEES FROM NEIGHBOEINQ FARM. 



Question.- — -What is your advice about moving 

 and wintering the bees in box hives which I have 

 recently purchased f They are about a quarter of 

 a mile from my place. S. W. Martin. 



Missouri. 



Answer.— It will be better to wait until 

 the bees have been confined to their hives 

 for some time by cold weather before mov- 

 ing them, for, if they are moved such a 

 short distance when they are flying freely 

 every few days, many of the bees will go 

 back to their old location. Even when 

 moved after they have been confined to 

 their hives for three or four weeks, many 

 of the bees will go back unless some pre- 

 cautions are taken to prevent it. This can 

 be reduced somewhat by leaning a board 

 against the front of the hives, before the 

 bees take their first flight after being moved, 

 to cause the bees to stop and look back as 

 they leave the hive so they will notice the 

 change in the surroundings. If it is neces- 

 sary to move the bees before cold weather, 

 you can prevent their going back by first 

 moving them to a new location three or four 



