c 



GLEANED 



Geo. S. 



LJT 



John Longaker. 



774 



QUESTION. 

 — How much 

 of their stores 

 will colonies 

 of normal strength 

 well protected by 

 w i n t e rp a c k ing 

 cases consume up 

 to the time when 

 brood-rearing first 

 begins in the 

 spring? 

 Indiana. 



Answer. — Colonies which are well protect- 

 ed and supplied with stores of good quality 

 should not use more than 12 to 15 pounds 

 during the broodless period in your local- 

 ty. If conditions are favorable they should 

 consume less. In fact, strong colonies 

 should be able to live during the broodless 

 period on one and one-half pounds per 

 month. Much depends upon the character 

 of the winter and the quality of the stores. 

 If the stores are of the very best, such as 

 heavy granulated sugar syrup, straight and 

 well-ripened alfalfa or white clover honey, 

 much less will be used than when the stores 

 are not so good. Sometimes the amount 

 used by colonies having the best of stores 

 is less than one-half the amount used by 

 colonies of the same strength but having 

 inferior stores. 



SYRUP CRYSTALLIZES IN THE COMB. 



Question. — I fed my bees a heavy sugar syrup 

 two parts of sugar to one of water, using tartaric 

 acid in making it, but on looking in the hives I 

 find the syrup has crystallized. What can be done 

 now? Frank B. Moore. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — The bees will, no doubt, be able 

 to use this syrup in your climate even tho 

 it is partly crystallized, but in doing so they 

 will waste a part of it by throwing out the 

 hard crj'stals while digging into the cells to 

 take the liquid portion. 



In making the syrup you probably did not 

 keep it hot long enough after adding the 

 acid. Since the acid can act on the sugar 

 only when heat is applied, it is necessary 

 to iceep the syrup near the boiling point for 

 some time after adding the acid. Again, it 

 may be that you did not use enough acid. 

 A level teaspoonful for every 15 to 20 

 pounds of sugar is the amount usually rec- 

 ommended. In some cases it is not neces- 

 sary to use acid in making syrup to pre- 

 vent crystallization, especially if the colo- 

 nies are strong and are well packed at the 

 time the syrup is fed. 



BnMOVING SUPERS OF HONEY AT BEGINNING OF 

 WINTER. 



Question. — Would it be unwise to take off two 

 supers of comb honey from one of my hives this 

 late in the season ? William Wordsworth. 



New York. 



Answer. — If the bees have enough honey in 

 the brood-chamber for winter the two supers 

 of comb honey should be taken off; but if 

 there is any question about there being suf- 

 ficient stores below, it will be better to leave 

 one of them on the hive, unless you have 

 some combs of honey to give them for winter. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BY ASKING 



Demuth 



1 



TU 



December, 1921 



If the bees are 

 well equipped 

 with stores in 

 the brood-cham- 

 ber they will 

 cluster below 

 during the first 

 cold weather 

 leaving the su- 

 pers free of 

 bees so they can easily be taken off any 

 cool morning; but, if there is not much 

 honey below, the cluster of bees will ex- 

 tend at least into the first super. If one of 

 the supers of comb honey is left on the hive 

 for winter stores, of course the sections will 

 not be fit to use again for comb honey, but 

 it will be better to sacrifice the comb honey 

 rather than let the colony starve. 



BEES USE EXTRA STORES WHEN DISTURBED BY 



MOVING. 



Question. — My colonies now have 25 pounds of 

 honey each for winter, and I want to move them 

 24 miles to a new location. Will the disturbance 

 of moving cause them to consume so much of their 

 honey that they will not pull thru the winter? 



Washington. L. M. Brown. 



Answer. — The bees will not consume much 

 of their winter stores because of moving at 

 this season, certainly not enough to put 

 them in danger of starvation. At first when 

 the colonies are loaded for moving some of 

 the bees will fill their honey-sacs, and of 

 course a part of this will be consumed, but 

 before the journey is completed the bees 

 will quiet down somewhat and no doubt put 

 most of the honey back into the cells. At 

 other seasons the disturbance from moving 

 would be greater, causing the bees to con- 

 sume more honey. It will be necessary for 

 you to examine your colonies early in the 

 spring to see if they have enough stores, 

 for while 25 pounds should be plenty for the 

 broodless period of winter, when spring 

 brood-rearing begins they will need more 

 unless they can gather a supply from early 

 spring flowers. Many beekeepers now leave 

 40 pounds or more for each colony for their 

 winter and spring supply, but of course you 

 can give the additional supply if needed in 

 the spring. 



MEDIUM COLONIES REAR BROOD LATER. 



Question. — ^In preparing my bees for winter I find 

 some of the medium-sized colonies still have emerg- 

 ing brood, but the strongest ones do not. Is this 

 an unfavorable condition? A. E. Trapp. 



Montana. 



Answer. — It is quite natural for weak 

 colonies to rear brood later than the strong 

 ones. In fact very weak colonies may be 

 expected to rear brood during the winter, 

 while the strong ones remain broodless until 

 the normal time for brood-rearing in the 

 spring. No doubt your medium-sized colo- 

 nics were following the normal behavior of 

 weak colonies in this respect, thus continu- 

 ing brood-rearing a little longer. If their 

 last-emerged bees can have a cleansing 

 flight before winter begins, the additional 

 young bees will be beneficial to these 

 medium-sized colonies. 



