December, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



775 



LEAVING SUPER OF HONEY FOR WINTER. 



Question. — My l:ees have filled a shallow extract- 

 ins super but have not drawn out quite all of the 

 frames of foundation below. They could all go 

 into the lower hive-body for winter, but there is 

 not enough honey below for winter. Should I leave 

 the shallow extracting super on all winter? 



Ohio. C. G. Wilmot. 



Answer.- — ^Yes, by all means leave this 

 honey with the bees. Of course it would be 

 easier for the bees to keep the regular brood- 

 chamber warm during the winter than to 

 keep both chambers warm, but you can 

 overcome this disadvantage by protecting 

 the hive better by winter packing. You 

 can take out the empty combs and frames 

 of foundation from below and fill the space 

 with chaff-cushion division-boards to reduce 

 the space in the hive for winter, but as 

 soon as more room is needed in the spring 

 it should be given. 



FRAMES OF FOUNDATION BELOW FOR WINTER. 



Question. — Will it be well to put a hive-body filled 

 with frames of foundation under each brood-cham- 

 ber to make the hives two story, so that when the 

 bees fill the upper story with brood in the spring 

 they can go below? P. H. Dunn. 



Iowa. 



Answer. — No. This extra story should 

 not be given until spring. If frames of 

 foundation were given now the foundation 

 would be more or less damaged before it 

 could be drawn out next season. For best 

 results the foundation should not be put 

 into wired frames very long before the bees 

 can draw them out into combs. Further- 

 more, next spring the bees would be slow 

 about drawing out foundation under their 

 brood-combs. It will be better to wait until 

 the bees need more room next spring, then 

 put the new hive-body on top, at the same 

 time transferring one or two combs of brood 

 from the lower story into this upper story 

 to induce the bees to begin work on the 

 foundation promptly. 



LOCATION OF HONEY FOR WINTER. 



Question. — In using five full frames of honev in 

 the upper story together with four or five empty 

 combs, should I place the combs of honev in the 

 middle of the hive or on one side or would it be 

 better to alternate them ? Bernard Kunz. 



Ohio. 



Answer. — The frames of honey should be 

 directly above the cluster, so that as the 

 bees use the honey they can move upward 

 as the honey is consumed thruout the win- 

 ter. Since the bees usually form their win- 

 ter cluster where the last of the brood 

 emerged in the fall, the stores in the upper 

 story should be above the fall brood-nest, 

 which is usually in the middle of the hive. 

 It would be better not to have combs en- 

 tirely empty in the upper story. For this 

 reason some prefer to use shallow extracting 

 supers for the extra supply of stores. 



RIM IINDER BROOD-CHAMBER FOR WINTER. 



Question. — Will bees winter better in the cellar 

 if a two-inch rim is put below the brood -cbambe'- 

 and the entrance contracted to % inch by 3 inches? 



New York. F. M. Doty. 



Answer. — Formerly it was thought to be 

 necessary to have a deep space below the 



frames for winter to affcrd better ventila- 

 tion and furnisli a place for dead bees, but 

 in a warm dry cellar this is not necessary. 



WINTER ENTRANCE IN TARRED PAPER PACKING. 



Question. — Shonld the regular hive entrance be 

 contracted when the bees are in tarred paper, as 

 described on page 618, October issue of Gleanings, 

 a % by 2-inch hole being cut thru the tarred paper 

 for an entrance? Clay Dunkin. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — It is not necessary to use the 

 entrance stop when bees are packed as de- 

 scribed on page 618, for the tarred paper 

 covers the entrance completely. In the 

 spring when a larger entrance is needed the 

 hole thru the paper can be enlarged as de- 

 sired. 



CARE OP EXTRACTING COMBS IN THE SOUTH. 



Question. — Should I remove my extracting-combs 

 for winter ? If so, how can I protect them from 

 the wax moth larvae ? . Max Wennenweser. 



Texas. 



Answer. — In the tropics the safest place 

 to keep the extracting-combs is on the hives 

 where the bees can take care of them thru- 

 out the year. Perhaps in southern Texas 

 this is the best plan, tho wherever the 

 weather is cold in winter the extracting- 

 combs should be taken off the hives and 

 stored until spring in order to keep the bees 

 warmer during winter. If the combs are 

 exposed to freezing temperature for a few 

 days the moths will be killed, and the combs 

 are then safe until spring unless more eggs 

 are laid among them. In warm climates 

 where freezing temperatures can not be de- 

 pended upon to keep down the moths they 

 can be controlled by fumigation. To do this 

 pile the supers of combs in tight piles, five 

 supers in a pile, and on top of each pile in 

 an empty super place a dish containing two 

 ounces of carbon bisulphide and cover the 

 pile tightly. This should be repeated after 

 two weeks, after which the pile should be 

 kept covered so no moths can enter. 



SMALL NUMBER OF BEES IN FALL. 



Question. — Why should my hives be heavy with 

 stores and the bees s'uall in numbers this fall? Is 

 it possible that skunks have killed off the bees? 

 New York. Clarence T. Bullock, 



An,swer. — It is natural for the colonies to 

 become smaller as winter approaches, espe- 

 cially if there is a fall honey flow which 

 causes the older bees to wear themselves out 

 and die before cold weather. Usually the 

 strongest colonies will not have more than 

 three or four pounds of young bees at the 

 beginning of winter. They may also have 

 several pounds of old bees at this time if 

 they have not worn themselves out search- 

 ing for nectar in fall flowers, but the real 

 strength of the colonies at this time is 

 largely in the young bees. If the old bees 

 have disappeared because of hard work late 

 in the season, the colonies are still strong 

 since the remaining bees are young. The 

 skunks mav have killed off many of the 

 bees, but it is probable that the reduction 

 in numbers which you noticed is the nat- 

 ural reduction of the colony for winter. 



