33 



GLEaKINGS in B£E CULTURE 



Janvary, 1922 



■warm and starting brood-rearin? since they have 

 plenty of stores ? Jacob Noordiloos. 



\Vashin<?ton. 



Answer.- — No, not in the fall. After 

 brood-rearing has been suspended in the 

 fall, a few warm days will not cause the 

 bees to begin it again; bvit later, in De- 

 cember or January, brood-rearing may be 

 started if the hive becomes quite warm. 

 However, the inside of the cluster is usu- 

 ally not as warm in well-packed hives when 

 the bees are broodless in winter as in un- 

 protected hives, because the bees generate 

 less heat to keep up the cluster temperature 

 in the packed hives. The packing enables 

 the bees practically to cease generating 

 heat except during the cold spells. 



CAUSE OF MOULDY COMBS AND MOISTURE IN HIVES. 



Question. — What is the cause of some of the 

 combs in my hives becoming mouldy and moi.sture 

 collecting on the bottom-boards in winter and early 

 spring? _ B. Boyd. 



California. 



Answer. — The moisture which condenses 

 inside the hive during cold or cool weather 

 has been given off by the bees in the form 

 of water vapor, water being one of the 

 waste products given off when honey is con- 

 sumed. This water vapor which is given 

 off into the surrounding air by the bees 

 condenses when the air comes in contact 

 with the cold walls of the hive. Water va- 

 por is, of course, given off in much greater 

 quantity when the bees are more active in 

 the summer, but at that time the hive walls 

 are warmer, and therefore the water is not 

 condensed within the hive but passes out of 

 the hive thru the entrance as vapor. 



SIZE OF ENTRANCE FOR OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



Question. — Is it all right to close the entrances of 

 the hives for winter so that but one bee can pass 

 thru it at a time? G. C. Morrison. 



Ohio. 



Answer. — The danger in making the en- 

 trance so small that but one bee can pass at 

 a time is that it is liable to be closed up by 

 dead bees during the winter. It will be 

 safer to make the entrance about % by 1 

 inch, but it should not be made so small as 

 this unless the hives are well packed in win- 

 ter packing cases or double-walled hives.* If 

 the entrances are reduced too much when 

 the hives are not well packed for winter, the 

 combs often become mouldy, especially when 

 no upward ventilation is allowed, and be- 

 cause of a lack of protection so many bees 

 die that the entrance may become clogged. 

 For out-apiaries where the bees are not seen 

 during the winter, it is usually best to 

 leave an entrance about % inch by l^/^ 

 inches when the hives are well packed for 

 winter, tho a smaller entrance may be better 

 if the bees are in a home apiary where the 

 entrances can be examined to see that none 

 are clogged by dead bees. 



DRONES FROM UNFERTILE QUEENS. 



Question. — If a colony has a virgin queen but 

 no drones, will it rear d:ones to mate with her? 

 Virginia. Graydnn Maxwell. 



Answer. — If the young queen can not 



mate within a few weeks after emergence, 

 she will begin to lay unfertile eggs which 

 produce only drones; but after such a queen 

 begins to lay, she does not mate even tho 

 there are drones in abundance. 



EXAMINATION OP SAMPLES OF DISEASED BROOD. 



Question. — Where can I send a specimen of comb 

 for diagnosis of brood diseases? 



Kentucky. Thos. Kennedy. 



Answer. — All such samples should be sent 

 for examination to the Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy, United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington, D, C. A piece of comb 

 about 4 x .5 inches, containing dead larvae 

 or pupae, should be cut out and mailed in 

 a woodeif mailing box. Tin boxes should 

 not be used, for the comb usually moulds 

 in transit in tin boxes, making projier e.x- 

 amination impossible. The sample should 

 not be wrapped before being placed in 

 the box. A suitable box for sending sam- 

 ples can be had for the asking by writ- 

 ing to the Bureau of Entomology. It is not 

 possible to diagnose from empty combs, and 

 no honey should be included in the sample. 

 The name of the sender should be on the 

 package and the letter sent separately, not 

 with the sample. 



KEEPING COMB J^TONEY IN W'lNTER. 



Question. — What is the best way to keep section 

 honey during the winter months ? 



iPennsylvania. Sylvanus .Thomas. 



Answer. — Comb honey should be stored in 

 a warm and dry place during the winter. It 

 should not be exposed to rapidly changing 

 temperatures and should never be exposed to 

 freezing temperatures. If comb honey in 

 well-filled sections is subjected to freezing 

 temperatures, the combs will crack because 

 of the contraction of the honey, so that 

 when it is warmed up the best-filled sections 

 will leak badly. If it is subjected to great 

 variations in temperature, there will be a 

 tendency to granulate in any type of honey 

 which granulates readily. The honey should 

 be kept in tightly closed eases or boxes to 

 help retain its delicate aroma, which would 

 otherwise be lost gradually if exposed for a 

 long time in the open air. 



CAUSE OF PIN HOLES IN CAPPINGS. 



Quest-Jon. — What is the cause of the email holes 

 like a pin hole in the cappings of comb honey, from 

 which comes something resembling sawdust? 



Ohio. Clarence S. Segrist. 



Answer. — This is, in all probability, the 

 work of the larvae of the lesser wax moth. 

 You can kill these and thus stop the mutila- 

 tion of the cappings of the honey by placing 

 a small amount of carbon bisulphide in a 

 dish or shallow pan, placing it above the 

 honey in a tight box, so that the fumes of 

 the carbon bisulphide can penetrate among 

 the combs of honey. The box should be 

 covered to help retain the fumes. If the 

 comb honey is still in the supers, they can 

 be piled in a tight pile and the dish placed 

 in an empty super on top of the pile. This 

 kills the larvae only, and, as there are likely 

 to be eggs in the combs, a second application 

 should be given 10 davs later. 



