September, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



599 



the bees winter. Tlie hives are built with 

 tlie entrance at the end of the combs in or- 

 der that the floor of tlie hive can be tilted 

 slightly forward to prevent water from run- 

 ning in. If the entrance were placed at tlie 

 side, tilting the floor in this way would 

 throw the combs out of plumb, making them 

 difficult to handle. 



Bees Fail to Work on Goldenrod. 



Question. — Why is it that bees do not work on 

 goldenrod in this locality ? I read of l)eelceei)ers 

 iu other states obtaining honey from this source. 



Tennessee. W. A. Daniel. 



Answer. — Like other honey plants, gold- 

 enrod does not secrete nectar everywhere it 

 grows. Soil and climatic conditions have 

 much to do with nectar secretion, each plant 

 liaving its own peculiar requirements for 

 best results in the amount of nectar. Gold- 

 enrod is reported as a good yielder in the 

 New England states and as far south along 

 the Atlantic Coast as Virginia, but in some 

 localities it yields but little if any nectar. 

 Again, some seasons are unfavorable for nec- 

 tar secretion even when the flowers are 

 thrifty and abundant, while other seasons 

 are so favorable that, even though the 

 flowers are not so abundant, they furnish 

 large quantities of nectar. "Where a recog- 

 nized honey plant fails to yield year after 

 year, it is probably because either the soil 

 or the temperature is not entirely suitable. 

 Tall Treatment for American Foul Brood. 



Question.— What should I do with colonies that 

 have American foul brood late in the season when 

 there will not be much honey for the bees to 

 gather from now on? W. B. Statt. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — If the colonies are badly in- 

 fected so that not much of the brood ma- 

 tures, the best thing to do is to kill the 

 bees with sulphur or gasoline and melt up 

 the combs. If the colonies are ,but slightly 

 infected, they can be treated, after brood- 

 rearing has ceased in October, by shaking 

 the bees into a clean hive containing combs 

 of sealed honey. When this is done, the 

 bees having no vacant cells in which to put 

 any infected honey they may have in their 

 honeysacs, they must consume it. This fall 

 treatment usually results in a cure; but, if 

 there are any vacant cells in the combs of 

 honey, it is safer to shake the bees into an 

 empty liive, leaving them about 24 hours 

 before giving the combs of honey. To pre- 

 vent swarming out in the meantime the 

 hives can be carried into the cellar, or, if 

 left outside, the queen should be caged to 

 prevent absconding. 



Moving Bees Short Distances. 



Question. — When will be the best time to move 

 bees from one slope of a hill to the other, a dis- 

 tance of about 100 yards? P. L. Conoway. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — It will be well to wait until 

 February before moving the bees this short 

 distance, for, if they are moved when they 

 have frequent flights, many of them will re- 

 turn to the old location and Ijocomc lost. 

 Bv waiting until they have l)eeu confined to 

 tlii'ir liives for some time, fewer bees will 

 return to their old location. If it is neces- 



sary' to move the bees before winter you 

 can do it by first moving them to another 

 location several miles away, leaving them a 

 week or two and tlien moving them back to 

 the desired location. The bees having be 

 come accustomed to their surroundings in 

 tlic distant location apparently forget their 

 old surroundings, so that when they are 

 brought back they can be located wherever 

 desired. Of course, this plan works best 

 when tlie bees can Ay freely every day. If 

 they were confined to their hives while at 

 the distant location, the jdan would not be 

 successful. 

 Using Combs of Honey from Diseased Colonies. 



Question. — In treating my colonies for Ameri- 

 can foul brood, I have several dozen frames con- 

 taining honey but which have never had brood 

 reared in them. Will these be safe to use again? 

 If not, how can I treat them to render them safe? 



Montana. A. J. Fowlerton. 



Answer. — To give these combs of honey 

 back to the bees after treatment would re- 

 sult in a recurrence of the disease in prac- 

 tically every case, especially if the colonies 

 Avhich stored this honey were badly diseased. 

 It should be remembered that American foul 

 brood can be transmitted largely through 

 honey from diseased colonies. 



There is no method known for treating 

 combs of honey from diseased colonies to 

 render them safe. The only way you can 

 safely give this honey back to the bees is 

 to boil it in a closed vessel for about 30 

 minutes, placing the combs in water, allow- 

 ing about five pints of water for each comb 

 of honey. This honey after boiling can be 

 fed to the bees next spring, but should not 

 be fed for winter stores. 



Wintering in Two Stories. 



Question.- — My bees are now in two-story ten- 

 frame hives, the supers being practically full of 

 honey, but there is hardly any honey in the 

 brood-chambers. Will they winter this way (of 

 course, being fully packed later on) or should I 

 place the brood-chamber above the super of hon- 

 ey or crowd the bees into a single brood-chaml)er 

 w'ith four or five frames of honey? 



Ohio. Paul S. Nichols. 



Answer. — The bees should winter well in 

 the two stories with the honey above just 

 as they arrange it themselves. Some bee- 

 keepers place the hive-bod}' containing the 

 honey below the brood-chamber for win- 

 ter, which of course has the advantage 

 that the bees then cluster in the warmest 

 part of the hive, but there would be dan 

 ger that the bees would use all the honey in 

 the upper story during a spell of cold weath- 

 er and starve because they could not go 

 below for honey. As the honey is consumed 

 in winter the cluster moves upward, the mar- 

 gin of the cluster enveloping some of the 

 honey; so that, if the main supply of honey 

 is placed below, the cluster would norm;illy 

 move away from it as stores are consumoil. 

 If the brood-chanibcr contains eiiougli for 

 Avinter, placing the chamber of honey be- 

 low may work well in Ohio. Fartlier north, 

 where the winters are more severe, it will 

 be better to crowd the bees and honey into 

 a single brood-chamber for winter, 



