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GLEANINGS T N B K K CULTURE 



October, 1922 



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GLEANED 



Geo. S. 



LJ 



QU E S TI O N. 

 — -Do the bees 

 ever need 

 more food 

 than the brood- 

 chaiiibev full dur- 

 ing the winter 

 months ? 



J. L. Whittier. 

 Georgia. 

 Answer. — li 

 the brood-chamber is full of honey the colony 

 has sufficient stores for winter, but brood- 

 chambers are not often full. When extracted 

 honey is being produced, too often there is 

 but little honey left for the bees if all the 

 supers are removed at the close of the season. 

 For this reason it is necessary either to leave 

 some of the honey in the supers or to feed 

 heavily for winter. In milder climates, many 

 beekeepers leave an upper story nearly full 

 of honey to insure sufficient winter stores. 

 In the far north where the winters are se- 

 vere or wherever it is desirable to winter 

 in a single story, it is necessary either to 

 feed the colonies run for extracted honey or 

 to put combs of honey from the supers into 

 the brood-chambers before all the honey has 

 been extracted. Even large brood-chambers 

 are usually short of honey in extracted- 

 honey production unless there is a fall honey 

 flow. In comb-honey production there is 

 usually more honey in the brood-chamber at 

 the close of the season. 



Size of Entrance for Winter Packing Cases. 



Question. — When bees are packed in the large 

 packing case should the hive entrance be left 

 % inch deep by the full width of the hive or 

 should it be reduced % inch by 3 inches by using 

 the entrance block? Edwin Helt. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — It is well to leave the large en- 

 trance at the hive and also have a deep tun- 

 nel from the hive to the .outer case. The 

 entrance is then reduced to the desired size 

 by closing down the entrance to the packing 

 case. Some use a tunnel 1 inch deep and 

 some even l^/a inches deep, the opening in 

 the outer case being the same depth and 

 about 8 or 10 inches long. This opening is 

 then closed except % inch at one end, mak- 

 ing a vertical opening % inch wide by 1M> 

 inches high. Some use a block having a sin- 

 gle i/^-inch auger hole for closing the opening 

 in the outer case. In the spring this en- 

 trance block is removed when the bees need 

 a larger entrance. 



Kobbing Out Colony Infested With Moth. 



Question.- — I had moths in one of my hives and 

 turned it up to clean out the bottom. The next 

 day other bees piled in by the hundreds and 

 robbed this colony. What can I do for it now ? 



Pennsylvania. E. F. Holman. 



Answer. — There was no doubt something 

 wrong with this colony, such as queenless- 

 ness, lack of food or one of the brood dis- 

 eases, which so weakened it that the moths 

 were able to get a start. This same weak- 

 ness also made the colony easy prey for tlie 

 robbers. The colony was iu all probability 

 ])rn('ticri,lly worthless before the robbers be- 

 gan on it, so the loss of tliis ccloiiv is not a 



BY ASKING 



Demuth 



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real loss since it 

 would probably 

 have died any- 

 way early in the 

 winter. If it was 

 weakened by one 

 of the brood dis- 

 eases this rob- 

 bing out takes on 

 a more serious 

 aspect, for tlie disease would then be carried 

 to the other colonies. You can tell by looking 

 at the brood-combs whether the colony had 

 American foul brood, for the evidence of 

 this disease is left in the combs long after 

 the colony has died, the evidence being in 

 the form of dark-brown scales lying on the 

 lower cell wall. These scales can be seen 

 by holding the comb in a good light and 

 then tipping the upper edge toward the eyes 

 so that the light strikes the lower side of 

 the cell. In the case of doubt, a piece of 

 comb containing such scales or dead and 

 discolored larvae or pupae can be sent to 

 the Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 D. C, for examination. If this colony had 

 American foul brood, it will be necessary to 

 keep close watch over the other colonies for 

 disease next spring. 



Newspaper Method for Uniting. 

 Question. — Do you advise uniting for winter by 

 the simple newspaper method, or would you ad- 

 vise separating the colonies by a wire screen for 

 a day of two and then using the newspaper plan? 

 Also, about how long before the time of jiaeking 

 for winter would you advise that I unite them? 

 Virginia. J. P. Jones. 



Answer. — It is not necessary to use a wire 

 screen between the two colonies before plac- 

 ing the newspaper between. In fact, it 

 would be a disadvantage instead of an ad- 

 vantage. Unite before cool weather begins. 

 Killing Bees Not Wanted for Winter. 

 Question. — My bees have swarmed so much 

 that they have not stored any surplus honey. I 

 do not want so many colonies. How can I kill 

 the bees I do not want for winter? 



Pennsylvania. Mrs. Stephen Schmidt. 



Answer.r — Instead of killing any of the 

 bees it will be much better to unite them 

 until you have reduced to the desired num- 

 ber of colonies. If they are all strong enough 

 for winter, it will be be better to unite them 

 next spring; but, if they are not as strong 

 as tliey should be now, you can unite tliciu 

 now before you pack them for winter. 

 Moth Larvae in Comb Honey. 

 Question. — I find tiny white worms in the sec- 

 tions of comb honey taken off three weeks ago. 

 What is the cause of this, and how can I store 

 comb honey to prevent it? B. J. Stover. 



Nebraska. 



Answer. — Tliese tiny wliite worms are tlie 

 larvae of the wax moth. The eggs from 

 which they hatched may have been on the 

 honey when it Avas taken from the hives, in 

 which case storing the honey in a moth- 

 proof room would not have prevented your 

 trouble. You can kill these larvae by fumi- 

 gating the supers of comb honey with car- 

 h<m bisulpliide. To do tliis, pile the supers 



