December, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



that they are in prison they will have a 

 sufficient supply of oxygen, but when thoy 

 are excited over being imprisoned they be- 

 come very active and consume oxygen rap- 

 idly. 



Management Suited for Different Localities. 



Question. — Cau you explain to me in what 

 way the management of the bees should differ in 

 California from that iu the East ? 



California. F. N. Chamberlain. 



Answer. — In working out the system of 

 management suited to any given locality 

 the important thing to keep in mind is the 

 time of the main honey flow in reference to 

 the natural period of extensive brood-rear- 

 ing in the spring. When the bees build up 

 to great strength during the heavy brood- 

 rearing period of spring and the main honey 

 How comes at about the time the bees have 

 reached their greatest strength, the manage- 

 ment of the colonies will be similar to that 

 of the white clover region. When the main 

 honey flow does not come until some time 

 after the bees have reached their greatest 

 strength in the spring, we have another type 

 of location. This is the type found in much 

 of the irrigated regions of the West where 

 alfalfa is the chief honey plant. Where there 

 are several honey flows during the season 

 that are of equal importance, each yielding 

 a surplus, we have still another type of lo- 

 cation calling for different management. It 

 will be thus seen that the securing of a crop 

 of orange blossom honey in southern Cali- 

 fornia calls for management quite similar 

 to that of securing a crop from white clover 

 or alsike clover in the northeastern part of 

 the United States, since in both cases the 

 main honey flow comes on at about the time 

 the colonies first reach their greatest 

 strength in the spring. In fact, the problem 

 in each case is that of having the colonies 

 in such condition that they are able to build 

 up in time for the honey flow. The man- 

 agement after the honey flow may be en- 

 tirely different in southern California from 

 that of the clover region, because manj'- bee- 

 keepers in southern California after secur- 

 ing a crop of honey from orange blossoms 

 move their bees to the sage regions for the 

 crop of sage honey. Those who are located 

 where their crop comes almost entirely from 

 sage will find their problem somewhat dif- 

 ferent because the honey flow comes on 

 later. 



Noise Made by Bees in Cellar. 



Question. — Should the bees become absolutely 

 quiet in the cellar? If not, what degree of quiet- 

 ness is considered normal? W. L. Crites. 



North Dakota. 



Answer. — Bees are never absolutely quiet 

 in the cellar. When wintering well there 

 will be a low contented hum when many 

 colonies are together in the bee-cellar. With- 

 in a few days after the bees are put into 

 the cellar they should quiet down so that 

 no bees will be seen crawling about the en- 

 trances, and there should be none flying out 

 into the cellar. The bees should be quietly 

 clustered, and those on the outside of the 



cluster should remain almost motionless, 

 nut being easily disturbed even when a 

 lighted candle is brought near them. Later 

 ill tlie winter, a larger number of bees will 

 fly from their hives into the darkness of 

 the cellar. These are old bees leaving the 

 liive, and if tiie cluster is quiet this need not 

 cause alarm. Quiet in the cellar during win- 

 ter depends, to a large extent, upon the 

 bees having a good cleansing flight just be- 

 fore being placed into the cellar. It also 

 depends very largely upon the character of 

 the winter stores. If the winter stores are 

 poor so that there will be a large accumu- 

 lation of nndigestible material in the bees' 

 intestines, they will become increasingly 

 restless as the winter progresses. 

 Purpose of Metal Babbets. 



Question. — What are the tin rabbets for that 

 belong to the brood-chamber? It seems that I can 

 get along without them. Harold Hanson. 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — The tin rabbets are used to pre- 

 vent the bees from propolizing the project- 

 ing ends of the top-bars to the hive, thus 

 making it easier to handle the frames. By 

 holding these projecting ends a bee-space 

 above the shoulder in the end of the liive, 

 the bees can pass under them and so do not 

 propolize them much unless the rabbet be- 

 comes filled with propolis. Some do not use 

 the tin rabbets, but in this case the rabbet 

 in the end of the hive must not be cut so 

 deep. If the rabbets are cut deep enough to 

 allow for the tin, the frames will drop down 

 too deep in the brood-chamber, leaving too 

 much space above them. 



Leaving Cellar Door Open During Winter. 



Question. — My bees are apparently doing well 

 in the cellar with the cellar door open. Should 

 I leave it open during the winter? ,^ 



Montana. James Spray. 



Answer. — There is no more reason for the 

 light's disturbing the bees iu the cellar at 

 this time than at the same temperature out- 

 side, but it will be difficult to maintain the 

 proper cellar temperature if the door is not 

 closed during cold weather. Becs_ will re- 

 main quiet early in the winter under condi- 

 tions which, later in the winter, would cause 

 great excitement, resulting in many bees 

 leaving their hives. For this reason it is 

 better to keep the cellar dark, especially 

 during the latter part of the winter. 



Saving Unsealed Honey for Spring Feeding. 



Question. — I have some brood-combs filled with 

 honey which is not capped over. Should I use 

 these to feed the bees in the spring? 



Idaho. N. C. Larson. 



Answer.— If these combs can be kept un- 

 til spring without granulating they will be 

 excellent for feeding the bees at that time. 

 Thev sliould be kept in a heated room dur- 

 ing winter to prevent the honey from ab- 

 sorbing moisture and to reduce granulation. 

 On account of the tendency to granulate in 

 the combs of much of the late-gathered 

 honev of vour locality, it may be better to 

 extract this honey and then feed it back to 

 the bees in the spring. 



