1142 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



UNITING IN THE FALL OR SPRING. 



I have at present 9 colonies bees in Dan- 

 zenb^ker hives, and do not wish that the 

 number kept should at any time exceed 10; 

 consequently I shall have to double up and 

 reduce down to 5. Can you advise me when 

 is best to do this, and if best to kill off poor- 

 est queen in fall, and put the colony over a 

 bee-escape and a colony that has proved pro- 

 ductive? It seems to me impossible that a 

 Danzenbaker hive-body could hold the bees 

 combined in two if united in the fall and 

 both fairly strong. 



On the other hand, would you advise win- 

 tering all separately, and uniting them in 

 spring when brood- rearing begins? The 

 bulk of clusters would then be materially re- 

 duced, and it should not be difficult to unite 

 then as compared with fall, as I find it is no 

 joke to open a colony in fall, hunt out a poor 

 queen, etc., as the bees are mostly old, and 

 equal to a good fight on slight provocation. 



Another question, do you deem it necessary 

 to hunt up the queen and kill her if united 

 over a bee-escape? Would the colony below 

 kill her off as she descended, in any event, 

 or would there be a risk of losing the better 

 queen in the lower hive? 



I trust the issue is made plain. We must 

 reduce down to five, and then hive new 

 swarms in hives emptied by doubling; but it 

 is hard to conceive of a single brood-body 

 containing two colonies at fall strength. 



It has been a doubtful question whether 

 to winter each on its own stores, or double 

 in fall. One thing is certain — the honey 

 kept in brood-frames deteriorates, or is often 

 of poor quality, and this is rushed up into 

 sections in supers when a strong swarm is 

 hived on the same, say in May or early in 

 June. This has been my experience this 

 year, and has led me to ask if all had better 

 be wintered on their own stores. 



E. O. Orpet. 



South Lancaster, Mass., Aug. 22. 



[Ordinarily the best time to unite bees is 

 after cool weather has come, when there is 

 not very much if any flying. If the bees 

 are to be put in the cellar, a good time to 

 do the work is a day or so before putting 

 them in. When uniting we always advise 

 selecting out the poorer queen and killing, 

 for, as a rule, there will be a choice beween 

 the queens. If there is no such choice, unite 

 the two colonies and let the bees do the 

 work of selecting. Ordinarily there will be 

 no difficulty in uniting a colony in a Dan- 

 zenbaker double brood nest down to one sec- 

 tion—particularly so after cool weather sets 

 in. 



If a bee escape board is placed between 

 two clusters of bees, each having a queen, 

 each cluster would show a tendency to stay 

 with its own queen, but the cluster in the 

 upper section would constantly grow small- 

 er, and in the end the queen would be left 

 alone. Yes, one could unite with the use of 

 the bee- escape if he thought that plan more 

 convenient. 



Referring to your last paragraph, where 



two colonies are weak it is always advisable 

 to unite rather than to attempt to winter 

 them separately. — Ed.] 



WHY DOES MY COMB HONEY SOUR PREMA- 

 TURELY? 



Can any one tell me a safe, sane, and sure 

 way of keeping comb honey so that it will 

 not sour? I have the same trouble every 

 year. It does not seem to make any differ- 

 ence whether the honey is taken from the 

 bees earlv or late, some of it is sure to sour. 

 I took off a super having every cell capped 

 completely over, June 15, four years ago. 

 Within one week it was so sour I had to 

 throw it away. Last year I took off a large 

 box, perfectly sealed. It kept well until 

 January, then became intolerably offensive. 

 This year I removed from the hive, August 

 7, six frames of comb honey, every cell of 

 which was sealed. These frames were al- 

 lowed to remain in a clean super, in a room 

 on the second floor of my residence. To-day 

 I find three of them reeking with sour hon- 

 ey. The other three, and one other frame 

 taken from another colony, and with more 

 than half the cells unsealed, show no signs 

 of souring. 



I have always kept my comb honey in the , 

 second- floor rooms of our house. The tem- 

 perature is agreeable and very uniform; 

 nevertheless my honey sours. Can any one 

 offer an explanation, and give me any ad- 

 vice? I would say, also, that I wrap my 

 pound sections separately in clean paper. 

 The frames I cover thoroughly, top and bot- 

 tom, in the supers, with paper; but still 

 manv of them sour. Perplexed. 



Altoona, Pa. 



[Honey from some sources has a tendency 

 to sour soon after it is gathered. The hon- 

 ey you mention is probably of this charac- 

 ter. There is nothing you can do except to 

 quit producing honey m sections and run for 

 extracted. It may then be heated to a tem- 

 perature of 160, with probably beneficial re- 

 sults. The acid tendency would be checked, 

 and the honey would probably be kept 

 sweet, provided, of course, it were sealed 

 after heating, either in tin or glass. — Ed.] 



HIVING SWARMS WITH A LOOKING-GLASS. 



When my bees start for parts unknown, 

 if I am not at home some of my folks pro- 

 cure a looking-glass, about 12X12 inches, if 

 bees are just coming out; but if they have 

 a start, get a large glass, about 20X24 in., 

 or both. If it is convenient to have a hive a 

 short distance from the old stand you can 

 lead the bees to it, and hive them without 

 any trouble and without killing a single bee. 

 We take the glass in both hands, and give it 

 an irregular motion. This gives the reflec- 

 tion of the sun on the bees a constant move- 

 ment. While doing this, gradually bring 

 your reflection closer to the hive or place 

 for them to settle. By this means you can 

 bring them on bush* s or weeds, and then 



