634 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Uniting; Colonies, Food for Bee§ 

 in Winter, Etc. 



Written for the American Bet, Journal 

 BY G. M. D0OLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes to know 

 through the columns of the American 

 Bee Journal " How it would do to 

 unite two weak colonies of bees for win- 

 ter." This is the proper thing to do, 

 for two weak colonies, kept separate, 

 will consume nearly twice the stores 

 which both would united, and very likely 

 perish before spring ; while, if put to- 

 gether, they would winter as well as any 

 large colony. The way to proceed is as 

 follows : 



If one of the queens is known to be 

 feeble or inferior, hunt her out and kill 

 her, so that the best queen may survive, 

 otherwise pay no attention to the 

 queens, for one of them will soon be 

 killed after uniting. 



Having the queen matter disposed of, 

 go to the colonies you wish to unite, and 

 blow smoke quite freely in at the en- 

 trance, pounding on top of the hive at 

 the same time with the fist. When both 

 have been treated in this way, wait a 

 moment or two for the bees to fill them- 

 selves with honey, when one is to be 

 carried to where the other stands, and 

 both hives opened. 



Now select out the combs from both 

 hives which contain the most honey, 

 placing them in one hive. In thus plac- 

 ing in, it is always best to alternate the 

 frames, whereby the bees are so mixed 

 up that they have no desire to fight, as 

 each bee touched by another is a stranger, 

 while their' being filled with honey has a 

 tendency to make them peaceable. 



After the hive is filled, arrange the 

 quilt or honey-board, and put on the 

 cover. Next put a wide board in front 

 of the hive, leading up to the entrance, 

 and proceed to shake the bees off the 

 remaining frames, taking first a frame 



from one hive and then from the other, 

 thus mixing the bees as beforeJ 



After all are in, set a board up against 

 the front of the hive, sloping over the 

 entrance, so that the next time the bees 

 fly, they will bump against it, thus 

 causing them to mark their location 

 anew, so that they will not return to 

 their old place and get lost. 



The causing of the bees to fill them- 

 selves with honey, and the general mix- 

 ing up, has a tendency to cause them to 

 mark their location anew, but it is well 

 to use the board in addition to this, and 

 also remove all relics of the old hive, so 

 there is no home-like look about their 

 old location to entice them back. Put 

 the remaining combs away in some safe 

 place for the next season's use, and the 

 work is done. 



SUGAR FOOD FOR BEES IN WINTER. 



The same correspondent wishes to 

 know "How to feed bees on sugar so 

 they will not stick fast." There are two 

 ways of feeding bees on sugar, one of 

 which is to make the sugar into large 

 cakes of candy, weighing from 5 to 15 

 pounds, which are laid over the frames 

 during winter for their winter stores. 



During winter the moisture arising 

 grom the bees collects on the candy, 

 which moistens it to such an extent that 

 the bees can lick it up, thus giving them 

 a supply uf food. However, during a 

 cold spell, it often happens that the bees 

 fail to cluster on the candy, and the 

 severe cold keeps them from leaving the 

 cluster to reach it, so that starvation oc- 

 curs, which is not satisfactory to the 

 apiarist; hence this plan of feeding is 

 not practiced, only as the bees have been 

 neglected until cold weather prevents 

 any other mode of feeding. When a 

 colony has a few pounds of honey in the 

 hive to bridge over these cold spells, this 

 way of feeding is very satisfactory. 



The second plan, and the preferable 

 one, is to make the sugar into a syrup, 

 which is fed to the bees in feeders dur- 

 ing the warm days of October and early 

 November, so that they can store it in 

 their combs, and cap it over the same as 

 honey. Many think such stores better 

 for the bees than honey, but if plenty of 

 honey is in the hives, I should never ex- 

 tract it for the sake of feeding sugar. 



To make the syrup, I find the follow- 

 ing formula the best, after trying nearly 

 all the different ways recommended, and 

 although I have given it before, I think 

 I will be excused for giving it again, 

 especially when it is known that several 



