68 



rHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Origiii of Honey, etc, 



Query, No. 189.— Where does the honey 

 come from? Is it in the ground just wait- 

 ing for the right kind of flowers to grow so 

 that the atmosphere can pump it up through 

 them V Is there any danger of its being all 

 .pumped out? Does tlie same combination 

 of elements that makes plenty of honey, 

 also make the sorghum-stalk and the sweet- 

 potato sweet? Did you ever notice that 

 poor honey years were poor sorghum years, 

 and that the sweet-potatoes were not sweet ? 

 I know that it was the case here the past 

 year. An old molasses-maker says that none 

 of the sorghum brought to the mill this 

 year made more than half a crop, and I 

 know that our sweet-potatoes were not 

 sweet, as in other years.— Vermont. Ills. 



I will try and answer this in sec- 

 tions as asked: 1. From the nectar 

 of flowers. 2. Yes. 3. No. 4. Nearly 

 so. 5. I have never noticed any differ- 

 ence.— H. D. Cutting. 



Honey is made from the nectar of 

 flowers, and is as thin as water when 

 first collected. The nectar is a secre- 

 tion by the nectariferous glands of 

 flowers. A proper hnmidity of the 

 soil and warmth are among the condi- 

 tions most essential to free nectar- 

 secretion.— G. L. TiNKi;ii. 



The honey comes from the ground 

 the same as does the milk that Old 

 Brindle gives. It is not unlikely that 

 weather that would effect nectar- 

 secietion might possibly effect cane 

 and sweet potatoes. As I never raise 

 cane, I am not authority on that 

 point. "When the cow pumps all the 

 milk out of the ground, then we may 

 fear a dearth of nectar in the flowers. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



Top-Sloriuff, 



<tnery, No. 190.— I am satisfied that I do 

 not have suDicient room on top for surplus 

 honey, and so I desire to ask whether side 

 storage could be adopted successfully. My 

 American hives have 10 frames, r3.\12 inches. 

 Could I not take out '-i or 4 combs at the 

 beginning of the basswood harvest and fill 

 the space with sections, replacing the combs 

 after the basswood harvest is over ? Would 

 the queen not use those sections for brood ? 

 If 80. how could I prevent it V—E., NewYork. 



The plan could be successfully 

 adopted, and the queen could be kept 

 out witii perforated zinc. Had I such 

 hives I should change to such a style 

 that gave an abundrince of room for 

 top-storing.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Look at Mr. Doolittle's articles in 

 some of the past numbers of the 

 AmekicanBee JounNAL. He makes 

 a success of side-storing. I would 



rather get new hives, if necessary, but 

 by tiering-up you ought to be able, on 

 your present hives, to have 200-pounds 

 surplus room. Is that not enough V — 



C. C. MlLLEK. 



"Wide-frames with sections may be 

 used at the side of such hives in the 

 manner indicated, and perforated-zinc 

 or a slotted division- board used to 

 keep out the queen. I have used just 

 this arrangement with deep frames, 

 but I do not like it.— G. L. Tinker. 



Side-storing can be adopted, but it 

 is not desirable ; unless the sections 

 are carried above for completion, they 

 are not nice. The queen can be kept 

 out by the use of a queen-excluding 

 division-board. I think it much bet- 

 ter to put crates of sections above, 

 and tier up till all desired space is 

 given,.— A. J. Cook. 



The queen would not get much 

 chance here to use the side sections 

 for breeding in basswood time. Queen- 

 excluding metal would prevent her 

 from leaching them at any time. I 

 think that the removal of '■ 3 or 4," or 

 even .5 combs, after June 1, will be 

 advantageous ; and if once tried you 

 will continually practice it thereafter. 

 —James Heddon. 



I should do as you suggest. With 

 me, queens are not as apt to go into 

 the side boxes as into those on top. 

 Eight American frames are enough 

 for any time of the year for a brood- 

 apartment, and 5 would be ample 

 when practicing the contraction 

 method.— G. M. Uoolittle. 



If you have not room on top, " make 

 room ;" then if you cannot get it on 

 top, cut down your frames. You can 

 get honey stored in sections in the 

 brood-chamber, but you do not want 

 to ; at least you would not if you lived 

 in my locality.— H. D. Cutting. 



My favorite remedy would be to get 

 the bees out of such a hive as you 

 describe, as soon as possible. But 

 others will differ from me nbout this. 

 "With the cases I use in my apiary, 

 either for holding sections or shallow 

 frames, jour hives could be " tiered- 

 up " till your bees would have all the 

 room they could utilize. "Side stor- 

 ing " as a system, in a large apiary is 

 objectionable on account of disagree- 

 able manipulation in the brood nest, 

 and additional labor in many ways. — 

 G. W. Hemaree. 



Side storing in American hives in 

 Sections has never been a success with 

 myself. Perhaps it would prove more 

 satisfactory in otiier localities. I can 

 see no reason why room enough can- 

 not be given by tiering up. I have 

 tiered-up American hives 7 to 10 cases 

 of sections high, and found that the 

 bees would work well in the upper 

 tier, if care was taken to protect 

 them by blankets and quilts.— J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



If you use side-storing sections or 

 crates you had better make larger 

 hives, as your hives are not any too 

 large for breeding. We tried side- 

 storing for 5 years on about 60 Ameri- 

 can hives enlarged so as to take 20- 

 pounds on each side, simultaneously 

 with top-storage, and the side-storage 



was a total failure, owing to the stor- 

 ing of pollen in this side honey, and 

 insufficient filling of the crates at the 

 side unless the bees were exceedingly 

 crowded. Your American hives 

 ought to have 13 brood-frames; this 

 would also increase your surplus top- 

 room. — Dadant & Son. 



Closing in Bees i itii Wire Screens. 



Query, No. 191.— What are your opin- 

 ions about closing bees in with wire screens? 

 We use a modified Simplicit.v hive, with a 

 portico 3 inches deep, and when we put 

 them into the cellar we covered the porticos 

 with wire screens, the wire being 3 inches 

 from the opening in the hive. We feel a 

 little uneasy about them. There aie lo 

 colonies. We saved 7 colonies out of 8 that 

 were so prepared last year. — Linn Co., Iowa. 



I am opposed to closing in bees, but 

 if vou keep the screen cleaned oft' you 

 will have no trouble.— H. D. Cutting. 



Wire-cloth tacked over a portico 

 would be less objectionable than to 

 tack it directly over the entrance. I 

 do not believe that either one is of 

 service, except to keep out mice. — G. 

 L. Tinker. 



If the bees remain quietly in the 

 hives without knowing that they are 

 contined, it will make no difference ; 

 but if they discover that they are 

 confined, and begin to worry, the re- 

 sults may be very serious. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



I consider the screens worse than 

 useless; just so much worse as is 

 their cost and the labor of putting on. 

 As a rule they will not effect the win- 

 tering of the bees one way or the 

 other as you have them prepared. — G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



The screens prevent the dead bees 

 from being scattered on the floor; 

 aside from this I do not know what 

 good they do. If they caused the 

 bees to worry, trying to get out, I 

 should remove them. I do not advise 

 their use.— AV. Z. Hutchinson. 



We prefer to put the bees in the 

 dark and leave the hives open. Those 

 bees that go out die anyhow if con- 

 fined. They leave because they are 

 ill at ease. You may always expect 

 to lose some bees that way in the 

 cellar.— Dadant iV Son. 



I have never wintered bees in special 

 depositories, but on principle, and 

 from careful study of the experiments 

 of those who have made it a success, 

 I should advise leaving the entrances 

 entirely unclosed, but keeping the 

 depository completely and utterly 

 dark.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



I was once in the cellat, of Mr. E. 

 D. Godirey, of Red Oak, Iowa, and 

 saw about a hundred colonies fastened 

 in with screens, the only ones I ever 

 saw thus fastened. They were then 

 in fine condition, but 1 do not know 

 how they came out. I wish that he 

 would tell us. I think that I should 

 rather have the entrances open- at 

 least cleaned out every 2 or 3 weeks.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



