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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Replies by Prominent Apiarists. 



[It IB useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries In this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 Bpace for them in the Joubnai,. If you are 

 In a "hurry" tor replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



YmmM Coinl] Honey. 



Query, No. 338.— Inkeeping comb honey 

 until winter, especially if the fall be warm, 

 millers spin their webs on the combs, injur- 

 ing its appearance— often destroy it entirely. 

 How ranch sulphur or brimstone must be 

 used to every 1,000 cubic feet of space, and 

 how burned or applied ?— J. C. 



A heaping table-spoonful will be 

 suflBcieut for 1,000 cubic feet of space. 

 The room should be perfectly tight. 

 The sulphur can be placed on live 

 coals in an iron vessel.— J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



Bum the sulphur in a smoker. We 

 cannot say how much is needed, but 

 it must be used plentifully, and yet 

 not enough to turn thepropoUs green. 

 Practice in this is better than theory. 

 —Dad ANT & Son. 



I use about one-fourth of a pound 

 to every 2,000 cubic feet. To apply, 

 put some ashes in an iron kettle, and 

 on the ashes place some live coals, 

 then pour the sulphur on the coals.- 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



The comb should be hung on frames 

 in a close room, and enough sulphur 

 burned therein to completely till the 

 room with its fumes. One-fourth of 

 a pound would be sufficient to thor- 

 oughly fumigate a room 8 to 10 feet 

 square.— .J. E. Pond, Ju. 



In a room 8 feet square I use }^ of a 

 pound of sulphur. Put some ashes 

 in the bottom of an iron kettle, heat 

 an iron " red hot," put it in the ket- 

 tle, lay on the sulphur, put an iron 

 plate on top of tlie kettle, hang it in 

 the top of the room ; " get out," and 

 close the door. After the sulphur has 

 done its work, thoroughly ventilate. 

 — H. D. Cutting. 



Use one pound of sulphnr for 1,000 

 cubical feet of space. Put some ashes 

 in a kettle, then put in the sulphur, 

 and hang the kettle up near the top 

 of the room. Heat a piece of iron to 

 a white heat, drop it in the kettle and 

 then close the door. Have the honey 

 so arranged that the fumes can gain 

 access to it.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



There is no trouble in keeping 

 comb honey in a warm upper room 

 indefinitely if there is no pollen in 

 the combs. The sections should be 

 held up to the sunlight, and those 

 containing pollen placed by them- 

 selves and sulphured if need be. 



Using wide sections and avoiding 

 very shallow brood-chambers will 

 remedy the trouble from bee- bread so 

 that not one section in a hundred will 

 have to be selected out. Bee-bread 

 is as essential in the development of 

 the moth-worm as the bee-larvie, and 

 no pains should be spared to keep it 

 out of the sections. Very unpleas- 

 ant results have happened from plac- 

 ing comb honey upon the market con- 

 taining it.— G. L. Tinker. 



1 would not use sulphur at all. If I 

 had bees that would allow such work 

 by millers, I would re-queen them by 

 better blood. If I had honey from 

 such bees, I would go over each sec- 

 tion and pick out all worms and 

 webs, and approaching cool weather 

 will do the rest.- James Hbddon. 



Sulphur is cheap. Use enough to 

 fill the space densely with fumes. It 

 can be done by placing sulphur on 

 live coals, or in a smoker well lighted. 

 We have only to burn our sulphur in 

 a confined space where the combs are 

 placed. The closer the confinement 

 the better.— A. J. Cook. 



Try 2 pounds to 1,000 square feet of 

 comb, and if it does not green any of 

 the comb it may be all right. If the 

 room is full of honey I think it will 

 need less sulphur than the same room 

 with a little honey. Put the sulphur 

 in some iron vessel placed in another 

 vessel to make it safe, stick a match 

 in the sulphur and light it.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



The millers do not spin webs, it is 

 the moth-larvfe that spin the webs to 

 protect them from the attacks of bees. 

 If the combs are kept in a light place, 

 and are not suffered to touch each 

 other, and are free from pollen, the 

 moth-worms do not trouble them, so 

 far as my experience goes. In the 

 use of brimstone I burn it in an old 

 pot and just guess at the amount 

 used. Moth-worms do not injure my 

 comb honey when properly managed, 

 its liability to sweat and become 

 smeared being my greatest drawback. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



f iiiteriii Bees in a Warm Room. 



Query, No. 339.— Can bees be wintered 

 in a warm room in a second story of a house, 

 where it seldom freezes ?— Burlington, Wis. 



I should not want to try it.— G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



Not successfully.— Dadant & Son. 



It is possible that they might, but 

 the occasional freezes would not be de- 

 sirable features.— W.Z. Hutchinson. 



If the room does not get too warm 

 at times, they can be. — G. L. Tinker, 



I know that it has been done in the 

 attic of a house in this town for sev- 

 eral years.— II. D. Cutting. 



I see no reason why they could not 

 if the temperature of the room could 

 be kept say at 4-5° or ,50°. —J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



They can, and have been so win- 

 tered, and well wintered, but many 

 have been lost in just such places, 

 and when all the testimony is in, it 



proves such a place inferior to the 

 usual bee repositories. — J as.Heddon. 



I think no one has ever made a 

 success of it, although it has been 

 tried.— C. C. Miller. 



They could not be successfully win- 

 tered in this climate in that way, un- 

 less they could fly during warm spells, 

 as they do when on the summer 

 stands.— G. W. Demaree. 



I have known of such rooms being 

 used with success. So they can be ; 

 but I should regard such a place as 

 the very worst in the world for bees 

 in winter. — A. J. Cook. 



Possibly they may, but I think it 

 doubtful, unless the room is made 

 absolutely dark. Much will depend 

 upon the degree of warmth, and 

 whether the temperature can be kept 

 nearly equable, and say about 42° to 

 50°, Fahr.- J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Keeping Bees on Stares. 



Query, No. 340. — A gentleman wishes 

 me to take 50 colonies of bees to work on 

 shares, I to furnish the land, hives, foun- 

 dation, boxes, etc.— in fact to furnish every- 

 thing, and do all the work, and also market 

 his share of the honey. What share of the 

 increase and of the honey should I get ? Or, 

 in other woi'ds, what per cent, should I re- 

 ceive for my share ?— Defiance Co., O. 



Seventy-five per cent.— G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



Eighty per cent.— H. D. Cutting. 



About 75 percent.— J. E. Pond, Jr 



About 75 per cent.— G. L. Tinker. 



Seventy-five per cent, would be 

 about right, if you had to iucur all 

 the expense and labor.- J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



At least 73 of the increase and 

 of the honey.— Dadant & Son. 



I think where each furnishes one- 

 half of the hives, etc., each takes one- 

 half of the proceeds. Ask some of 

 the men who let or take bees in this 

 way.— A. J. Cook. 



You should liave rent for your land, 

 full pay for the hives, and half pay 

 for the foundation, sections and ship- 

 ping-crates. The honey should be 

 equally divided, the increase to be- 

 long to the one who furnished the 

 bees.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



It would depend somewhat on the 

 locality. I mean by this, that the 

 rental value of bees would be worth 

 more in some places than in others. 

 In an average location I suppose 66^3 

 per cent, would pay you, and would 

 pay the owner of the bees, as he 

 would get I3 of theprofltsfor the rent 

 of his bees.— G. W. Demaree. 



If the bees are now in such hives 

 as will be supplied by you for their 

 increase, I would say that you should 

 have one-half of the surplus honey, 

 and all the increase, you to return the 

 same number of colonies you receive, 

 and at the same time of year, and in 

 equally good condition. The owner 

 of the bees to pay for one-half of the 

 sections and shipping-crates sold.— 

 James Heddon. 



