1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



103 



side packing. Does it pay ? or would the bees do well enough 

 without any ? My latitude is a little less than i-O'^. Chafif 

 hives are highly recommended, but they are not advisable for 

 me. 



The American Bee Journal is a great help to me. I would 

 not think of continuing the business without it. 



Kan.sas. 



Answers. — 1. It Isn't easy to say how often it Is best to 

 open hives. Some, who may perhaps be considered extremists 

 in that direction, say they don't need to open a hive more 

 than once in three years. Others may open a hive once in a 

 week or ten days, but certainly not commencing in February. 

 If the bees have been properly supplied with stores the pre- 

 ceding fall, there can hardly be any excuse for opening them 

 before May, and a colony should not be disturbed unless there 

 is some good reason for it. All depends on the kind of man- 

 agement, and yet both ways may be good. It is very prob- 

 able that those who open their hives once a week lose more 

 queens by it than they suppose (hardly as many as you lost, 

 tho), and yet the advantage gained by opening may pay for all 

 the losses of queens. Few, however, would think of opening 

 a hive as often as once a week, and It's a good rule to open a 

 hive no oftener than is necessary. 



2. Your packing over the bees ought to be good, and most 

 likely they will be better off for the outside packing. If I un- 

 derstand you correctly, there is nothing to hinder the rain 

 from soaking your outside packing, and it Is important that 

 it should be kept dry. There is also danger that your bees 

 may not have enough stores, especially if winter should hold 

 late into spring. It's better always to be on the safe side, and 

 too much Is always just about enough in the case of winter 

 stores for bees. 



I don't know which of the three ways of your inside pack- 

 ing is best, but believe I'd just as soon not have the empty 

 frames over. The closer dowu to the frames the cushion is 

 the better, providing there is chance enough for the bees to 

 cross from one frame to the other. 



In all this matter of outdoor wintering much depends 

 upon surroundings that are not taken iuto account. Build- 

 ings, trees or hills surrounding an apiary may make a success 

 where the same preparation would be a failure in an open 

 location with the winds having full sweep.. 



Wintering — Increase — Supers and Separators. 



1. I have 13 colonies of Italians in 12-frame "New 

 Model " hives. I put them in a good cellar with the tempera- 

 ture ranging from 38- to 45^, Nov. 25, with plenty of stores. 

 I raised the hives in front % inch from the bottom-board, the 

 cap being glued down tight. Are they all right? 



2. I desire to increase 2.5 colonies — would it be best to 

 divide in the spring, or let them swarm ? 



3. As I am obliged to make new supers, would you advise 

 me to make them for the '6}ix53i sections, or the 4'4X-1:'4 

 sections ? 



4. What kind of separators are best and cheapest? 



Subscriber. 



Answers. — 1. If your thermometer is reliable it might be 

 better to have the temperature higher. It is not well to have 

 the temperature down as low as 38-', especially for any ex- 

 tended period. But note at what temperature the bees are 

 most quiet, and try to keep them near that point. If the en- 

 trance is only 3-2 inch, that is not nearly so well as an inch, 

 and two inches may be still better. 



2. In any case don't divide till regular time of swarming, 

 then perhaps you will do well to allow what will to swarm 

 once, and divide any that are too lazy about swarming. 



3. I don't know. The new size is as yet on trial, and you 

 might do well to try both. 



4. The probability is that you mean the material of which 

 the separator is made. If separators are nailed on, tin is per- 

 haps the best of all, and cheapest in the long run. If separa- 

 tors are to be used loose, then wood. 



Using Vntiiiislit Sections— Two-Pound Sections. 



1, I notice you produce nearly all section honey, and I 

 want to produce the same. Last fall I took about 400 sec- 

 tions off, and the comb is all right, but no honey in them. If 

 I put them on next spring, will the bees work on them ? I 

 have them put away in boxes, and are all right as far as I can 

 see. 



2. Do you use the 2-pound section ? If you do, and think 



they are any better, I will get them. I don't want to produce 

 any extracted honey. I would rather part with the bees than 

 have the people think I am selling something not honey. 



I see a good deal is said about the bee-moth. I have a 

 neighbor who keeps a grocery store, and he had some molasses 

 that was spoilt ; he put it into a jug and said I might take it 

 to the bees. I did not like to say I would not, when he had 

 been so good to keep it. I took it and put it away where the 

 bees could not get at it, and it soured. I happened to set it 

 out one night, and iu the morning it was covered with bee- 

 moth. I let it stand, and the bees never bothered it, but I 

 had to take the bee-moth off. It lookt as if It would be a good 

 trap for them. Subscriber. 



Answers. — 1. The bees will work on them all right 

 enough, probably preferring them to fresh sections. Whether 

 they will be as good for you depends on whether all honey was 

 thoroughly cleaned out of them by the bees last fall. If any 

 was left in, no matter how little, it will be granulated, and 

 that will affect the honey the bees store in them. 



2. Two-pound sections have given way almost entirely to 

 the one-pounds, and in the general market will not bring as 

 much per pound. It is hardly advisable for you to try them. 



Bees Buried Under Snowdrifts. 



I am wintering 35 colonies in winter-cases on the sum- 

 mer stands, and they are not protected so but what the snow 

 drifts over them so that some are completely burled. 



1. Would it be best to leave them thus, or shovel away 

 from the entrances ? I shoveled the snow away once in Jan- 

 uary, and it came off a bright day so that the bees (being dis- 

 turbed) came out in quite large numbers and fell blinded to 

 the snow, where they perisht. 



2. Would it do any harm to lightly scatter some straw 

 over the entrances ? 



8. Will they be in any danger of smothering where the 

 hive is covered with snow ? Michigan. 



Answers. — 1. Wintering under snow is a somewhat mixt 

 business. Some say they want nothing better, and probably 

 as a rule it's good. But it may also be very bad. If I remem- 

 ber correctly, Doolittle says he had some colonies completely 

 buried that were ruined thereby. The snow kept them so 

 warm that they started breeding largely, and finisht their ex- 

 istence with a severe case of diarrhea. The later in the win- 

 ter it should happen that a colony was completely buried, the 

 later the danger therefrom, not only because there would be 

 likelihood that they would be the sooner thawed out, but 

 because excitement and brood-rearing is not so bad toward 

 spring as early in winter. 



2. You are right that there is danger that bees will fly 

 out on the snow and be lost when the sun shines brightly, and 

 your plan of throwing straw over the entrance, or darkening 

 It in any way is good. Some throw straw or carpets on the 

 ground in front of the hives on top of the snow, and let the 

 bees fly. 



3. There is probably not much danger of suffocating when 

 deeply buried. Enough air goes throueh the snow to supply 

 the bees. There is more danger of suffocation when the en- 

 trance is not covered very deep, especially if the entrance be 

 small. The snow melts, fills up the entrance, then'freezes 

 solid, keeping out all air. 



No. 3— Deacon JonxsiNG — "I wondah how many feddahs dey am 

 on dis heah roost." 



[See No. 3 on page 106. 



Kvery Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 



should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offers on page 91. 



