122 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb 2i. 



COITDCCTBD BY 

 rut. O. O. aULLBR. MAJtEHiGO, iLl, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



Wire-Screen Comb Foiiiidatiou. 



Could one successfully use window-screen wire, and cover the 

 mesb with hot wax for brood-frame foundation ? o New York. 



Answer. — If you put the wax on so as to cover the wire-cloth 

 entirely, the bees will probably use it, but it will take a good deal 

 of wax, and would fail of being satisfactory in the most important 

 respect, for the bees would make just as much drone-comb as with- 

 out anything. Don't try it with more than one frame to begin 

 with. 



Swarms Clustcrinjg: Together. 



Should two or more swarms having dipt queens cluster to- 

 gether, would they each return to their respective hives ? or would 

 they go to some hive together, if left to their choice ? 



Hot Spur. 



Answer. — I don't like to answer, for the very first time you 

 have two swarms of that kind left to their own sweet will, they'll 

 be just about sure to do some other way than the way I say. Per- 

 haps in the majority of cases, each swarm will go back to its own 

 hive. That's on the supposition that each one clusters independ- 

 ently, or goes back to its own hive without clustering. They may 

 cluster together and then each one go back to its own hive. They 

 may cluster together and the united cluster go to one of the hives. 

 They may go together or separately to some other hive from which 

 a swarm had lately issued, and where a lot of returning bees are 

 making a loud call. They may break all up and go all sorts of 

 ways. You see I put in that "all sorts of ways" to cover some new 

 way that your bees will invent. 



Loss in Weiglit in Wintering 



I have 25 colonies of bees. I weighed them Sept. 27, 1897. and 

 part of them again Jan. 8, 1S08, and I would like very much to 

 know where part of the weight has gone. Below 1 give the weights 

 of two lots in pounds — weight given being of the bees and combs: 

 Sept. 37th. Jan. Sth. Loss. 



No. 2 5;\- 4712 63^ 



No. 3 55% 49' 6% 



No. 7 26K 301^ 6 



No. 17 37 30K 61-^ 



No. 19 MM 27 ' 7}i 



Average 



Total loss, 33 loss.6 3-5 

 This lot had all natural stores. In the following lot the figures 

 in the third column represent the amount of syrup fed during two 

 weeks in October; 



Wt. Sept. 27. Amt. Fed. Wt. Jan. 8. Loss. 



No. 4 12 17% na 17K 



No. 8 18 12 16 14 



No.13 12 20 7M 24K 



No.lB 24 8 20}^ IIM 



No. 20 15% 15 I8I4 12W 



No. 21 23 7K 25W 5 



No. 22 16K 15 ' 21 lOX 



No.23 32 8 IBJi 13% 



No. 34 24 6 1934 10% 



No. 25 24 7 213-4 9% Av. 



loss. 



Total loss, 129% 13 

 The syrup fed was made by stirring granulated sugar in boil- 

 ing water, equal parts of each by weight, and adding three pounds 

 of honey to each gallon. Each colony was given the full allowance 

 at one time in a Miller feeder, late in the evening. 



They are all on the summer stands, with a cushion filled with 

 oats four inches thick on top. Part of those fed are contracted to 

 five frames. They are in Simplicity and Danzenbaker hives. Can 

 you give any reason why those fed have lost nearly twice as much 

 as those not fed ? 



I watcht pretty closely, and do not think there was much 

 robbing done. They are all strong in bees, as I took 13 colonies 

 out of a neighbor's box-hives (he was going to brimstone them) in 

 September, and gave plenty of bees to all that were at all weak. 



Iowa. 

 Answer. — Your problem is a very interesting one, and you are 

 entitled to no little credit for taking such accurate observations. 

 I am not sure how much satisfaction I can give by way of an 

 answer. Suppose we consider the case of No. 13— the one to which 

 mest was fed, and the one that suffered the largest loss, apparently 

 disproportionately large. It lost about 18 pounds more than those 

 that were fed. The supposition is that the bees evaporated the 



syrup till it was as thick as honey. The amount of water in honey 

 varies very much, some honey having only about 12 per cent, of 

 water, while other samples contain as much as 25 per cent. It is 

 likely the syrup was reduced till it contained 18 or 30 per cent, of 

 water, say 20 per cent. That would make 15 of the syrup when 

 evaporated, water, or '4 as much water as sugar. The 30 pounds 

 of feed you gave contained eight pounds of sugar, eight pounds of 

 water and four pounds of honey. That eight pounds of sugar would 

 only need two pounds of water, six of the eight pounds being evap- 

 orated. That 6 pounds taken from the 18 pounds of extra loss 

 leaves 13 pounds unaccounted for. I can only hint at some of the 

 ways in which it may have gone. Extra labor was done by the 

 bees in storing and evaporating the syrup, calling for an expendi- 

 ture of force with a corresponding loss in weight. It is quite pos- 

 sible that feeding so much thin syrup may have excited a good deal 

 more brood-rearing than took place in the colonies not fed. and 

 this would make considerable loss in weight. And it is also possi- 

 ble that some wax was secreted, causing a large loss in weight 

 compared with the weight of the wax. You have only confirmed 

 what many others have noted, that in feeding bees there is always 

 an apparently large loss not easily accounted for in exact figures. 



Keeping Bees on Siiares. 



I have an opportunity to take 14 colonies of black bees on 

 shares. What would be a proper share ! Is one-half of increase 

 of both honey and swarms fair ? One party owns hives and bees, 

 the other does all the work, furnishing the best of pasturage. Who 

 should furnish hives. ( r should each furnish his own ? Should the 

 original colonies be kept good in case of death by moths or foul 

 brood, etc.? When is the proper time to count the colonies good, 

 now or in the spring ? Penn. 



Answer — Be sure to have every particular agreed upon and 

 put down in writing. That's not answering your questions at all,, 

 but it's the most important answer you can get, for there's pretty 

 sure to be some misunderstanding about bees on shares. There's 

 no fixt rule as to shares, and it's all as you agree. Much depends 

 on the man who takes care of the bees. If I were putting out bees 

 on shares, I'd be willing to give five times as big a share to some 

 bee-keepers as to others. Depends on what they know, what they 

 can do, and what they will do. Perhaps the most common way is 

 to have each furnish half hives for increase, and take half the in- 

 crease and half the honey, counting out the original number as 

 belonging the original owner. You can tell better about the colo- 

 nies by counting in spring, but that's just as you agree. 



Hive Dimensions — Rnnning Out-Apiaries. 



1. Please give a description of the hive you use. Give length 

 and depth of frames, how many and what style. 



3. Can an out-apiary be run for comb honey without an 

 attendant during the swarming period ? Or in other words, can 

 one person manage two apiaries, they being several miles apart ? 



Subscriber. 



Answer. — 1. The majority of hives are S-frame, having frames 

 18x9 inches. But I would'nt advise any one to use a frame of this 

 size, for altho it varies not more than V of an inch from regular 

 size, and is perhaps just as good, still it is an odd size, and on that 

 account not so good. My later hives, and the ones I am getting as 

 fast as I need new ones, are the regular 8-frame dovetailed hives, 

 with frames of what may be called standard size, 17^x93^, outside 

 measure. Top-bars of frames are l^x'^. 



2. Yes, it the apiaries are small enough, one person can run 

 several. Of course he must manage to have some kind of control 

 of natural swarming. 



Building Combs on Wired Frames, Etc. 



I have two colonies, one a prime or first and large swarm, and 

 the other a second swarm (which was small) from the parent hive. 

 I bought two chaff hives and a lot of other things of a lady who 

 once had bees. The frames were not wired, and I was told to 

 wire them. I did so. I did not know how many frames ought to 

 go into the hive, so I put in one eight and the other nine. They 

 were from 1. J to %' inches apart at the top. Now. I was told to 

 wire these frames by crossing the wire diagonally in the center, in 

 order to support the comb and honey. When the bees went to 

 work they made comb on each side of the wire, one piece of comb 

 interlacing another, and one frame also interlacing the other. 

 Some frames had as many as three different pieces of comb, one 

 piece on one side of the wire and two on the other, and so mixt up 

 that it was impossible to take out a frame without breaking and 

 tearing the comb. I took some of them off, also a few pieces that 

 were made from the quilt down in between the frames. What was 

 the trouble '. Was the wire put in wrong, or was it too thick ? It 

 was common annealed wire, such as is used for picture-hanging. 



I straightened out the combs as best I could, as 1 was anxious 

 to save the bees and let them go at that, so they could gather 

 enough for winter stores. I think they are all right so far as stores 

 are concerned. What course to pursue in the spring is just what I 

 want to know. Some of the frames were not wired; these were 

 built pretty straight, tho somewhat bulgy. I had some foundation 

 with the hives, which I think is the thin kind for sections; this I 

 used in the frames, putting a strip all along the top-bar; it hung 

 down about four inches from the top-bar; some of it sagged, and 



