THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



(tS^lhiit and goiu. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Light and Heavy Foundation- 



Will Mr. llt'ddou please answer the 

 following qnestions V 



1. In view of the advance in comb 

 foniulatidu, and scaveity of beeswax, 

 would he liave foundation, intended 

 to be put on wired frames, heavier 

 than ti or 7 feet to the pound V I be- 

 lieve the greater weight of foundation 

 made for brood frames was intended 

 more to prevent sagging than to sup- 

 ply the necessary aniount of wax to 

 tmish tlie cells. 



2. I have, late last fall, used sheets 

 of foundation made on the Given 

 press, hand wired, and put in founda- 

 tion ruiniing 7 feet to the pound, and 

 believe that the bees have added no 

 ■wax. 



3. Would you advice the dead bees 

 to be removed fiom the cellar floors, 

 where large numbers of colonies are 

 wintered in one cellar, say once or 

 twice during the winter ? 



L. L. Trieji. 

 La Porte City, Iowa. 



1. We find by experiment that with 

 Given foundation, the bees usually 

 use to good advantage, all the wax 

 that we give them in sheets, Langs- 

 troth size, that run about -5 sheets to 

 the pound. The base is thin, and the 

 side walls soft ; and such a sheet will 

 draw into comb whose cells will be 

 brooding-depth, without any addition 

 of wax from the bees, whatever. 



2. I am not sure but what you are 

 correct in this statement. 



2. While it may not do any good, it 

 certainly could do no harm to so re- 

 move the dead bees, provided you do 

 it so quietly that they are not aware 

 of your presence. 



lis, Mich., carried about 25 colonies 

 through the winter, 3 years ago, when 

 others about him lost heavily. Nearly 

 or quite all of his colonies showed 

 some signs of disease and depletion, 

 except two that got very wet because 

 of a leaky roof. Have you already for- 

 gotten about Mr. Balch's splendid 

 success in the damp, moldy cellar, the 

 same winter of our great failure in our 

 exceedingly dry one i* 



Was it Caused by Pollen ? 



To-day the thermometer stood at 51° 

 above zero, in the shade. I threw the 

 hay off the bees to let them have a fly, 

 as there are only little patches of 

 snow on the ground. I found them 

 all in good condition but one colony, 

 this one the lid had been left off last 

 fall, the cap filled with sawdust, and 

 some hay thrown over it, so it was not 

 noticed : but not enough to keep the 

 rain out. This colony had the dysen- 

 tery badly, while the remaining 64 

 colonies showed no signs of it. Was 

 it the dampness that caused it, or the 

 eating of pollen ? H. Clark. 



Palmyra, Iowa, Feb. 1, 1884. 



I think it was caused by an exces- 

 sive accumulation of fo-cal matter, 

 such as pollen, either solid, or floating 

 in the honey. I am not aware that any 

 such substance exists in water or 

 dampness. Mr. Reynolds, of Cassapo- 



ftueries from a Beginner. 



I am a beginner in the bee business, 

 and would like some advice. On Oct. 

 2, a neighbor gave me two late swarms. 

 I put them together in- a Simplicity 

 hive, and let them settle the queen 

 business themselves. I suppose it 

 was a case of the " survival of the 

 fittest." They had no brood and no 

 honey. I fed them nearly 25 pounds 

 of granulated sugar syrup. They 

 capped part of their stores. I put 

 them in the chamber over the kitchen, 

 where there is a coal fire night and 

 day. I closed the hive with wire net- 

 ting. I see, Mr. Heddon, you disap- 

 prove of this in cellars. Shall I open 

 the hive V They are very uneasy in 

 moderate weather, but are strong and 

 healthy yet, for anything I can see. 

 Shall I give them water ? At what 

 time shall I begin feeding to start 

 brood rearing V Please answer in 

 " What and IIow." I have some out- 

 doors packed in dry forest leaves. 

 They were humming a week ago. The 

 weather is very cold. 



Martha A. Dobbin. 



Lake, N. Y. 



I am not sure that the restlessness 

 of your colony, whether caused by 

 high temperature or imprisonment, 

 will injure it in the least, when their 

 food is pure white sugar syrup. I look 

 upon anything that excites the bees 

 in winter, as having too deleterious 

 effects. It will aggravate dysentery 

 and increase consumption of food. I 

 think there is no dysentery among 

 your bees as you have removed the 

 cause, and the excitement cannot ag- 

 gravate what does not exist. If I de- 

 sired to stop the excitement, I would 

 put them in a cool cellar. 



night. Clear away all land marks con- 

 nected with the old yard ; scatter 

 a few heaps of some old straw or corn 

 stalks about the yard ; get up in the 

 morning before the bees do ; lean a 

 short board about a foot wide against 

 the hive, right in front of the en- 

 traiu'e. so that the bees will have to fly 

 out around it to get out. .Just before 

 they are ready to commence flying, 

 smoke each colony, and drum on the 

 hive a little. Also set the heaps of 

 straw in the old yard on fire, just pre- 

 vious to smoking the bees, and have a 

 grand smuge in the air during the 

 next few hours. This plan will work, 

 even if the bees flew the day previous 

 to removal. 



Moving Bees 40 Yards. 



Will ilr. Heddon please answer the 

 following question in the Weekly BiSE 

 Journal V 



At what time, and which would be 

 the most successful way to move an 

 apiary of 70 colonies about 40 yards, 

 to keep bees from returning to the old 

 stand and insure success ? 



U. W. Sullivan. 



White Cloud, Kans. 



I should prefer such time as when 

 the bees had been confined for some 

 time before the removal, and when 

 they could fly immediately afterward. 

 A good time to move them is in the 



The Granulating of Honey. 



Please tell us through " What and 

 How": 



1. Can white clover and basswood 

 honev be prevented from granulating 

 by sealing it up when extracted, or 

 must it be heated 'i 



2. If so. to what degree ? 



3. Will heating change the flavor ? 



4. Can honey be properly ripened or 

 evaporated by keeping it in the open 

 air or sun, in unsealed cans 'i* 



5. How can I tell when it is properly 

 evaporated V 



6. Can you give me any testV 

 Subscriber. 



1. Sealing up honey does not pre- 

 vent its granulating. Heating it will 

 bring it from the graiudated to the 

 liquid state, but a continued low de- 

 gree of temperature will cause it to 

 granulate again. 



2. Honey should never be heated to 

 a degree above the l)oiling ))oint of 

 water, and not held at that degree any 

 longer than is necessary. 



3. Heating honey will change the 

 flavor, and color also, damaging both 

 if heated to a high temperature. 



4. Honey sometimes improves in 

 consistency by standing in small open 

 vessles in a warm airy place, but 

 while the warmth favors evaporation, 

 it also favoi's bacterious development, 

 which gives the honey that disagree- 

 ble twang. There seems to be no re- 

 ceptacle for honey as good for the 

 purposes you mention as the capped 

 wax and cells, and no place better to 

 keep them than in the hives. Honey 

 is properly evaporated when it is 

 thick, rich and smooth. How thick ? 

 Why, thick, heavy or dense enough to 

 hold a rich, oily flavor. Instrumental 

 tests are not necessary, nor as practi- 

 cal to the producer as a little experi- 

 ence-knowledge. We used tact in- 

 stead of talent in this case, because it 

 can be so much more readily wielded. 



