1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



667 



CONDUCTED BV 



T>R. C C. JUILLER, AIJUiENGO. ILI.. 



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



Prevention of Sugar Syrup Granulation. 



What do you put in sugar syrup to prevent grauulation ? 



A. B. 



Answer. — Nothing. Formerly I put an even teaspoonful 

 of tartaric acid to 20 pounds of syrup. Now I feed early, 

 using equal quanties of sugar and cold water, and the bees fix 



it up all right. 



ma I m 



Feeding for Winter — Uncapped Syrup Stores. 



I have 33 colonies of bee.s, and they are a complete fail- 

 ure here this year. I have not had a swarm and only one 

 pound of honey, and that was not capped over. I will have to 

 feed them. 



1. How will it do to take out part of the brood-frames 

 — say all but five — and put in the division-board and give them 

 syrup until the five frames are capped ? 



2. Will it do if thesyrup is notcapped over ? J.M. T. 

 Valley Head, W. Va. Sept. 24. 



Answers. — 1. It may do all right if the colonies are not 

 too strong to stand so much crowding, but if very strong there 

 is no law against leaving them more than five frames. 



2. Not so well. Still they may get along all right with a 

 good deal of uncapped stores. 



What About Alfalfa for Honey in the East ? 



I have seen quite a number of short paragraphs in the 

 bee-papers of late (and from you, among others) to the effect 

 that alfalfa is turning out to be a good hay crop much farther 

 east than was supposed, but I have not seen anything about 

 bees working it when grown in the East. How about this ? 

 Do bees work it in the East ? H. P. 



Ben Avon, Pa. 



Answer. — A very pertinent question, and I don't know 

 the answer. I never saw a field in bloom but once, and then 

 for a short time, and 1 didn't see a bee on it, and I don't re- 

 member seeing any statement that bees worked on it as far 

 east as Illinois. For all that, they may do so, and I'd like to 

 see reports from those who have had experience. 



Top Hive-Ventilation in Winter. 



Since my letter of the 21st I have thought of something 

 more I wish to say. I saw in one of the copies of the Bee- 

 Journal that a man speaks of top ventilation for hives in win- 

 ter, by boring an inch hole in the top-super, and covering with 

 wire-netting. I have been bothered some by the vapor freez- 

 ing in the form of icicles. Will top ventilation prevent this ? 



Clyde, N. Y. C. A. B. 



Answer. — If there is enough ventilation at the top so the 

 vapor can all pass out, then it will not of course form in ici- 

 cles. Or if there is no upward ventilation, and abundance of 

 lower ventilation, the same thing will be accomplished by the 

 vapor passing out at the entrance. But if the hive is closed 

 at the top and very nearly closed at the bottom, then the 

 moisture that is constantly exhaling from the bees will settle 

 upon the inside walls in the form of ice whenever the weather 

 is cold enough. 



M I ■ 



Letting Bees Out on Shares. 



I would like to put out about 2.5 colonies of bees on 

 shares. What is the proper rule? Will I have to furnish all 

 the new hives ? and to whom will the ones belong that I fur- 

 nish? What share am I to give if the one that takes them 

 does all the work ? or what share am I to get ? G. A. H. 



Answer. — There's no fixed rule about bees on shares. The 

 main thing is to have a very clear and definite understanding 

 in advance, and then get it down in writing so there can be no 

 misunderstanding afterward. No matter if it's the best friend 



you have In the world, there's always danger of misunder- 

 standing. Perhaps something like this is customary: Sup- 

 pose you have 10 colonies put out on shares : they increase to 

 18, and give 500 pounds of honey. You will furnish all 

 needed supers — as sections and hives — and in the fall you will 

 have 14 colonies and 250 pounds of honey. That is, you 

 have the original 10 hives and half the increase, and half the 

 honey. 



Wintering Nuclei without Uniting Them. 



I have four nuclei that cover about three or four frames. 

 Do you think I can bring these through the winter without 

 uniting ? I would like to do so on account of the queens. They 

 are in S-frame dove-tail hives. I thought I would bring 

 them to the center of the hive and put a chaff cushion on 

 each side of them, and an outer-case packed with sawdust. I 

 want your opinion on the matter. D. P. E. 



Francisco, lud., Sept. 30. 



Answer. — Very likely it will be safer to sacrifice a queen 

 now than to run the risk of losing both. Still, if you have 

 mild winters or a good cellar you may come out all right with- 

 out uniting. Here's a certain sort of uniting you can practice 

 without losing either queen. Put a dividing wall in the mid- 

 dle of your hive not more than J^ or % inch thick, and be 

 sure it is bee-tight so that no bee can pass through. Now put 

 a nucleus in one side and another in the other. They'll win- 

 ter as well as though all together — at least they have done so 

 a number of times for me. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Rev. Emerson T. Abbott, St. Joseph, AJTo. 



Do not Experiment. — " I learned that it is best 

 in bee-keeping, as well as in other things, to experiment al- 

 ways on a small scale." — .1. .1. Hardy, in Gleanings. 



This is a very good idea, and in many cases it is best not 

 to do any experimenting at all. Here is where many begin- 

 ners fail, for just as soon as they get a smattering of knowl- 

 edge about bees, and become the proud possessors of a few 

 colonies, they go to trying all kinds of experiments, and it is 

 hardly necessary for me to say that they fail in most of them. 

 If one feels he must experiment, it is better to have one colony 

 to " fool with," and then let the rest gather honey to pay the 

 bills. For my part, however, I am content to let the other 

 fellow do most of the experimenting. 



Cold and Bees. — "At one time I had an idea that it 

 was necessary to have hives with double walls, and filled be- 

 tween with charcoal or saw-dust, but by experience I found 

 that the hives thus constructed did not do well. Cold does not 

 kill bees when in mass. In my opinion the thickness of the 

 hive-walls is non-essential."— Rev. L. L. Langstroth, as given 

 in the report of the first bee-keepers' convention held in Amer- 

 ica, March 15, 1860. 



I am glad to find so eminent an authority agreeing with 

 my oft-repeated statement, that bees in a cluster do not 

 freeze, they sUvrve. I do not know what views this venerable 

 authority in apiculture held lately on this subject, neither did 

 I know until a few days ago that he had expressed the opinion 

 given above, but I am quite sure that time will demonstrate 

 that this view is correct. 



About I.,ived on Honey.— "I have about lived on 

 honey for the last seven years. Honey cured me of dyspepsia." 

 This is what one of our leading physicians said to me when I 

 drove up to his house for the first lime to deliver a 5-pound 

 pail of extracted honey. I thought I was one prescription 

 ahead, and it did not cost me a dollar, either, but it is of no 

 special value to me, as I have eaten honey three times a day 

 for years, when I could get it. As the prescription did not 

 cost me anything, I will give it to the readers of the Bee 

 Journal, as it may be of use to them. I am certain it will be 

 of great advantage to many to eat more honey, and less of 

 other sweets. 



A leading lady physician, in giving instructions to nurs- 

 ing mothers as to diet, says : " Honey, too, of ten proves in- 

 valuable. Eat honey with bread and gems, instead of the car- 

 bonaceous butter. It stimulates all of the secretions." 



