1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



185 



attached should be obtained directly from 

 the Superintendent of Documents, Govern- 

 ment Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 

 Frank Benton. 

 Washington, D. C, Jan. 3. 



FEEDING BEES; WHAT QUALITY AND QUAN- 

 TITY OF SUGAR SYRUP IS NECESSARY 

 FOR WINTER? 



1 have seen in Gleanings many times that 

 it was better and cheaper to extract the hon- 

 ey and feed sugar; but I do not think I have 

 ever seen any answer to the following ques- 

 tions: 



1. If 20 lbs. of sugar be dissolved in water, 

 and then evaporated to the thickness of hon- 

 ey (11 lbs. to the gallon), how much will the 

 whole weigh? 



3. How many pounds of sugar will be need- 

 ed if fed as rapidly as possible to give a 

 swarm 20 lbs. of sealed stores? 



3. What proportion of water should be 

 used for this purpose? 



4. Should any honey or any thing else be 

 added? if so, how much? 



Bennet C. Whitney. 

 Plainfield, N. J. 



[1. 25 lbs. 



2. Depends on circumstances, but 25 lbs. 

 would be safe. 



3. If fed early, feed may be thin; that is, as 

 much water as sugar and often more. Later 

 it has to be thicker, as the bees may not get 

 a chance to evaporate it. 



4. No. Some recommend tartaric acid to 

 help "invert" it. You can save a cent a 

 pound if you buy West Indian sugar in yel- 

 low crystals. It may be purchased in New 

 York.— Ed.] 



WHY QUEEN-CELLS WERE CONTINUALLY 

 RAISED; THREE REPLIES TO THE QUES- 

 TION ASKED BY HARRY BAS- 

 SET, PAGE 1377. 



I notice in Gleanings, Nov. 1, an article 

 from Henry Bassett, asking for an explana- 

 tion "why the bees started queen-cells when 

 he gave them a frame of brood before the 

 young queens began laying." It has been 

 my experience for 35 years that, if you give 

 to a colony having a virgin queen a frame of 

 brood containing eggs they will kill the vir- 

 gin and start cells. Give all the brood and 

 eggs you like before the virgin hatches, but 

 no more until she is mated. 



Montgomery, Ala. D. R. Keyes. 



REPLY NO. 2. 

 It is likely that Mr. Bassett gave eggs and 

 larvJB to the colony with the young virgin 

 queen, so they killed her and started cells 

 every time. I had the same experience sev- 

 eral times when I was new in the business. 

 Generally speaking, it is safest for the aver- 

 age bee-keeper not to open a hive which has 

 in it a young virgin queen. Wait until she 

 is ten or fifteen days old. She is then prob- 

 ably laying; if so. you can safely give eggs, 

 larvas, and sealed brood, but better is hatch- 

 ing brood only If you feel that you must 

 build up a nucleus or colony which has a 



young virgin, give them only sealed and 

 hatching brood. 



I write this bec^ause I have known so many 

 good young virgin queens to be killed be- 

 cause of giving the colony eggs and larvae. 



Reading, Pa. W. D. Achokd. 



REPLY NO. 3. 



Mr. Bassett's case of loss of queens, page 

 1377, is nothing strange if he gave them 

 brood before his young queens began to lay. 

 as I take it he did from what he says. I sup- 

 posed everybody knew that bees with a vir- 

 gin queen will always start new cells if given 

 eggs or brood, and the virgin will turn up 

 missing. I had the same thing happen doz- 

 ens of times before I learned the trick. Don't 

 give the brood until the young queen lays, 

 then you can give as much as you like. Of 

 coui'se, this means unsealed brood of suitable 

 age for rearing queens. Combs of all sealed 

 brood can be given without harm at any 

 time. Why this is the case with queenless 

 bees and not with bees that have just cast a 

 swarm has been a question that has puzzled 

 me more or less; but I have reason to think 

 I have learned the why of the case. 



Marion, N. Y. J. A. Crane. 



WIRE-CLOTH SEPARATORS; MORE PROPOLIS 

 IN THE SECTIONS. 



I have given the wire-cloth supers a thor- 

 ough test, both by having half of the super 

 Danzenbaker and half wire cloth, and also 

 the wire-cloth super alone. All of my Dan- 

 zenbaker sections are salable, with the excep- 

 tion of possibly three or four per cent, so 

 far as having bee-bread stored in them, while 

 75 per cent or more of the wire cloth are 

 peppered with bee-bi*ead. The worst sec- 

 tions had from 10 to 20 cells filled. 



Nearly all the sections were tilled too full 

 for shipping; that is, about ^ inch more than 

 flush. Now, the above is not written to con- 

 demn them but simply to have you know 

 facts. I am satisfied that the Danzenbaker 

 separator can be used in place of the wire 

 cloth, and I don't know why that should 

 not produce Danzenbaker quality. I am so 

 using them, but don't know results. 



I certainly feel reluctant to go wholly back 

 to the Danzenbaker iii its entirety, as I pos- 

 itively believe there is a compi'omise that I 

 can not afford to miss. And as for "what I 

 would use if I were to start again," I wish 

 to say that I think he who is not willing to 

 give up the modus operandi of yesterday for 

 that of to-day, be it his pet accomplishment 

 or that of others, will, in the near future, 

 lose in the race for honey and the ready cash 

 therefrom. Geo. W. Babcock. 



Clarkson, N. Y. 



farmers' INSTITUTES; WHY DISCUSSIONS ON 

 BEES AND HONEY ARE VALUABLE. 



I have noticed at different times in Glean- 

 ings where you advise bee-men to take ati- 

 vantage of farmers' institutes to spread 

 knowledge of bees and honey. I prepared 

 a paper for beginners in apiculture for an 



