36 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



W^itb Replies thereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department In less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the Journal. If you are 

 in a " hurry " for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Feedini Bees i n Winter. 



Query, No. 362.— What is the best way 

 to feed bees in the winter, that are short of 

 honey ? I have 2 colonies that have been 

 robbed of their winter stores, and I wish to 

 save them if possible. — H. W., Mass. 



See my article on feeding bees, on 

 page 741 of the Bee Journal for 



1886.— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Put candy over the frames, and 

 cover it with a woolen quilt or 

 blanket. The bees should be in a 

 cellar.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Give them frames of sealed comb 

 honey.— .1. E. Pond. 



Put in full frames of honey, if you 

 can get them ; if not, use a soft candy 

 made from coffee A sugar and water. 

 Place it on top of the frames in cakes 

 or bars.— H. D. Cutting.; 



Put them into the cellar and lay 

 some sugar candy over the frames as 

 near as possible to the bees. The 

 candy is quickly made, by mixing 

 honey and powdered sugar. — Dadant 

 &Son. 



Make a candy of granulated sugar 

 and lay it over the frames ; or, what is 

 better, use the " Good " candy, made 

 of powdered sugar and extracted 

 honey. Comb honev can be fed in the 

 same way.— G. L. Tinker. 



Pile combs of honey one upon the 

 other, with the sides flatwise over the 

 cluster, until there is enough to last 

 until spring, after which adjust the 

 packing.— C. W. Dayton. 



Peed " Good " candy, or else fill the 

 combs a la Dr. Miller. I prefer candy 

 laid over the combs, if one must feed. 

 I should never permit bees to go into 

 winter with so little food.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



I will let others answer that have 

 had more experience. It is a blunder 

 to have bees in such condition. The 

 time to feed is when they can fly 

 freely— James Heddon. 



I think the very best way is to give 

 combs of honey, either laying them 

 on top of the cluster or hanging right 

 in or beside the cluster. At any rate, 

 see that the bees get to the honey.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



I am now wintering some of my 

 colonies on a mixture of standard A 

 sugar and extracted honey. The 

 sugar was mixed into a stiff mass by 

 adding extracted honey and kneading 

 the mass until it was stiff enough to 

 pack into shallow frames, and these 

 were placed right over the cluster on 



the tops of the frames, and covered 

 up warmly. These colonies had a 

 flight on Dec. 18, and were in splendid 

 condition. Granulated sugar will not 

 answer for this purpose. A few colo- 

 nies fed on the best unrefined New 

 Orleans sugar, mixed as described 

 above, are also doing well.— G. W. 

 Demare. 



Lay a frame of sealed honey on }^- 

 inch sticks on top of the frames, im- 

 mediately over the cluster, and cover 

 with the quilt. Bee-candy placed in 

 the same position will answer, but 

 not as well as the honey. When you 

 put the colonies out in the spring, the 

 same robbers will " clean " them 

 again, unless you are very careful.— 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



Place frames of honey flatwise over 

 the frames, being careful not to chill 

 the bees, by letting the warm.air es- 

 cape. — The Editor. 



Steam in a Bee-Caye. 



Query, No. 363.— I have 15 colonies of 

 bees in a small, dry. warm cave ; but since I 

 put them in, there is steam in the cave. Is 

 this steam injurious to bees? If so, what 

 shall I do about it?— G. W., Mo. 



Give a little ventilation.— Dadant 



&SON. 



The steam results from evapora- 

 tion, the bees causing it in throwing 

 off the water part of their food, and, 

 with me, it does no harm. — G. M. 



DOOLITTLB. 



1 would make some small ventila- 

 tion at the top and bottom, care being 

 taken not to reduce the temperature 

 too much.— J. P. H. Brown. 



The steam will do no harm if the 

 cave is warm enough, and there is 

 ventilation for the steam to get out.— 

 G. L. Tinker. 



If the temperature is high enough, I 

 do not think the dampness injurious. 

 There is probably no better method 

 of removing the dampness than by 

 ventilation.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Probably not if bees remain quiet. 

 Ventilation would remove the steam. 

 The steam indicates saturated atmos- 

 phere, which I should feel afraid of.— 

 A. J. Cook. 



I infer that the cold air rushing in 

 when the cave is entered, caused the 

 steam, in which case it would not be 

 injurious. The disturbance produced 

 by visiting the cave often may be 

 detrimental.— C. W. Dayton. 



Ordinarily, no. A ventilator pipe 

 reaching to within 3 or 4 inches of the 

 floor would help you. If you had 

 given the degree of temperature, it 

 would be a help in answering such 

 questions.— H. D. Cutting. 



Dampness will do no harm, if the 

 temperature is not too low. To get 

 rid of the •' steam," open ventilation, 

 and raise the temperature.— James 

 Heddon. 



It may, and it may not be. If the 

 cause is lack of ventilation (and I 

 should judge it was), ventilate ; but 

 be caretul and not reduce the tem- 

 perature too low, or render it unequa- 

 ble.— J.E. Pond. 



I do not know whether there is any 

 harm in the steam. It may be that 

 upon opening the cave, the air therein 

 being cooled shows steam, whereas 

 any one in the cave before you opened 

 it would say there was no steam in 

 the cave. At any rate I think I 

 should want some provision for ven- 

 tilation, for if the air is sufficiently 

 pure otherwise, I should not be much 

 afraid of the steam. Still, you can 

 tell better about it by seeing whether 

 the bees appear quiet. — C. C. Miller. 



If there is " steam " in your cellar, 

 I think you will And everything drip- 

 ping wet after awhile. The reason 

 that bees will not winter in a cellar in 

 this climate, is on account of damp- 

 ness. In my fruit and vegetable cellar, 

 which is frost-proof, there is a curtain 

 of burlap hanging at an inner door, 

 to keep the cold air from entering 

 when the outer door is opened, and 

 this cloth shutter is sometimes as wet 

 as water can make it. — G. "W. 

 Demaree. 



Though the steam is quite harmless, 

 it can easily be removed by giving 

 very slight ventilation.— The Editor. 



Dampess in a Bee-Cellar. 



Query, No. 364.— I built an addition to 

 my house, 16x20 feet, and it is only single 

 boarded, and a rough floor laid over the 

 cellar. I put 36 colonies in on Nov. 9, all in 

 good condition, and the cellar is wet and 

 cold, so the water stands in drops on the 

 under side of the cover, and the bees are 

 very uneasy. My bees are in one-story Sim- 

 plicity hives, just as they were on the sum- 

 mer stands. What would be best to prevent 

 such dampness ?— New York. 



Not knowing the temperature, I 

 should say it was too cold. — H. D. 

 Cutting. 



See my answer to Query, No. 363.— 

 James Heddon. 



If you can keep the temperature of 

 your cellar between 45° and 48°, the 

 drops of water will do no harm. I 

 should judge that the cellar was too 

 cold.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Keep the cellar warmer. If the 

 temperatute were up to 4o°,rahr., and 

 well ventilated, it would be different. 

 The main thing, I think, is to keep 

 the cellar between 38" and 48°, Fahr. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



You made a mistake in putting 

 your bees into the cellar. I should 

 use a small stove to temper the at- 

 mosphere, and to keep it as near 45'^ 

 or 50° as I could.— J. P. H. Brown. 



In my opinion, such a repository as 

 you describe, is a perfect " bee-killer." 

 I should put a coal-stove in that cellar 

 and keep the temperature at the point 

 where the bees are most quiet. — AV. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



If the moisture is on the under side 

 of the hive-covers, they need more 

 upward hive-ventilation. If it is on 

 the cover of the cellar, it will do no 

 harm. The driest of atmospheres 

 contain some moisture which may 

 condense and adhere to cold surfaces. 

 To prevent the dampness on the cover 

 of the cellar, keep a fire in the room 

 above, or cover the floor of the room 

 with sawdust.— C. W. Dayton. 



