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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Wltb Replies thereto. 



[It is quite uselesB to ask for answers to 

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 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

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 them to be inserted here.— Ed.] 



TMn Honey for Winter Stores. 



Qnery 483.— I extracted all my linden 

 honey, and my bees have not gathered much till 

 now, and they are flltint; the brood-chamber with 

 honey from tiokienrod and other fail flowers ; but 

 it is thin on account of eo much wet weather, and 

 very little of it is capped over yet. Will this 

 honey be safe winter food, or had I better ex- 

 tract it and feed granulated sugar syrup ? If so, 

 how many pounds of sugar before it is liquefied 

 shall 1 feed a colony, if they have no honey ?— W. 

 C, Minn. 



I should take the chances of the 

 goldenrod honey.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I should prefer sugar to such honey 

 for winter stores ; 20 pounds of sugar 

 is usually sufficient.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



If bees have good protection in 

 chaff hives or cellars, fall honey is as 

 good as anything for winter food.— G. 



L. TiNKEE. 



If they fail to cap the honey, I 

 would extract it and feed granulated 

 sugar syrup ; no less then 15 to 20 

 pounds.— J. P. H. Brown. 



I think that your honey will be all 

 right. I should not extract it to re- 

 place with sugar syrup, at least in 

 this locality.— 11. D. Cutting. 



The bees have plenty of time to 

 evaporate this honey before cold 

 weather. It is the October-gathered 

 honey which is difficult to ripen. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



I think I should leave them their 

 fall-gathered stores, and keep them 

 warm in the winter.— C. C. Miller. 



I think that it will be safe ; but 

 quite likely you can extract it and 

 teed syrup at a profit. Honey will be 

 honey this year.— A. J. Cook. 



Your fall honey is as good as any, 

 if ripened. May be it will work all 

 right any way. I never knew sour 

 honey to produce bee-diarrhea. Feed 

 15 to 20 pounds of sugar, as you can 

 afford. Wintering in the cellar will 

 require only about one-half as much 

 food as out-doors.— J AsiBS Heddon. 



It sounds strangely enough to hear 

 you talk about "so much wet weath- 

 er." Send a little of it this way, 

 please. We have pretty much given 

 up the hope of ever seeing any more 

 rain here. I think your thin honey 

 will be all right by the time winter is 

 fully come. Such honey would be a 

 "God-send" to our bees just now, 

 and they would winter well on it.— G. 

 W. Demaree. 



1. I have wintered bees successfully 

 on goldeurod honey. It takes longer 

 to ripen it when thin and the weather 



cool, than when the conditions are 

 just right; but if it is nearly all cap- 

 ped before the final cluster forms, it 

 will be all right, in my judgment. 2. 

 Ordinarily about 20 pounds of pure 

 granulated sugar, dissolved to a syrup 

 about the consistency of good, ripe 

 honey.— J. E. Fond. 



1. Fall honey, if well ripened, will 

 do for the bees in winter. 2. From 15 

 to 20 pounds will do.— The Editor. 



VentilatinE a House-Cellar for Bees. 



Query 484.— How can I ventilate my 

 cellar suitable for bees under my house, without 

 laying sub-earth ventilation ? It has a drain, 

 some 9 rods long. The cellar is l2-<x:i(j feet, by 7 

 feet high, divided in the centre by a matched- 

 board ceiling ; one-half is for bees, and the other 

 half for vegetables. I have wintered bees in it 

 the last five winters very well, losing scarcely 

 any, but I cannot ventilate it aa it should be.— W. 

 K., New yorli. 



Connect a pipe with the heating or 

 cooking stove pipe, and the cellar.— 

 G. h. Tinker. 



You may possibly get ventilation 

 enough by running a pipe through 

 into a chimney-flue.— J. P. H. Brown. 



It is my opinion that you can ven- 

 tilate the cellar sufficiently without 

 sub-earth ventilation. A pipe con- 

 nected with the stove-pipe will ven- 

 tilate it. If the bees winter well, why 

 ventilate '?— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Keep the temperature at an even 

 45°, and you need have no fears re- 

 garding the ventilation, according to 

 my experience. — G. M. Doolittle. 



Your cellar is all right— let it alone. 

 If you could use a pipe 8 inches in 

 diameter to remove the impure air 

 from the bottom, it would be a help. 

 — H. D. Cutting. 



A hole at the top would give it all 

 the ventilation that I should want. 

 What made you give us the size of 

 your cellar, and then say nothing 

 about the number of colonies you ex- 

 pect to put into it ?— James Heddon. 



Sub-earth ventilation is best. I 

 have seen windows on the southeast 

 used to ventilate. I know a very suc- 

 cessful bee-keeper who keeps a win- 

 dow open from the bee-cellar all win- 

 ter ; but he fills the space with a 

 screen-box filled with shavings.— A. 

 J. Cook. 



I do not think that any special 

 means of ventilation is needed ; if the 

 cellar is ventilated to the extent that 

 it is healthful, nothing more is need- 

 ed. The fact that you have kept bees 

 safely for five winters, is surely proof 

 enough that the cellar is sufficiently 

 ventilated for the purpose. This talk 

 about special ventilation for bees, is 

 largely theoretical, and is not borne 

 out in practice.— J. E. Pond. 



But why can you not sub-ventilate V 

 The cost is not great, and it is better 

 for anything that is kept in the cellar; 

 and if you have a family of any par- 

 ticular value, their health will be the 

 better for it. If your drain is deep 

 enough, it is a good sub-ventilation. 

 Have a pipe connected with a chim- 

 ney, or otherwise running up, to draw 

 ofl: the foul air.— C. C. Miller. 



The easiest way is to ventilate the 

 cellar by a pipe running through the 

 floor, connecting with the stope-pipe 

 of the room above. That will draw 

 ofl the impure air.— The Editor. 



fill tlie Colonies Winter? 



Query 485.— Some 30 swarms this sea- 

 son were hived on 6 frames, 10x15 inches, with 

 strips of foundation 2 inches wide, and the surplus 

 cases imme liately put on. On examination the 

 brood frames were found from }-^ to ^ filled with 

 drone-brood, and very little worker brood. 

 There was honey In all the frames. Will there be 

 enough bees in these hives to winter 7— J. W., New 

 York. 



I do not know.— W.Z.Hutchinson. 



I fear not. You had better unite 

 them.— J. P. H. Brown. 



I presume so, but if they appear 

 weak in bees, perhaps you had better 

 do some uniting.— C. C. Miller. 



No one can say from this informa- 

 tion. Our bees do not do so. We 

 have very little drone-brood in such 

 cases.— A. J. Cook. 



An examination should tell you, 

 but from what you say I should judge 

 not. You should have known of this 

 state of affairs in July, and remedied 

 it at that time.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I should want to see the colonies 

 before giving any answer. Six frames 

 10x15 inches would be all right if you 

 had plenty of bees.— H. D. Cutting. 



See answer to Query 479. A strain 

 of bees that is inclined to rear many 

 drones, is also disposed to build 

 much drone-comb. Unless the colo- 

 nies are very small, they will winter. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



Yes. Put them in a good, warm 

 cellar, or other repository. AVhy do 

 you not get Mr. Hutchinson's book, 

 and learn how to avoid all that drone- 

 comb V— James Heddon. 



I would have no fears for their 

 safety if the colony is of average size; 

 but I do not know where the brood 

 came from, as you describe it. I guess 

 you will want to put in full sheets of 

 foundation next year; that is, if you 

 have any bees left next spring. Six 

 frames 10x15 inches are not enough 

 for an average colony, if it was all 

 worker-comb. Not less than ten 

 such frames will give sufficient brood, 

 and room for stores for an average 

 colony.— G. W. Demaree. 



From the data given no one can 

 tell, but I hazard the guess that there 

 will be too few bees to winter safely. 

 There should be at least two quarts 

 of workers now, to go through the 

 winter, and be of value in the spring. 

 I should advise a change of queens.— 

 J. E. Pond. 



The condition is too indefinitely 

 stated. A change of queens is evi- 

 dently essential. In a good cellar 

 these colonies might " pull through " 

 the winter.- The Editor. 



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