MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 111granulate as soon as extracted, while other honey may remainliquid a year or more.Q. Can combs containing granulated honey be fed to the beesm the spring? If not, what can I do with them?A. You can give them to the bees, but unless some precautionis taken they will throw out the granules and waste them.Sprinkle them with water, then give them to the bees, and as oftenas they lick them up dry, sprinkle them again.Grapes.—Q. In central California the grapes are sour (notmuch sugar) and my bees have gathered some of this juice, consequentlythe honey has a somewhat sour taste. Is this goodwinter feed for the bees or for consumption? (California.)A. My guess is that it will not be good for winter stores. Itwill be all right for consumption if the taste is not objectionable,and of that you can judge better than I. The same may be said ofallfruit juices.Guards (See Entrance Guards.)Handling Bees.—Q. How warm should it be by the thermometerwhen it is safe to handle bees in ordinary manipulation?A. About 70 degrees. Instead of going by the thermometer, itmay be better to say, don't handle bees any time when they arenot flying freely. But if you merely lift out a frame and quicklyreturn it, as when you want to know in the spring whether broodis present, then it may be safe at 55 degrees or less.Q. I have a colony of bees that I have left outside with a boxcover packed with leaves. They have nothing over the broodframes,but are wintering finely. Does it hurt the bees much toopen the hive in cold weather?A. Sometimes it does a great deal of harm, even to the deathof the colony, to open the hive and disturb the bees when it istoo cold for them to fly. When it is warm enough for them to fly,it may do little or no harm; but when very cold, better not disturbthem unless there is danger of starvation.Hanging Out of Bees.—Q. My bees have been hanging fromthe top of the hive to the ground. They fly around the hive andthen cluster. Only a few seem to work. They have been doingthis for two weeks. Are they getting ready to swarm?A. I don't know enough about the conditions to answer. Ifno nectar is to be had, that may be a sufficient reason for theiridleness. If there is a good flow of nectar, hanging out might bea sign they are getting ready to swarm, and yet they would hardly