MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 131to your other honey. It yields about the same time as whiteclover.Houses, Getting Bees From_ (See Buildings.)Hybrids.— Q. Is the hybrid of yellow color?A. When the word "hybrid" is used concerning bees, it generallymeans a cross between blacks and Italians, and such hybridsmay have one, two, or even three yellow bands similar tothe yellow bands of Italians, but if only part of the workers havethe three bands, then the colony is considered hybrid. I supposethe word "hybrid" might also apply to a cross between Italiansand Carniolans, or between any two different varieties.Q. Are hybrids as good for honey-gathering as full-bloods?A. Very often they are.Q. Are hybrid bees as good as pure stock?A. Sometimes they are better, and sometimes not so good.But even if better, they are more likely to run out than purestock.Hydrometer.—Q. On page S of the American Bee Journal for1908, in an article on "Testing Honey as to Ripeness," it is said,"it would be a good thing" to "get a hydrometer." What is ahydrometer, and, especially, how is it used? Of course, I understanda "hydrometer" must be an instrument to measure moisture.Still, I repeat the question, what is it and how is it used?A. A hydrometer is an instrument for determining the densityof liquids, consisting of a weighted glass bulb with a long stemon which there is a graduated scale. It is put in the liquid, whereit stands upright, the denser the liquid the higher it stands, thefigures on the scale thus showing the density. If an up-to-datedairyman is near you, he may have a hydrometer, which he calls alactometer.Ice.—Q. If small particles of ice form on the hive-entrance ofa colony that is wintering on the summer stand, is it an indicationthat it is not in a good condition for winter?A. No, there is nothing alarming about it any more than thereis in seeing a man's breath form in icicles on his beard when he isout in freezing weather.Inbreeding.—Q. What do you call inbreeding? Give a practicalillustration.A. "Inbreed," says the dictionary, means "to breed or to followa course of breeding, from nearly related animals, as those ofthe same parentage or pedigree; breed in-and-in."It would be in-