MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 167Q. How can I refine propolis and separate it from the wax?Does it lose its aroma when boiled in water?A. I don't know how to refine propolis. I have separated itfrom wax by putting it in a dripping-pan in the oven and pouringoff the wax; but it doesn't make a perfect job. One wouldthink it would work to boil it in water. Boiling water doesn'tseem to hurt the aroma of propolis.Pumpkin.—Q. Do pumpkin blossoms, nettles, common mint,peppermint, snap-dragon, camomile and love-in-tangle producehoney or pollen for honeybees?A. Pumpkins and all kindred vines do, also the mints. I don'tknow about the others.Punic Bees.—Q. What do you think of Punic bees?A. The little experience I had with Funics makes me thinkthem hardy and industrious, not with the sweetest of tempers, theworst gluers I ever saw, and capping honey so watery-lookingthat they are fit for extracted honey only.Q. Have the Punic bees proved a success in this country, orare they still an experiment?A. In the experimental stage; reports varying from favorableto extremely unfavorable.Put-up Plan.—Q. I do not understand the "put-up'' plan as perpages 167-8 of "Fifty Years Among the Bees." On page 168 yousay: "The cover is put on the supers, and the 'put-up' hive isfilled with brood, and is placed over all."If I were to do this I would put a solid board over the supers.Then I suppose you mean to place a brood-chamber of the "putup"hive directly over all. But there would not be any place forthe bees to get out.Should a queen-excluding board be over the supers? Or, if asolid board, would I have to arrange the brood-chamber on topso as to leave an entrance for the bees to get out?A. You have it straight until you say, "I suppose you meanto put the brood-chamber of the 'put-up' hive over all." I thinkthe whole thing will become clear if you note that I do not say"brood-chamber," but that the hive is placed over all, and thenremember that ordinarily when we talk about a hive we meannot merely the brood-chamber or hive-body, but the bottomboardalong with it.To be specific about it, the lower hive has placed on it thesuper, or supers, and these are covered up just as they would beif no other hive was to be placed over. Then on top of this isplaced the put-up hive with its bottom-board and its cover. This,