114 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



in the production of a larger amount of brood. If, however, we allow that 

 No. 3 reared an amount of brood equal to that reared by No. 4, viz., eight 

 H. frames full and deduct from the amount fed each the twenty pounds 

 supposed to be necessary for the rearing of the brood we see No. 4 ac- 

 counts fully for all the remainder in its case, while No. 3 lacks eighteen 

 and a quarter pounds of doing so. In like manner, on the above su])posi- 

 tion. No. 2 accounts for nearl}' all the honey given it, while No. 1 comes 

 short of it by more than thirty pounds. It can hardly be that the amount 

 of honey required by dift'erent colonies for the rearing of the same (piautity 

 of brood can vary very greatly, nor the amount required by the adult 

 bees for food where the strength of tlie colonies is about equal. At present 

 I see only two other ways of accounting for the deficit, viz., quiet rob- 

 bing and varying amounts required for the production of wax. Robbing 

 as an outlet is hardly to be relied upon: wax production seems more 

 likely to afford some measure of relief. If the table is examined closely 

 it will be seen that the sections given Nos. 1 and 3 averaged much heavier 

 than those given Nos. 2 and 4. Can it be then that the much greater 

 proportionate amount of cappings of the honey to be done in the one 

 case calls for the production of wax for use in the cajiping as to account 

 for the api^arent discrepancy? It may in some measure, and, besides, some 

 colonies may practice putting more wax into a given extent of comb so 

 as to make it stronger and safer. It is plain there are abundant sub- 

 jects yet for investigation in bee culture. Figures may be nuide in differ- 

 ent ways to determine the amount of profit there is in feeding back. 

 I consider the value of the unfinished sections as about equal to that 

 of the extracted honey, say six cents. This would make the value of these 

 two articles entering into this experiment |50.38 cents. I compute the 

 value of the 679f pounds of comb honey produced, at 12 cents per pound 

 which gives a total value of $81.57, or a profit of nearly 62 per cent. 



HIGH TEMPERATURES IN CELLAR WINTERING. 



Aided bj^ the unusually mild winter, and by putting a large number 

 of strong colonies in my bee cellar, I have been enabled to some extent to 

 test the effect of a high cellar temperature for wintering bees. I was the 

 more resigned to the risk supposed to be incurred by making such an 

 experiment on account of a belief that a high temperature induces con- 

 ditions that aid the bees in avoiding much of the ill effects of the com- 

 mon winter disease the advent of which was anticipated on account of the 

 large amount of fruit juices which was g'athered during last fall by the 

 bees. I succeeded beyond my expectations, indeed, beyond my desires, 

 in securing a high temperature, for on several occasions it was with 

 difficulty that I kept it down to 50 degrees by o])ening the outside door 

 during the night. Even with this free ventilation it very seldom went 

 below 45 degrees, and within a few hours it was back to 50 degrees. For 

 a considerable part of the time the thermometer stood a little above 50 

 degrees, but for the greater part of the time at from 48 to 50 degrees. 



The bees were put into the cellar comparatively early — from the 5th 

 to the 13th of November, There were one hundred and eighty colonies, 

 mostly heavy and strong. There w^ere about twenty on L. frames, twenty 

 or thirty in single sections of the Heddon hive and the rest in Heddon 

 hives of two sections. All except those in single section H. hives were 

 stored in the cellar without bottom boards. Notwithstanding the high 



