FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 1«9 



thing makes his sister an equally dull girl. This maxim will apply to grown up 

 boys and girls, long after marriage too, and our farmers and their wives should 

 early learn that it does not pay to work themselves to death simply to lay up a few 

 dollars for the next generation. 



SUCCESSFUL BEE CULTURE. 

 GEO. BLUE, Manton, at WEXFORD COUNTY Institute, Cadillac. 



The first thing requisite to successful bee culture is strong colonies. Now, the 

 question is, How do you make strong colonies"? 



In this question are three very important points: In fact success or failure 

 depends upon them. The first is the condition of the bees preparatory to winter 

 quartering; second, the wintering; third, the spring. 



To put the colony in condition for winter, it must be known and made sure of 

 that the bees gather honey until late in the season, in order to stimulate late 

 brooding. Should there be a dearth of honey flowers in August and September, 

 although the hives may be full of honey, the bees must be fed with honey or sugar 

 syrup, so that they will be able to begin winter with a hive full of young bees. 

 Should there be no young bees after August or September, I will assure you there 

 will be no live bees in the spring, for they will all die of old age, even though 

 they have been ever so strong in the fall. 



Now as to wintering there are many different ideas. But my idea is this: Have 

 a good warm, dry cellar, not a cellar under some building where there is a 

 continual jar and noise to disturb the bees, but a good outdoor cellar where they 

 are not molested from fall until spring. And by the way, this cellar should be 

 made early in the summer, and the door and ventilator should be left open, so as to 

 allow the cellar to become thoroughly dry before winter or before the bees are 

 moved into it, which 's usually about the first of December. The experience of the 

 past winter will in a large degree prove my theory of cellar wintering a success, 

 for we lose no bees in our cellar. 



The hives are placed in the cellar in tiers, three or four deep, with covers removed 

 so as to leave a space of about an inch for ventilation, and the work is complete, 

 with the exception of a good mouse trap or a small dish of meal or flour in which a 

 little strychnine has been sprinkled in case there should be mice. 



In spring the bees should be removed from the cellar, as soon as the snow is gone 

 and the thermometer registers fifty or more above, and placed on the summer 

 stands. 



Then stimulate early brooding by feeding, as before stated, and by the time the 

 honey flow comes the bees are strong and in condition, with our modern improve- 

 ments and with no negligence on the part of the apiarist to make bee culture a 

 success. 



