Beekeeping in the Buckwheat Region. 13 
FALL PREPARATION. 
The exact procedure in fall management will depend on the 
prevalence of clovers or basswood in the locality, which will in turn 
determine the methods of getting the bees ready for the buckwheat 
harvest, as outlined later in this bulletin. In any case, each colony 
that is to go through the winter should have, by August 15, the 
queen which is to head it the following spring. It should also have, 
regardless of the prevalence of buckwheat in any particular season, 
two 10-frame hive-bodies, one of which is devoted to brood-rearing 
and the other one well filled with honey for the use of the bees dur- 
ing the winter and spring. If there is in any year a failure of buck- 
wheat and the upper hive-body is short of stores, the beekeeper 
should see to it that each colony has at least 20 pounds of honey at 
all times from August 15 to October 1 in order that the bees for the 
winter colony may be reared. This amount will, however, not be 
adequate for the winter and spring. The matter of fall and winter 
stores rarely needs special attention in the buckwheat region, if the 
beekeeper leaves enough with the bees. 
WINTER CARE. 
The problem of caring for bees during the winter season is the 
most important that the beekeeper of the buckwheat region has to 
face, chiefly because of the fact that European foulbrood is so prey- 
alent throughout the region. The stores to be used during the period 
of confinement, whether outdoors or in a cellar, must be of good 
quality to reduce the danger from dysentery. These stores will be 
those next to the winter cluster which will be used first; and if there 
is any question as to the quality of the stores, the beekeeper may 
insure good stores by feeding at least 10 pounds of granulated sugar 
in the form of a thick sirup or honey of good quality from healthy 
colonies after all brood-rearing has Coan al (Fig. 3.) Fortunately, 
buckwheat honey is good for the winter period, and unless inferior 
honey is stored after the close of the buckwheat honey-flow the bee- 
keeper need give no further attention to the quality of the honey. 
In the colder parts of the region many beekeepers winter their bees 
in cellars. If this is practiced, great care must be exercised to see 
that the cellar is so constructed that the temperature will be main- 
tained uniformly, not too high or too low. Detailed directions for the 
construction and maintenance of cellars are given in Farmers’ Bul- 
letin 1014 of the Department of Agriculture, to which the reader is 
referred. In a properly constructed bee-cellar (fig. 4) the ceiling 
and every other part of the wall surface must be below the frost line, 
to prevent fluctuations in temperature due to outside changes and to 
maintain a temperature sufficiently high to prevent the wasting of 
70584°—22——3 
