70 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



pected that colony would be gone tliis 

 spring and counted on nothing else, 

 but it was not gone and turned out 

 to be one of the best colonies I had 

 this year. 



As I stated this afternoon: One rea- 

 son, I suppose, was that we had such 

 a great honey flow; but in this ca.«e 

 I speak of I had intended to unite 

 with another but did not do so and 

 was surprised to find it in active use , 

 this spring. 



I should take the outdoor wintering 

 every time. 



Mr. Stone — I have wintered in the 

 cellar for ten or twelve years; I have 

 a good room, plenty large for the 

 number of bees I had; I never had 

 higher than one hundred and twenty 

 colonies, and I could get them all in 

 there, and I didn't think I would ever 

 need any bigger room. I never wanted 

 an out apiary because I never had the 

 time to spend with them. 



In running the farm, (we have not a 

 very large farm, one-quarter section,) 

 I had enough to do running that and 

 attending to that number of bees, but 

 we had to have, with that number of 

 bees in the room, a ventilator at the 

 window. 



We made a ventilator considerably 

 longer than the window and the bees 

 got plenty of air; there was always 

 good air in there, and we kept the 

 temperature as we wanted it when it 

 was cool outside. 



I had pretty good luck. I noted, 

 if a hive was very light, that it would 

 winter through but woul^ die in the 

 early spring if we didn't feed it. 



After running that way for a time 

 I made up rny mind to winter out of 

 doors; I like it best outdoors; except 

 ojie winter I was not fixed for it; I 

 had not packed them — and that taught 

 me I had better pack them. 



Light swarms go through all right 

 outdoors, and then, by early attention 

 in the spring, they come out all right 

 — so I have made up my mind that it 

 is best to winter outside, here. 



Mr. Bender — My experience has been 

 the opposite. I wintered twelve years 

 outdoors and had continuous losses, al- 

 though I packed them as I should. 



I wintered six years in the cellar 

 and had practically no losses, two or 

 three per cent; so I am in favor of 

 cellar wintering — Langstroth hive, 

 eight- or ten-frame. 



President Baxter — It depends upon 

 hives and other conditions. 



Mr. Seastream — I have been winter- 

 ing in the cellar for the last fifteen 

 years I guess, straight, and I don't be- 

 lieve the losses in the last fifteen years 

 would average three per cent where 

 the bees were in shape when I put 

 them in. 



We do not go to work and call the 

 hive in good shape if there is no queen 

 in it and it is entirely too light in 

 brood. 



If a hive was in middling fair shape, 

 I don't believe I ever lost one. 



There are times when I was both- 

 ered with dysentery in the spring 

 pretty bad but as soon as possible I 

 got them out for a flight and in doing 

 so I had considerable trouble in drift- 

 ing from one hive to another. 



There was one time there I didn't 

 watch my business right; I didn't at- 

 tend to business and they drifted so 

 bad. I could have made three swarms' 

 of the front rows when there were 

 hardly any bees in the hind rows, but 

 I overcame that trouble and it didn't 

 hurt me very bad. 



President Baxter — Well, we will pass 

 this question now. We have discussed 

 it pretty thoroughly. 



Question — What should be done with 

 that section of honey that has pollen 

 in it? Should it be put on with 



the fancy or No. 1 honey? 



Mr. Withrow — I would like to ask 

 you if that other question was decided. 

 Xo two seemed to agree upon it. 



President Baxter — You must judge 

 for yourself. 



Mr. Withrow — I believe if you travel 

 around Central Illinois you will find 

 95 per cent or more wintering out of 

 doors. 



President Baxter — I would answer it 

 by saying: Winter out of doors every 

 time in this altitude unless you take 

 the trouble to put them in the cellar 

 during exceptionally hard winters, or 

 the bees are weak or stores poor. 



Mr. Dadant — I want to say a little 

 about the percentage of loss. Doctor 

 Phillips asked about what the per- 

 centage of loss was; I can see he aims 

 for us to have not more than one per 

 cent. 



You will have to teach us better bee- 

 keeping before you succeed in having 

 99 per cent of our colonies in good 



