V^ 6^ 



/p^Jti^^ 



1882 



/ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE^^ULTUKE. 



was hitting him a little, for I think I have heard that 

 he does not winter his bees very well, and so wanted 

 my shadows to hit Langstroth and Quinby; but, 

 friend D., such was not mj- intention. But, to re- 

 turn to the water question. 



From my first experiment and first winter in 

 wintering bees, I can't tell exactly how it came 

 about, but I got the idea In my head, that bees need 

 water in winter, for 1 remember, when a small lad, 

 of seeing my brother-in-law's bees go for water when 

 first carried out in spring, and I guess from this I 

 first got the idea of water for bees while in the cellar 

 or winter rcpositorj-; and as my experience grows, 

 this idea becomes more and more established and 

 confirmed within myself. 



One day last spring I received a visit from a gen- 

 tleman living in the southern part of the town who 

 keeps bees. He had about 40 colonies in his cellar. 

 He related to me that he had taken extra pains to 

 have his cellar very dry, and free from dampness. I 

 asked him how his bees were wintering. Retold me 

 that for some time they had been very uneasy, and 

 one daj', as he was in the cellar, the idea came to him 

 that perhaps Ihey needed more under ventilation; 

 and as there was nothing handy to put under the 

 hives, he took potatoes; and as his hives were all 

 box hives, and very heavy with hor.cy, the potatoes 

 were somewhat smashed, and the juice from them 

 collected in a little puddle of water. The next day 

 he was again looking at his bees, and every hive that 

 had potatoes under, the bees had collected down and 

 sucked up every particle of moisture that could be 

 obtained from the smashed potatoes. He asked me 

 what I thought made them so eager for the juice 

 from these potatoes. My friends, what do yuu think 

 about it? Does this not look as if those bees were 

 very thirsty? I think it does. 



One more point, and then I will drop the water 

 question for the present. About a mile and a half 

 from me is located a bee-keeper by the name of E. 

 Haverly. He has, for wintering his bees, a house 

 partly set in a bank of dry soil. He has it well ven- 

 tilated, and the air inside, when the bees are in, is 

 very dry — so much so that every thing is fairly 

 dusty; 90 colonies of bees were put in last fall; in 

 the middle of the winter the bees began to get very 

 uneasy, and began to crawl out and drop upon the 

 floor in such numbers that it began to look quite se- 

 rious. About the first of March, if 1 recollect right, 

 in the morning of a promising, sunshiny day he seat 

 word for me to come and help him carry out his bees 

 to give them a fly. I went and helped him do so; 

 and upon looking at quite a number of colonies that 

 were nearly destitute of bees, I found lots of dead 

 and apparently starved brood. All had plenty of 

 honey. What Was the cause? I think it was this: 

 That the bees had begun to rear brood, and were in 

 want of some moisture; and as all surroundings 

 were as dry as a powder-house, none could be had, 

 and the bees became uneasy and discouraged, and 

 had left the hives, and dropped upon the floor. Out 

 of the lot, he managed to save about 40; and the 

 most of these were so weak that it took until late in 

 the summer before they could rally so as to be of 

 any use. I believe that Mr. H. has provided water 

 for them this winter, and that his bees are wintei- 

 ing well. 



HOW I SUPPLY MY BEES WITH WATEU IN WINTER. 



As my bees are carried into the cellar, and set in 

 place where they are to remain through the winter, 



each hive is raised up from the bottom-board about 

 l-i of an inch, by means of four little blocks of wood. / 



After each and every hive is in place; the covering, ->^ 

 or honey-board, is taken off; then I cover over the — 



top of the hive with common cotton cloth, or cheap 

 factory; then I lay the honey-board tisbtdown ftpojj ^/ 

 this cloth. After a few days, the moisture fr©H»^^e 

 colony will draw through the cloth, and collect in 

 little clear drops upon the under side of honey-board ; 

 and often little drops, like very small peas, will be 

 on the upper side of the cloth, or between the cloth 

 and honey-board. The bees can help themselves to 

 this water at any time, without any inconvenience, 

 or leaving the cluster, as it is only li, of an inch from 

 the top of frames to the under side of honey-board, 

 and the bees generally cluster over the tops of the 

 frames; so you see that water is always within their 

 reach. When too much moisture collects upon the 

 under side of honey-board, I turn it over, and so 

 keep doing through the entire winter. This water 1 

 have often collected and tasted. I find it to be as 

 clear and pure to the taste as good spring water. 

 Some colonies gave much more moisture than oth- 

 ers. The fewer the bees, the more moisture is giv- 

 en. The cloths never get wet or damp, but are al- 

 ways dry. I never give any upper ventilation. It 

 don't agree with me or the bees. I never have any 

 moldy combs in spring, nor do I carry out any dead 

 colonies, and but few dead bees upon the bottom- 

 boards. I have 25 colonies under ground, covered up 

 tight with from six inches to one foot of earth , with 

 no ventilation (wcept what can pass through the 

 ground packed tightly over them. In the spring I 

 will report how they come out. 



HOW 1 GOT 286 LBS. OF HONEY FROM ONE COLONY. 



The reason that I got this amount of comb honey 

 in such a very short space of time was this: The col- 

 ony had good care, lots of bees, did not waste their 

 time swarming, or preparing to swarm, for the rea- 

 son that they had no queen in the hive, nor material 

 to rear one from, and that they had perfect surplus 

 arrangements. As this was only an experiment, I 

 will not yet give to the public how I managed this 

 way of preventing swarming; but so far it has 

 worked well, and the two colonies that I experiment- 

 ed with gave the largestyields of honey of any in the 

 yard. 



I wish to say, through Gleanings, that whoever 

 wrote to me for information concerning what I have 

 written in this chapter, and did not get an answer, 

 will please excuse me for so doing, as I was then 

 overrun with work, care, and anxiety. 



In Chapter III. I will tdl you how I stir up my 

 bees in winter, and whether it harms them or not, 

 and also something about buckwheat and its culti- 

 vation, and melilot clover. Frank Boomhower. 



Gallupville, Scho. Co., N. Y., Feb., 1882. 



It would seem from the many facts in this 

 direction, that bees do need a little water oc- 

 casionally, when wintered in the cellar ; but 

 I really do not see, friend B., that your plan 

 of giving it to them is materially different 

 from that of a good many others. You sim- 

 ply stop most of the upward ventilation, and 

 take the chances of the condensation fur- 

 nishing just enough and no more. I think 

 this would be greatly dependent upon the 

 temperature and dryness of the cellar.— Your 

 plan of getting an extra crop of comb honey 

 by making the colony queenless at just the 

 right time, is essentially the same as the oue 



