1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUilE. 



2.S.3 



WATEK FOR BEES IN AVINTEK. 



^jOj^URING the past winter, which has been mild 

 Mr)) and pleasant, our bees wt-'iit for water the 

 first thing when thej' could flj' at all; and 

 they often went on days so cold that many were 

 lost on the water when they had filled themselves 

 with cold water. To remedy the loss, we hung bur- 

 lap sacks on the bank of the ditch, part of the sack 

 in the water, which gave the bees a dry foothold to 

 fly from. The nearest water to the bees is an irrigat- 

 ing ditch 3 or 4 rods from my apiary. There has 

 not been a week since Feb. 1st, but that the bees 

 have carried water, more or less, and are at it now. 

 Many lost on water this morning. The winter of 

 1880-'81 was a long cold one, when the bees did not 

 flj' much, and we often saw them come to the door 

 of their hives and sip snow water, and drips from 

 the roofs of the hives, and we ofien furnished it to 

 them by pouring or sprinkling it at the door of their 

 hives. Our experience is, that bees need water as 

 Avell as any kind of stock, and that in this dry cli- 

 mate they must have water for brood-rearing also. 



R. H. Khodes. 

 Arvada, Jeff. Co., Col, April 13, 1883. 



My attention was first called to my hives by sounds 

 from the bees in them, indicating uneasiness. On 

 examination, I found satisfactory indications of 

 brood-rearing, as near as I could do so without open- 

 ing the hives. It being too cold to warrant a disturb- 

 ance of the bees with safety. I Immediately gave 

 them water by filling some flasks, and putting pieces 

 of clean cotton cloth into the mouths of each, a la 

 lamp-wicks, and pushing the wicks Into the en- 

 trances of the hives, capillary attraction conveying 

 the water through the cloth, within reach of the 

 bees. They soon found the bottles, and in a few 

 minutes stopped their "scolding." I have supplied 

 my bees with water in this way once before, my at- 

 tention having been directed to their wants, by ob- 

 serving them search for water at the time of their 

 having a flight, early in March of last year. I then 

 found one colony breeding, and uneasy, while the 

 others showed no indications of brood, and were 

 perfectly quiet. I gave water to the colony that was 

 raising brood, and they were quiet until they com- 

 menced Hying regularly, in April following. As 

 this question of watering bees in winter is being 

 discussed at the present time in Gleanings, I 

 should like to be informed if I am correct in the con- 

 clusion, that only those bees that are rearing brood, 

 absolutely require water in winter or spi'ing, other- 

 wise than what is contained in their honey; or, In 

 other instances, at such times as they can not ob- 

 tain it outside of their hives, except when confined 

 to their hives in hot weather. Jas. F. Latham. 



Cumberland, Me., April, 1883. 



I think j'ou and Mr. Comings hit it exactly. I be- 

 lieve the time will soon come when water will be 

 considered necessary, and will be provided for bees 

 at all times, when thej' can not fly to the brooks. I 

 believe that bees should and can be made so com- 

 fortable and quiet, by having all their wants sup- 

 plied in their hives in winter and spring, that very 

 few will venture out at the risk of losing their lives; 

 and if long confinement makes them uneasy in such 

 winters as 1881 and 'S3, and a supply of water will 

 not remedy that, then I think a room (or rooms), say 

 anywhere from 10 to 15 feet square, warmed and 

 lighted, with no outside windows to let in the light, 



could be so arranged as to put in one. hive at a time, 

 and give them a good fly, and have them all get back 

 into the hive again. "Who will try it, if the next 

 winter is a long one? I think I will for one. 



My bees acted just as j'ours did after the first 

 frost, and once since. They came out as soon as the 

 sun shone ; and though the creek Is not 30 rods away, 

 yet the cold wind would not allow them to\go 

 there, and they went into the grass, and ground 

 close around the hi^'cs, and seemed in such'a hurry 

 I thought at first some disease had got hold of Ihem ; 

 and Indeed, quite a numbergot chilled and lost their 

 lives in their eagerness to hunt water — poor fel- 

 lows ! N. N. Shepakd. 



Cochranton, Pa., May 3, 1883. 



In regard to water, I believe it would 

 pay to have it where the bees can get to it 

 without going out into tlie wind, almost ev- 

 ery day in the year. When so cool they 

 could not fly, of course it must be given 

 them in the hives, if they have it at all. — 

 You can i)ut several swarms in a room, friend 

 S., as 1 have proved. 



CLER<;VITIEN AS BEE-E£i EPEKS. 



AVITH A FEW COXCLUDING WORDS TO OUR OLD 

 FRIEND MR. LANGSTROTH. 



flHE need of variety in study and exe 

 ogniac'd in all departments, in oi 



xercisc is rec- 

 order to the 

 ^^ highest success. No one knows his business 

 or profession thoroughly unless he knows something 

 outside of it as well. Those who pursue a regular 

 routine of study especially, need some little employ- 

 ment aside from their professional course, which 

 will furnish exercise and development for the physi- 

 cal constitution; otherwise they will likely become 

 both mentally and physically warped or dwarfed. If, 

 at the time of securing manual exercise, such an 

 employment can be selected which will yield a pleas- 

 ing diversion, and lead one Into a cognate field of 

 study, and also furnish something very agreeable to 

 the palate, and remunerative to the pocket, what 

 shall we say of the gain? Much every way. Pleasure 

 and profit, exercise and diversion, study and practice, 

 food and refreshment, are all most happily combined. 

 If any one can suggest any one thing that will com- 

 bine all these features more nicely than bee-keeping, 

 according to the latest improvements, I will set my 

 colonies to one side and take It up. 



I am glad to see, among the number of those in- 

 terested in apiculture, so man j' physicians, who must 

 see some points of special interest in the work, 

 viewed from the standpoint of the if profession. 

 There is no one, however, who, it seems to me, 

 could take more real pleasure in some little di- 

 gression of this kind, than clergymen. When I was 

 entering upon my duties as a pastor, I found my 

 brethren each having his little care, some keeping 

 a nice garden, and making a specialty of some ber- 

 ry, others keeping chickens, and reading the poultry 

 magazines with avidity; but It Occurred to me that 

 there was nothing that I would like so well as 6«e- 

 keeplng. There were so many points in their favor, 

 not like chickens scratching my garden all up, and 

 needing to be fed three times a day, and requiring as 

 much attention one day as another, the whole year, 

 winter as well as summer; and if you are away, 

 your wife must do this work, increasing her burdens ; 

 yes, and then often, when she would like to go along, 



