302 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



dealers. This taunt broke the si-cnce. 

 I doubt, however, if the person who 

 made this fling- really believed that the 

 Review was guilty of such conduct. 

 You may call it egotism, or call it what 

 you like, but I don't believe there is a 



person in the United States who be- 

 lieves that the Review would remain 

 silent, believing- that that silence would 

 further the interests of supply deal- 

 ers, versus those of producers. — Ed. 

 Review.] 



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[Hits ©Hi Prepsiffi: 



HARRY LATHROP. 



^IHE preparation of bees for winter 

 T^^ should really beg-in at swarming 

 time, by the careful forethought of the 

 bee-keerer in looking- after the well- 

 fare of cach colony to see that it has a 

 g-ood queen, and, later, in saving- 

 combs of honey for winter stores. 

 This work can be done after the main 

 honey flow, . v^ the best time to do it is 

 when the bees are easily handled. 



In most cases, here in Wisconsin, 

 extracting combs must be left on the 

 hives for the bees to take care of till 

 about the middle of October, because 

 few are so provided that they can 

 guard against the ravages of the moth. 



It is a happy chance if a fall flow of 

 honey has allowed the bees to gradu- 

 ally fill the brood chambers as brood 

 rearing ceases. I often have this con- 

 dition on my field's, as there is usually 

 an abundance of autumn flowers, such 

 as asters, goldenrod, sunflowers, etc.; 

 but sometimes these flowers fail to 

 yield hone3' owing to weather condi- 

 tions, and then October finds the brood 

 chambers nearly empty. What is to be 

 done? Change combs, slipping below 

 as many full combs of honey as you 

 can, and supplement with sugar syrup 

 fed in pans or crocks in the upper 

 story, using green grass or excelsior 



to keep the bees from drowning in the 

 pans. 



If some of the extracting combs con- 

 tain a little honey, uncap it and hang 

 it in an upper story over a colony that 

 needs more stores. Place a carpet or 

 quilt having a small hole in it, or a 

 corner turned back, over the brood 

 combs, so that the bees will carry 

 down the honey. Some colonies per- 

 sistently stick to a set of extracting 

 combs in the fall. I uncover such dur- 

 ing a cool night and early in the morn- 

 ing, when the cluster is contracted, 

 take away what combs I can, and 

 repeat the operation till I get them all 

 off. When a cool spell occurs in Octo- 

 ber one can sometimes strip a yard 

 down to the brood chambers verj' 

 easily, as in most of the hives all the 

 bees will be below; that is, if queen ex- 

 cluders have been used, and I always 

 use them. 



I would like to winter a good many 

 double brood chambers, that is, two- 

 eight frame stories, the upper one to be 

 nearly solid honeys but the^' are hard 

 to handle and take up too much room 

 in the cellar. 



As fast as the combs are clean and 

 dry, place them in supers and stack in 

 a safe place. They may be stacked in 



