March, 1913. 



American Hee Journal 



who consider it best to feed sugar 

 only as a last resort to prevent starva- 

 tion, and who plan ahead to have on 

 hand sealed frames of honey to meet 

 any emergency, so that the last resort 

 rarely or never happens. 



Ventilation of the Hive 



We call the reader's attention to the 

 contribution on the above subject, in 

 this number, by Mr. Hopkins, of New 

 Zealand, in answer to Mr. D. M. Mac- 

 donald, of Scotland. 



A courteous discussion between two 

 men as capable as these cannot fail to 

 be interesting and to bring out some 

 valuable points. Though not wishing 

 to take sides, we ought to state a few 

 facts connected with this matter. 



The contestants do not refer to the 

 same conditions in their experiments, 

 Mr. Hopkins lives in a warm country, 

 37 degrees south of the equator, and 

 made his experiments during the sum- 

 mer. The other, Mr. Macdonald, lives 

 in the north of Scotland, on the coast 

 close to the North Sea, and near the 

 58th degree of latitude north, which is 

 at the same degree as Sitka, Alaska 

 or the southern part of Hudson Bay. 

 Although the British Isles have a much 

 more temperate winter than the same 

 latitude on the American continent, 

 yet it is clear that wintering bees must 

 be a problem there, very much as it is 

 in the northern United States or Can- 

 ada, while wintering bees in Auckland, 

 N. Z., is probably less difficult than in 

 Richmond, Cairo, or Wichita. 



So much for differences in condi- 

 tions and observations. We also wish 

 to recall an experience of ours, already 

 stated in these columns some years 

 ago, but which will bear repeating. 



The winter of 1884-5 was one of the 

 longest and hardest that we have ever 

 known. At that time we had no faith 

 in moisture absorbents. But we tried 

 to make our bees as warm as possible 

 by sheltering them on all sides but the 

 front, which remained open. The up- 

 per story was filled with dry forest 

 leaves, but the ceiling of the brood- 

 chamber remained, as in summer, an 

 oilcloth thoroughly gummed with pro- 

 polis and water-proof. However, some 

 of these gummed cloths had been dam- 

 aged by the bees and were perforated. 

 This circumstance resulted in giving 

 us an unexpected lesson. 



The bees were confined to the hive 

 for months, the temperature in Janu- 

 ary going as low as —20 degrees Fahr. 

 (—29 C.) week after week, when the 

 finest sunshine could not raise the de- 

 gree above 10 (—12 C.) 



On opening the hives, in the first 



days of warm weather, we found many 

 of the colonies with sealed covers in a 

 pitiable condition,the evaporating mois- 

 ture having condensed over and around 

 them. Many of them were literally 

 soaked with the thawing ice-water. But 

 the colonies which had openings in 

 the oilcloth were without exception 

 dry in the brood-chamber, the moisture 

 having escaped into the leaves above, 

 which were in many cases soaked with 

 it. This experience was made unex- 

 pectedly for us, with some 400 or 500 

 colonies in five different apiaries, and 

 resulted in our accepting Mr. Lang- 

 stroth's views which are recorded on 

 pages 351 and 352 of the last edition of 

 our book. We will quote only a few 

 words of the conclusions to which he 

 arrived after the winter of 1855-5(5: 



" /« t/ie coldest parts of our country, 

 if upward absorbents are neglected, no 

 amount of protection that can be given 

 to hives, in the open air, will prevent 

 them from becoming damp and moldy, 

 even if the frost is excluded, unless a 

 large amount of lozver ventilation is 

 given." 



In verification of the last part of this 

 proposition, we have seen populous 

 colonies wintered safely, but with great 

 consumption of honey and loss of 

 bees, in hives which were entirely open 

 at the bottom, with no bottom-board 

 whatever. 



In our climate, in a hard winter, if 

 the entrance of the hive is too small, it 

 often becomes clogged with dead bees 

 to such an extent as to practically stop 

 all ventilation. 



Tlie Ohio State Convention 



As stated in a previous number, the 

 Editor attended the Ohio State Bee- 

 Keepers' convention Jan. 14 and 15, at 

 Columbus. Mild weather greeted us 

 all the way. The contrast of the win- 

 ter weather this year with that of the 

 previous winter is remarkable. An old 

 friend, now deceased, used to tell us 

 that " intensities balance each other in 

 the world," meaning that anything 

 running to one extreme is sooner or 

 later followed by the opposite extreme. 



The attendance was fair, some 40 or 

 45 bee-keepers being present. The 

 same staff of officers was elected, and 

 we must say that it would be difficult to 

 find anywhere a better chairman or a 

 better secretary than the present in- 

 cumbents. Mr. Chas. H. W. Weber 

 was elected delegate to the National to 

 represent the State of Ohio. 



In the report of the chief inspector, 

 Mr. Shaw, it was shown that there are 

 at least 53 to 54 counties in Ohio in- 

 fected with American foul brood to a 



greater or less extent. The sugges 

 tion was advanced that the rest of the 

 counties may show foul brood also 

 when closely inspected. As the first 

 work has been done in 1912, it is diffi- 

 cult to report much progress. But the 

 statements made will awaken the atten- 

 tion of the practical bee-keepers and 

 induce them to be vigilant. 



The cost of inspection has been be- 

 tween 20 and 24 cents per colony. It 

 is proposed to ask for a $3000 appro- 

 priation for this work instead of $2000. 



The spraying of fruit trees while in 

 bloom was much discussed. There, as 

 in many other States, the large or- 

 chardist excuses himself for spraying 

 during bloom, under the plea that he 

 has to begin early if he wishes to spray 

 his entire orchard in time. They do 

 not claim that spraying during bloom 

 is harmless, but that it is more harmful 

 to the fruit to delay until after the en- 

 tire fall of the petals. The convention 

 passed a resolution to appoint a com- 

 mittee to take up this matter and in- 

 troduce a bill in the Legislature to for- 

 bid spraying during the bloom of the 

 trees. 



A very interesting address was given 

 by Mr. E. R. Root on different subjects 

 pertaining to apiary management. 

 Among other statements, he said that 

 honey which is pumped from one ves- 

 sel to another, after the crop, granu- 

 lates more readily than that which is 

 exposed but little to the air. This re- 

 minded us that the granulation of the 

 famous Narbonne honey, which is of 

 great whiteness, is hastened by stirring 

 and beating. Not only does it granu- 

 late faster and more thoroughly, but its 

 granulation is soft and the color of 

 increased whiteness. In this country, 

 where granulation is ratker considered 

 a defect, this method would probably 

 not become popular. But there is no 

 doubt that thoroughly granulated 

 honey, of fine grain, is of good quality. 



Mr. Tyrrell, Secretary of the National, 

 was present and urged the bee-keepers 

 to unite with the National. Mr. Tyr- 

 rell has very winning ways and good 

 arguments. We trust he may succeed 

 in organizing the National on a ra- 

 tional plan. 



Bee-keeping, we are told, is getting 

 more and more into the hands of spe- 

 cialists. The present conditions of 

 disease certainly lead in that direction. 

 The careless apiarist will have to be- 

 come careful or quit. Shiftless bee- 

 culture will no longer do. 



A New Bee Journal 



The California State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association have decided to publish 



