THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



119 



might have given our conclusions myself, 

 but 1 decided to ask him to mention the 

 most important points in the fewest 

 words possible, and here is his reply: 



In papering hives for spring-protection, 

 we have come to the following conclu- 

 sions: First, bees need no outside- 

 prolection in the Northern States during 

 the months of April and May. Secor;d, 

 the only object of papering hives in spring 

 is to protect the brood during cold, 

 freezing weather; notably, at that period 

 (occuring in May in this location) when 

 the colony is low in number of bees; and 

 heavy with brood. If a cold spell comes 

 on at this period, the cluster contracts 

 (unless the colony is protected in some 

 way other than by a single-walled hive) 

 and the outside brood is chilled and lost. 

 This condition sometimes not only brings 

 about the loss of the brood, but subse- 

 quent swarming-out. thus the loss of the 

 colony. Third, that a colony need; no 

 protection, other than afforded by the 

 single-walled hive, except after a period 

 of, say, two weeks of fine weather, when 



the condition has been such that the hive 

 IS filled with brood to a greater capacity 

 than the cluster can cover; this period 

 occuring early enough in the season so 

 that there is a likelihood of cold weather 

 following, with the consequent loss of 

 brood. Having come to this conclusion, 

 we now defer papering until this condi- 

 tion occurs. About two out of three 

 springs, in the past few years, bees have 

 not bred up to any very considerable 

 extent until nearly May, and, by the 

 time their combs were beginning to be 

 crowded with brood, the season was so 

 far advanced that there was no danger 

 from freezing nights, so papering would 

 be of little use. 



White paper absorbs enough heat when 

 the sun shines, and is just as warm at 

 night, or when the sun does not shine, so 

 we use the white. 



The above suggestions on papering for 

 spring protection are intended for 

 normally strong colonies; "weaklings"" 

 or "puny" colonies, are benefited by 

 papering during the breeding season of 

 spring, almost any year. 



B 



B 



Selected Articles. 



AND EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 



m 



5LALLD 5TORL5 FOR 5PRING. 



They are a Good Thing, but it is Possible 

 to Have too Much of Them. 



In a way, the sub-title of this article 

 sounds just a bit like sarcasm — to me. 

 But listen to a good Canadian brother, 

 Mr. F. P. Adams, who writes as follows 

 in the Canadian Bee Journal: 



There is some difference of opinion as 

 to the quantity of honey a colony of bees 

 should have in the spring in order to 

 build up succe^siully. 



The late E. W. Alexander stated that 

 he would prefer to have the brood cham- 

 ber nearly empty when the first fresh 

 honey came in, while many good bee 

 keepers think that it is a sign of prosper- 

 ity if there are several combs of sealed 

 stores in the hives when brood rearing 

 commences. 



There is no doubt that this capped 

 honey helps out in feeding the brood, 

 but its presence in the hives at this time 

 is a serious detriment to the growth of 

 the colony. 1 have frequently seen a 

 good queen greatly hampered in her egg- 

 laying by the presence of capped honey 

 at the tops of the frames and in the 

 frames at the outside of the hive, and it 

 is quite possible to have the frames in 

 the hives so filled with honey in the 

 spring that there is no chance of a colony 

 getting in good shape for the harvest. 



This condition is often brought about 

 by a late fall flow or by heavy feeding 

 to a colony on its full set of brood combs. 



Any ordinary colony will winter well on 

 six Langstroth combs, well filled with 

 honey or sugar syrup, and by contracting 

 down to this number and filling them up 

 well, the honey or syrup is in the best 

 shape possible to be used by the bees. 



When brood rearing is well advanced 

 in the spring the empty spaces can be 

 filled out with empty combs and the 



