THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 275 



me nearly perfect. 'I'lie air is dry ami winter with st)nic success in a cellar 



the temperature remains nearly constant with wooden walls, it in dry sand m- 



at about 4.'! des^rees. t)t!ier porous earth, it does not follow 



I expect to make another cellar next that the same measure of success could 



year, and shall use cement blocks for he obtained in ela\. unless adequate 



the walls, antl a cement i\oor, also ventilation is supplied from below, and 



eight ir.ch cement tile for ventilators. the walls made waterproof. 



While bees ma_\- be carried through Valparaiso, Ind. 



How One Progressive Lady Bee-Keeper Winters 

 Her Weak Colonies. 



MATHILDE CANDLER. 



-»|^^VERY fall when the time 

 fy_- came to begin to get bees ready 

 for winter it was my practice 

 to examine all the hives in order to 

 determine if they had sufficient winter 

 stores and were strong enough in bees 

 to go through the winter. If 1 found 

 a weak colony it was united with some 

 other weak one or with a nearby hive, 

 as advised in my bee-books and jour- 

 nals. 



But now I now longer follow the old 

 guide posts in this respect so closely. 

 Indeed, I united few weak colonies. If 

 1 have any I try to winter them, for I 

 think queens are too valuable to lose, 

 as one surely would Ite, if united with 

 another colony. 



The fact that a colony is weak or 

 does not come up to the average either 

 in the amount of brood reared or honey 

 produced is not always a sign that the 

 bees are inferior or that the queen is a 

 poor one. There are many agencies at 

 work to hamper a weak C(jlony or nu- 

 cleus and retard its growth. The weak- 

 ness may be due to a dearth of honey 

 or pollen at a critical time, or to a 

 scarcity of nurse bees or insufficient 

 bees to cover brood and eggs ; or, 

 there may be too much ventilation, a 

 draft through the hive, mice, ants or 

 something else niav have prevented nor- 

 mal growth and development. 



.\nother season may fmd the harm- 

 ful influence, whatever it was, removed 

 and the colony often becomes strong 

 and prosperous, storing a large amount 

 of honey and may even be the best in 

 the yard. 



One season is not sufficient to deter- 

 mine the value of a queen. Of course, 

 if we know her to lie an old queen that 

 has done poorly the season l)efore. it 

 would be best to destroy her and unite 

 her bees to some other colony. Also, 

 if the weak colony has a small, dark 

 and runty-looking queen she should be 

 destroyed. But I think it pays to keep 

 all colonies having young, vigorous- 

 looking queens even if they are weak, 

 I would give such queens another 

 chance the next season. They're very 

 apt to make good. 



I consider all weak colonies having 

 young queens as nuclei and prepare 

 them for wintering in one of three 

 ways, using the one wdiich seems most 

 convenient. If it is fairly strong 

 though not strong enough to winter 

 alone, I place it on the nearest hive 

 with its entrance turned in the oppo- 

 site direction from the lower one. A 

 good many liees will not fmd their new- 

 entrance now and will join the lower 

 hive, thus making the weak colony 

 still weaker; therefore, I reduce the 

 entrance so that only one or two bees 



