1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



53 



sometimes when it was so cold that the mer- 

 cury was almost down to freezing. 



In Fig. 4 it will be seen why the bees were 

 bunched up and run into the hive. Strange 

 as it may seem, they will all stay in their 

 new quarters; and, what is more, they will 

 take up with their new queen-mother. It 

 comes to pass, then, that, instead of losing 

 these babies as formerly, we can use them 

 for strengthening up colonies in the same 

 yard that are not quite strong enough to go 

 through winter. The plan is so successful 

 that the problem of uniting bees in the same 

 yard, and making them stay in their new 

 quarters, is practically solved. 



It was Mr. G. M. Doolittle who, something 

 over twenty-five years ago, advocated this 

 plan of uniting. He found that, by shaking 

 bees into a wir'^-cloth cage, and confining 

 them in a cool place, he could do with them 

 what he could not otherwise accomplish; 

 but if we are correct he never went quite so 

 far as to take the bees from a swarming-box 

 like this and apportion them out among half 

 a dozen colonies; but both Mr. Bain and Mr. 

 Pritchard have proved that they can do this, 

 although the plan pursued by the latter is 

 slightly different from that of the former. 

 Mr. Pritchard believes it is necessary to mix 

 several lots of bees together, shut them up 

 for an hour, wet them down, and dump them 

 in front of baby nuclei which he wishes to 

 supply with bees. Both Mr. Bain and Mr. 

 Pritchard are agreed that running bees through 

 the entrance is an important part of the pro- 

 cedure in making them stay in their new 

 quarters. To put them on top of the frames 

 will not answer. 



In this connection Mr. Pritchard thinks 

 that a thorough jouncing and shaking will 

 put life and energy into loafing bees as al- 

 most nothing else will. Mr. Bain is not sure 

 that this is so. 



A PROBLEM IN WINTERING. 



BY F. DUNDAS TODD. 



This is the story of a failure, of a two-thirds 

 loss in a mild climate, but of an exceptional 

 winter in this respect when, for about ten 

 days in January, the thermometer was near 

 zero while a very strong wind prevailed, and 

 then followed a decidedly cool spring with 

 the temperature daily reaching almost to the 

 fhght-point, but rarely attaining it. Theo- 

 retically, wintering in such a region as Van- 

 couver Island should be a problem of easy 

 solution, and some years it is so; but there 

 are others when the losses are very severe. 

 Again, different men have different experi- 

 ences in the same season. For example, my 

 nearest bee-keeping neighbor lost 30 per 

 cent; the next, half a mile away, 60 per cent; 

 another near him, 7 per cent; one four miles 

 away, 50 per cent, and much the same way 

 with others to whom I have talked. 



To show still further contrasts, two years 

 ago one bee-keeper, in packing his bees for 

 winter, after putting in the material for one 



hive in an empty super above, forgot to put 

 on the cover. It was a mild winter, only one 

 morning's frost, and that was in March; but 

 there was the usual winter's rain. However, 

 the hive came through swimmingly — not 

 swimming — the bees apparently enjoying 

 the luxury of two entrances, the extra one, 

 of course, being above through the packing. 

 But in the same season an old-time and very 

 good bee-keeper not a dozen miles away lost 

 eleven out of a dozen hives, supposedly 

 through honey-dew. 



The most interesting feature about a failure 

 is its cause, and that is the hardest thing to 

 locate. Looking at the facts in the first par- 

 agraph, an easy-going mind would instantly 

 say "season," and let it go at that. But in 

 the midst of so much failure there are suc- 

 cesses to be accounted for, and so it is our 

 business to eliminate, as far as we can, the 

 common factors, then duly consider the dif- 

 ferences so that we may learn the secret of 

 success. For almost a year I have gone over, 

 hundreds of times, every detail of my own 

 management, considering nothing as too 

 trifling or unimportant compared point by 

 point with other bee-keepers, and feel I have 

 narrowed the problem to two propositions, 

 perhaps only one, and I want to submit them 

 to readers of this magazine for their consid- 

 eration, and perhaps get definite decision as 

 to their merits. 



First as to hives. As readers already know, 

 I at present am experimenting with the di- 

 visible hive, and, as far as possible, have 

 transferred all my purchases into that style; 

 but in the fall of 1908, out of 20 hives packed 

 for the winter, two were eigjht-frame Lang- 

 stroths several years old. The other 18 con- 

 sisted of 6 colonies in double divisions; 12 

 colonies in single division, each division 

 containing eight shallow extracting-frames. 



As is the custom here, the hives were win- 

 tered on the summer stands, but they were 

 wrapped in tar paper — a precaution suppos- 

 ed to be unnecessary. The bottom-boards 

 had l^i-inch rims, the entrance being filled 

 with a block of wood in which was cut out a 

 smaller entrance ^^x3 inches. 



I had started with nine hives, of various 

 styles and ages, but had transferred in July 

 and August to the divisible frame, too late 

 as I afterward learned, since the honey-flow 

 stopped before the middle of July, and there 

 was no fall flow. In the middle of July I had 

 requeened five hives by young queens from 

 one breeder, and a month later I got a dozen 

 queens from a different breeder, and so had 

 17 young queens and 3 old ones. After the 

 final transfer I fed hive syrup to each every 

 day to encourage wax production and brood. 

 In the middle of September I proceeded to 

 feed up quickly, and by the 20th every hive 

 had at least 25 lbs. of stores on hand, every 

 colony being actually weighed so as to make 

 sure. Two months later, just before starting 

 on a trip to the Atlantic States, I weighed 

 several of the hives again, and found an 

 average loss of four pounds, so I felt satisfied 

 every thing was all right. 



I got home Dec. 31, but no bees were fly- 



