82 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



there is no chance for them to enter; at least, I 

 usually succeed in stopping severe cases of rob- 

 bing in this way." 



" Manum, do you use the Hill device over the 

 frames in preparing your bees for winter?" 



"No, Mr. Alexander. I do not. I did years 

 ago use something similar; but of late years I 

 just lay the quilts right on the top-bars. There 

 is no harm, however, in the use of the Hill de- 

 vice; but it is something of a bother for me to 

 use them; and, thinkins them of but little 

 benefit with my small frames, I have discarded 

 them. I received a letter only yesterday from a 

 party who inquires about these top passages; 

 also regarding the spacing of combs for winter. 

 My answer to the last question was, to space 

 the combs 1% to I'^i from center to center. This 

 seems to admit of a greater number of bees be- 

 tween the combs, and I imagine they winter 

 better when the combs are so spaced. How- 

 ever, we all have our whims and notions about 

 many things in the apiary, some of which, I 

 dare say, are mere whims, and of no real bene- 

 fit to the bees." 



"Manum. what do you think of sealed 

 covers? Do you think it'advisable to allow the 

 covers to remain as the bees fix them for winter, 

 sealed tight?" 



" Having had but little experience in winter- 

 ing indoors, I can not answer for those who 

 winter their bees in that way; but for outdoor 

 wintering I prefer to remove the covers, and, in 

 their place, spread over the frames some kind 

 of quilts; and over these, six or eight inches of 

 some kind of absorbent. 1 use dry planer shav- 

 ings. The theory advanced by those who ad- 

 vocate sealed covers is, that the bees, governed 

 by instinct, seal their hive air-tight except the 

 entrance. True enough: but it is far more 

 than the one object of retaining the warmth 

 which they generate; and while it may prevent 

 the escape of a small amount of heat, it also 

 prevents the escape of foul, damp air, which, in 

 my judgment, is more injurious to the bees 

 than the loss of the little warmth which may 

 escape through a well - prepared cushion, 

 through which the foul air will escape to give 

 place to pure air entering in through a very 

 small entrance. The case may be very difl^er- 

 ent, however, with indoor wintering, because it 

 is possible that, in a warm collar, the bees will 

 set the air in motion in such a way as to cause 

 the foul air to pass out of the entrance, an'' 

 pure air to enter in, providing the air in the 

 cellar is kept pure by proper ventilation. In 

 this way the bees may be able to overcome the 

 difificulty; or, in other words, purify the air in 

 the hive in a moderately warm cellar, while it 

 would be impossible out of doors: therefore, 

 while sealed covers may be advisable indoors, 

 it may be bad practice out of doors. I have 

 become convinced by experience, that sealed 

 covers are detrimental to the welfare of the 

 bees when wintei-ed on summer stands. 



" A few vears ago I bought two colonies of 

 black bees in old box hives, of a farmer. I was 

 to have my choice of ten or twelve colonies. I 

 got them in March; and upon examining them I 

 found one hive that had an inch auger-hole in 

 the top. This hole was open, and had been all 

 winter. A few days before, there had fallen 

 some six inches of snow (these bees were on 

 their summer stands), and I found on each hive 

 eight or ten inches of snow— new and old snow. 

 The warmth from the bees in this one hive had 

 melted the snow directly over the hole, and 

 there was a funnel-shaped hole through the 

 snow, so that the bees could be seen from the 

 top. upon raising the hive from the bottom- 

 board to examine the condition of the bees. I 

 found this colony was the strongest of the lot, 

 and I took it. Again, three years ago this fall, 



when I packed my bees in my home apiary I 

 found I was short five cushions; hence five 

 colonies were left unmolested, and remained all 

 winter, with sealed honey-boards. They were 

 well packed on the sides, and had a good cap 

 (roof) over them; in fact, they were double 

 hives, or a hive within a hive. In the spring, 

 on the first examination of my bees I found 

 these five colonies dead, and a dauby mess they 

 were, while my loss among the others was only 

 3 per cent, and all were dry and healthy. The 

 result might have been different, however, if 

 wintered indoors." 



" I notice, Manum, that you have pieces of 

 tin tacked to your winter-entrance slides (en- 

 trance-reducers) ; what are they for?" 



"They are to prevent mice from gnawing 

 holes through the slides. I do dislike very 

 much in the spring to find that mice have taken 

 up their abode in the same apartment with the 

 bees, as that always means mutilated combs. 



" Now, Mr. Alexander, inasmuch as your 

 principal business is raising fruit and propa- 

 gating new varieties of fruits and seeds, I 

 should like to ask you a few questions; and at 

 the same time I should like to have you see my 

 berry-fields. Let us go to the strawberry-bed 

 first. There, you will see I have three-fourths 

 of an acre in this bed. Here are two rows of 

 Jessies. The next two are Haverlands. and the 

 next one Jessies, and then I have here Bubachs, 

 Cumberlands, Downings. Crescents, and Gau- 

 dies. These varieties cover about half the bed, 

 then the rest are all Wilsons; and as this is 

 my first experience in the berry business except 

 for home use. I want to ask you if I have set 

 them out properly." 



" Well, Manum, in the first place I want to 

 say that you have a very fine bed, and you have 

 kept it free from weeds; but I would have set 

 only one row of Jessies to three or four rows of 

 Haverlands, and then one row of Jessies and 

 four more of Haverlands, and so on; and I 

 would have followed the same rule with the 

 other kinds — one row of perfect blossoms to 

 three or four imperfect ones; and of all the 

 berries you have. I think that, for your soil and 

 trade, you will like the Wilsons better than 

 any of the others." 



" Would you advise covering my berries with 

 straw ?" 



"Yes, alight covering will protect the vines 

 from sudden changes of weather; but at the 

 same time, if you are not careful about the 

 amount of straw you put on them, the mice 

 may do more damage than the weather would 

 to the unprotected vines: therefore, as the dan- 

 ger from thawing and freezing is only in early 

 spring, I would defer the covering until then; 

 and in that way you will avoid any danger of 

 harm by mice." 



•■ Here we are in the blackberries and rasp- 

 berries. Here I have 300 blackberry-bushes, 

 Snyders and Taylors, and here are three rows 

 (fifty in the row) of the Shaffer red raspberries: 

 and the rest of the piece {1}4 acres) are the 

 Cuthberts." 



" What have you got this wire strung along 

 these rows of Shaffers for ?" 



"That is to keep them off the ground. They 

 grew so very rank and sprawling that I feared 

 the winds would whip them all away." 



" You will find, when you come to tie all these 

 to the wire, that the twine will cost you quite a 

 sum of money. I should rather "have kept 

 them pinched back, and had them grow up 

 more stocky. You will learn that after more 

 experience." 



"Yes, I suppose that would have been the 

 proper way. I think you are quite right in 

 recommending summer pruning; but, you see, 

 I neglected to do so; hence I must now do the 



