346 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



. 4. One of the 34 had died of starvation; all the 

 others were strong, and are out flying now ev- 

 ery day. The sealed covers had made it very 

 damp in the hives — so much that the unpainted 

 rims were water-soaked. The temperature in 

 the cellar ranged between 38 and 4.5° most of the 

 winter, and 50 the latter part of March. Even 

 as high as that, the bees were perfectly quiet, 

 so I could lift the hives up to remove the rims 

 before they were put out. 



J'. P". ROSENFIEI.D. 



West Point. Neb., Apr. 10. 



[We have usually not considered it wise to 

 shut in bees absolutely with wire cloth; but by 

 emptying out the trays occasionally it does 

 away with the stench from d^ad bees, and so 

 makes the live ones quieter.' Have others tried 

 this with success?] 



IN FAVOR OF SEALED COVPiKS. 



I wintered 8 colonies on summer stands — 3 in 

 chaff hives with sealed covers, all in good 

 shape; two 8-framc tliin-wall Simplicity sealed 

 covers, with four to six thicknesses of newspa- 

 pers around the body (inside the outer cover). 

 One smothered and the other is in poor shape. 

 Three single thick-wall sealed covers are in 

 good condition; two Simplicity in cellar, sealed 

 covers, came out in good shape; 7 wintered in 

 an out-building (sealed covers); one died with 

 dysentery; the rest are in good shape. Apr. 4ih 

 it was up to 70°; bees had a good liy. To-day, 

 the 7th, the ground is white with snow. I shall 

 stick to sealed covers yet awhile. 



T like Gleanings vei-y much better than any 

 other journal I have seen yet. 



Cicero Center. N. Y. S. H. Eastwood. 



sealed covers; a case of "don't know." 

 You ask for reports on sealed covers. I went 

 into winter quarters with 40 colonies with 

 sealed covers; 3 starved. 37 are O. K. I never 

 saw so many young bees so early in the season. 

 They are chock full of bees, ready for the har- 

 vest. But. oh my I how the water did drip out 

 of the entrance every time it thawed I I can't 

 say that I like sealed covers. I fear the damp- 

 ness, although they did well this time. I had 

 40 colonies packed in chaflF. They always 

 seemed to be nice and dry, but are not so strong 

 in bees as those in sealed covers. I shall have 

 to say, like Dr. Miller. " I don't know." 

 Edgerlon, Kan., Apr. 15. B. F. De Tar. 



sealed covers and ABSORIUNG CUSHIONS, 



WITH THE DIFFERENCE A LITTLE IN 



FAVOR OF THE LATTER. 



The bees have wintered fairly well in this 

 locality. 1 packed a few with sealed covers, 

 and could not notice any great difference in 

 their wintering as compared with upward ven- 

 tilation; but in an out-yard where all were 

 packed with sealed covers I had considerably 

 mor^ than the average loss; but I think it was 

 mostly caused by the long -continued cold 

 weatiicr when the bees could not break cluster 

 to lind their stores, and do not put (ill the blame 

 on the sealed covers. W. G. Larrabee. 



Larrabee's Point, Vt., Apr. 17. 



ABSORBING CUSHIONS AHEAD. 



Out of 7 colonies in Dovetailed hives packed 

 in winter cases, with chaff all around, and top 

 covered with burlap and chaff, one died. It 

 was a late and small swarm. Out of 9 colonies 

 in box hives (which I bought loo lat.(^ to trans- 

 fer), packed with straw all around and over 

 sealed covers, leaving only entrance free, four 

 died. Part of their combs were wet and moldy. 



All had plenty of stores. One of the box hives 

 in which the bees survived is a cracker-box of 

 ^^-inch lumber, but the cover fits so poorly that 

 the bees enter under it instead of below, hence 

 had upward ventilation. A neighbor who leaves 

 his hives unprotected on the. summer stand (an 

 open shed) lost 75 per cent. Last winter his 

 bees wintered well, kept the same way. 



J. F. Eggers. 

 Grand Island, Neb.. April 18. 



DECIDEDLY IN FAVOR OF .SKALED COVKRS. 



You can mark me down in favor of sealed 

 covers. I like your Dovetailed chaff hivfi with 

 sealed covers. I wintered 13 colonies without 

 a single loss so far. All but 3 colonies were 

 under sealed covers. Absorbing cushions be- 

 came so damp and moldy that even the combs 

 became very nnildy: wh.h^ under sealed covers 

 every thing is diy and nice. Our bees are in 

 good shape, with plenty of stores. Oqr neigh- 

 bors all ai'ound us have lost very heavily 



Bladensburg, O., Apr. 5. A. Blue. 



SEALED COVERS A BIG FAILURE. 



The sealed cover did not succeed witli me. 

 I had 17 colonies under sealed covers, iind seal- 

 ed tight, with 5 inches of chaff ov(M' them, and 

 ;3>2' in. on the sides. Eight of the 17 colonies 

 are no more. They had lots of honey left in 

 the hive. I had nine colonies under chaff cush- 

 ions, and all wintered well. So my experience 

 is overwhelminglv in favor of absorbents. 



Flat Rock, Mich.. Apr. 20. D. I. Wagar. 



SEALED COVERS INCLINED TO WART. 



My objection to sealed covers is, that mois- 

 ture from bees swells the under side of the 

 cover, therefore they warp up in this shape ^, 

 or -~^ , thus breaking loose at the sides or ends, 

 causing a draft through the hive. In my opin- 

 ion there is nothing so handy as the enamel 

 cloth, especially for handling in the working 

 season: when you take sealed or flat covers off, 

 the bees are apt to "sit down " on you rather 

 hard. A. Stevenson. 



Tingley, la., April <i. 



ABSORBING CITSHIONS. 



I think the absorbing cushions the safest way 

 to winter here when it rains. Here the en"- 

 trances sometimes clog with ice, and are not 

 safe with sealed covers; but with absorbing 

 cushions will do no harm. I have always had 

 good luck with chaff' packing. 



Francis Ortt. 



Darling Road, Ont., Can., April 8. 



SEALED COVERS NOT AS GOOD AS THE ABSORB- 

 ING-CUSHIONS. 



Bees have wintered well. I have not lost 

 one. I winter on the summer stands in chaff 

 hives. We have had a very cold winter here. 

 Bees have not done as well under sealed covers 

 as in the large chaff hive. A. A. Simpson. 



Swarts. Pa., March 30. 



WI.NTERING POORLY UNDKR SEALED COVERS. 



Bees hav(^ wintered poorly around here. My 

 loss is about 40 per cent. A neighbor lost 15 out 

 of hi swarms. They were packed in chaff, with 

 sealed covers, but they were weak. 



St. Clair, Mich., Mar. 29. J. M. Rankin. 



HAT) FOR SEALED COVERS. 



As per your request, I state that, under my 

 observation, 97K per cent of bees, under absorb- 

 ents, in this locality, wintered; while from 50 

 to 75 per cent under sealed covers perished. 



Sneedville, Tenn., Apr. 6. H. F. Coleman. 



