1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUI/rURE. 



389 



Queenless 4 



Dead 11 



Fall count SO 



WATTERS YAEI), APRIL 8. 



First-class '. 59 



Second-class 6 



Third-class 1 



Alive 66 



Queenless 1 



Dead 9 



Fall count 76 



CRAVIN YAKD, APRIL 10. 



First-class 65 



Second-class 9 



Third-class 5 



Alive 79 



Dead 13 



Fall count 91 



KLEBENSTINE YARD, APRIL 15. 



First-class .' 38 



Second-class 11 



Third-class '. 1 



Alive .50 



Dead 39 



Fall count 89 



I think I hear some one say, "There! that is 

 where the trouble comes in — tight covers will 

 kill the bees every time; no escape for the 

 moisture." 



Now. don't be too fast. Look at the home 

 yard — 102 colonies, and 7 dead. They all had 

 sealed covers, and should have been sealed the 

 closest of any yard. They were fed first. There 

 was not a cover raised in the home yard after 

 the tirsl of September, so they had more time 

 to seal the covers. No, I don't think that sealed 

 covers had any thing to do with the losses. We 

 always winter that way, and usually have good 

 luck. But why did so many die? Poor condi- 

 tion at the commencement of winter; too long 

 cold ai a time; no chance for a cleansing flight; 

 too much snow, making the hives damp; and 

 we find that a great many starved with plenty 

 of feed in the hive. The cluster would eat what 

 was right over them until they got up to the 

 top. and then, as the weather was so cold, they 

 did not work otf sidewise to get feed, then starv- 

 ed. We did not find a single swarm dead that 

 had feed in the top of all the combs. 



The prospect f(ir a honey crop is good. Clover 

 is splendid. If we have the right kind of weath- 

 er at the right time I think we shall get a good 

 crop. You will see that there are 400 colonies 

 now alive, and there is still one yard not count- 

 ed, so I think we can count on 4(XJ colonies after 

 all spring losses. I see by our records that the 

 largest crop we ever had was taken from 395 

 colonies, in 1886—42,489 lbs., so our chance is 

 good yet. 



We have had some very nice weather this 

 spring. First pollen, April 4. But just now 

 we are having a very cold storm — cold rain yes- 

 terday, April 19; rain and snow mixed, all night. 

 Today, April 20, rain and snow mixed. Every 

 thing is soaked full of water. This ought to 

 make the clover grow, but it is a little hard on 

 weak colonies of bees just now. 



Snow this morning, April 21, 2 inches; snow- 

 ed a little all day. At 4 p. m. it is snowing 

 hard. 



Dr. Miller says, in Stray Straws, April 15, 

 "In making nports with sealed covers, say 

 what covering, if any, was over the sealed cov- 

 ers." Our hive-tops are 7 inches deep. We fill 

 that space with straw on two-thirds of the 

 hives; the other third have chaff cushions 6 in. 

 deep that we put on unJer the covers, but over 

 the honey-beards. We have tried putting the 

 cushions under the honey-boards right on the 

 frames; but I never saw any advantage in so 

 doing. We think it is just as well to put the 

 packing over the honey-boards. 



LOCATION FOR AN APIARY. 



Much depends upon the location, or, rather, 

 protection for the bees to winter well out of 

 doors. They must have a dry and warm loca- 

 tion, well piot<>cted from the wind — our Kle- 

 benstine yard is located in quite a deep valley. 

 The bees are on the north side of the valley, 

 facing the south; two rows of hives on the 

 north side of the apiary are up on considerably 

 higher ground than the three south rows, and 

 the two upper rows are better protected from 

 the wind by a bunch of trees and brush just 

 west of them. The upper rows have wintered 

 much better than the three lower ones. The 

 lower rows are on level ground, and more ex- 

 posed to the w(^st wind driving up the valley. 

 Snow drifts badly about them, and fills in deep- 

 er than it does with the upper rows. Snow re- 

 mains on the ground longer in the spring, keep- 

 ing the btes damp. Thei'e is always greater 

 loss with those lower rows. We find the same 

 difference in other yards, from the same cause. 

 Our home yard is on high ground, protected by 

 a high board fence. Their location is dry and 

 warm. You see they have wintered pretty well. 

 The Adkinson yard is very much like the Kle- 

 benstine. They have died badly; but there, 

 again, the losses are mostly in the lower rows. 



Platteville, Wis. E. France. 



QUEENLESS COLONIES IN THE SPEING, ETC. 



SEASONABLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 



A correspondent writes: " T find I have sever- 

 al queenless colonies this spring. What had I 

 better do with them? If it is best to unite 

 them, what is the best method of doing it? 

 Please reply through Gleanings." 



What to do with these queenless colonies will 

 depend upon two things; first, the wants of the 

 correspondent; and, second, the condition of 

 the queenlescoloniess. If the colonies are strong 

 in bees, and the correspondent wishes more col- 

 onies than he alrea4y has, then I should give 

 them a frame of brood from some colony hav- 

 ing the same which it can spare, and send south 

 for a queen for them, or let them raise a (lueen 

 for themselves, just as my means would allow. 

 The colony will become self-sustaining sooner 

 if a queen is procured for them than they will 

 by raising their own queen; for most likely the 

 first lot of cells built will have to be destroyed, 

 on account of not having drones in the apiary 

 thus early. To raise a queen before there are 

 any drones for her to meet often proves a very 

 vexatious thing; as an unfertile queen is hard 

 to find in order to be rid of her; and if not fer- 

 tilized she will prove to be a drone-layer, or 

 worse than useless. If the colonies are to rear 

 their own queens, brood must be given tliera 

 once a week till they have a laying queen, 

 which makes extra work; still, if anxious for 

 bees this work is not to be shunned, for such 

 colonies with their young queens often prove 

 among the best for honey during the season. If 

 the colonies are weak, or the owner does not de- 

 sire increase, the best thing to do is to unite 



