100 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1918 



L. 



C 



GLEANED by ASKING 



ur 



^"^^^^^^^^^ 



p. C, Ohio. 



— The winter 



lias been coUl 



in my locnl 

 ity. It began early 

 in the s e a is o n , 

 along in November, 

 and has been grow- 

 ing steadily colder, 

 followed by zero 

 weather. What is 



going to be the effect on the bees, if any ? My bees 

 are in dcnible-walled hives, on their summer stands, 

 but they were short of stores, as I could not buy 

 sugar to feed. Should I give cakes of candy now, 

 or should I wait till toward spring? What effect 

 do you think this cold weather is going to have in 

 the beginning of winter? 



Answer: Cold, snappy weather at the be- 

 ginning of winter does not do anything like 

 the damage that it does when the winter 

 starts ont warm and ends up by being awful- 

 ly cold. Under such conditions the bees 

 start breeding, and then when really cold 

 weather sets in, both bees and brood are 

 killed, and the results are often disastrous. 

 We do not fear early cold providing it does 

 not last too long. In any ease, zero weather 

 in Ohio is not likely to last more than a week 

 or 10 days, when it will be followed by a 

 warm spell. At such times the bees will 

 move over to fresh stores, and then be ready 

 for another snap should it come. What is 

 hard on bees is too much zero weather for a 

 month or two at a time. If the cluster con- 

 tracts the bees eat all the stores within 

 reach; and then, if the cold continues, the 

 bees die of starvation because they cannot 

 move to fresh stores on account of the ex- 

 treme cold. If, however, a colony is strong, 

 or if it is well packed, or both, the bees will 

 survive continuous zero weather. If a colony 

 would starve otherwise, give a cake of candy 

 even in cold weather. Be careful not to break 

 the cluster during extremely cold weather. 

 Candy should be made according to direc- 

 tions given in the text-books, and placed on 

 the top of the frames. Under no circum- 

 stances should the brood-nest be disturbed 

 while it is cold. If one happens to have 

 combs of sealed stores, one of these can be 

 laid on top of these in place of the slab of 

 candy, after which packing material is put 

 on top. In the spring, when the first warm 

 day comes that the bees can fly, colonies may 

 be opened up to give stores and to repack. 

 Sugar can be obtained by writing to the 

 Tood Administration, Washington, and ask- 

 ing for a permit on the basis of about two 

 pounds of sugar per colony. This permit 

 should be secured now, but not used till the 

 sugar is actually needed. Should the cold 

 weather continue, without any let-up, and 

 the bees are not sufficiently packed, or are 

 too weak, we advise f)utting them in the 

 cellar, even if it is mid-winter and down to 

 zero. We have done this many times to ad- 

 vantage. 



.T. B. M., Mississippi. — I noticed that Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 advises beekeepers in the South to pack their bees. 

 Jtjs the universal rule around here to winter in 



1 



E. R. Root 



%J 



i-ingle- walled hives, 

 and we winter suc- 

 cessfully. What do 

 you think of such 

 advice ? 



Answer: We 

 do not know 

 posiively but we 

 feel sure that 

 many bees in the 

 South are weakened by the want of suitable 

 protection. We would have all apiaries in a 

 shielded localitj^, and we believe it would be 

 an advantage to have some packing — a divi- 

 sion-board on each side of the brood-nest 

 with a super containing leaves on top. While 

 the murcury does not drop very low in the 

 southern states, there are many days of 

 chilly weather there. When colonies are 

 properly packed, the brood will be very 

 much better protected. Bees can breed in 

 the southern states nearly every month dur- 

 ing the winter, and it is always an advan- 

 tage to protect the brood. It is our opinion 

 that the advice of the Government represen- 

 tative is right. Try out this advice by hav- 

 ing some colonies packed and leaving some 

 unpacked^ and report the result. 



W. E. O., Colorado. — I moved into this state two 

 or three years ago. I discovered that beekeepers 

 here winter in single-walled hives, notwithstanding 

 the mercviry is sometimes below zero. Would it be 

 an advantage to use double-walled hives? 



Answer: It probably would; but it is not 

 nearly so necessary to pack in your climate 

 with its dry atmosphere and its bright sun- 

 shine as in a locality where the temperature 

 goes down to zero and stays there when the 

 sky is overcast with dull leaden clouds for 

 weeks at a time. The dry atmosphere of 

 Colorado, with its bright sunshine, bringing 

 the temperature up to a little below freez- 

 ing during the daytime, renders this method 

 of packing less necessary. But windbreaks, 

 where they can be secured, are an advan- 

 tage; and it is our opinion that at least a 

 moderate amount of packing will do no 

 harm, and probably do a great deal of good 

 in protecting brood in the spring. 



F. J. R., Minnesota. — Does deep snow piled 

 around colonies do any harm? If not, is it an ad- 

 vantage? Would you advise shoveling s-now around 

 the hives and up against the entrance? 



Answer: We always like to see the snow 

 around and on top of the hives. Even if 

 the hives are out of sight, no particular harm 

 is done if the snow is dry and light. As a 

 general thing, the warm breath of the bees 

 will melt the snow around the entrance. As 

 the warm air ascends it melts the snow away 

 from the front of the hive, leaving a gap 

 half an inch or more deep from the top clear 

 down to the entrance. But when the snow 

 melts and runs down into the entrances, and 

 freezes, there is sure to be trouble. But a 

 powerful colonj^ will usually give off enough 

 heat to prevent such freezing. As to the 

 question whether one should pile snow in 

 front of the entrances, we would advise it, 

 if the weather is extremely cold and the 



