142 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1918 



ed. Therefore, the large as well as the 

 small beekeeper will soon be re-stocking his 

 apiary with combless packages of bees. To 

 insure best results from these packages cer- 

 tain precautions should be taken. 



If the bees arrive at night too late to put 

 them into the hive, paint the outside of the 

 cages with thin sugar syrup. This should 

 be done a few times until the bees have fill- 

 ed themselves. Don't put them in a hot 

 room over night, but keep them in as cool 

 a place as possible. 



If the bees arrive during the day they 

 should be released at once into a prepared 

 hive, which should, if possible, contain a 

 frame of brood from some other colony. It' 

 brood is lacking, empty combs may be used, 

 or even frames of foundation if nothing bet- 

 ter is available. In the latter case it is al- 

 ways advisable to put a piece of perforated 

 zinc or queen excluder over the entrance to 

 prevent the bees from swarming out the next 

 day. In fact, package bees should always 

 have such zinc over their entrance for a few 

 hours anyway, until they become accustomed 

 to their new home. Some pound-package 

 men always supply a piece of perforated 

 zinc with the cage and this can usually be 

 found wrapped with the directions. 



To release the bees, apply a little smoke 

 and remove the wirecloth from one side. As 

 a general rule, the bees for several hours 

 show no inclination to desert the cage. Ac- 

 cordingly, as many as possible should be 

 shaken out onto the combs. If free of bees, 

 the cage may be taken away entirely; if not, 

 after closing the hive, the cage may bo 

 placed in front of the entrance, leaving the 

 bees to gradually join their comrades in side. 



After the bees are in place they should 

 be fed two or three pounds of a thin sugar 

 syrup until they are well supplied; after this 

 about a half pound a day for one or two weeks. 

 Of course, if they arrived during a honey- 

 flow, they might not need feeding for more 

 than two or three days. 



If bees arrive in bad condition so that 

 only a few of them are left, their queen 

 should be caged and left in the hive. They 

 should also be given a frame of brood with 

 adhering bees, providing the bees can be 

 obtained from some other hive. If they 

 arrive in good condition, they should be let 

 out into a hive at once, the few dead bees 

 being separated from the live ones. 



As soon as possible, one should find the 

 queen to determine whether or not she has 

 arrived in good condition. If found dead, 

 the fact should be reported to the shipper 

 immediately. 



Cc 



SOMETIMES A BEGINNEE will look in at 

 the top of an out-door winter colony, and, 

 seeing the bees 



When Bees Are scattered all 



Wintering 



WeU. 



over 

 the brood-nest, just 

 as they are in sum- 

 mer, will jump to 

 the conclusion that the colony is wintering 

 well. If they seem to be pretty lively dur- 



ing the midst of severe winter weather, it's 

 a bad sign. A colony that has broken its 

 cluster will be almost sure to have dysentery 

 and die even before spring, or before settled 

 wea,thea" comes on so that it can recover it 

 srjf 



A normal colony that is wintering well out- 

 doors should be in a compact cluster, any- 

 where from three inches to eight inches in 

 diameter, depending upon the temperature 

 outside and the size of the colony the pre- 

 ceding fall. When the cluster, or ball, of bees 

 seems to be quiet, the condition is favorable. 



When the bees are in the cellar they will 

 be in the form of a cluster at the beginning 

 of the winter and gradually expand as spring 

 comes on. If the cellar is very warm, with 

 jilenty of ventilation, the bees may be scat- 

 tered pretty well thru the hive and still be 

 wintering well. Dead bees on the cellar 

 bottom do not necessarily indicate bad win- 

 tering, but if there are hives in the cellar 

 stained with brown markings of dysentery- 

 Dear the entrances, such hives should 1 o 

 removed and their bees given a flight. If 

 the bees appear to be uneasy, flying out on 

 the cellar floor pretty often or, if colonies are 

 roaring, it will be well to put all the bees 

 out doors the first warm day that comes. 

 They would do better outside than inside 

 when marks of dysentery begin to show. 



LAST SUMMER, owing to the early spring 

 and summer rains, there was a great abun- 

 dance of clover. This 

 Honey Prospects, was followed by very 



dry weather. Had there 

 not been heavy snows early this winter, 

 these young clovers might have died. The 

 fact that practically the whole clover area 

 of the United States has been covejeil witli 

 deep snow for months at a time will proii- 

 ably insure a crop of clover thi^ coming 

 summer. Were it not for the fact that some 

 winter losses are predicted for the eastern 

 states and that surviving colonies will be 

 weak, we would expect a record-breakiiig 

 crop of clover honey the coming summer, 

 other conditions being favorable. At this 

 writing, Feb. 18, the expected rains for South- 

 ern California have not arrived. Unless they 

 come before Mar. 1 there will not be much 

 sage honey. Prospects there are poor. 



Conditions in the Rocky Mountain region 

 have been very good for an alfalfa crop. 

 With prospects looking good for clover in 

 the East, 1918 should not fall greatly below 

 former years in honey production, if it does 

 at all. 



We are in hopes that the present predic- 

 tions of winter losses will not materialize in 

 the East, but even should there be a heavy 

 mortality among the bees, there will probab- 

 ly be a good crop of clover honey next sea- 

 son. 



If our Southern beekeepers can supply 

 bees in pound packages, the Northern bee- 

 keepers will make up for their winter losses 

 by purchasing bees from this source. 



