GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1918 



ing and his practical knowledge of the re- 

 quirements of wintering, will not be above 

 the normal. But he wants more bees, he 

 says. The only thing we can suggest is to 

 buy bees in the package form. 



This brings up the very, very serious ques- 

 tion of transportation. Both freight and 

 express are fearfully congested. Much of 

 the express matter that ordinarily takes a 

 week for delivery may now take three weeks. 

 Delays like this in shipping bees would be 

 fatal. On the other hand, all such shipments 

 might be made by parcel post, resulting in 

 very slight delay simply because Uncle Sam 

 is the carrier. The question has been rais- 

 ed, in view of the facto that day-old chicks 

 are now being sent by parcel post, whether 

 bees could not be sent the same way. There 

 is no reason why they should not be so sent. 

 There are many more postoffices than ex- 

 press offices; and, if bees could be sent by 

 mail, it would help out the war situation. 

 All over the land are weak colonies that, 

 without assistance, will not be able to pro- 

 duce any surplus honey; but if a pound of 

 bees can be given to each, they might do as 

 well as fair colonies wintered over. With 

 express matter congested as it is, there is 

 danger that bees by express may be delayed 

 long enough to kill all the bees in shipment. 

 Of all the exasperating and vexatious things 

 in beedom, if we except foul brood and bad 

 wintering, there is nothing worse than a lot 

 of dead bees by express. The receiver blames 

 the shipper, and the shipper blames the ex- 

 press company; and during the general con- 

 troversy the consignee is left high and dry 

 with no satisfaction. While it is not pre- 

 sumed that Uncle Sam will assume any re- 

 sponsibility in shipping bees by mail, yet 

 it is probable that all packages will go thru 

 without unnecessary delay. 



Beekeepers are urged to write to the Third 

 Assistant Postmaster-General and make clear 

 that the general congestion in freight and 

 express renders it absolutely necessary to 

 have bees go )>y parcel post. 



THE PAST WINTEE was a severe one on 

 bees in many localities; but, as a rule, it 

 was not serious to 



Fundamentals 



of Wintering 



Confirmed. 



the professional bee- 

 keeper nor to those 

 who put their bees 

 up according to the 

 latest methods that are accepted by Govern- 

 ment experts and by nearly all our best 

 authorities. 



Three or four facts stand out very clear. 

 First, the loss last winter in the case of 

 fair-to-good colonies well packed or in cel- 

 lars was only slightly above normal. In 

 practically all the Northern States the loss 

 of colonies in single-walled hives outdoors 

 was somewhere around 90 per cent. In other 

 localities in New England and in the States 

 immediately south of the Ohio Eiver, where 

 winter packing is not generally practiced, 

 the losses were the heaviest ever known. In 



our opinion had the beekeepers of the sec- 

 tion covered by Missouri, Tennessee, Ken- 

 tucky, and West Virginia packed their bees, 

 the mortality probably would have been only 

 normal. As it was, there were several mil- 

 lion dollars ' worth of bees lost when the 

 small expenditure of only 50 cents or a dol- 

 lar per colony in the way of winter packing 

 or cases last fall Avould have saved $5.00 

 worth of bees. The same proposition is ex- 

 actly true in the New England States, where 

 winter packing is the exception rather than 

 +he rule. The case of Mrs. Allen as reported 

 in this issue is the exception that proves the 

 rule. 



Fact 2. It is often argued that winter 

 packing is not necessary when bees are win- 

 tered outdoors. If there ever was a winter 

 that proved tlie fallacy of this statement, it 

 was the past one in our locality. While 

 there were occasional instances of colonies 

 in single-walled hives that wintered better 

 than those in double-walled, with some ex- 

 ceptions the evidence in other localities as- 

 well as in our own, this year, is so strong 

 and convincing that never again should a 

 beekeeper in any State, except in the ex- 

 treme South, try to winter without at least 

 some packing. 



Fact. 3. It has been shown conclusively 

 again this year, in our locality at least, that 

 large entrances, such as are used in summer, 

 either in double-walled or single-walled 

 hives, means a 90 per cent loss of bees. 

 Dr. E. F. Phillips of the Bureau of Entomolo- 

 gy is exactly right, not only in advocating 

 packing but the use of constricted entrances. 



Fact 4. It has been made very clear from 

 reports as well as by our own observation 

 that the use of doorsteps or ledges just be- 

 neath the opening or entrance to a colony 

 during winter is not only unnecessary but 

 many times fatal. These attachments allow 

 the snow or water to lodge and in many 

 cases to close the entrance hermetically by 

 freezing. 



Fact 5. This was a winter that was not 

 only cold, but it was accompanied by ex- 

 ceptionally heavy winds. The experience of 

 the winter just past shows unquestionably 

 the value of windbreaks. While colonies out 

 in the open exposed to winds from all direc- 

 tions, and in single-walled hives, may win- 

 ter successfully, yet these cases are so few 

 and far between that we must conclude that 

 they are the exception that proves the rule. 



no ^ nc 



IT IS NOT too early, at least in California 

 and. the Southern States, for honey-producers 

 to consider what 

 Before You price they should 



Sell Your receive for their 



Honey. product and how to 



place a right value 

 on it. Government officials interested in the 

 welfare of honey-producers estimate that 

 California beekeepers last year lost a sum 

 somewhere between a half million and a 

 million dollars by selling their honey too low 



