.Skptkmbur, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN B K E C U I. T U R E 



535 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



shallow extraeting-super of combs under 

 every brood-clianiber. Over the brood cham- 

 ber I put a box that I make myself out of 

 1x4 stuff, and which is the size of the 

 iiives, outside measure. A piece of burlap 

 is tacked over the bottom. Inside I place 

 live or six newspapers on the bottom of the 

 box, fill the box with planer shavings, and 

 then cover with more pajiers on toj). This 

 box is set on top of the regular super cover. 

 Over the box I put a sheet of one-ply roof- 

 ing paper, folding it down over the sides 

 and ends of the brood-chamber, and fasten- 

 ing it with tacks and tin washers. On top 

 I place the regular cover, put the regular 

 entrance contractors in, and my bees are 

 packed for winter. 



The winter of 1916- '17 was a normal win- 

 ter, with the exception of two very cold 

 days. The mercury went down those two 

 days to 20 below and there was a 50-mile 

 gale blowing about all the time. Unpacked 

 or partially packed bees in my neighbor- 

 hood suffered very severely. Mine were 

 ])aeked as described, without a windbreak 

 except a short strip of hedge on the west 

 and a chicken wire fence on the north, and 

 I lost only S out of 135. The eight lost 

 were in hive bodies without the extracting- 

 supers under them, with one exception, and 

 tliat one came thru weak and queerless. 



It will be seen that the bees are in the 

 top brood-chamber with the top of that 

 well insulated with the box of newspapers 

 and planer shavings, and the top part of the 

 sides covered with roofing pa]ier, which 

 covers the joint of the box and hive. The 

 paper being waterproof keeps all moisture 

 out, even if the cover is not on. The heat 

 is easier kept with the entrance so far be- 

 low the bees. I have not yet seen a wet 

 hive inside. The boxes are left on the hive 

 the year round as they are a good insulator 

 against heat as well as cold, and are kept 

 on the bees as handily as if they were taken 

 off and put somewhere else. The paper 

 will last several years if taken care of. It 

 should be put in a building and set up end- 

 ways or edgeways. 



My bees look good early this spring 

 (when this is written) despite the very se- 

 vere winter weather just experienced. 



Sabetha, Kan. Frank Hill. 



THE QUESTION OF FEEDING 



A Kind of Feeder that Has the Approval of a Vet- 

 eran Beekeeper 



During the Watertovvn, N. Y., convention, 

 Mr. Loutes gave his method of feeding. In 

 his address he described a feeder designed 

 by Mr. Elthorp, and said he had used about 

 all the feeders invented and had settled on 

 Mr. Elthorp 's. 



It should be remembered tliat nuclei need 



plenty of feed to bring tliem thru the win- 

 ter. If poorly fed, they are one of the poor- 

 est properties a beekeeper can have. To 

 build a nucleus up, Mr. Loutes advised, dur- 

 ing the early autumn, to give about two tea- 

 cups of syrup at a time stimulating tliem to 

 brood-rearing. He believed the latter part 

 of September the best time to feed bees for 

 winter. In other words, feed as late as pos- 

 sible. If fed early, the bees will use the 

 stores for brood-rearing. Mr. Loutes weighs 

 the colony about Oct. 1, and feeds with a 

 pan feeder set under the brood-chamber. 

 He puts the food on towards night, leaving 

 an entrance only % inch square. His feed- 

 ers will hold 20 pounds of syrup or more, 

 but feeding at that time he never feeds that 

 much. The syrup is given to the bees warm. 

 Any normal colony will take up the feed in 

 one night. 



Mr. Loutes first used floats in the pan 

 feeders to keep the bees from drowning in 

 the syrup. This did not suit him, and he 

 put cheese-cloth on top of the float. He 

 now uses excelsior, which is both cheap and 

 serviceable, putting enough of it in to let 

 the excelsior touch the bottom bars of the 

 frames above. 



He said the question might be asked: Does 

 it pay to feed sugar syrup to the bees. He 

 thought it did. The honey most suitable 

 for winter stores is early-gathered honey. 

 First in order is the clover. The dandelion 

 and apple-blossom honeys are not as good. 

 Candied or granulated honey he considered 

 to be of little use to the bees. He said 

 when the nights were cool, Mr. Elthorp clos- 

 ed the entrance entirely when feeding. (We 

 must remember he referred to October 

 nights.) E. F. Holtermann. 



Brant ford, Ont. 



HAS WINTERED IN MANY WAYS 



But He Now Gives All the Preference to a Side- 

 hill Bee Cellar 



As I commenced keeping a few bees in 

 1882, I have tried many ways of wintering. 

 I have even tried burying them. They win- 

 tered well, but it was a lot of hard labor. 

 The next best way proved to be a house 

 cellar where a family lives above, or at 

 least where there is a fire above. One year 

 I had bees in a cellar the ground floor of 

 which was frozen for some time. The fol- 

 lowing spring there was a heavy loss. It 

 was so cold that the bees ate only what was 

 within their reach, and chilled and died 

 with lots of honey in the hives. If you find 

 it freezing for any length of time, start a 

 fire in the cellar in some way and warm it 

 uji. Tlie poorest wintering I experienced 

 was in the cellar of a vacant house which 

 was used for a beehouse. The cellar became 

 cold and remained cold. When the sun 



