c 



LJ 



^Skptejvibkr, 1918 



THOSE ilhis- 

 t r ;i t i u s , 

 page 466, 

 Aug. Gleanings, 

 are just great, 

 ' ' true to n a - 

 ture ' ' as to the 

 condition honey 

 shipped s o m e 

 distance usually 



aj)j)ears as it is unloadeil t'loni the cars. 

 Mven honey put up in cases as shown on i)age 

 467 1 usiuilly find more or less broken open 

 and the cans loose in the car. 



Says Belva M. Demuth, page 462, "The 

 beekeeper 's calendar should begin in Aug- 

 ust. ' ' That is as it should be, for, as she 

 says further on, "At this time is laid the 

 first course in the foundation for next year's 

 honey crop, namely, the production of the 

 bees that form the winter colony. ' ' And 

 again she says, ' ' Much of the so-called win- 

 ter losse'S are not winter losses at all but 

 August-September losses. ' ' These items are 

 of special importance in those sections where 

 there is little late summer forage for bees. 

 Where such conditions exist, care should be 

 be taken that each hive at the close of the 

 clover season should be left ' ' rich in stores, ' ' 

 which wull compensate in a large measure for 

 the lack of a continuous flow thru August 

 in fitting the bees for winter. Where a colo- 

 ny does not get a laying queen until well into 

 August, I have been in the habit of giving 

 it two or three combs of brood from strong 

 colonies that can spare them, so that it may 

 have a sufficient number of young bees to 

 form a cluster large enough to winter safely. 

 Having laid the foundation for next year 's 

 crop of honey, let us proceed with the super- 

 structure. Next in order will be to see that 

 every colony is supplied w'ith sufficient stores 

 to carry it thru the winter. As some colonies 

 consume much more than others, it is well to 

 supply them with a liberal allowance. If a 

 colony has somewhat more than it needs, it 

 does no harm; but, if it has not enough, seri- 

 ous lesults are apt to follow. 



Shall we w'inter in a cellar or out of doors? 

 AVell,that depends. If one has a deep dry cel- 

 lar, I believe there is no better place for bees 

 here in the North during the winter. The 

 strongest colonies I found last spring in in- 

 specting had been wintered in such a cellar, 

 and, altho there were but six of them, they 

 Avere in almost perfect condition. If colonies 

 are to be wintered out of doors here in the 

 North, much more care should be given to pre- 

 pare them for the long cold months than when 

 wintered in a cellar. First: all weak colonies 

 should have their brood-chambers reduced to 

 fit the size of the cluster. If very small, not 

 more than three or four combs should be 

 given, and the strongest reduced to not m.orf 

 than eight. I have wintered successfully out 

 of doors on onlv three small frames about 



GLEANINGS [ N BEE CULTURE 



5;i9 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



3 



^"^^^^^^^^ 



t li ree - fourths 

 the size of a 

 1. a M g s t r o t h 

 f r a m e . Then 

 1 ) a c k warm t o 

 1i !i e extent o f; 

 two or three 

 inches at the 

 sides a n' d six 

 inches on toj), 

 vvitii planer shavings, dry sawdust, cork 

 chips, or leaves — the more, the better. I 

 iise a three-fourths inch tube six or mure 

 inches from the bottom-board to make an 

 upper entrance, so there may be no danger 

 from suffocation if the lower entrance gets 

 closed by ice or dead bees. This works well. 



Shall we use sealed or porous covers over 

 the brood-chamberf I have been a great 

 stickler for a porous cover over the frames 

 for winter, but last spring, when I began 

 inspecting, I found the strongest colonies 

 were wintered under an oilcloth cover. Could 

 it be that I had been wrong in my conclusions 

 all these years? But later I "found quite 

 as many dead colonies under sealed covers 

 as live ones. IIoav could the difference be 

 accounted for? I finally came to the con- 

 clusion that a very strong colony under an 

 oilcloth or sealed cover might winter well, or 

 even better than under a porous cover, while 

 a weaker one would perish. Just so a strong 

 man may take a cold-water bath and be the 

 stronger for it, wiiile a feeble person would 

 be almost sure to receive harm. However, 

 hut little upward ventilation is required with 

 the average colony. Two boards with a crack 

 between laid over the brood-chamber seems 

 to answer every purpose; or if in one piece, 

 a three or four-inch hole should be bored 

 thru it and covered with wire cloth, or old 

 cloths half coverei] with j)ropolis. Of course 

 there should be a sufficient amount of i)ack- 

 ing above. 



I liave noticed in visiting different yards 

 that bees winter better in old box hives 

 than in frame hives, and better where the 

 combs are irregularly shaped than where they 

 are straight. Six or seven Langstroth frames 

 set on end would make an ideal sliape and 

 size for a moderate-sized colony; but when 

 we depart from this we must make up for it 

 in extra care and packing, if w^e expect to 

 winter our bees successfullv here in the 

 North. 



^- ^ vC- 



I was glad to see Mr. Holtermann 's ex- 

 planation of his method of making swarms 

 late in the season, as some young beekeepers 

 might otherwise have been misled by his 

 jirevious statements on page 468. There is 

 little difficulty in dividing a strong colony 

 after the close of the clover harvest, if you 

 have a young queen and combs and can feed 

 sugar enough to i-arry them over till the next 

 svason. 



