OCTOIIHK, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN B E K C U L T U U lO 



595 



bees for winter, in addition to the saving of 

 stores, has the merit of cheapness, it re- 

 quires attention on tlie part of tlie beekeej)- 

 er in spring to give the bees more room. To 

 do this necessitates unpacking them at a 

 time when tliey ought to be warmly housed. 

 The scheme of wintering a colony in double 

 stories, four colonies to the winter case, has 

 the decided advantage that the bees will 

 have plenty of room for breeding up in the 

 spring, and plenty of stores without addi- 

 tional care in the spring; and by the time 

 they are unpacked in May there may be a 

 colony with 13 or 14 frames of brood, bees 

 occupying both stories, ready for any early 

 spring liaivest on fruit bloom, dandelions, or 

 any other source. The large winter pack- 

 ing case, Dr. Phillips claims, practically 

 eliminates spring management. 



The objection to the large double-story 

 four-colony winter case, besides the expense 

 of $3.00 Y>er colony, is the amount of stores 

 required — not less than 45 pounds to the 

 colony, Dr. Phillips estimates; and when 

 the beginner can get from 20 to 25 cents a 

 pound for his honey, he wonders whether 

 single-story winter cases would not be 

 cheaper. If one is short of stores, and the 

 colony not extra strong, the Demuth plan is 

 much to be preferred. The expense of it is 

 so light that any beemaii who would attempt 

 to winter his bees outdoors without any pro- 

 tection or packing, and then complain that 

 his bees do not pay, or that he had had a 

 poor season, ought to fail, and he generally 

 does. 



After a careful consideration of these dif- 

 ferent plans of wintering, we may say that 



for weak colonies, the Demuth plan is great- 

 ly to be preferred. For those supplied with 

 an abundance of stores, (if the price does 

 not seem prohibitive) Phillips' plan would 

 perhaps prove satisfactory. But this year 

 the great majority of colonies will come un- 

 der neither one of these heads and should 

 therefore under present conditions be win- 

 tered in the cellar, if a suitable one such as 

 described in the September Gleanings is 

 available. If not they should be wintered 

 in one-story winter packing cases in locali- 

 ties where the temperature frequently 

 hovers around zero. In places somewhat 

 warmer the standard double-walled hive will 

 do very nicely, providing the clustering 

 space is reduced to seven or eight frames. 

 The vacant space on the sides should be 

 filled with packing. This can best be done 

 by using a division-board on the more ex- 

 posed side of the hive and filling the space 

 back of it with leaves. 



In the next issue we shall have a discus- 

 sion on the subject of entrances. There have 

 been some new developments showing the 

 value of a small one-hole entrance (always 

 with the bottom packing) — a hole not larger 

 than % or I/2 inch for the cold part of the 

 winter. In the fall or sjjring there are pro- 

 vided 2, 3, 4, or even 5 more holes to give 

 extra ventilation. Be it remembered that 

 the small-hole entrance will prove absolutely 

 fatal to the bees without the use of bottom 

 packing. The scheme of having a wide slot 

 for an entrance for outdoor-wintered colo- 

 nies is utterly wrong, both from the theoreti- 

 cal and practical standpoint, as we hope to 

 prove in our next issue. 



WITHIN THE WINTER CHAMBER 



Conditions Needed to Keep the Hive 

 Properly Warmed and to 'Prevent 

 the Escape of oAll Important Heat 



By Belva M. Demuth 



THE quies- 

 cence, or 

 slow living, 

 b y means of 

 which bees may 

 be able to span 

 the broodless per- 

 iod of winter is 

 usually present 

 to the utmost de- 

 gree during the milder weather of October 

 and November in the Northern States. This 

 extreme quiescence occurs after the last of 

 the brood has emerged, and after all the 

 recently emerged bees, as well as the older 

 ones, have had ample cleansing flights, but 

 before cold weather begins. If the degree 

 of quiescence sometimes present at this sea- 

 son could be maintained thruout the winter, 

 we would expect the bees to wake up the 

 next spring, still possessing the full vigor 

 of their youth and amply prepared for the 

 burdens of their spring toil. The remark- 

 able inactivity of autumn, however, is an 

 unstable condition which is easily upset by 

 various disturbing factors. The two giant 

 disturbing factors are inferior stores and 

 low temperatures. Either of these disturb- 



ing elements, 

 when working 

 alone, slowly 

 consuming the 

 vitality of the 

 bees, is bad 

 enough; but, 

 when both of 

 them are pres- 

 ent in consider- 

 able degree at the same time, they make 

 quick work of their destruction. Winter 

 activity resulting from poor stores can be 

 prevented by feeding, after brood-rearing 

 ceases, 10 pounds of good honey or a thick 

 syrup made of granulated sugar (two or two 

 and a half parts sugar to one part water) 

 to each colony, regardless of the amount of 

 stores already in the hive. (See page 530 

 of September Gleanings.) In the North this 

 feeding should be done before the middle of 

 October. 



Winter Activity in Response to Low 



Temperatures. 

 In Bulletin 93, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, we find a statement, with definite 

 temperatures specified as follows: "At the 

 temperature at which other insects become 



