l88o 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



have always said thej' were a perfectly safe hive to 

 winter in, no matter how cold it might be, and I 

 now feel prepared to say, having- more confidence 

 than ever, that bees will never die wintering- in a 

 chaff hive, if the bee-keeper will do his part. It 

 will not do to leave or neglect any part of the pre- 

 paring for the winter campaign. It may be natu- 

 ral to judge othei'S by one's self, so 1 will tell you 

 some of my thoughts when preparing: bees for win- 

 ter. 



I find it takes time, and is somewhat laborious, to 

 do the thing- right; and as I go along and come to a 

 hive not recently handled, combs somewhat fasten- 

 ed together, bees cross, etc., I say to myself, "Last 

 winter was so cold that this winter will be easy, and 

 will let you go just as you are, by merely putting in 

 the chaff cushion." So I go on, missing every once 

 In a while one in this way. I know by actual expe- 

 rience this will not do. How many bee-keepers are 

 there who never handle the brood-frames, and, es- 

 pecially in the fall, fix them the easiest and quick- 

 est possible way, or let them go without doing- any 

 thing? I knew of several who have invested in 

 chaff hives, and have done so contrai'y to my ad- 

 vice. I well know they would expect the hive to do 

 it all. Well, this spring finds them with the hives 

 minus any bees. So it goes about here, and is it 

 not so elsewhere? 



I last fall experimented with four colonics in chaff 

 hives, giving stores composed entirely of honey- 

 dew, or " bug:-juico," as some call it. Every bee in 

 those hives was dead three weeks ago; the three 

 other dead ones were left on the g-uess-so principle, 

 then I have probably ].'> that will need good diligent 

 nursing: to make them what they should be b>the 

 time honey comes. 



I find in every instance, where I last fall did my 

 duty, all is well. In short, my bees have suffered 

 just in proportion to my carelessness. 



I told you about the easy winter I had in my mind. 

 Well, to save the expense of i:! chair hives, and fix- 

 ing the weather all right, I started in with ]:{ 

 colonies in Simplicity hives. I used two division- 

 boards in eacli, a good warm cushion in the top 

 hive, fixed ventilators also, and took pains to give 

 nice stores; but all to no purpose, us nine are dead, 

 with fair prospects of losing the other four. Ten 

 days the lastof Februai-y, with mercury every night 

 from 6 to 16° below zero, and scarcely above zero 

 any day during the time, is when these bees ceased 

 breathing. Now, after this I promise myself to ev- 

 ery fall prepare my bees for waves of this kind; 

 for bees on summer stands, unless protected, can 

 not stand such weather. 



I will close this now, as this morning, at a.m., 

 March 17, mercury stood exactly at zero, and a later 

 report may not look as well as the one I have given. 

 I have 105 chaft' hives with liees in now. 



New London, O. Dan Wiiiti:. 



Well done, friend Dan. Siich letters as 

 yours are hopeful, antl I am sure you are 

 right. Your remarks need to be" placed 

 alongside of Prof. Cook's, in another column. 

 It is not so much tliat we want more light 

 or more ventilation in regard to this subject 

 of wintering, as it is tliat we live up to'the 

 light we have already, aiul to act up to our 

 own convictions. Tiiis llOth day of March 

 the thermometer is 4 degrees below zero, and 

 last evening it was 8 below. Now, then, we 

 want to go to work every winter with the 



expectation of having the weather possibly 8 

 or 10 degrees below zero as late as the first 

 of April. Let stores, chaff packing, and 

 quantity of bees, be sufficient for just such a 

 contingency. When the weather "lets up'' 

 a little, weVill tell you how our chaff hives 

 have stood this last blizzard. 



A REPORT ENCOURAGING AND DIS- 

 COURAGING BOTH IN ONE LETTER. 



WH.VT SHALL WE DO AVITH IJEE-HIVE THIEVES? 



COMMENCED last spring: with 4 hives; increas- 

 ed to 18 bj' natural swarming-. The season was 

 not good for honey; the spring was wet and 

 cold; and when white clover came there was 

 no honey in it. Basswood very little, and then 

 the latter part of the season was so dry it seemed as 

 though every thing must dry up. However, I got 

 nearly 400 lbs. of comb in 1 lb. sections, and all 

 went into winter quarters with full supplies save 

 three. Two I took up, as they were drone-layers. 

 The third one went to supply some one who does 

 not live up to the golden rule. Talk about being- 

 liberal, as some do in Gle.vmngs, as an antidote 

 for thieving-, may do in some cases; but kindness 

 and liberality are worse than thrown away on some. 

 Some talk of setting guns. Well, this is wholesome 

 argument for some; but before I would resort to 

 that 1 would do as one of my neighbors did; viz., go 

 out of the business. 



I have always given freely to all in reach of me, 

 and have sent to them when not asked for; but as 1 

 said before, kindness and liberality arc only thrown 

 away on some people. They took this hive from 

 me, a Simplicity upper story full. Had they been 

 content with surplus contents, i.\nd left my poor 

 bees alone, I do not think I should be writing of it 

 now; but after taking all the contents out fhey 

 piled the hives up and burned all, a large swarm, 

 and a valuable Italian queen, and that within a 

 stone's cast of my house. If they keep up their 

 wanton destruction, you will have one customer 

 less, and they be compelled to forage somewheri- 

 Che. 



How the bees are coniing out this sjiring, is hard 

 to say as yet. Some have lost heavily ; some more 

 or less. 1 have K in cellar and 7 out under the snow, 

 totally out of sight. Those in cellar a^e all right, 

 and 1 have no fear for those under the snow. 



I took not a little pains last year, by inquiring of 

 those who lost heavily, and found that an average 

 of 7 black to one Italian was the result. I should 

 like to know how it is in this respect in other parts, 

 where they lose so heavily by reason of the cold. 



Did you ever know a swarm to leave after filling 

 their hive most full? A neighbor of mine tells me 

 he had one, after being hived ten days, leave pell- 

 mell lor the woods. 



( I.IIM'I.NC; I^IEEXS' WINCiS. 



Take a snuill bush, sharpen the stub end, stick 

 close to the bottom-board, but leaning from the 

 hive; and when the swarm issues, the queen, being 

 unable to fly, will run up the bush on the return of 

 the swarm. They will cluster around their queen, 

 you can just pull up the bush and carry all to the 

 hive, and the work is done. H. I,. Boss. 



Caro, Mich., March 16, 188."). 



Friend li.. you did wonderfully in increas- 

 ing four hives to eighteen by natural swarm- 



