188.5 



Ci LEANINGS IK JiEE CULTURE. 



G83 



clerk who is intrusted with this very impor- 

 tant post always lills out the blanks while 

 she is holding the letter and money in her left 

 hand. This, you will see, i»recludes the pos- 

 sibility ot a "mistake. In the majority of 

 eases the writer of the letter replies, on re- 

 ceipt of the above printed postal, that the 

 letter was seiit to the postoffiee by mistake, 

 before the m^ney was put in, or something 

 of that sort. IJnt'sometimes it is impossible 

 to get any trace or clew as to wliere the 

 money did go. Do you wish to know how 

 often'vve liave occasion to use these printed 

 cardsV Well, I slionld .say usually once or 

 twice a week, and during the busy season 

 sometimes as often ;is two or thiee times a 

 day are needed. It illustrates the hasty and 

 loose way iu which nuuiy of the brethren do 

 busine.'s! If anybody wants further proof 

 of the carelessness of letter - writers, 

 he should examine the leports from the 

 Dead-Letter Oftice, which aie sent out at 

 the close of each year. Some of the friends 

 have been so unkind as to throw out insinu- 

 ations regarding the integrity of our clerks. 

 Let me tell you, friends, that" all these im- 

 portant positions are tilled only by those 

 who have, by long years of faithful work, 

 fully demonstrated their titncss for such 

 positions. Our books and mails and money 

 matters are almost all handled by exceeding- 

 ly careful, faitliful. and intellige"nt women. 



OHIO BEE-KEEPERS ON WINTERI-NG. 



KKIK.NK ( I.AIJKKS COMMENTS ON WHAT WAS SAID 

 AND DONE. 



LE.\NING.'' litis made a "new departure" in 

 pulilisliiug the proceedings of the Ohio State 

 Bee keepers' Association, wliieh 1 have read 

 witli inucli interest, especially tiie pait relat- 

 ing to wintering. Some very suggestive 



ideas were thrown out on that suli.jeet. wliieh I feel 



moved to discuss a little. 



PKOPER SIZK OF A WINTElt COLONY. 



Ur. Besse and Mrs. Gulp expressed themselves as 

 averse to very populous colonies at the beginning 

 of winter. I think they are light. Father I.aiig- 

 stroth's maxim, " Keep all c(jlonies strong, '" is a 

 good one for the working season, l)iit I think it is 

 often the ease that they are stronger than is neces- 

 sary or desirable in the fall of the year. A hive, as 

 well as a city, may be overcrowded. I remember, 

 that in the early days of the North-American Bee- 

 keepers' Association, when friend Hosmer, of Min- 

 nesota, used to be a prominent figure among us 

 (what has become of him'/) he astonished us on one 

 occasion by the views he enunciated on this point. 

 He said it is all nonsense to be too humane to kill 

 bees. It is no more cruel to kill old bees than it is 

 to shoot old horses. For his part, he did not want 

 more than about a pint of bees to the hive, when he 

 fixed things up for winter. If a hive were too pop- 

 ulous he shook part of the bees on to the ground. 

 It was mostly old bees that fell, and they would die 

 before spring any way. He did not want his hives 

 cluttered up with a lot of dead bees. Wintering 

 bees is like garnering seed-grain for next year's 

 crop; all you need is a good start in the spring. My 

 experience last winter convinced me that colonies 

 of small size will do well, If properly cared for. 



Why should bees be permitted to outlive their use- 

 lulnessV Is it any more barbarous to get rid of old 

 bees than it is to dispatch superfluous drones, or 

 massacre the whole of them when their functions 

 are over for the season'? During the working sea- 

 son, bees are incessantly active, and wear them- 

 selves out very quickly. It is doubtful whether any 

 that have " borne the heat and bmden of the day " 

 survive until the fullow-iiig spring, and 1 have come 

 to think that only old bees are templed to take 

 flight in pleasant winter weather. Their instinct 

 teaches them to leave the hive; they enjoy a final 

 flight ; like Moses they have their Pisgah, disappear, 

 and " no man knoweth their grave." 



TUK WINTER Cr.rSTEH. 



President Hoot remarked, that a large colony of 

 bees will contract to the size of a popcorn ball, and 

 winter well. In a back numbered' fii.EANiNos the 

 editor mentioned more in detail a case in which a 

 whole colony V( as compressed into a ball about the 

 size of an average " Northern Spy" apple, but 

 spread out so as to cover the frames. This is prob- 

 ably the most favoralile shape for them to hiber- 

 nate in. But I do not see how they can take that 

 shape as usually put up for winter. I am fixing my 

 stocks in a way to admit of their nutking a tight ball 

 of themselves. I am preparing honey-boards on 

 the principle of " Hills device," using, for the cen- 

 ter, sections of eavetroughing cut out of 4X4 

 scantling (see figure*. 



o 



The gabled part of the honey-board crosses the 



middle of the frames at right angles. This gives 



I he bees access to all the frames, and they have the 



warmest, siuiggest place in the whole hive in which 



I to hug one another when they go oft' into their win- 



L ter sleep. There is room for a cluster three inches 



I in diameter; and ff they make it in the shape of a 



" rolyjiolx " puflding it will hold a lot of bees. 



VENTILATION. 



j Let me shake hands with my old friend .A. Bene- 

 ' diet, whose tall figure an<l gray head used to adorn 

 j our oonventions in " the days of yore." I am glad 

 he is " still to the fore " as a bee-keeper. There is 

 ! a great deal in his remark, " Bees need more venti- 

 ' lation in winter than in summer. " Turn over this 

 I idea in your mind for a few minutes. Queer, isn't 

 it, that bees should want more air in winter than in 

 summer.;' It is not so with hunum beings. In sum- 

 mer we throw open our doors and windows; but in 

 winter we keep them carefully closed. Bee life as- 

 sumes two stages. In summer, activity; in winter, 

 repose. In summer, (luick wear and tear; in win- 

 ter, careful hoarding up of the vital forces. Hu- 

 man sleep in winter may illustrate the point. We 

 sleep in much colder apartments than we could 

 occupy through the day. When I was a boy I used 

 to go from a blazing fire and cosy living-room to a 

 I cold garret where I could see the stars, and the 

 1 snow would sometimes drift on to the bed-clothes, 

 ' but I "slept like a top, " as the saying is. I think 

 bees will " sleep like a top " too, if they have a uni- 

 form supply of pure still air. 



The president responded to Mr. Benedict's re- 

 mark by saying, " Our practice is to leave the en- 

 trance open full width all winter." This had refer- 

 ence, no doubt, to chatf-packed hives. Well, I be- 

 lieve the usual entrances will give bees air enough 

 if they are kept " open full width all winter." But 

 they are liable to become partially or wholly closed. 



