102 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb 1 



ble. There may be cases in which a large 

 principle is involved, where it may be neces- 

 sary to defend some one who was not at the 

 time a member of the organization ; but these 

 cases are rare. 



Mild weather, la grippe among men, and 

 good wintering among bees. 



Sixteen extra pages this time, and more to 

 follow in our next. We still have on hand a 

 large amount of good available matter that is 

 still wailing a place in our columns. 



DOOLITTLE IN ARKANSAS. 



For some weeks past, our old Borodino cor- 

 respondent has been sojourning at Ft. Smith, 

 Ark. He has rented a farm of 133 acres at 

 Ursulo for a term of five years. In a letter 

 just received from him he sajs he enjoys the 

 sunny South during winter, but has conclud- 

 ed that, on the whole, he is better off at his old 

 home at Borodino, N. Y. It appears from 

 this that the bee-keepers of the Empire State 

 can still claim one among their number whose 

 writings are, perhaps, as familiar as those of 

 any writer on bee- lore in all beedom. 



THE OFFICIARY OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIA- 

 TION. 



Mr. Arthur C. Miller, of Providence, R. 

 I., in refening to the editorial in Jan. 1st 

 Gleanings, in which mention is made of the 

 good work of the National Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, says no statement is made as to where 

 in the United States the Association has its 

 head, who its general manager is, or who any 

 of its officers are, nor how, when, and where 

 outsiders can get into it, and thus receive the 

 benefits of the organization. I have looked 

 up the editorial in question, and find that I 

 must plead guilty to the charge ; but I have 

 said so much about General Manager Secor, 

 and about sending |l 00 to him, 1 supposed 

 that every one would certainly know all about 

 the organization, and all I needed to do was 

 to make bee-keepers see and know that the 

 Association was doing something, and a very 

 important something too. 



Perhaps it would be well to keep a standing 

 notice in our columns, giving the names of 

 the officers, or at least the General Manager 

 and the executive board, and here they are : 



E. R. Root, President, Medina, O.; R. C. 

 Aikin, Vice-president, Loveland, Colo.; Eu- 

 gene Secor, General Manager, Forest City, 

 Iowa. 



To get into the organization, and thus be 

 entitled to its benefits, at the same assisting 

 in the good work, send i?1.00 to the General 

 Manager as above named. This will entitle 

 you to membership for one year, securing for 

 you protection against dishonest commission 

 men, against town councils and disagreeable 

 neighbors, and at the same time giving you 

 the additional benefits resuliing from the 

 fight against adulteration. It should be un- 

 derstood that one who is not a member can 

 not justly expect the protection of the Associ- 

 ation unless he joins before he gets into trou- 



indoor v. outdoor wintering as dis- 

 cussed at the ONTARIO convention 



AT NIAGARA FALLS. 



At one of the sessions we listened to a val- 

 uable address by Prof. John Fixter, of the Ot- 

 tawa Experiment Station. In this he detailed 

 an interesting series of experiments that had 

 been conducted under his direction for four, 

 five, and six winters by the station, on the 

 various methods of wintering bees indoors, 

 underground, and even outdoors. A series of 

 colonies of average strength in common Dove- 

 tailed hives were set apart in pairs, and pre- 

 pared in various ways as follows : 



Experiment No. 1. He had put two hives in 

 a cellar under a dwelling. Under the back 

 end of each hive was placed a three-inch 

 block by means of which the hive was raised 

 so as to insure free ventilation. The regular 

 outdoor covers were removed, and replaced by 

 cushions made of chaff, 4 inches thick, and 

 long enough and wide enough to lap over the 

 hive all around about two inches. The tem- 

 perature of the cellar varied from 46 to 47. 

 The bees were very quiet all winter, only a 

 scrt of hum being noticeable at times ; and at 

 such times cold air was let in by opening 

 slides in the doors of the cellar at night, and 

 closing them in the morning. The average 

 loss of stores for a period of six years was 11 

 lbs. 1^ ounces. 



Experiment No. 2. Two colonies were put 

 into the cellar, having the covers and bottoms 

 on just as they were out in the bee-yard. 

 They were watched for dampness to compare 

 the amount of honey consumed. During De- 

 cem'^er and January the bees in both hives 

 made considerable noise. Drops of water 

 were noticed along the entrances of both hives. 

 The colonies were removed from the cellar in 

 the spring in fair condition, but the combs 

 were slightl)' moldy. The average consump- 

 tion of stores for six years was 13 lbs. \% 

 ounces. 



Experiment No. 3. Two other colonies were 

 placed in a root house. The covers were re- 

 moved, and replaced by large chaff cushions. 

 Between the bottom-boards and the hive prop- 

 er were inserted four blocks, two inches high, 

 one at each corner. The house was opened 

 frequently, to put in and take out vegetables. 

 The temperature varied from 38 to 40. The 

 bees made considerable noise. Along in 

 March the hives showed signs of dysentery, 

 dampness, and mold. The average consump- 

 tion of stores for four years was 14 lbs. 4 

 ounces. 



Experiment No. 4. Two colonies were pre- 

 pared by being raised ofT the bottom-boards 

 two inches. The covers were removed, and in 

 their places were put chaff cushions. Hives 

 were then put into a pit 3 ft. wide, 3 ft. deep, 

 and 10 ft. long. At each end of this trench 

 there was a ventilator. This pit was then cov- 

 ered with cedar poles : over these a layer of 



