«n 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



J Ac- 



tive above. Friend Hasty's record would, I 

 think, answer very well for Medina. At 

 the present time both radishes and celery 

 are growing in the open ground that have 

 ;is yet received DO injury. They are. how- 

 ever, protected by buildings. Now, this 

 latter point is a very important one. In 

 California, people have hunted up localities 

 protected by mountains, and in some cases 

 they are nothing more than moderate hills, 

 and these hills furnish sufficient protection 

 lor raising all kinds of tropical plants and 

 vegetables. In Salt Lake City we had very 

 pleasant weather— no frost ; but when the 

 train brought us to a notch in the moun- 

 tains where the northeast wind swept 

 through, the ground was frozen wherever 

 the wind struck ; and on the northeast side 

 of the mountains we found the ground froz- 

 en hard, and covered with snow. Are we 

 making sufficient use of the hills we have, 

 for protection in a similar way, for our bees 

 and gardens? 



Question 101.— What method of wintering prevails 

 in your locality— thai is, outdoor or cellar wintering? 



Both. 



Cellar. 



Collar. 



Cellar. 



Cellar. 



Outdoor. 



« Outdoor, generally. 



( lutdoor, generally. 



< 'ellar wintering- exclusively. 



Madant & Son. 



P. H. Elwood. 



A. J. Cook. 



C. C. MlELER. 



Dk. A. B. Mason. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Chas. f. Muth. 



L. C. Root. 



Geo. Grimm. 



< uitdoor wintering is almost universal here. 



Jamks A. Green. 

 The prevailing method is indoor, especially 

 among- the most advanced bee-keepers. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



Outdoor, as it is seldom that the bees are three 

 consecutive days without flying. P. L. Viai.lon. 



About half in cellar and halt' on summer stands, 

 most apiarists using both methods during the 

 same winter. G. M. DooiiiTTMB. 



Both are commonly practiced here. During out- 

 severest winter those did best who wintered indoor; 

 and during mild winters it was just the other way. 



James Heddon. 

 The few old-style bee-keepers still winter out- 

 doors mostly. Those who are up to the times, 

 most of them, winter in cellars, I believe. As for 

 myself, I winter mostly out of doors. 



B. E. Hasty. 



In my immediate locality in Iowa, chaff-hive win- 

 tering was mostly practiced, and was most success- 

 ful; but a short distance away, in localities where 

 I he soil was of a different nature from 'what it was 

 where 1 lived, cellar wintering was in most use. 



O. O.POPPLETON. 



1 hope you will excuse me, friends, for say- 

 ing, as I read over the above answers, I can 

 not help thinking that those who answer 

 are perhaps unconsciously prejudiced a little 

 in favor either of cellar' or outdoor, as the 

 case may be. Friend Hasty says that, in 

 his locality, which is about the same as ours, 

 a few ola-styU bee-keepers winter out of 



doors mostly; then he adds, with charac- 

 teristic frankness, l> Of whom I am which. 1 ' 

 Now. it is not at all unlikely that 1 too am 

 prejudiced. I do not believe that, in our 

 locality, nor in friend Hasty's either, it is 

 profitable for the average bee-keeper to un- 

 dertake to winter in the cellar. Friend 

 Heddon gives a wise suggestion in regard 

 to his locality. Then to get at the truth of 

 the matter, the question arises, Which oc- 

 curs oftener— mild winters or severe ones? 

 Friend Poppleton succeeded with chaff 

 hives, just as we do ; and his report of the 

 severity of the winters in Iowa is perhaps 

 as bad as any who have answered. His re- 

 marks in regard to the soil refer, I presume, 

 to its adaptability for constructing whole- 

 some cellars. A cellar in a sandy or gravel- 

 ly soil, especially if it is in a side-hill, is cer- 

 tainly much better than a cellar in level, 

 wet clav soil. 



Question 102.— What is your average consumption 

 of stores per colony, as nearly as you can estimate of 

 you can not give exact figures), from October to May? 

 State whether this average is for cellar or outdoor. 



'.'> to 30 11)8. for indoor wintering. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



For outdoor wintering, about l* lbs. 



James A. Green. 

 15 to 25 lbs. I winter outdoors always. 



Chas. F. Muth. 

 About 1") lbs., indoors; 25 lbs. outdoors. 



L. C. Root. 

 -10 pounds for out of doors; 30 pounds for cellar. 



Dadant &Son. 

 1 think about In to 20 pounds; cellar wintering. 



Geo. Grimm. 

 Between Band 11 pounds. I winter in the cellar. 



Dk. A. B. Mason. 

 About 10 pounds for the cellar, and 14 for those 

 wintered outdoors. G. M. Doolittle. 



is to 20 lbs out of doors; cellar, 9 to 10 lbs. This 

 is estimated. I can not give exact figures. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I judg-e from 12 to 14 pounds. I have never weigh- 

 ed. This is for cellar, and about two months out- 

 doors. P. H. Elwood. 



From October 1st to April 10th, not more than 

 7 pounds in cellar; about twice that amount out- 

 doors, packed or in chaff hives. A. J. Cook. 



Outdoor wintering. I think I will put it at 12 

 pounds, with the remark that it would take a good 

 deal more pains in weighing, etc., that I have given 

 to the matter, to give the figures very much scien- 

 tific value. E. E. Hasty. 



For cellar, perhaps 20 lbs. The only actual figures 

 1 have are of four colonies, weighed October 21, 

 1881, and April 17, 1882; the losses in weight being 

 respectively 13%, 19%, 2V/ 2 , and 25 l /4, or an average 

 of 20 lbs. This, of course, included dead bees as 

 well as stores. C. C. Mileer. 



In this State (Louisiana) we have to give the aver- 

 age from November to March. It takes fully 25 

 pounds to bring a colony to the lsith of March. The 

 consumption doesn't seem to be much until about 

 February 1; but after that it is very rapid, which 

 is no doubt due to the rapid breeding. 



P. L. Viallon. 



