182 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



The one that has the most bees will make the most 

 honey. E. France. 



As ;i rule, those that winter on a small amount of 

 honey in proportion to the number of bees in the 

 hive; or, in other words, those that hibernate most 

 perfectly. P. H. Elwood. 



Under the same conditions, the colonies requiring 

 most honey for wintering will prove the most prof- 

 itable the next season. Taking every thing into 

 consideration, though, I do not care for extra- 

 strong colonies in the fall. J. A. Green. 



It all depends on the queen. If the strength of 

 the colony, when it goes into winter quarters, is the 

 gauge of the proliflcness of the queen, then the 

 strong colony would likely make the better work- 

 ing colony, as the queen, judging by the past, would 

 likely be the better layer of the two. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



The colonies that require the greatest amount of 

 stores to " carry them through," as a rule will be 

 able to do the most work during the honey-season, 

 because most of the stores consumed are in brood- 

 raising; and the colonies that raise the most brood 

 will, as a rule, be strongest at the beginning of the 

 honey season. H. R. Boardman. 



I do not think this question can be answered, as 

 so much depends upon the mode of wintering and 

 quality of queen. I prefer to have a colony eat but 

 little in winter. This indicates a repose or restful 

 condition, that I think favorable to the bees. Dis- 

 turbance or disquiet causes undue eating. 



A. J. Cook. 



It is not the amount of stores a colony consumes 

 in winter quarters that enables the bee-keeper to 

 judge of its working qualities. Some of the best 

 working colonies I ever had consumed less than 

 seven pounds of stores while in winter quarters. 

 One of my poorest colonies last season was one 

 that lost over 20 pounds in weight while in the cel- 

 lar. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



That depends. If the 25-pound eaters are raven- 

 ous because'they are worrying and unhealthy, they 

 will be very apt to come out number two in the 

 honey-harvest. If they use the extra stores in rear- 

 ing brood, they may gain or may lose by the pro- 

 cess—more frequently the latter, 1 think. I rather 

 prefer that all over 16 pounds be hanging in the 

 comb-closet, to be given back to them in the spring, 

 if desired. Bees that (in a moderate climate) will 

 not go through the winter on 16 pounds had better 

 be dead than to live and propagate their greedy 

 race. E. E. Hasty. 



Our bees have always wintered the best when 

 coming through with the least depletion of num- 

 bers, and consequently with better vitality where 

 the consumption of stores, while in winter quar- 

 ters, was small. We know by careful weighing that 

 we once wintered a strong colony of bees, in a 

 special repository, on two and a half pounds of 

 honey. That season all colonies cousumed a mini- 

 mum amount of stores, and nearly all were strong 

 enough to swarm about the 15th of April. I never 

 saw any thing like it before or since. 



James Heddon. 



That depends. If the colony that eats 25 lbs. is 

 no stronger than the one that eats the Id lbs., but 

 eats more only because it's uneasy, it is likely to 

 come out weaker in the spring than the one that 

 eats 10. Still, it is barely possible (although 1 don't 



think it's likely) that, being of equal strength, the 

 one eats more than the other because of a more 

 active temperament, and on that account may be 

 more active in the working season, hence more 

 valuable. In general, however, I suspect that the 

 colony that eats 25 lbs. is just so much stronger- 

 than the one that eats 10, in which case the one 

 that eats the 25 is likely to be the better working 

 colony. C. C. Miller. 



Now, I wonder who is the author of these ques- 

 tions. What has the amount of the consumption of 

 winter stores got to do with the working qualities 

 of the colony during the next season, any way? 

 How can we reason from an effect when we don't 

 know the cause? Increased consumption of stores 

 may be due to the temperature, the manner of 

 wintering, disturbance, extra strength of colony 

 caused by great proliticness of queens, etc., and it 

 may result in " playing out " the queen premature- 

 ly, or it may continue the colony strong during the 

 season. In other words, I don't think any judg- 

 ment as to the working quality of a colony can be 

 based on its consumption of winter stores alone. 

 The colony in best condition when the honey season 

 openg will ordinarily give the best results. 



Geo. Grimm. 



To answer this question we had better condense 

 what a successful bee-keeper of Italy, Mr. G. Metel- 

 li says, who got a good crop last year while bee cul- 

 ture was a failure in the whole country. See the 

 Apicoltore for December and January: 



" We use very capacious (capacissime) hives, which 

 contain in the brood-chamber from 12 to 15 Italian 

 frames, instead of « or 10, as usually." The Italian 

 frame is about of the same size as the Langstroth, 

 but it is placed vertically. " The colonies which, on 

 the first of May, have hardly consumed the 22 or 24 

 lbs. (10 or 11 kilog.tof honey given for winter are 

 not strong enough to make honey in spring. But 

 we can anticipate that those which consumed from 

 36 to 40, and even 44 lbs., will return the honey used, 

 and profusely." Dadant & Son. 



No colony, to winter well, should consume more 

 than ten pounds of honey while in winter quarters. 

 If more than this is consumed, the chances are 

 against that colony being a very profitable one the 

 next summer. By winter quarters, I mean the 

 time during which the colony is in the cellar, or 

 from Nov. 1st to April 15th. If this colony is win- 

 tered outdoors, then I should say from Nov. 1st to 

 March 20th. After this, during the next two 

 months, the colony should consume as much honey, 

 if they are to be a profitable colony during the 

 summer, as they did while in winter quarters. The 

 size of the colony has not so much to do with the 

 amount of stores which they consume while in win- 

 ter quarters, as has the quietude or uneasiness of 

 the colony. For summer profit, give me the colony 

 which has been quiet during winter, every time. 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



No wonder our good friend George Grimm 

 wonders who the author of these questions 

 is. 1 suspect that A. I. Root started the 

 matter, and I was pretty sure of the truth 

 of what the above testimony brings out; 

 namely, that uneasy colonies often consume 

 a large amount of stores, without being very 

 much the better for it ; also that, when ev- 

 ery thing is just right, a pretty fair-sized 

 colony may winter on a comparatively small 



