206 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Mar. 



ago; in fact, we had so much of it that the 

 editor shut down on us, saying the subject 

 was exhausted/' Very likely our young in- 

 ventor may demand the proof, aiid friend 

 Doolittle is the one who is able to take 

 down his old back volumes and put his fin- 

 ger right on the spot. This gives him a pow- 

 er and ability possessed by few of our pres- 

 ent writers. May God spare him many 

 years yet, to guide and direct the new gen- 

 erations who are constantly coming on to 

 the stage, and— wanting to know, you know. 



TIME OF TAKING BEES 

 CELLAK. 



OUT OF THE 



A FEW TIMELY HINTS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEES 

 IN THE CELLAR. 



T THINK 1 never regretted taking bees out of the 

 1^ cellar in the spring- too late, but I have Tegret- 

 ol ted taking them out too early, more than once. 

 ■^ If bees appear a little uneasy, and a fine day 

 comes, there is a strong temptation to hurry 

 them out, even if there is time for considerable cold 

 weather. In 1872 1 took out my bees Feb. 33, in bad 

 condition, about half of them alive. They had been 

 fed late, which, perhaps, was at the bottom of the 

 trouble. They flew a little, but it was not warm 

 enough for a general cleaning, and soon after there 

 came a cold storm with snow a foot deep, and by 

 April 1 I had only two colonies left out of the orig- 

 inal 50. I suspect moi'e would have lived if they 

 had been left in a month or two longer. 



Some have expressed the opinion, that bees kept 

 in the cellar through the winter are more tender in 

 the spring than those' left out all winter. Be that 

 as it may, I think I would rather have them out all 

 winter than to take them out of the cellar in Febru- 

 ary, in this locality. As to taking them out for a 

 fly in winter, and putting them back in the cellar 

 again, I do not know; but I rather think I would 

 take the chance of their staying. In the winter of 

 1885-'6, some colonies became alHicted with diar- 

 rhea, and began to spot the fronts of their hives. I 

 suspected they had been too cold, as the flres had 

 been rather low. I then raised the temperature of 

 the cellar, and the disease made no further prog'- 

 ress. This is the only instance of the kind I ever 

 experienced, and there is a possibility of some mis- 

 take; but if I ever see diarrhea in the cellar again I 

 shall ti-y better flres. If I had no stoves in my cel- 

 lar I think I should try hot stones, jugs of hot water 

 corked tight, or something of the kind. Of coui'se, 

 I should not use hot coals or any thing that would 

 make any steam, smoke, or gas, or any thing that 

 would make the air less pui-e. 



Of late years I have taken the blooming of the 

 soft maple as indicating the proper time to take out 

 bees. Please bear in mind, that what may be all 

 right in one climate or locality may be all wrong in 

 another. Well, the maples have helped to keep me 

 straight. Sometimes a bright warm day comes, and 

 I want, oh so much! to see the bees all out flying; 

 but if the soft maples ai-e not yet out, I manage to 

 hold on, and generally find it would have been a 

 bad job if I had yielded to the temptation to take 

 them out earlier. On two separate occasions I think 

 the soft maples made a mistake in opening out too 

 early. One year they started out in bloom, and 



then some cold weather came, froze up the blos- 

 soms, and I think little or no nectar was obtained 

 from them. In the spring of 1886 I felt especially 

 anxious to get my bees out early. Sickness and 

 death had prevented their getting the attention 

 they should have had the previous fall, and some 

 were short of stores. Just which they were I did 

 not know, and 1 thought if I overhauled them in 

 the cellar to And out which needed feeding I might 

 injure the great majority which needed no feeding, 

 and so make more loss than gain. So I watched the 

 maples closely, and on March 36 found one putting 

 forth blossoms. It was unusually early, and it did 

 not look like settled warm weather; but there wei'e 

 the maple-blossoms, and I didn't want any bees to 

 starve in the cellar, so out they came. If I remem- 

 ber rightly there were about 12 dead out of the 340 

 put in in the fall. A snowstorm came and for days 

 they were frozen in. Then a bright sun, and, for 

 all of my shading the entrances, many were lost In 

 the snow. By the time they all got through dying 

 oft, only 336 were left, and they wei"e by no means 

 in flne shape. This occurrence is entii'ely too re- 

 cent for me to feel any great pride in relating it, 

 but the relation may do some good. The bees were 

 in good condition in the cellar; and if I had it to do 

 over again I would let them take their chance of 

 starving, tor at most I do not think many would 

 have starved; and if left in the cellar till warm 

 weather, I think many more would have pulled 

 through all right. So I shall no longer put implicit 

 trust in soft maples— at any rate, not in the bloom- 

 ing of a single tree, but take somewhat into ac- 

 count the date and general appearance of the 

 weather. Although this one tree was in bloom 

 March 26, it was many days before the genei-al 

 blooming of soft maples; and if I had waited for 

 this they might have been all right. Since 1873 my 

 bees have left the cellar at the following dates: 



1873, March 31. 



1874, •• 30. 



1875, Api-il 6. 



1876, " 17. 



1877, " 11. 



1878, March 13. 



1879, April ]. 



1880, March 31. 



1881, April 33. 



1882, March 30. 



1883, April 6. 



1884, March 29. 



1885, Aprils. 



1886, March 36. 



As I have already intimated, some of these dates 

 would have been better if later. 

 Marengo, 111., Mar. 3, 1887. C. C. Miller. 



I think you are right, friend M., in decid- 

 ing that too late is better than too early in 

 putting the bees outdoors. Almost every 

 bee-keeper, especially an euthusiastic one, 

 is anxious to get things going in the spring, 

 and one has to live until he is forty or fifty 

 years of age before he learns that the weath- 

 er in Marcli and April is very uncertain. I 

 have gone through the same experience in 

 risking plants out over night ; but I think I 

 have nevei- regretted that I protected them 

 too well. Our bees are, however, always 

 prepared for outdoor wintering, and there- 

 lore aie outdoors all winter long ; but I 

 have to check the boys continually about 

 taking oft' the chaff cushions too early. 

 They complain that it is too much fuss and 

 bother every time they wish to open a hive ; 

 but my impression is; tbat it pays a good 

 per ceiit to have them well protected when 

 these sudden cold storms take us unawares. 



