5i2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



J ULY 



before. The truth is, that no system can be called 

 perfect until it has proved its perfection by several 

 years" trial and success by many different persons 

 ill different localities. Many of us older heads have 

 snpjiosed that we had found the royal road to suc- 

 cess, and would reach it, too, for a series of years, 

 when sonic climatic or tood changes wonld occur, 

 and the goal would be still ahead. In .\;our cjuota- 

 tion fi-om Frot. Cook, I see two " its," and ))i'rffcLi<iii 

 contains no "it's." Neither do 1 think that the 

 prolessor is rig-lit in his opinion tliat chaff hives are 

 not safe in scA'ere winters, if iiropeiin constructcil 

 (Uid fimidlctl. 1 think they will be found fully as 

 safe as cellars, but wintering- in cellars is much the 

 best understood by the ma.iority of beekeepers, 

 and it ought to be, for it has been practiced and ex- 

 I)erimented with about four times as long, at least, 

 as have chaff hives. 1 venture the prediction, that 

 neither of us will live long enough to see a perfect 

 system of wintering in tliat Northern climate. 



My reasons for saying- what 1 did at)out your 

 management not being adapted to outdooi- winter- 

 ing was based on my own experience. For several 

 years, almost the only losses I had were among the 

 half-dozen or so colonies that 1 had worked on the 

 top-story plan. I could give my theory why 1 

 think such cokmies wintered poorest, but I don't 

 think it is worth while to take np the space, as the 

 production of comb honey compels that method of 

 management; neither is it necessary to point out 

 the very obvious reasons why your neighbor, Mr. 

 Donane, failed with chaff hives. 



Friend H., an " experienced apiarist " is the very 

 one who can make it pay to take time to practice 

 spreading- brood, especially so as this work comes 

 previous to the honey season when one has time to 

 carefor, including this work, at least four times as 

 large an apiary as he can care for during the honey 

 season. It is when one takes into consideration 

 how "to secure the greatest amount of honey with 

 the least expenditure of capital and labor " within 

 a given field that we see the need of doing- every 

 thing- in our power to increase the average pro- 

 ducts of our colonies; and spreading of the brood is 

 valuable, partly because it comes before the real 

 working season is on us. 



No, the taking of honey from the brood-nest is 

 nnt one of the things of the past, nor is it likely 

 to be soon. For several years 1 worked a few 

 colonies on the double-story plan, on purpose to 

 test this luatter of which was the most profitable to 

 use, and I came to very decidedly prefer the single- 

 story plan for extracted honey. 1 also watched my 

 neighbors quite closely, and those who used that 

 plan succeeded best in l>oth getting honey and in 

 wintering. The question of " best food for winter" 

 opens up the very important subject of what is 

 good honey for wintering purposos, which is too 

 important to be put oft' to the end of a rambling ar- 

 ticle on other matters. 1 have never seen any 

 thing yet on that which fully meets my views, al- 

 though it lies at the very foundation of successful 

 wintering. 1 have often thought 1 should like to 

 add my mite to that subject, liut ill health has so 

 far prevented. 



I can not understand by what reasons Mr. H. has 

 arrived at the conclusion that it is profitable to 

 feed sugar-stores when raising comb honey, but not 

 when producing extracted. It seems to me that 

 the saiue rule applies to both in this respect. 



So far as the comparative value of Italians and 



blacks is concerned, I suppose Mr. H. and myself 

 will continue to agree to disagree, we having ar- 

 rived at ditt'ei-ent conclusions in that matter. To 

 do justice to ourselves would require an entire ar- 

 ticle for each of the different topics discussed by 

 us; but time and space forbid. It will be noticed, 

 that these topics are all side issues from the main 

 one treated of in Mr. H.'s book. A friendly discus- 

 sion is necessary to bring- out the true facts and 

 theories of our chosen pursuit; but it is worse than 

 folly to conduct it in any other than a fair and 

 kindly manner. We should always bear in mind 

 that others have the same right to their opinions 

 that we have, and that possibly they may be right 

 and we wrong. O. O. Poppi.eton. 



Hawks Park, Fla., June 37, 1»S7. 



Friend P., it occurred to me that friend 

 Hutchinson's statement in regard to cellar 

 wintering was altogether too strong ; but I 

 thought best to let somebody else take it 

 up. Our bees have wintered so well in 

 chaff hives for a good man}' years past, we 

 could hardly ask for any thing better. Now. 

 if somebody were to ask me how much 1 

 should want to put all these bees in the cel- 

 lar, look out for the temperature, ventila- 

 tion, dampness, and all these other things, 

 and then take them out in the spring and 

 get them all right on their summer stands, I 

 should very likely say I should not want to 

 undertake it for less than 50 cts. per colony. 

 It is true, we don't need to carry in those 

 great heavy chaff hives; but in that case 

 the combs must be taken out and put into 

 lighter hives ; then, as I usually want them 

 in chaff hives again in the "spring, they 

 would all have to be put back again into chair 

 hives. We have a cellai' already made and 

 unoccupied ; but to fix it for bees it would 

 have to be darkened, arrangements made 

 for sub-eaith or some other kind of ventila- 

 tion ; doors and windows would have to be 

 operated (hiring our Iretiuent warm spells 

 in the middle of tlie winter, by opening 

 them at ni.uht and closing in the day time, 

 etc. J think we could winter our bees in 

 that way, without any question, and very 

 likely with considerable saving of honey; 

 but one hundred debars would be no tempt- 

 ation at all for us to go back to the old 

 plan of cellar wintering, that we worked on 

 years ago; and I feel quite sure that we 

 should not save one hundred dollars' worth 

 of stores. May be I have become stubborn 

 in the matter; but when the bees do so well 

 by letting them entirely alone, it seems to 

 me I am excusable for being a little bit 

 prejudiced against putting bees into cellars. 

 Our variable Ohio climate, very likely, has 

 much to do with our decision in regard to 

 wintering. Ernest adds, that our 200 colonies 

 did not consume, on an average, more than 

 from seven to ten poimds of stores per hive 

 during the past winttr. If this be true, 

 there could not liave been a very great 

 amount saved in the consumption of stores 

 by putting them in the cellar. Me also adds, 

 that one hive, on which the chaff' packing 

 was omitted by luistake, consumed perhaps 

 nearly double "the amount of stores given 

 above; so it mttkes a difference, you see, as 

 to how our bees are fixed to go into winter 

 quarters outdoors. 



