1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



H47 



now, that the ownership of from 40 fo^O colonies of 

 bees warranted the purchase and use of a comb- 

 foundation machine; but since the many improve- 

 ments in its manufacture, I have found that such 

 is not the case. You are very well aware, that not 

 only special skill is required, but special room and 

 llxtures, and plenty of it: and although I now have 

 between B\'c and si.\ himdred colonies, and use 

 foundation in full sheets everywhere, and sell 

 about ten times as much as I use, I prefer to pur- 

 chase rather than to make my foundation, devoting 

 more time and energy to other departments. When 

 I look at the e.\tremely low prices of your counter 

 goods, I do not forget that specialty in manufac- 

 ture has done much to aid inventive genius in so 

 cheaply supplying us. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Aug. 23, 18HT. 



Friend H., yoti have given Dadant & Son 

 a pretty big puft' ; but I am glad to see it, 

 because r think they are deserving. In re- 

 gard to Inlying foundation instead of mak- 

 ing it for forty or fifty colonies, if I am 

 right it depends a good deal on how much 

 spare time the owner has. Where lie has 

 not as many irons in the fire as you and I 

 have, friend Ileddon. but, on the contrary, 

 has spare time, especially in the fall and 

 winter, he can make very good wages in- 

 deed in making liis own foundation, and 

 supplying his neighbors for several miles 

 around, even if he does not make a business 

 of furnishing supplies and shipping to order. 

 Since you speak of it. I believe I have never 

 heard any one say that he ever sent an or- 

 der for foundation to the Dadants, and it 

 was neglected or delayed. 



PKEPARING FOR WINTER. 



FKIEND DOOLITTLE TELLS US HOW TO DO IT ANU 

 WHEN TO DO tT. 



fp^ HAT prince among bee-keepers of twenty 

 ^h years ago, Elisha Gallup, once wrote that 

 ^ August and September were the months in 

 which to prepare bees for winter; and after 

 the experience of last fall and winter (which 

 winter was the worst season for bees ever known 

 in this locality, they being confined to their hives 

 on the summer stands for Ave months without 

 Hight), I am ready to agree with Gallup exactly. 

 A year ago I commenced getting the bees ready in 

 August, ttnishing in September, and I never had 

 bees winter as well during a severe winter in all of 

 my 18 years of experience. As I am again getting 

 ready for next winter, I thought perhaps some of 

 the readers of Gleanings would like to know how 

 I did It. By beginning at this date to put all in 

 readiness as far as possible, I give the bees a 

 chance to get their stores for winter placed just 

 where they wish them, so that, by the middle of 

 October, they are ready to go into that quiescent 

 state so conducive to the best results. Working 

 along this line. I proceed as follows: 



I go to each hive, open it, and carefully remove 

 each comb, noting the amount of bees, age of 

 queen, square inches of brood, and pounds of hon- 

 ey. The pounds of honey are found by weighing a 

 few combs of varying fullness till the eye gets so 

 trained that every comb can be counted olf as to 

 weight ot honey with an accuracy approaching 



perfection, while the square inches of brood is 

 gotten by measuring a few ditferent-sized patches, 

 when it is easy to estimate it afterward. The age 

 of the queen is told l)y looking at the last year's 

 record, if her wings are clipped; if not clipped, T 

 know she is of the present year's rearing, as the 

 wings of all my queens are clipped in fruit-liloom, 

 and the amount of bees is told by observing their 

 appearance on the combs. When I go over the 

 hives in this way, 1 have some pieces of sections so 

 that, as soon as a hive is closed, I can write down 

 all about the condition of the inside. The piece of 

 section may read something like this: "Aug. 20, 

 1887; 20 lbs. honey; 450 sq. inch, brood. Bees, plen- 

 ty, with good Italian queen, reared in '85." 



This piece is now laid on top of the honey-board 

 or quilt to the hive, and the cover put on, when two 

 little tlat stones are put on the cap to tell me that, 

 inside said hive, they are short of honey, but have 

 brood to spare. For instance, if the stone is at the 

 front right-hand corner, it says, short of honey; if 

 at the left back corner, it says, brood to spare; if at 

 the right back corner, it says, honey to spare; and 

 if at the left front corner, it says, short of bees and 

 brood; while, if all is as I wish it for winter, a stone 

 is placed in the center of the cover. In this way 

 I make these little stones tell me, at a glance over 

 the apiary, just what each hive contains, so that it 

 is now but a few minutes' work to go over the yard 

 and equalize all so that each is in a similar condi- 

 tion for winter, when the little stones are taken otf 

 and slijiped under the bottom-board of the hiv(>, 

 where they belong when not in use. If any are 

 still short of stores (25 lbs. is what I allow each colo- 

 ny) after equalizing, I feed to make up the de- 

 fliiiency, generally using honey, as I prefer it to 

 sugar stores after i-epeated trials. As 1 write this 

 out it looks like a long tedious job, and the readers 

 of Gleanings will doubtless say that, rather than 

 go through all this operation, they will simply lift 

 the hives as heretofore and " guess" that all have 

 enough to carry them through. But to handle 

 three or lour hives is to become an expert; audit 

 the readers will only try it they will soon find that, 

 after a little, they can count off honey, brood, and 

 bees, as fast as they can handle frames, which, to- 

 gether with the satisfaction of fciiouHHy just what 

 each hive contains, will never allow them to go 

 back to the " lifting-guessing " plan again. 



Then I have also learned a new plan of uniting 

 nuclei or queen-rearing colonies for winter, so 

 that they can be ready early instead of being only 

 poorly fixed at best when left till October, as they 



usually are. It is this: 



The latter part of August, select the strongest 

 ones from the lot, or as many as j'ou desire to win- 

 ter, and go to the others and take all but a little 

 brood away from them, dividing said brood among 

 those selected for winter. In doing this I take all 

 the bees along (less the iiueen) that adhere to their 

 frames. These frames of bees and brood are set 

 right in the selected hives, and so far I have not 

 hail a single bee or queen killed. The bees hatch- 

 ing from this brood are the ones which go througli 

 the winter, and I like uniting in the brood form 

 much better than in the hee form. T'he bees left in 

 the now small nuclei are used up, and mostly die 

 of old age by the time T am through ((ueen-rearing 

 for the season. G. M. Ddolittle. 



Borodino. N. V., -Vug. 18, 1887. 



1 lielieve. friend I).,tl>(' substance of the 



