GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the secretarj' of the Idaho Honey-producers' 

 Association, Mr. F. C. Bowman, whose post- 

 office is Idaho Falls, Ida. Prompt action 

 will be necessai-y, as the legislature meets 

 very soon. 



A Variety of Experimments in Winier- 

 ing being Carried on at Medina 

 This winter we are carrying on a variety 

 of experiments in wintering our bees. Part 

 are wintered indoors and part outdoors. 

 The former are in two different cellars. In 

 one (the wareliouse cellar) the temperature 

 ranges from 40 to 45, and in the other (tlie 

 macliine-shop cellar) from 45 to 60. The 

 temi^erature of these cellars is somewhat 

 dependent on the temperature outside, and 

 hence the variation. Each cellar of bees is 

 inspected daily to a.scertain the purity of 

 the atmosphere, the temperature, and the 

 condition of the bees so far as it can be 

 ascertained by a squint with an electric 

 lamp at the entrance of several of the hives. 

 In order to determine the temperature, test- 

 ed merciu'ial thermometers are used. We 

 secured the best we could find, and then 

 placed a set of them outdoors for a few 

 days, and then inside, and those that record- 

 ed exactly alike were selected, and placed in 

 various portions of the cellar — some near 

 the floor, some midway, and some near the 

 ceiling. We note that the temperature in 

 the upper part of the cellar is always higher 

 than when near the floor by three or four 

 degTces. 



So far, Dec. 30, the bees are wintering 

 nicely in both cellars, with the difference a 

 little in favor of the cooler cellar. A few 

 days ago we brought in one yard of bees 

 containing our finest breeding stock, with a 

 team and bobsleds. These bees were housed 

 in double-walled hives; but as the weather 

 had turned vei-y cold we desired to give 

 these bees every possible cliance, and so we 

 brought them home and housed them in the 

 cooler cellar. We did the same thing last 

 year after the weather had turned severely 

 cold, and there was good sleighing. Tlie 

 results were highly satisfactory. Tlie best 

 time in all the world to move bees from out- 

 yards to the home cellars is when there is 

 good sleighing. One pair of common run- 

 ners for going through the woods after bees 

 are better than a pair of bobs for moving 

 bees. While the former will skid a little 

 more, they will go over bumps easier. 



OUTDOOR WINTERIXG IX QUADRUPLE WIXTER 



CASES AXD IX SIXGLE IXDIVIDUAL 



DOUBLE-WALLED HIVES. 



As previously reported, we are testing out 

 the ordinary individual double-walled pack- 



ed hives alongside of hives with quadruple 

 winter cases of the Holtermann type in the 

 same yard. While these big cases are 

 more expensive per colony, the bees in 

 them are certainly showing up well. During 

 the very coldest part of the winter, when 

 the mercury plays around zero, with a high 

 wind, the bees look very comfortable, and 

 no wonder, for there are four hives in the 

 case placed close together and with ten 

 inches of packing all around. Very cold 

 weather does not seem to affect the size of 

 the clusters as it does in single hives. 



Two colonies in these cases diagonally 

 opposite each other are provided with ab- 

 sorbing packing above, while the two other 

 colonies also diagonally* opposite have a 

 sheet of glass for the purpose of observa- 

 tion, laid on top of the hives. While the 

 latter does not make exactly what w^ould be 

 called top sealing, it does jDrevent to a great 

 extent the upward escape of moisture. A 

 little of it can pass out under the sides or 

 edges, because the glass covers are not 

 sealed down. So far colonies with glass 

 covers are showing up very much better 

 than where there is a free and unobstructed 

 upward ventilation through the packing 

 material. The packing over the hives where 

 the glass is not used and where the moisture 

 and heat can pass upward is a little damp; 

 and this damp packing seems to have the 

 effect of driving the bees down lower on the 

 frames. We called IVIr. Holtermann's atten- 

 tion to this when he was here. The showing 

 in favor of the colonies under glass w^as so 

 marked that he thought the other colonies 

 must have been considerably weaker; but 

 our apiarist assured him that all four colo- 

 nies were of as nearly equal strength as we 

 could get them. 



Whether the colonies under glass will 

 continue to show up as favorably in the 

 spring remains to be seen. 



Special 



We wish to call especial attention at this 

 time to the list of special numbers announc- 

 ed on the inside cover page of the December 

 1st issue. It will be observed that we have 

 planned for only four numbers, our idea 

 being that, in having a smaller number, we 

 could devote a little more time to the sub- 

 ject-matter and secure better material, per- 

 haps. However, since announcing this list 

 so much material has come in in regard to 

 swamp beekeeping that it is probable we 

 shall have one more number, jierhaps the 

 September 1st issue, on this subject. 



* The objert of this is to give the same exposure 

 to the pair side by side. 



