GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



In an exposed location it is necessaiy to 

 put a screw-eye in the cover and case, on 

 two sides at least, and tie on the covers. 

 Hooks will not answer, as they jar out with 

 the wind. Unless the wind goes over forty 

 miles per houj', I find the covers need no 

 tying doAvn; but having suffered from high 

 winds on two occasions, tying down is now 

 the final touch in my winter preparations. 



When the snow comes I prefer to see it 

 drift around the oases; and if it does not, 

 and thei'e is any handy, I shovel it around 



the case. Snow is the best bottom packing 

 to be had; and the best wintering seems to 

 take place when the cases are covered with 

 snow up to within a couple of inches of the 

 top. This gives complete protection from 

 the wind, and allows of upward ventilation 

 through the packing. With the case com- 

 pletely covered with snow, especially dur- 

 ing the latter part of winter, there is dan- 

 ger of too high a temperature in the hives 

 for the best results. 

 Orono, Ont., Can. 



WEATHER CONDITIONS IN WEST VIRGINIA 



BY W. C. MOLLETT 



The season which is drawing to a close 

 has been one of the most peculiar for a 

 great many years. It was dry here in I'eb- 

 ruary, and continued very dry till May. 

 During fruit bloom the weather was warm 

 and fine, and the bees br.ilt up very rapid- 

 ly; but in May the rains began, and kept 

 up with such persistency that the bees were 

 upon the brink of starvation in the first 

 half of June. Then just as the basswoods 

 were coming into bloom the weather im- 

 proved, and the flow from this source was 

 remarkable for about two weeks, when the 

 rains set in again worse than before. 



The bees had made a fine surplus from 

 basswood while the weather was dry and 

 M-arm; but the rains interfered with the 

 honey-gathering from the last of the bass- 

 wood, and completely ruined the sourwood 

 floAV, as it was so wet and cloudy that the 

 bees could not fly for a long time. From 

 July the rains continued till September 1, 

 and the bees were again in danger of star- 

 vation, and again the weather improved 

 just as the fall flowers were coming into 

 bloom. 



For about ten days the bees carried in 

 noctar as fast, almost, as I ever saw them 

 from basswood or any other source; but 

 again the cold wet weather set in, and there 

 was no honey-gafhering for several days 

 until the fall flow was almost over. At the 

 winding-up of the nectar-gathering the 

 weather was fair and the bees were enabled 

 to work quite strongly upon the last of the 

 aster blooms. 



1 do not think they will have quite enough 

 to carry them thi'ough the winter; but I 

 have seen them in worse condition at this 

 time of the year. It is usually safer to feed 

 some here rather than to take chances, as 

 the consumption of stores during mild win- 

 ters is something surprising. I ara sure 



that, for outdoor wintering, which is the 

 onh' way here, it Avill take about fifty 

 pounds to winter an average colony. Al- 

 though the weather conditions as a whole 

 were very discouraging here, the bees se- 

 cured a surplus of at least thirty pounds 

 per colony, which is not as bad as it might 

 have been. 



I notice that the same conditions pre- 

 vailed in most of the white-clover regions, 

 so that possibly the crop may not reach any 

 thing near tliat of average years. In local- 

 ities that sometimes have a heavy rainfall 

 the bee business is liable to be affected by 

 the wet and cool weather almost any season 

 and for this reason the beekeepers are apt 

 to become discouraged, and quit the busi- 

 ness. However, if one season is bad the 

 next is likely to be better, as the weather 

 usually keeps a pretty close balance. We 

 are sure to have a bad season now and then, 

 but in the long run we are very liable to 

 come out all right. There is no cause for 

 discouragement. 



Stonecoal, W. Va. 



A St. Louis Summer 



This has been a peculiar season, I should say, 

 though my oxperienoe goes back only three years. 

 It has been supers one week and feeders the next. 

 The white clover ijesan to bloom about May 2 4. and 

 IS still in bloom. Very little honey has been secur- 

 ed from it, both on account of the lack of nectar 

 and the bad weather. 



Yesterday I saw bees working on white clover and 

 smartweed in the same fleld. The past week has 

 Leon the best one of the season, and I look for fine 

 fall weather and a (,'ood flow from now till frost; 

 and if the asters yield as they did last year I shall 

 have enouarh to winter the bees and then some. My 

 1 COS wintered in good order on the aster honey, 

 tlionirh I had a large proportion of colonies o.ueen- 

 loss in the sprins. That set them back; but they 

 are nearly all in fine condition now. I have eleven 

 colonies at present. 



Webster Groves, Mo., Sept. 7. F. A. Coldwei-l. 



