DECEMBEU 1, 1915 



Ml". E. G. Carr, bee specialist from Wash- 

 ington, is working in North Carolina at 

 present, and they are planning to hold sev- 

 eral demonstrations with his assistance. 

 This year's crop was almost a failure in 

 that state, the average per colony very low, 

 and the quality nothing to boast of. But 

 the beekeepers' ever-saving "next year" 

 looms big with promise, with indications of 

 plenty of wliite and crimson clover. 



Mr. Anderson in his letter backed up Dr. 

 Phillips' statements, page 853, Oct. 15, 

 about the general need of the South by 

 remarking tliat the industry among farm- 

 ers in his state is very backward — " the box 

 hive is generally used, with the idea that 

 bees ceased to be profitable many years 

 ago." He adds that instruction is the one 

 thing most needed. 



In this connection I want to mention Dr. 

 J. S. Ward's Avork in Tennessee. Dr. Phil- 

 lips says it is the duty of a bee-inspector 

 not only to treat bee-diseases but also to 

 give instruction. That is what Di'. Ward is 

 doing in Tennessee. During the summer of 

 1914, in addition to lectures (and regular 

 inspection work), he accompanied the state 

 agricultural train in its tour of the state, 

 carrying samples of up-to-date supplies, 

 explaining their use, and constantly by talk 

 and printed literature spreading the gospel 

 of modern apiculture. 



We are all deeply interested in the matter 

 of wintering, as handled in the government 

 bulletin sketched by the editors, page 876, 

 Xov. 1. . If anybody in these parts winters 

 otherwise than in single-walled hives on 

 summer stands I don't l.appen to know it. 

 That being the prevailing practice does not 

 mean, however, that some other way, yet 

 untried, might not be better. Yet in talk- 

 ing over Dr. Phillips' contention that pack- 

 ing is well worth while anywhere in the 

 Tnited States, Mr. Allen made a point that 

 seems to me logical: As you come south, 

 the profits resulting from winter packing 

 probably continually lessen. If that is so, 

 somewhere on the way you are likely to 

 f-ross a line below which that profit may 

 become less than the increased expense. 

 Xow I wonder just where that line might 

 i)e. I judge the bulletin shoves it quite out 

 of the country', while the wintering gener- 

 ally practiced throughout tlie Southeast 

 Tnight suggest that most beekeepers think 

 it coincides with Mason and Dixon's famous 

 line. Rut such authorities as the authors of 

 this bulletin command the instant and re- 

 spectful attention of all beekeepers, so we 

 promise ourselves the satisfaction of ex- 

 perimenting with packing-cases down here 

 — perhaps not this winter, as we haven't 



yet a very definite idea of how we would 

 handle it; but we are going to get (and 

 study) Dr. Phillips' bulletin on the subject, 

 and various other suggestions, and next 

 winter we may put half the apiary in win- 

 ter homes, charging the expense against 

 them, and keeping strict account of the 

 final results (dollars and cents results) as 

 com2)ared with the other half wintered the 

 old way. (By the way, the "strict accounts" 

 of this season are not pretty to look at.) 



Another interesting question regarding 

 wintering is in the value of supers in com- 

 parison to brood-chambers only. Several 

 articles or letters in recent numbers of 

 Gleanings (for instance, from Mr. Roeb- 

 ling) page 863, Oct. 15) speak highly of 

 the results from wintering with the supers 

 on. At least one of the most successful 

 beekeepers around here reports excellent 

 results from that system. We are leaving 

 on a few supers ourselves this year. Now 

 Mr. Roebling says his honey for wintering 

 will be found scattered through the twenty 

 frames. The editor, page 834, same issue, 

 warns against too much hive room. If the 

 supers give more space for the bees to keep 

 warm, but no more honey, would they per- 

 haps be more snug with all the honey pack- 

 ed into the brood-chamber, in just the ten 

 frames? As a general proposition, are 

 twenty frames, with a little honey in each, 

 better than ten nearly full, in the smaller 

 space of a single story? [Ten full frames 

 are better. — Ed.] 



* * * 



Now I want to ask another question — a 

 hypothetical one, perhaps the lawyers would 

 call it. You have decided you want your 

 hives, with bees and stores, to weigh, we 

 will say, sixty pounds. The first one you 

 weigh pulls the scales to fifty. "Needs ten 

 pounds," you say. Do you mean ten pounds 

 of sealed honey? If so, how many pounds 

 of syrup, two measures of sugar to one of 

 water, will be required to make it? 



Two quarts of sugar weigh about 3% 

 pounds, and one quart of water about 2 

 j^ounds. The two combined make a ?cant 

 214 quarts of syrup, weighing practically 

 5% pounds (the combined weight of the 

 sugar and water). By simple calculation 

 from these data it is easy to know either 

 the weight or the measure of both sugar 

 and water required to make any desired 

 weight or measure of syrup. But what 

 weight of syrup is required to make a de- 

 sired weight of "stores"? [We usually 

 figure on 20 lbs. of sealed stores, including 

 combs, as sufficient for northern wintering. 

 Twenty-five or possibly thirty would be 

 better for the South. — Ed.] 



