DECEMBER 1, 1915 



971 



colonies will, during- cold spells, " weep " 

 and break the cuppings, and then the honey 

 sours. Whether this is partly caused bv the 

 fact that most beekeepers in tliese localities 

 g:ive no protection to tlie bees in the winter 

 is another matter; but I suspect this may 

 have sometliing to do witli the question. As 

 a matter of experience I can only repeat 

 that at the Lovei'ing yard, where the bees 

 had little but aster honey for last winter's 

 use, no bad effects showed ; and in some 

 queenless colonies that must have perished 

 early in the winter solid combs of this hon- 

 ey were in the hives till early spring, and 

 there were no signs of any of it turning 

 sour, although it was quite thin in body 

 when cells were opened. 



On p. 793, P. C. Chadwiek says, " There 

 spcins to be a disposition shown to ' knock ' 

 .'ellow bees." As one who has a few times 

 given the goldens none too good a record, I 

 want to hasten to explain that, if " the wish 

 is father to the thought,'' T certainly would 

 iry to do othenvise, as some very close 

 friends of mine happen to be breeding these 

 bees. Goldens may be all right with Mr. 

 Chadwiek and others who have them — in 

 fact, I ara sure such is the case; but I want 

 to say without fear or favor that, in our 

 own personal experience, we have yet to 

 get the first golden colony that would 

 measure up to the standard of ordinary 

 bees when all things were taken into consid- 

 eration. The great majority of those I have 

 tried have been very inferior honey-gather- 

 ers; and the few that were an exception to 

 this rule were no use whatever in the matter 

 of wintering outdoois. There is not the 

 slightest doubt about it ; that all golden bees 

 1 have had have been totally unfitted to 

 stand the rigors of our winters when bees 

 are left outside; and this fact alone con- 

 demns them for my u-se, as T practice that 

 method exclusively. T happen to know that 

 the great majority of the producers in On- 

 tario have had a like experience, so it is not 

 lo be wonder(M] at that this race of bees 

 comes in for ''knocking" in northern lo- 

 calities. 



• » « 



Any comment I might make on Bulletin 

 No. 695, "Washington, D. C, on the subject 

 of outdoor wintering of bees will no doubt 

 be much in line with the fable of the fly 

 and the ox. The fly started to apologize 

 for sitting on the ox's horn, and the latter 

 informed the fly that he didn't even know 

 he was there. Rut with all due respect for 

 the opinions of the able authors of the work 

 in question, I cannot help thinking that 



some of their conclusions are a bit extreme, 

 to say the least. 



In regard to the question of stores, and 

 the large mortality caused by said stores 

 being " inadequate," any one who has been 

 at all observant must agree with them fully. 

 The word used is a very fitting one, for it 

 covers the question of quality as well as 

 the amount, even if I have been in the habit 

 of thinking that it was more properly ap- 

 plied to the question of amounts. But to 

 say that " excessive heat production " is 

 such a great factor in causing winter losses 

 appears to me to be " putting the cart be- 

 fore the horse." After all, in plain words 

 it is simply a case of cause and effect. The 

 prolonged cold spells, often accompanied 

 by poor stores in the hive, is the cause of 

 all the trouble. The activity, which, in 

 other words, means increased heat produc- 

 tion, is the effect; so there you are, free to 

 form your own opinion as to whether cold 

 or heat causes the trouble. For my own 

 part I shall continue to believe that cold 

 causes the bees to get dysentery; and when 

 some one in the South proves that heat 

 brought about a like effect, then I shall be 

 ready to change my vieAvs. 



" The beekeeper cannot apply too much 

 insulating material to a hive " is another 

 statement that many of us chaps in the 

 North will question. The packing at the 

 experiment apiary near Washington, as de- 

 scribed in this bulletin, is 3 inches below, 



5 inches on ends, 6 inches on sides, and 8 

 to 12 inches above; and the comment is 

 made that, further north, more would be 

 necessary. Personally I would consider the 

 three-inch packing at the bottom entirely 

 unnecessary, and in many ways a nuisance. 

 Twelve inches of planer-shavings on top is 

 abundant, and I should not want more than 



6 inches around sides and ends — in fact, I 

 should prefer less than that at the fronts of 

 hives. Of course the foregoing remarks are 

 only my own personal views; but I fully 

 believe that a moderate amount of insula- 

 tion along with an abundance of good stores 

 will give results good enougli to suit any- 

 body, even in this cold latitude, where we 

 have long winters with sometimes five 

 months without a day warm enough for 

 good bee-flight — at least that has been my 

 experience. One thing the beginner can 

 bank upon is this : Abundance of good 

 stores are necessary ; good protection is also 

 necessary, but the stores question is many 

 limes more important than all else. This is 

 at least true in our northern sections. 

 Further south, where flights are more fre- 

 quent, the quality of the stores may not be 

 so important a matter. 



