1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



99 



about 8 ft. long'; ;;/, ground-line; «, door to 

 cellar. 



Having described the cellars, now for our 

 method of wintering-. 



First we trj' to have all strong colonies to 

 put in the cellar, so if, in fall, we have 

 weak ones we double up. 



Second, we give them liealthy food, most- 

 ly sugar syrup. 



A week before putting the bees into the 

 cellar we thoroughly disinfect them by 

 burning about 2 lbs. of sulphur in each. 

 As soon as the sulphur is fairlj' burning", the 

 cellars are closed tight and left that way for 

 24 hours, when every thing is opened to give 

 them a thorough airing". 



The bees are put into the cellars the last 

 half of November. On the morning when 

 we wish to place them in, all entrances are 

 closed with laths; then they are taken there 

 and piled up in tiers along the two long" 

 walls, placing" the lower row about a foot 

 from the ground. When thej^ are all stored 

 away, the door is closed, making the cellar 

 dark; then a man enters with a dark-lan- 

 tern, and removes all laths. From now on 

 until they are taken out we daily watch the 

 thermometer so that it does not fall below 

 40° and does not rise above 45. This we 

 can do without entering the cellar, by open- 

 ing" slide //, and pulling up the thermometer, 

 which is suspended bj' a string". The tem- 

 perature is regulated entirely by the venti- 

 lators. In very cold weather the portico is 

 filled up with snow. About the 15th of Feb- 

 ruary we enter the cellar for tlie first time, 

 after they were put in, armed with a dark- 

 lantern and a long" wire hook to scrape out 

 hives if there be any need. From now to 

 the time of taking out (the first half of April) 

 we enter twice more. We take them out on 

 a nice warm day, first closing" all entrances 

 again. 



We find this method of wintering very 

 satisfactory. Several small bee-keepers 

 have built themselves a cellar like these, 

 and have wintered with more or less suc- 



[This cellar embodies almost the same 

 principles as the Bingham which we have 

 illustrated on page 933 for Dec. 1st; for it 

 will be noted that the cellar proper is en- 

 tirely under ground, and the upper portion 

 is covered with a gable roof and a ventila- 

 tor. Mr. Bingham finds it is necessary to 

 have a ventilator up through the roof, about 

 20 inches square, and it is possible our 

 friend Koehler might find it an advantage 

 to enlarge his. 



I believe that the ideal wintering reposi- 

 tory for indoor wintering of bees will be 

 one that is wholly under ground; then when 

 we put with this a generous supply of 

 fresh air, we have ideal conditions. I do 

 not entertain the popular belief that uni- 

 form temperature is so important as uni- 

 formly good air. Why, for example, do 

 bees outdoors winter so well when the tem- 

 perature ranges all the way from 70 above 

 to 10 below? It does so here at Medina. 



With this extreme variation it should be re- 

 membered that the outdoor bees always 

 have plent}' of fresh air. Now, then, if we 

 can prevent the extremes of temperature, 

 and get the fresh air just the same, shall 

 we not bring about a condition much more 

 perfect in wintering than has ever been at- 

 tained before? As I have already explain- 

 ed, the temperature in our bee-cellar last 

 winter where we had such good wintering 

 ranged all the way from 35 up to 60; but 

 the bees had fresh air — great quantities of 

 it — all the time. — Ed.] 



NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



Or, rather, some Observations on Irrigation or 

 Western Farming in General. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



I believe brother Root, of Gleanings, has prophe- 

 sied that, within a few years, the great bulk of the 

 honey crop of thiscoiintiy will be produced west of 

 the Mississippi. From a week's visit in Colorado, dur- 

 ing which I visited several apiaries, and que tioned 

 many bee-keepers regarding the apicultural character- 

 istics of the great West, I am inclined to think that 

 brothtr Root's prophecy will prove correct. This part 

 of the country is progressing and developing at a rate 

 of which Ka,s"tern people have but a faint conception. 

 Those who look upon this country as the laud of a 

 burnine sun. of shifting .sands, coyotf s. and cacti, will 

 do well to lay aside that delusion. The explanation 

 of this wonderful change can be given in a single 

 word ; the kev that has • nlocked the great agricultu- 

 ral wealth of fh West is W.\TER.— W''. Z. Hutchinson, 

 Editor of Tlie Bee keepers' Review. • 



Before going further with my line of trav- 

 els among bee-keepers, it seems best, on 

 many accounts, that I should stop just long 

 enough to tell something about irrigation, 

 because it is intimately and vitally connect- 

 ed with the honey business; and one can 

 not very intelligently describe some of the 

 special conditions that prevail in some of 

 tliose reclaimed Western lands without tell- 

 ing something about how the crops are wa- 

 tered. I have 3'et one and possibly two ar- 

 ticles relating to bee-keeping in Arizona; 

 but as it was in that Territory that I glean- 

 ed my first information on irrigation there 

 is no better time than now to tell about it, 

 in order that my other articles on alfalfa 

 may be better understood. In doing so I 

 shall take up irrigation as it prevails, not 

 only in Arizona but in California, Idaho, 

 Utah, and Colorado. 



Besides the information gleaned from per- 

 sonal observation on the ground, I am in- 

 debted for much that I shall give to Bulle- 

 tin No. 73 from the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture on Irrigation in the 

 Rocky Mountains, by J. C. Ulrich. This 

 is one of the best if not the best sliort trea- 

 tise on the subject I have ever read; and 

 those who wish for furtlier information can 

 not do better than send to the Superinten- 

 dent of Documents, Union Building, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, for this bulletin. 



IRRIGATION FARMING IN THE -U^EST. 



The marvelous growth of the western half 

 of the United States is more largel}^ due to 

 irrigation than to any other single agency, 



