1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



475 



I couldn't believe it. I yelled, " Shall I 

 come down and help you? " 



" No," he said. " I will come up pretty 

 soon." 



Rambler was on this very g-round some 

 nine or ten years ago, and took some pic- 

 tures of the apiary, and I will send you 

 one. 



Corona, Cal. 



BINGHAM'S WINTER CONSUMPTION OF STORES. 

 A Few Figures. 



BY T. F. BINGHAM. 



The question of cellar ventilation has in- 

 cidentally brought out statements relating 

 to the consumption of honey by bees in cel- 

 lars. Like many other opinions relating 

 to bees it is safe to infer that it is not in- 

 frequent for theories to be evolved based on 

 slight or uncertain data. 



To avoid, as far as possible, the repeti- 

 tion of such supposition I have decided to 

 report what has been done in my own apia- 

 ry. Every October all my bees are weigh- 

 ed for the purpose of arranging the bee 

 and honey supply for each hive put in the 

 cellar, or winter-packed, as the case may 

 be. I do not wish to combat any long-cher- 

 ished opinions. I know too well how sa- 

 cred they are to each individual. It is also 

 well known that, even if subsequent facts 

 militate against them, said opinions remain 

 unchanged. Opinions change slowly. 



It may be well to say, to begin with, that 

 my hives are all alike. The bottom-board, 

 which is loose, and the two half-hives, 

 weigh from 21 to 23 lbs. Every additional 

 half-hive, 4,52 lbs. This weight includes 

 perfectly empty old combs, such as every 

 colony is supposed to have. 



After all are weighed, and the loose hon- 

 ey of the third or lower part is carried up 

 (if the hive is composed of so many parts), 

 full combs of honey are added to or taken 

 from the two upper parts until, as the case 

 may be, the net honey contents of the two 

 half-hives are from 30 to 35 lbs. 



I have not, until taking my bees out this 

 spring, weighed them; but as the consump- 

 tion of honey had incidentally come up I 

 had, on the first day after the one on which 

 they were set on their summer stands, 

 weighed all of them early in the morning 

 before their second day's flight. Every 

 hive had a shingle set up before it, showing 

 its weight. There were 101 colonies, the 

 same number put in the cellar nearly five 

 months before. No other examination of 

 them has been made since, except to see if 

 the lightest of them had honey for their im- 

 mediate use. They have now been out, 

 when the weather was suitable, one month 

 and four days. Six of them failed, and 

 two more of them will just pull through. It 

 is well to say that no honey but of their own 

 make was used to winter on, and that hon- 

 ej' was buckwheat and fall flowers entire- 

 ly — not a pound of clover or basswood, 



probably, in any one hive. Some colonies 

 are extra fine; many are medium, and a 

 few will report later. If no queens break 

 down they will all survive. 



Now comes the important and ([uestioned 

 part: How much honey did they eat while 

 in the cellar ? They probably averaged 

 from 32 to 35 lbs. to each hive when put in 

 the cellar (whole gross weight being from 

 50 to 55 lbs. per colony). The morning aft- 

 er their first day's flight their average 

 gross weight was just 35 lbs. The hives 

 were as dry as any unkiln-dried lumber, 

 and showed no evidence of dampness. If 

 the average, when put in the cellar, was as 

 I suppose it to have been, the net consump- 

 tion of honey was 20 lbs. per colony, prob- 

 ably a little more. 



Incidentally I will say that this spring 

 weighing has saved me very much exami- 

 nation work, and has been very satisfacto- 

 ry. I shall continue both fall and spring 

 weighing as a matter of economy in man- 

 agement, to say nothing of its certainty. 



To date I have fed one frame each (about 

 3)^ lbs. ) to four colonies. All the others 

 have a little, and ample for the present. 



Farwell, Mich., May 22. 



[Is it not possible that those hives were 

 heavier in the spring than they were last 

 fall, having just come from outdoors where 

 the sun had been shining on them all sum- 

 mer? Twenty pounds of stores for indoor 

 wintering is a large amount. Some care- 

 ful weighings of indoor-wintered bees at 

 the Ontario Experiment Station, where the 

 winters are longer, showed the average 

 consumption of stores much less, and the 

 result of these experiments is in line with 

 private work. You have an ideal reposito- 

 ry, and I should expect it to show a small- 

 er average consumption per colony. — Ed.] 



S^o'S^mMm 



THE ADVANTAGE IN GIVING CELLARED BEES 

 MID-WINTER FLIGHTS. 



I see in Gleanings of May 1 that your 

 setting 3'our bees out for a flight and put- 

 ting them back seems to be an unusual oc- 

 currence among bee-keepers. I was not 

 aware that such was the case. I have made 

 it a custom to set my bees out of the cellar 

 in Februar}^ every year in the morning when 

 the day seems to be suitable, and put them 

 back in the evening. I have done so for, I 

 think, every year for the last ten years, and 

 perhaps longer. It makes no dift'erence in 

 what condition they are, whether ever so 

 quiet or uneasy. I watch for a warm day 

 to set them out and then I set them out in 

 front of the cellar-door on planks that I lay 

 down. If the day is warm enough I remove 

 the top covers and let the sun shine in as 



