30G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1919 



wax still clinging, in spite of its having 

 been beautifully washed last fall to add to 

 the equipment exhibit at the Fair; and then 

 stored all winter; or whether they could 

 have been attracted by the drops of mois- 

 ture that had condensed on the glass. But 

 that was on the under side of the glass, and 

 surely bees have more sense than that. 



Again this spring we are noticing a dis- 

 couraging number of bees crawling in the 

 grass around the hives, here at home. Of 

 course, this is the season of many deaths in 

 the kingdom of Apis Mellifica. The bees 

 that broke thru their cells last fall can not 

 be expected to last much longer, and they 

 must be dying off in great numbers every 

 day. But sitting quietly here by the hives 

 today, I can see bees all around me in the 

 grass, crawling, hopping, climbing, rubbing 

 heads and abdomens and showing all the 

 symptoms of the baffling disappearing dis- 

 ease. 



In her talk on this disease before the 

 Chicago and • Northwestern Convention in 

 February, Miss Fowls told of several cases 

 where it took heavy toll of bee life and 

 brought about a serious curtailment of the 

 honey crop. She is undoubtedly right in 

 urging a thoro and persistent study of the 

 disease, to establish the proper methods of 

 combating or, better still, of preventing it. 



This is April 3rd, and two Nashville side 

 liners have already had swarms issue, one 

 having had both a primary and a secondary 

 swarm from his one and only colony. This 

 is unusually early for Tennessee, perhaps to 

 be partly 'explained by the heavy honey 

 flow last fall, partly by the mild winter, and, 

 of course, largely by the strength of the 

 colonies, both reporting that they were tre- 

 mendously strong. 



» # « 



The discussion- between Miss Fowls and 

 Dr. Miller as to whether there is less danger 

 of bees starving over winter in a 10-frame 

 or an 8-frame hive is attracting some atten- 

 tion among beekeepers of this section. With- 

 out doubt the arguments on this question 

 may be somewhat modified by local condi- 

 tions — "locality." It will very seldom hap- 

 pen in this latitude that bees will die with 

 honey in the hive, tho undoubtedly this very 

 thing did happen in the winter 1917-18. 



J. M. Buchanan of Franklin,Tenn., L. E.Webb 

 of Morgantown, N. C, and other successful 

 beekeepers of the Southeast are ardent ad- 

 herents of the large brood-chamber for win- 

 tering. And thruout this section the weight 

 of opinion leans heavily towards the greater 

 safety of the larger hive. Especially if by 

 wintering we include early springing. As 

 we should. More and more bees are being 

 wintered here either in two stories or in a 

 story and a half, with generous stores. This 

 is a great comfort when spring comes; there 

 is no question of having enough supplies to 

 tide over any run of bad weather. Often, 



after brood-rearing is well begun, and hives 

 are heavy with the precious brood, there 

 will come a week of chill, dark, rainy wea- 

 ther, when the bees can not fly. At such 

 times the beekeeper whose bees are in large 

 brood-chambers, with ample stores, sits 

 quietly indoors and watches it rain, unwor- 

 ried over his bees. 



In this connection I am reminded to look 

 up a letter I received last spring from Mr. 

 Webb, who, by the way, came thru the se- 

 vere winter of a year ago with 100 per cent 

 perfect wintering. Here are extracts from 

 his letter of last spring: "We had (this 

 sj)ring) a couple of weeks of cold frosty 

 rainy weather, and still more bees died 

 thruout the country, running entirely out of 

 stores with a lot of brood. Here again my 

 big hives having a bountiful supply left, 

 came right thru it with flying colors. Fruit 

 bloom was killed, too, so the large amount of 

 stores in the big hives is what saved the 

 day and kept brood-rearing up while the 

 small-hive colonies were starving all over 

 this section of the State." That was a dis- 

 astrous spring, following a disastrous win- 

 ter, and the big brood-chambers, with their 

 generous stores, certainly made a record, 

 right in the midst of tragically severe losses 

 all around. 



Another thing, these big hives don't need 

 examination so early in the spring. There is 

 plenty of room for brood-rearing as well as 

 sup[)lies. Whereas in an 8-frame hive, or 

 even a single 10-frame one, early examina- 

 tion is necessary; because if there is still 

 considerable honey left, then brood-rearing 

 is necessarily restricted by lack of room; 

 or, if there is plenty of room for brood-rear- 

 ing, it must be because stores are pretty low. 

 * # » 



I can not resist commenting on the splen- 

 did spirit of open-mindedness shown by Mr. 

 Crane on page 233 in the matter of shallow 

 supers. It may not be a matter of great im- 

 portance whether Mr. Crane uses shallow or 

 full-depth supers, but it is important for 

 each one of us to be unprejudiced and open 

 to conviction. A frank right-about-face in 

 a man who thinks at all is always evidence 

 that he has been using his brains instead of 

 his first impressions or his pet prejudices. 

 « * « 



" We have used gi'eat words," once Wilson said, 



"Of Brotherhood and Justice wove a creed; 



We dare not fail to equal word with deed 



Lest rout and ruin o'er the world be spread." 



There shall he no such ruin. He has led 



The world's old aching heart to know its need, 

 And what high ends are worthy youth 

 should bleed, 



And how we must be faithful to our Dead. 



Now men who mingle in the market place 

 Shall feel perchance this new-born stirring 

 thrill 



Of Brotherhood atingle thru the race. 



And Justice on each plain and pleasant hill 



May find a home; while under friendly trees 

 All peacefully shall hum the homing bees. 



