652 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OCTOBKK, 1919 



FROM THE FIEtD OF EXPERIE 



; ii- 



REFLECTIONS OF A BACKLOTTER 



Wintering Discussed by One Who Knows Nothing 

 About It 



This bee business, in which I am now en- 

 gaged to a small or less degree, must be one 

 of the most fascinating businesses in cap- 

 tivity for nobody ever quits it. The books 

 tell me that there are nearly a million of us, 

 but we all keep ourselves hidden in a mys- 

 terious way from the uninitiated. Until I 

 bought my bees I never knew that the town 

 is full of beekeepers, but now I am of the 

 inner circle and get the high sign from the 

 whole crew. 



The bee business is a sort of fraternity. 

 We have our meetings, informal it is true, 

 for we are not yet organized as the fellows 

 in the next county are; but we meet in the 

 shops of members at irregular intervals, talk 

 bees until you would think that we were 

 talked out, and still on the next Saturday 

 afternoon or whenever we get together there 

 are just as many things that have to be dis- 

 cussed. That is the way of the beekeeper. 

 But I've been reflecting on the bee busi- 

 ness, and not knowing anything about it, I 

 feel qualified to express an opinion. That is 

 another beauty of the bee business, or may- 

 be I'll think it a disadvantage when I have 

 been in it a bit longer. Anyhow that is the 

 thing I want to talk about. 



Of course, I read the journals — all of 

 them. They are all good; but some are bet- 

 ter than others, as the Colonel said of whis- 

 ky. But, not having been a beekeeper long, 

 this thing of talking when you have nothing 

 to say still weighs on me. As I said before 

 I am not qualified to kick, but being a bee- 

 keeper, therefore I do.. 



I have noticed in my reading of the bee 

 journals that it is usually the man who is 

 guessing that gets the space. The man who 

 knows, who has had the experience, does 

 not seem to be the one who has the floor. 

 I wonder why. There are in the United 

 States a lot of fellows who know all about 

 the bee business; if there are not, then 

 there ought to be. I think there must be. 

 Yet when I read the journals (as I said be- 

 fore, I have not been at it very long) I am 

 inclined to believe that the fellows who are 

 doing most of the noise-making are not the 

 fellows who will be followed by me, for I 

 hope to be just as thoro a bee crank as the 

 rest. I'm in this game for fair! 



But maybe I'd better tell you some of my 

 troubles, and then you can see where I'm 

 trying to get off. I, like a darn fool, bought 

 my bees last fall. Yes, I know better now, 

 and for once the journals were right, for on 

 one point they do agree. I should have 



bought them in the spring, last sj^ring I sup- 

 pose. 



Well, the first thing was to know how to 

 get these bees lined up for winter. First I 

 read about the quadruple winter cases that 

 the government fellows are advocating, as 

 well as a lot of other fellows. They sound- 

 ed good, but there was the trouble that I 

 had five. What was I do do about that? 

 Finally I decided that the quadruple case 

 is intended for the big fellow who has so 

 many that if two or three are left out in 

 the cold he need not count those. 



At last I decided, not having gone very 

 far with my reading, that I would pack 

 four of them in one case and then hunt 

 around for a way to fix up the other one. 

 That was easy. The next thing was how to 

 make the case. First I got the government 

 bulletin which says that I must pack on the 

 bottom, since so much heat is lost there if 

 that packing is omitted. Then I read that 

 away up in Canada they say that no pack- 

 ing is needed on the bottom! So I decided 

 that since I am a long way south of Can- 

 ada I would leave off the bottom packing, 

 government or no government. 



Then I had to decide how big to make the 

 cases. Should I have two, three, or six 

 inches of packing on the sides. The govern- 

 ment fellows seemed to think six was about 

 right for the sides. Next I read that there 

 is danger of putting on too much. Just why 

 I could not find out. Then I re-read the 

 government bulletin and they said that it is 

 impossible to put on too much! Being south 

 of Mason and Dixon's Line, I decided on 

 two inches. 



Then how much on top? I'll not worry 

 you with all the details of what I went thru 

 on that subject, except that I finally decided 

 on four inches. 



But the thing that did get my goat was 

 what they call upward ventilation. Should 

 I leave a place for the moisture to escape? 

 The government bulletin says that if I pack 

 heavily enough I 'II not need to allow for 

 condensed moisture for the simple reason 

 that there will not be any. Well, I guess I 

 packed enough, for I followed the advice of 

 a fellow who shall be nameless, so I did not 

 leave an escape for moisture. I wish I could 

 get my hands on that fellow. I said a 

 while ago that nobody ever quits the bee 

 business. He would! 



To make a long story short, I lost three of 

 the four colonies in that case. The combs 

 were mouldy, so there must have been some 

 moisture there. The bees died of dysentery, 

 so I guess it was not very warm in there. 

 The whole business is as sad a lot as I have 

 seen for days. Yet I followed the advice of 

 the experts. 



Then I had that other colony, and some- 



