NoVKMnitK, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN B K E CULTURE 



before spring. South of the Mason and 

 Dixon line and the Ohio River, ten pounds 

 will cany colonies thru until March 1, 

 when they may be fed a good sugar syrup. 

 North of that line, feeding should be de- 

 layed until three or four weeks later unless 

 the bees are in a starving condition. 



For this early spring feeding we recom- 

 mend an abundance of feed, quite regard- 

 less of the price of sugar at the time. If 

 the weather be cold, the syrup should be 

 fed hot, and should be made of 2 to 21/2 

 parts of sugar to one of water. The granu- 

 lation of tlie syrup will be prevented if one 

 ounce of tartaric acid is added to each 40 

 or 60 pounds of sugar while the syrup is 

 being heated, and the syrup then kept at 

 a boiling temperature for 15 minutes. The 

 syrup should be given in friction-top pails 

 inverted over the cluster and warmly cover- 

 ed. It is veiy important that the packing 

 be left on after the feeding, for at that 

 time it is certainly too early to unpack. 



During the fall and winter, and until the 

 colonies have enough stores to help them 

 thru to the nest honey-flow, the beekeeper 

 should leave no stone unturned to buy 

 sugar at every opportunity, no matter how 

 small the quantity nor how great the price, 

 for the new supply that will likely be 

 available the first of the year may not be 

 very abundant, on account of the difficul- 

 ties of distribution. If the government 

 does not restrict the price, sugar may be 

 high, but let this deter no one from feeding 

 all the stores required, since prospects for 

 the beekeeper were never more promising 

 than now. 



Gleanings goes to press early this month 

 in order to get this vitally important news 

 to beekeepers as soon as possible. It is our 

 hope that they will take action at once 

 upon receipt of this information. 



IT IS GETTING to be more and more the 

 practice on the part of beekeepers north, 

 south, east, and 

 The Size of west, where out- 



Entrances, door wintering is in 



vogue, to contract 

 the entrances of all colonies, whether in sin- 

 gle-walled or double-walled hives or single- 

 walled hives in packing-cases. The custom 

 is universal in Califorliia, where the bees 

 can fly almost every day. In the cold States 

 of the northern part of the country it was 

 formerly the practice to leave the entrance 

 full width, or contract it down to 8 inches; 

 but experience shows that the size of the en- 

 trance should be in proportion to the size 

 of the colony and the amount of packing 

 used. A colony without bottom packing will 

 need a wider entrance than one that is pro- 

 tected on the bottom as well as on the sides, 



tops, and ends. Some are using one, two, 

 and ;5 half-inch or %-holes. Dr. Phillips 

 recommends a one-half-inch hole if the colo- 

 nies are in quadrujile cases and with not less 

 than four inches of packing on the bottom 

 during the coldest part of the winter. The 

 reason why colonies so packed do not need 

 a larger entrance is because the packing all 

 around prevents the bees dying too fast, 

 thus clogging the entrance. Moreover, well- 

 packed colonies can carry out the dead bees 

 as fast as they accumulate. 



A large number of double-walled hives on 

 the market have no provision for bottom 

 packing. This can be very easily arranged 

 by putting such hives up on stands, filled 

 with dry leaves well packed. Leaves are 

 better than shavings or sawdust, because 

 they do not as readily take up moisture. 



Large entrances are apt to result in weak 

 or dead colonies in the spring. There is not 

 much use in having packing or double-walled 

 hives where a large entrance is used. The 

 winter entrance should not be wider than 2 

 inches by % ; and it may be smaller if bot- 

 tom packing is used, and the entrance con- 

 tracted to % X %. 



There is just as much sense and reason in 

 having the entrance wide open the same as 

 in summer as it would be for us to leave 

 the main doorway of our homes wide open 

 and then expect to warm the house with 

 the ordinary stove. 



It should not be forgotten that a colony 

 of bees is a sort of radiator. When the 

 opening to their homes is so large that cold 

 drafts can blow in and chill the inside of 

 the hive it almost entirely neutralizes the 

 effect of packing. 



WE EEGEET to call attention to the fact 

 that Stray Straws, that have graced our 

 pages for nearly 30 

 Dr. Miller years without a 



Much Better. miss, will be con- 



' spicuous by their 



absence in this issue. Dr. Miller, who is now 

 in his 89th year, has been quite ill, but we 

 are very glad to say is now improving. Dr. 

 Miller is one of the best-known and most- 

 loved beekeepers in the whole world, and we 

 well know that his thousands of friends will 

 immediately wish to write to him; but we 

 respectfully suggest that he is overburden- 

 ed now with correspondence which he can- 

 not answer. 



We have just received the following let- 

 ter from Mrs. Miller: 



"Our hearts and hands have been very 

 full these last few weeks. After I wrote 

 Gleanings that Dr. Miller could not send 

 Straws he was much worse for about a week, 

 and I could think of nothing else. The trou- 

 ble is with his heart. The doctor ordered 

 absolute quiet. He is much better now; but 

 the doctor says he must remain in bed for 

 some weeks to rest his heart. He reads a 

 great deal; does not suffer any pain, and is 

 very cheerful and happy. ' ' 



