THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



17 



about a dozen or fifteen colonies, then waits 

 an hour or two until tliey have flown and 

 quieted down, then another installment is 

 carried out. It matters not if several days, 

 or even weeks, pass before the whole apiary 

 is again on its summer stand. By this meth- 

 od there is no mixing up or swarming out. 



There was quite a little talk about out-door 

 wintering versus cellar wintering. All 

 agreed that if bees could have one good flight 

 in the winter, out-door wintering was advis- 

 able. The difficulty is in not knowing 

 whether the coming winter will furnish this 

 warm spell. When there are several warm 

 winters in suacession, or winters iu which 

 the bees get a flight, then out-door wintering 

 becomes popular, while a like number of 

 severe winters leads bee-keepers to put their 

 trust in cellars. Many who were present 

 said that with them there was not one winter 

 in ten when bees would get a winter flight. 

 Giving bees protection in the spring after 

 they were takon from the cellar found no 

 supporters. It was pronounced both expen- 

 sive and unnecessary. Mr. Pettit said that 

 bees could be wintered with as much assur- 

 ance of success as in the wintering of any 

 other stock, and when pressed to tell just 

 how it should be done he went very briefly, 

 yet concisely, over the necessary requisites 

 for successful wintering. Preparations must 

 be commenced in -July. Each colony must 

 have a good queen and an abundance of good 

 stores. The bees should be put into the cel- 

 lar after there is no hope of further flights, 

 and before the beginning of freezing weath- 

 er. He placed considerable stress upon the 

 manner in which his hives were stacked up 

 in the cellar. The entrance extends the 

 whole length of the front of the hive. The 

 back of the hive is raised -^g of an inch from 

 the bottom board, and hive, bottom board 

 and all is tilted up until the back of the hive 

 is three inches higher than the front. The 

 assertion was made that the cold air entered 

 at the lowest opening < the front entrance) 

 and the warm air left the hive at the highest 

 opening (the back), thus creating a better 

 system of ventilation than is secured when a 

 hive is in a level position. The hive covers 

 are not carried into the cellar, the hives be- 

 ing covered with quilts and cushions to retain 

 the heat. He would have the temperature 

 somewhat lower than the orthodox 45°, 

 thereby securing more perfect ventilation 

 inside the hives. Jast what the temperature 

 should be depends upon the behavior of the 



bees. When the bees are perfectly still they 

 are wintering perfectly. If they are obliged 

 to fan to get rid of foul air, or to keep them- 

 selves warm, they are wearing themselves 

 out, and are really old bees when taken from 

 the cellar in the spring. Anything that dis- 

 turbs the bees sets them to feeding tl:e(iueen, 

 and breeding results, and that means diar- 

 rhiea and death. 



Prof. Fletcher, of the Ottawa Experiment 

 station, read a report and showed specimens 

 of the results of an experiment that had 

 been made to try and determine the best 

 weight of foundation to use : that is, the 

 most profitable weight. There were also 

 taken into consideration the temperature at 

 which foundation is milled, and the differ- 

 ent grades of wax. The heavier the founda- 

 tion used, the less wax is added by the bees, 

 that was shown quite conclusively, and the 

 conclusion drawn was that foundation about 

 seven or eight square feet to the pound is the 

 most advantageous. The Prof, said that, as 

 bees probably secrete some wax anyway, it 

 would probably not be advisable to furnish 

 foundation so heavy that it would be un- 

 necessary to add any wax, but I was unable 

 to comprehend the line of reasoning follow- 

 ed in coming to a decision regarding the 

 best weight to use. If it is admitted that the 

 bees can furnish to advantage a part of the 

 wax used in comb-building, I am at a loss to 

 understand how these experiments point to 

 any particular proportion that is the most 

 desirable. 



One very enjoyable, and I think useful, 

 feature of this meeting was the holding of a 

 "Honey Bee Concert" one evening in a 

 large hall. To this the general public was 

 invited. There was music, the singing o,f 

 songs, speaking, and Bro. Holterman gave a 

 lecture on bee-keeping, illustrating his re- 

 marks by pictures thrown on a screen by 

 means of a magic lantern. Very catchy, 

 illustrated programmes were distributed 

 among the audience, opportunity being 

 taken to weave into the programmes as much 

 instruction as possible showing the value of 

 honey as a food. The lecture and speeches 

 were also intended to give to the public 

 those ideas in regard to honey and bees that 

 would be most advantageous to bee-keepers 

 that the public should know. 



That genial, thorough-going bee-keeper. 

 •T. B. Hall, was made President, and I hope 

 to be at Brantford next year and see him 

 preside. 



