1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



361 



keeper in village, town, or city has iu this 

 respect an advantage over the average coun- 

 try bee-keeper, particularly in spring, au- 

 tumn, and winter. Right here let me put in 

 a plea on the ground of beauty, comfort, and 

 enhanced intrinsic value of property for 

 those who own their homes, to plant more 

 evergreen trees about their buildings and 

 orchards. 



From many years' experience so far as 

 conditions will allow, I am an advocate of 

 what might be termed early setting out. If 

 many colonies, or a considerable percentage 

 of colonies, have broken cluster; if they are 

 uneasy, and readily liy to a candlelight in 

 the cellar, the sooner the bees get a cleans- 

 ing flight the better if they can do so with 

 safety, especially if they will be in a shelter- 

 ed place. The loss of vitality from day to 

 day under conditions of unrest is very great. 

 It does not take long to kill bees by worry, 

 be it in or out of the cellar; and a cleansing 

 flight has a wonderful effect in this direction. 

 More than that, I am satisfied that one rest- 

 less colony where hives are piled one above 

 the other, and side by side, transmits that 

 restlessness to others, and herein is one weak 

 point in cellar wintering. The condition of 

 the bees then as -to the above points might 

 influence me in deciding on the time of set- 

 ting out. 



The more bees there are in the cellar, oth- 

 er things being equal, the more difficult it is 

 to keep them quiet when the outside temper- 

 ature rises, for their activity adds very great- 

 ly to a temperature already too high. It is 

 also very much more difficult to keep up 

 ventilation when the outside temperature is 

 about the same as that inside. In 1903 the 

 first bees were set out by me March 14, the 

 last, March 19; the first pollen was gathered 

 March 19 In 1904, first, March 22; the last, 

 April 5, at which date the buds had not even 

 swelled. In 1906 the first pollen was gath- 

 ered April 12. In 1907 the first bees were 

 set out March 12; the last, March 18, and 

 the first pollen was gathered March 29, after 

 which we had several months of what we 

 thought was altogether too much like winter 

 to suit bees. 



As to th*? manner of setting out, I should 

 like to air the cellar well so that it will not 

 be, as to purity of air, a great change to car- 

 ry them out. I have followed with great 

 satisfaction the plan suggested some years 

 ago in Gleanings by E W. Alexander; viz , 

 to set them out previous to the morning up- 

 on which we calculate they shall fly. The 

 previous evening or early night is a good 

 time. If they do not get a flight for a day 

 or two after, I have found it an advantage. 

 There will be less excitement when they fly; 

 weaker colonies, and colonies not needing a 

 flight badly, may not fly as soon as others 

 do, and there will be less confusion and less 

 los-* to weaker colonies by having their bees 

 drift to the hives where the bees are flying 

 in great numbers; particularly is there this 

 danger if the wind is blowing hard. 



Having nearly an acre of ground in my 

 apiary, and the bees scattered, when brought 



home in the fall, over the entire ground, and 

 setting out only a part of the bees at a time 

 (there are 500 colonies in the cellar now), 

 and placing the first together in one part of 

 the apiary, and all without regard to their 

 previous location, I am thoroughly convinced 

 that wintering them as I winter them, and 

 confined for the length of time they are, 

 bees, when they take their first flight, re- 

 locate themselves and do not return to last 

 year's stand. 



I do not think it good practice to seek to 

 keep bees in winter quarters by changing the 

 air at night and shutting off ventilation dur- 

 ing the day. Such changes are too violent, 

 and produce constant activity and brood - 

 rearing. A colony perfectly wintered in the 

 cellar should have no brood when placed on 

 the summer stand. 



Alexander's plan of extracting and 



feeding back in the spring not 



indorsed. 



Under the heading of "Brood-rearing in 

 the Spring," page 1377, last year, is a state- 

 ment by E. W. Alexander which, in my es- 

 timation, would be dangerous for many to 

 follow. After referring to combs of honey 

 inserted in the brood-chamber for stimula- 

 tive purposes about May 1, he writes, "If 

 we uncapped them it was sure to start a bad 

 case of robbing; if they were left capped, 

 then they simply formed a division-bf>ard 

 which prevented the queen from spreading 

 her brood across the hive." With the latter 

 statement I would heartily agree: but not 

 with the former if the colony is strong 

 enough to stand that kind of treatment, par- 

 ticularly if the woi'k is done toward evening. 



In the same column, however, so far as 

 robbing is concerned, Mr. Alexander, to get 

 rid of this objectionable robbing, suggests a 

 I'emedy far worse than the disease. He 

 states, "After realizing the folly of this er- 

 roneous method of spring feeding we com- 

 menced to extract all capped honey from 

 the brood-nest about May 1, and in its place, 

 when necessary, we fed a little warm thin 

 honey or sugar syrup daily for about a 

 month." How can there be a bad case of 

 robbing from merely uncapping one comb, 

 when tnere is no such objection to taking 

 combs of honey and brood out of the hive, 

 ex racting the capped honey, then putting 

 back the combs wet with adhering honey? 

 and if this handling at a critical time were 

 not enough objection, I think the danger of 

 unduly displacing the brood-chamber as to 

 order of brood and pollen is great enough 

 to warrant me in raising a note of warning, 

 in all kindness, and saying do7i't. 



Mr. Alexander's advice, to see that the 

 brood-chamber is not clogged with pollen 

 and honey, is good. Many a queen does 

 not get proper room, yet more harm is done 

 by the average bee-keeper in not having 

 enough of these in the hive. 



As to robbing, prevention is worth much. 

 Discard bottom- boards, hives, and covers 

 which, through defects, compel the bees to 

 guard any thing but their entrance to the 



