1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1181 



bees must go to get to the outside. The other 

 half of the entrance is to allow the dead bees to 

 fall down into the filth-box as they are dragged 

 to the front of the hive. The entrance being so 

 well protected, the bees have no difficulty in 

 reaching the front of the hive. 



THE ASPINWALL NON-CLOGGING WINTER EN- 

 TRANCE. 



Over the outer entrance is a slide which may 

 be opened or shut according to weather. During 

 unfavorable weather the opening may be left only 

 /4 X >^ inch. It appears to me that Mr. Aspin- 

 wall justly claims that this plan secures an un- 

 clogged entrance, yet reduces the opening to a 

 minimum. With the ordinary entrance more 

 space is allowed to prevent clogging. 

 * 



THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION, TORONTO. 



The National Exhibition at Toronto, in its 

 apiarian department, presents no very special 

 features this year. Mr. D. Anguish has a very 

 fine display of comb honey, put up in a style a 

 little different from the ordinary. Messrs. Grain- 

 ger, Arthur, and Geo. Laing also have fine ex- 

 hibits, making an attractive exhibit of honey at 

 Toronto, and well representing Ontario honey. 

 Prizes are fairly well divided. Mrs. D. Anguish 

 also shows comb honey. 



THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AT DETROIT. 



If present interest among Canadian bee-keepers 

 is any guide, there will be the largest turnout of 

 Canadian bee-keepers at the Detroit meeting that 

 has ever been at a convention in the United States. 

 Secretary Hutchinson has worked hard to make 

 a success of the meeting, and Pres. G. E. Hilton 

 will make a good presiding officer. The writer 

 is looking forward to being at the convention. 



* 



WINTER STORES. 



This is the time when winter stores should be 

 well looked after. Mere weight of hive is not 

 altogether satisfactory. The wood may be un- 

 usually heavy, although as a rule this is some- 

 what uniform. Then the stock may have been 

 queenless for an abnormal length of time, and 

 the combs may contain a lot of bee-bread or pol- 

 len. This weighs even more than honey. Again, 

 the combs may be old. Sometimes the colonies 

 that have had the best queens keep the brood- 

 chamber well filled with brood to the exclusion 

 of the storage of honey, and starve, owing to the 

 carelessness of the bee-keeper. This is not a 



proper selection. It is, in fact, the extermination 

 of the fittest instead of the survival. Let us see 

 that we are not guilty of this folly. Again, the 

 weather has been favorable to the secretion of 

 honey-dew, as it has been dry and the nights cool. 

 Bees have been working early mornings on the 

 oak. I intend to provide every colony with not 

 less than 15 to 20 lbs. of sugar syrup for stores. 



CONVERSATIONS WITH 

 DOOLITTLE 



FINISHING UP THE SEASON; WHAT TO DO WITH 

 UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



"Smith wants to know if Doolittle will be of- 

 fended if he asks him to be a little more explicit 

 about finishing up the season than he was in that 

 conversation given in Gleanings a few numbers 

 back." 



"Oh, no! Was there any thing you did not 

 understand.^ " 



" 1 got somewhat mixed on some of the matter, 

 and there were some things which I wanted to 

 know about that you did not touch upon at all, 

 and one or two items that were not applicable to 

 my locality." 



"Perhaps I did not take into account, as much 

 as I ought, that different localities require differ- 

 ent management, and that different seasons re- 

 quire different methods to meet the varied condi- 

 tions as they come to the apiarist year by year." 



"I think these things are not taken into consid- 

 eration by the voluminous writers as much as 

 they should be. In other words, it seems to be 

 hard work for such writers as Doolittle, Dr. Mil- 

 ler, and others to get much beyond a circuit of 

 about 100 miles from their own apiaries." 



"Thank you. But are you sure that you would 

 do better if you tried to write up my locality^ 

 knowing, as I do, that you are living more than 

 1000 miles away.?" 



"Perhaps not. But let us try again. Suppos- 

 ing—" 



"Yes, supposing, then, that the season is near- 

 ing its close, and that each hive has an average of 

 two supers of sections. This means, of course, 

 that some have only one, others may have three 

 or four, while two will be that of the majority, 

 the sections being in all stages of completion." 



"Now you are talking somethingas you should. 

 I want to know just how I can get all these com- 

 pleted, and in the most economical way, as I de- 

 sire to accomplish such completion as far as pos- 

 sible." • 



"There is quite an uncertainty along this line, 

 as climatic conditions — cold, wind, clouds, and 

 sunshine — have very much to do with these 

 things. Then very much must depend upon the 

 skill, judgment, and experience of the bee-keep- 

 er. I consider it good management to give the 

 bees as nearly as possible the amount of room in 

 the most available shape that they need at all 

 times in which to store honey day by day as it 

 comes in." 



"But would it not be better to crowd them at 

 this time of the year, so that they would finish 

 up those sections commenced in, quicker than 

 otherwise would be done.''" 



