1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1489 



ELECTION OF OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



The following, from the Secretery, W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, will explain itself: 



The following were elected at the late election for officers of 

 the National Bee-keepers' Association: President. Geo. E. Hil- 

 ton; Vice-president, Geo. W. York; Secrefary, E. M. Hunt; Gen- 

 eral Manager, N. E. France; Directors, R. L. Taylor, E. D. 

 Townsend, Udo Toepperwein. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Flint, Mich,, Dec. 6. 



LOW SUBSCRIPTION OFFER. 



This is the season when many subscriptions 

 will expire. Our readers should remember that 

 we are not permitted to send our journal except 

 for a short time after the expiration of the sub- 

 scription. In order not to lose a single copy, re- 

 newals should come in at once. We are making 

 a special low offer of Gleanings one year and 

 Doolittle's fifty-cent book on the production of 

 comb honey, and " How to Control Swarming," 

 both for $1.00; or we will substitute for Doolit- 

 tle's book Alexander's articles in book form. 

 The regular price of this series of articles by 

 Alexander in one volume will be 50 cents; but 

 we will club it with Gleanings for one year for 

 $1.00. 



gleanings FOR NEXT YEAR. 



We are not making any great promises; but 

 the constant growth of our journal, the increase 

 in the quantity and quality of our illustrations, 

 and the excellence of our contributed articles, 

 should be some index as to what the journal will 

 be for 1909. The editor is planning to make 

 some special trips with his camera, to get new 

 material from men who are successful, Ijut who 

 either have not the inclination to write or feel 

 unable to express their thoughts on paper. 



Letters from our subscribers have indicated 

 of late a preference for more short articles in 

 which the actual experiences of bee-keepers are 

 given. Scientific articles are important, and they 

 have their place ; but we believe that the majori- 

 ty of our readers will be glad to see fewer long 

 articles and more short ones. We ask our older 

 contributors, therefore, to be as brief as possible. 



comb, and a considerable amount of brood was 

 well under way. 



The bees, contrary to what might be expected, 

 are not restless, but quiet, and apparently perfect- 

 ly contented. They are not tightly clustered, as 

 would be the case in a hive outdoors during cold 

 weather, but scattered quietly all over the combs, 

 even on the outside of one of the outside combs. 

 The space between the top-bars and the cover is 

 always well filled with bees, and the space out- 

 side the end-bars (Hoffman frames) at the back 

 of the hive is also quite often made the cluster- 

 ing-place of many bees. The weather has not 

 yet been extreme; but when it was the coldest the 

 bees withdrew more closely to the spaces between 

 the combs. At times the majority of the bees 

 are in the front part of the hive over the entrance, 

 but usually they are pretty well distributed over 

 the whole hive. The condition seems to be ideal; 

 for, so far, not over a dozen bees have died. 



Mr. Phillips found, in his experiments, that 

 the consumption of stores was not large; and al- 

 though it is too early to tell definitely, it would 

 seem that no more stores should be consumed 

 than by a colony in a cellar, and perhaps not as 

 much. While the bees are not perfectly quiet, 

 they are never restless, since the air from the out- 

 door entrance is always pure. If brood-rearing 

 continues, even on a small scale, rather more 

 stores will be used; but the greater part of the 

 bees will be young and vigorous in the spring. 



The bees show no more tendency to fly out in 

 cold weather than do those in regular hives out 

 of doors. They do not even venture down to 

 the bottom-board in cold weather. 



Of course, no extensive bee-keeper conld find 

 enough windows for all his colonies; but the 

 house apiary makes it possible to have conditions 

 very much like those that have been mentioned. 

 Who can give us some actual experience with 

 house-apiaries in regard to the wintering of bees.' 

 Are the results any more uniform than those of 

 colonies in individual hives out of doors.-' What 

 about the consumption of stores in house-apiaries.-" 

 It is true that the house-apiary is much more 

 common in Germany than in America, and we 

 should like to get at the facts of the question. 



wintering in a warm building. 



Having occasion to use combs of bees frequent- 

 ly during the winter in giving live-bee demon- 

 strations, the idea occurred to us of keeping one 

 colony right in the office in order to have a hive 

 from which several combs of bees could be taken 

 at any time during cold weaeher, without incon- 

 venience. Remembering the experience of Mr. 

 Geo. W. Phillips in wintering colonies in a warm 

 room at college, as given in our Oct. 1st issue, 

 1907, page 1267, we located a glass hive on a 

 window-sill, cutting a hole through the sash for 

 an entrance, about three-fourths of an inch high 

 and two inches wide. Panels are ordinarily kept 

 over the glass so that the hive is dark with the 

 exception of the light that comes in at the en- 

 trance. The temierature of the room is not 

 often over 70°. 



Bees were taken from the hive, for the first 

 time, about two weeks after it had been located 

 at the window. Although there was no brood in 

 the combs at first, it was found that in the two 

 weeks' time the queen had begun to lay in one 



sealed covers vs. absorbents. 

 Some years ago there was much discussion as 

 to whether it is better to put the cushions direct- 

 ly upon and over the clusters of bees, or to place 

 thin boards on top (which the bees seal down) 

 and the cushions over these. There are times 

 when the former seems to give the better results; 

 and there are times when the latter seems to give 

 the better showing. But one year with another, 

 in the average locality the sealed cover furnishes 

 the conditions most favorable for winter. When 

 the absorbing cushions are placed directly on the 

 cluster they are apt to become wet by the ab- 

 sorption of moisture, and freeze, when they are 

 but little better than a cake of ice on top of the 

 bees. With sealed covers, if the entrance be of 

 fair size, SXji, the moisture will condense, run 

 down the bottom-board and out of the hive, 

 while the cluster is left clean and sweet and dry; 

 and, more than all else, the cushions on top are 

 dry, and of course are in the best condition to 

 ward off the cold. 



