1492 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



of honey wanting their honey to come in five- 

 gallon cans that could be quickly placed in a 

 tank of warm water to liquefy, and then be pour- 

 ed or pumped into a large tank for bottling. But 

 why should not the buyer pay for the cans.? Where 

 the buyer pays Yz cent more for honey in tin 

 than in barrels he does pay for them, does he not.? 

 and if he does, why should he not keep them and 

 sell them to whoever he pleases.? Again, it may 

 be said that all goods sold include with them the 

 container in which they are packed — barrels with 

 apples or sugar, pails with lard, tubs with butter, 

 etc. The farmer who sells a barrel of apples for 

 $1.75 sells his barrel with his apples, although it 

 may have cost him 35 cents, or one-fifth of all he 

 gets. The honey-producer sells a case of honey 

 for 8 cts. a pound, and receives $9.60 for it, cans 

 and honey. His cans, if new, doubtless cost near 

 60 cents a case, or just jV of what he gets. 

 While the farmer loses one-fifth, the honey-pro- 

 ducer loses but one-sixteenth. Sometimes crates 

 are returned, as egg or fruit crates. As to selling 

 used cans when in good shape, and free from dust, 

 I see no objection. We sold, the past season, a 

 large number of such cans for 25 cts. each. Those 

 who bought them doubtless saved just about that 

 much by buying them. Some of these we have 

 bought back filled with new honey, none the 

 worse for being packed in second-hand cans. 

 Rusty or leaky cans should not be sold at any 

 price. Again, there are some markets where the 

 producer would find that it would pay better to 

 use only new cans, as in cases where the honey is 

 to be sold in the cans as received. 



There is another thing in this connection I 

 should like to speak of, and that is that much 

 honey is lost by shipping it in cases too fragile 

 to stand the journey, or with nails driven into 

 the tin cans, or with caps not tight. 



CONVERSATIONS WITH 

 DOOLITTLE 



WINTERING IN A CELLAR. 



" Mr. Doolittle, I want to know the best time 

 to set the bees in the cellar for good wintering. 

 When we had that little s low about the middle 

 of the month, I came near putting the bees in, 

 but did not. Have you put yours in yet?" 



" Yes, we put ours in just after the snow went 

 off, waiting till every thing had nicely dried from 

 the melting snow; and as there was no frost, and 

 the ground was not frozen, the hives could be 

 picked up as quietly as I ever knew, the bees not 

 knowing that they were moved, unless by some 

 mishap an occasional hive was jarred a little. It 

 is quite a treat to get bees in so quietly." 



"But was not the middle of November too ear- 

 ly to put the bees in during such a warm fall as 

 we have been having.? My bees have been flying 

 nearly every day for a week, and I have been 

 congratulating myself that I did not put them 

 in." 



" Could we have known just what the weather 

 would have been, perhaps it would have been as 

 well to wait; but suppose winter had set in with 

 that snow, as it more often does than ot'-erwi^p. 



then we would have had to carry in the hives all 

 covered with snow and ice. It would also have 

 been necessary to pry them up from the frozen 

 ground, and the disturbance and dampness which 

 would have existed under the circumstances would 

 have tended toward very poor wintering." 



"But would not the flights the bees have had 

 more than overcome those things.?" 



"I do not think so. The bees had a good 

 flight on the third of this month (November), and 

 I doubt whether these later flights would have 

 been of any practical use to them. In fact, I 

 have had reason to believe that many days of 

 flight during the late fall are a detriment rather 

 than otherwise; for with so much activity after 

 all breeding has ceased, there comes a consump- 

 tion of honey and loss of vitality which can not 

 be made up till the following spring; and by that 

 time the bees are much nearer being worn out by 

 old age than they would otherwise be, so that 

 we have spring dwindling and its consequent 

 derangements very much the same as after what 

 is known as bee-diarrhea. With one good flight 

 the fore part of November I always consider it 

 better to get the bees in their winter quarters the 

 very first good opportunity thereafter." 



" Well, if that is correct you would advise me 

 to put mine in at once, would you not? " 



" I certainly would; and I would not wait long- 

 er than this afternoon about doing it, either, as it 

 will be as good a time as you will be likely to 

 have, as it is not freezing outside as yet, though 

 the mercury is down to 36." 



" There is another thing I wish to know about. 

 Is it well to give the whole entrance to the hive 

 when the bees are in the cellar, or would you 

 contiact the entrances part way.?" 



" If your hives have the bottom-boards nailed 

 fast to the body, the best you can do is to give the 

 whole entrance; but, if I am correct, very few of 

 our practical bee-keepers of to-day use any thing 

 else than a movable bottom-board. Our bees 

 have a two-inch space the whole width of the 

 hives during winter, and very many of the colo- 

 nies cluster down below the frames till the bot- 

 tom of the cluster rests on the bottom-board. 

 They seem to enjoy themselves in this space, if I 

 may judge from the splendid results." 



" Do you allow any one to go into the cellar 

 besides yourself.?" 



"Certainly; come on. I prefer a candle to 

 any thing else for a light, as it disturbs the bees 

 less, and I can hold it close up to where I wish 

 to look. There! see that cluster under there, 

 hanging down something like the crown of your 

 hat till they touch the bottom-board." 



" Yes. They do not move or stir more than 

 dead bees." 



" You watch them while I breathe on them. 

 There! do you see the wings move and the stings 

 come out.? We'd better leave this hive now or 

 they will soon be flying at the candle.?. See, here 

 is a large cluster in sight, nearly as big around 

 as a peck measure. See those rows of abdomens 

 jutting down between each range of combs, each 

 as immovable as though riveted there." 



" But do they stay like that all winter.?" 



"They usually do until Marcii, when they are 

 not as quiet as now; that is, they will not stand 

 the light as long at a time as now. Although 

 the temperature remains the same, and the dark- 



