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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Bees Essential to Fruit-growing; How many Col- 

 onies to a Given Number of Trees 



We are novices as yet about bees and their care. 

 We know, however, that the bee is an important 

 factor in orchards, and because of such we con- 

 template making a very important inciciental de- 

 partment of bees in our industry at Grand Isle, Vt. 

 We can buy plenty of bees about here. I suppose 

 they are common bees. Some say " black bees." 

 Our notion is to start with enough swarms next 

 spring to serve our 15 acres of old large trees and 

 to let them multiply as fast as they will in contem- 

 plation of the 10,000 young trees set in 1912-'13. 

 We will have about 150 acres of orchard, and our 

 present notion is that a sufficient number of bees 

 should be stationed near every section of the orchard 

 so that in ease of cold or rainy weather they need 

 not work far. I don't know the number of colonies 

 necessary for 10,000 young apple, plum, pear, and 

 cherry trees, nor do I know how many swarms will 

 secure their , honey from a given center or quarters; 

 or in other words, the territory or zone necessary 

 per 100 colonies of bees at other times than blos- 

 soming time of fruit trees. 



Eastern Fruit and Nut Orchard Co., 



Clarence .1. Fergu.son, Manager. 



Burlington, Vt., Sept. 9. 



[We refer you to Gleanings, August 15th issue, 

 p. 562. You will see there that the Repp Bros., who 

 are large growers of fruit, especially apples, regard 

 the presence of bees as very important. We have one 

 large orchard about ten miles north of us, 40 acres, 

 and the grower there requested us to put upon the 

 place some fifty or sixty colonies of bees. He se- 

 cured a very firie crop of 16,000 bushels of apples, 

 and when we saw him a few days ago, he said he 

 attributed a good deal of this to the presence of 

 large numbers of bees. He stated that he would 

 want something like a hundred colonies of bees next 

 year, as he expected to have one or two more or- 

 chards in the vicinity. We also refer you to Glean- 

 ings for July 15, p. 478, for a remarkable testimony 

 on the value of bees as pollinators. See also our 

 booklet, " Bees and Fruit." You will find much more 

 matter on this same svibje.ct in the ABC and X Y 

 Z of Bee Culture under head of Fruit Blossoms, and 

 also under Pollen. 



Just how many bees may be necessary for a given 

 number of trees, we are not able to give you def- 

 inite information ; but our neighbor ten miles north 

 of us thought that he would need about forty or 

 fifty colonines for 40 acres of apple trees. Your plan 

 is correct, to start a small apiary to take care of 

 your 15 acres of old trees, and then increase the 

 number gradually up to take care of the ten thousand 

 young trees that you set in 1912. 



You will find that the bee business is a profitable 

 side line in connection with your fruit-growing 

 because you will be the busiest with yomr bees just 

 at a time when the work with the fruit trees will be 

 at the least. During the cold weather and earh 

 spring the trees will need to be pruned and sprayed, 

 and at that time the bees require very little attention. 

 When the main honey crop comes on, say in the 

 months of July and August, or rather the months 

 of June and July, you will not need to be very busy 

 with your trees, and consequently can give your 

 whole attention to the bees. To our notion a com 

 bination of bees and fruit-growing is most excellent. 



In putting bees in an orchard, it is desirable to 

 scatter them, a few colonies here and a few colonies 

 there. The idea is to get the bees arranged so they 

 do not have to fly very far on cool or rainy days. 

 Bees will go a short distance, and when they strike 

 the cold air will go back to their hives, and for that 

 reason it is desirable to have the colonies pretty well 



scattered throughout the orchard. This makes a 

 great deal of travel for the apiarist between the 

 hives, but at the same time you get a much better 

 distribution of the work of the bees. — Ed.] 



How to Winter Three-frame Nuclei, and Carry 

 Over a Surplus of Queens 



Can you tell me of any method that is fairly re- 

 liable for wintering nuclei of two to three frames in 

 the cellar ? 



Chaffee, N. Y., Sept. 18. A. J. O'Dell. 



[ It will be perfectly practicable for you to winter 

 three-frame nuclei in a cellar, providing you have 

 the right conditions. The temperature must not go 

 below 40 degrees nor much above 50. The bees will 

 stand 60 degrees providing you have a large amount 

 of ventilation. The cellar must be absolutely , dark, 

 and it should be reasonably dry. If the temperature 

 hovers around about 38 and 40, 41 and 42, and is 

 damp, you will probably lose a large part of the bees 

 in these nucleus boxes. If, however, you can keep 

 the temperature at about 45 to 50, with a dry atmos- 

 phere and a large amount of ventilation, without 

 bringing in light, you will get fairly good results in 

 wintering. Put these nuclei as close together as pos- 

 sible, to conserve heat. You will need to watch the 

 temperature very carefully. It might be wise to put 

 in the cellar a small drum stove, the smallest one 

 you can. Connect it with a chimney ; and when the 

 temperature goes below 45, build a very little fire. 

 This will change the air somewhat, and at the same 

 time bring up the temperature and keep the bees 

 quiet. If your cellar is such that it goes up to 60 

 degrees, and you can't hold it down, the bees will 

 fly out on the cellar bottom and you will lose a large 

 number of them, possibly all of them, in that way. 

 The only thing to do is to ventilate, leave the cellar 

 door open at night, and close it during the day. It 

 is desirable, however, to have fresh air going into 

 the cellar all the time, if possible. If, however, you 

 can maintain a temperature of about 45 to 50 with- 

 out very much variation, you will not need a great 

 deal of ventilation, although we always think it ad- 

 visable to have the cellar dry with plenty of air if 

 possible. If you could have an arrangement whereby 

 you could put the bees in a room by themselves, witli 

 an opening that will communicate with one or two 

 other rooms under the building, it will make the 

 ventilation very much better. It is not possible to 

 winter a large number of bees in a small room un- 

 less there is a large amount of ventilation. We can 

 not emphasize that point too strongly. — Ed.] 



Does a Taste for Honey Have to be Acquired ? 



Mr. Root : — In your issue for Sept. 15, page 639, 

 > ou have a short article headed " Honey a Concen- 

 trated Food." etc. On page 637 is an article by 

 Doolittle, who says little honey would be eaten if it 

 w(>re not for its flavor, as the same amount of nutri- 

 ment could be more cheaply obtained by buying su- 

 gar and making a syrup. I believe the taste for hon- 

 ey has to be acquired; and if Doolittle is correct, 

 sugar syrup or a good maple-sugar syrup is fully as 

 desirable, and far less trouble. 



C. V. S. Remington. 



Fall River, Mass., Sept. 17. 



[We can not quite agree with you that a taste for 

 honey has to be acquired. If that were a fact, there 

 would be very little honey consumed. This is true, 

 however: Flavors that we enjoyed in childhood we 

 continue to enjoy during our lifetime. We have no- 

 ticed this, that persons who have been brought up 

 in York State, who are familiar with the flavor of 

 buckwheat honey, usually like it, even after they 

 have come up to middle life and past. Those who 



