Jan. 1, 1912 



nucleus the preceding fall. Hy dear experi- 

 ence I have learned that Carniolan stocks 

 are excecviingly liable to get the swarming 

 impulse during fruit bloom if I hey do not 

 get plenty of ventilation; and in ihe ])ast 

 some of my C'arniolans have had the swarm- 

 ing im])ulse before I thought they were re- 

 ally crowiled enough to need supers and 

 large entrances, especially in view of the fu- 

 ture break in the How. Italians, hybrids, 

 and blacks, equally strong, did not get the 

 swarming imimlse under like conditions. 

 Kxcess of nurse bees could not be the cause 

 of swarming at this time, for it would be un- 

 reasonable to sui)pose that one colony has 

 any more young bees in ])ropor(ion to brood 

 than the other. In fact, during tlie build- 

 ir.g-up process the jjroportion of brood to 

 bees is on the increase: and with a good 

 Carniolan queen there is all the brood the 

 bees can look after. 



WHEX THE DANGER. 



My e^perience fully supports the follow- 

 ing: The time for the greatest danger of 

 swarming with strong colonies is during the 

 light honey-Hows before the heavy surplus 

 How sets iri, and during idle time between 

 heavier flows. 



When the bees are about ready for super 

 room is a most critical time. I put supers 

 on the hives too early rather than too late; 

 and as I generally keep the bees packed in 

 their winter cases until the clover begins to 

 yield nectar I run no danger of chilling 

 brood. 



If during a good honey-flow^ the bees enter 

 the supers with a rush, I find but little trou- 

 ble, under right management, until the su- 

 per room begins to be crowded for the pro- 

 cess of ripenincj the stores they gather from 

 day to day. I do not recollect ever having 

 a twelve-frame Langstroth hive with three, 

 four, or five supers on top of it wanting to 

 swarm. We are told that in trojiical coun- 

 tries during the heavv flow the bees aban- 

 don swarming; and when the light How fol- 

 lows they get the swarming impulse. I be- 

 lieve it IS much the same under proper 

 management in more northerly localities. 



The trouble does not lie solely in the lack 

 of super room. Neither is it a lack of venti- 

 lation alone, nor in hive conditions alone, 

 as then all the varieties of bees and all 

 colonies would swarm under certain condi- 

 tions. This much is plain — that, within 

 recent years, there are those who have learn- 

 ed so to manage that the bees will bend 

 their energies in the direction of gathering 

 honey rather than in swarming. 



Brantford, Ont., Can. 



DISTURBING BEES DURING WINTER. 



Was it a Costly Mistake ? 



HY G. T. WILLIS. 



llobert J}. McCain, Nov. 15, page (iSo, says 

 regarding the advisability of opening hives 

 in the winter time in order to ascertain the 

 condition of the food supply, "The proba- 



bilily is that the bees will be injured rather 

 than helped by disturbing their household 

 allairs." Now let me emphasize this to the 

 mexperienced bee-keepers. Don't allow 

 yourself to be so overcome with curiosity 

 that you can't leave the bees alone. If you 

 do, you will never forget it. .tosh Billings, 

 the pithy writer of years ago, uttered this 

 wise and truthful sentence: "Experience 

 teaches a good school, but the tuition is 

 rather high." Well, I have attended that 

 school myself, and I i)aidthe tuition in full. 

 For fear that some one may l)e temj^ed to 

 commit a similar blunder I will give my ex- 

 perience of twenty-seven years ago. 



In the fall of 1.S84 my .-Jis colonies, in ten- 

 frame hives of my own make, were all in 

 fine condition for winter, as there were 

 plenty of Ijees and stores. The hives were 

 so made that there was permanent packing 

 at each end; and when preparing them for 

 winter I took out two or three frames and 

 put a follower on each ^ide and packed 

 with straw, both at the sides and on top of 

 the frames, w^hich I considered an ideal 

 condition for wintering. Old residents re- 

 member that, during the winter of 1SS4, an 

 unusual amount of snow fell, and it was 

 cold from the second week in September till 

 the last of March, so that the bees were 

 buried under the snow most of the time. 

 As I was engaged in the work of the minis- 

 try I was away from home much of the 

 winter; but on returning the last of Febru- 

 ary I remained a few days. The 28th of Feb- 

 ruary being a bright and warm day I did 

 the very foolish thing of opening hives con- 

 taining those ;'>S coloniej to satisfy my anx- 

 iety as to whether they had stores sufficient 

 to last them until spring. Now for the sad 

 experience that cost me so dearly. "When I 

 returned and examined them early in April, 

 I had only seven colonies left. I have 

 never, in the twenty-seven years since, 

 allowed myself to be tempted to inspect a 

 colony in winter. 



I may have something to say at some fu- 

 ture time as to how I succeeded the follow- 

 ing season in retrieving my loss. 



Hoopeston, 111. 



[^^'e believe our correspondent is wrong 

 in supposing that the opening-up of his 

 hives on the 28th of February, a "bright 

 and warm day," was the cause of the heavy 

 mortality among his bees. While it is cer- 

 tainly bad policy to open up outdoor colo- 

 nies on cold days, causing the clusters to 

 expand beyond the point where they can 

 keep warm, it seldom does any harm when 

 the air is warm enough so the bees can fly. 

 If, however, the colonies have been well 

 supplied with sti^ires during thei)revious fall, 

 it is advisable for beginners, at least, to let 

 the bees entirely alone. However, if there 

 is any doubt about the amount of stores, we 

 recommend opening u]) the hives when the 

 weather is warm enough so the bees can fly, 

 and then put rock candy or a comb of sealed 

 stores on to]) of the frames after very gently 

 lifting the cov er and the packing, and re- 

 j)lacing the same. — Fd.] 



