GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



deed to see me. He took me all over the 

 country, showed me his out-apiaries, etc. 



Now, 1 can serve our readers better by 

 making a quotation from Gleanings for 

 Oct. 1, 1903, in regard to the convention : 



In taking up the part assigned me, "Reminis- 

 cences of Forty Years," I touched on the introduc- 

 tion of bee culture in California ; and it was a 

 happy surprise to see J. S. Harbison one of the 

 foremost in the audience — that is, he sat near the 

 speaker, very likely because, like myself, he is a 

 little hard of hearing in his old age. As I finished 

 I made a request that Bro. Harbison tell us some- 

 thing about the introduction of bees into California. 

 If I am correct, this is almost the first time, if not 

 the very first, that Mr. Harbison has attended a 

 beekeepers' convention ; and I am quite sure it is 

 the first time he has given a full history of his 

 remarkable venture. At first he seemed inclined 

 to make only a fevsr brief remarks; but in response 

 to my repeated questioning he gave a very full and 

 clear account of it. When he was quite a young 

 man residing in Pennsylvania he got a notion in 

 his head, so his neighbors said, that bees would 

 pay well in California. He wrote there to find out 

 about it, and was told there was nothing there for 

 bees to live on ; that if he brought them he would 

 have to plant crops to grow honey before he could 

 make them succeed. He could not give it up, ho\r- 

 ever, and in due time he had two carloads of bees 

 fixed to the best of his knowledge and skill for 

 their long trip. Right and left he received nothing 

 but criticisms and sneers. Just one man, if I re- 

 member, gave him a little encouragement by telling 

 him to be of good cheer, for he believed that a 

 great future was before him. He succeeded so 

 well that only about a dozen colonies perished on 

 the way, and then came his great triumph. It was 

 during the gold excitement and high prices that 

 his bees were landed ; and they went off so fast 

 at $100 a colony that many were disappointed, 

 and commenced bidding to the first purchasers. In 

 this way a few colonies were sold at over $200 

 each. In a little time Mr. Harbison shipped sam- 

 ples of his mountain-sage honey in 2-lb. sections to 

 the principal cities of the United States. It was 

 a novelty ; and, it being war time, when things 

 were high, his whole crop was sold at 25 cts. 

 per lb. wholesale. 



Side by side with Bro. Harbison, on the front 

 seat, was J. G. Corey, of cold-blast-smoker fame. 

 Bro. Corey got the bee fever ; but he lived away 

 off over the mountains, and the only way to get 

 bees over there was to carry them on foot. He 

 succeeded in purchasing a weak colony. As he was 

 already something of a beekeeper he made a light 

 hive to contain his nucleus, and strapped it across 

 his shoulders. This hive he carried successfully 

 more than 100 miles over the mountains. Part of 

 the trip he had to make on snowshoes ; but he got 

 them through alive, built them up, divided, and 

 sold his increase for something like $40 or $50 a 

 colony. 



Mr. Harbison was whole-souled. He not 

 only accumulated quite a property with 

 bees and other things, but he made good 

 use of his means, and was foremost in all 

 public enterprises. Above all, he was hon- 

 est and upright in all his dealings. Those 

 who ridiculed and made s^Dort of his un- 

 dertaking away back in the 50's are dead 

 and forgotten ; but the memory of Mr. Har- 

 bison's achievements will live and bless the 

 world for years to come. May God be 

 praised for the great and good men as 

 well as women who have given our industry 

 a lift and impetus in years gone by. 



QUESTIONS ON WINTERING. 



Year in and year out we are fairly bom- 

 barded with questions from beginners. 



There seems to be no let-up, for there are 

 always more beginners who are eager to 

 learn. We are glad in all cases to answer 

 these cjuestions; but it is our purpose at 

 this time to cover the ground somewhat 

 as we have before, in order that many of 

 our readers who, perhaps, do not realize 

 that they are making mistakes, may be 

 warned in time. We shall give the questions 

 almost word for word as we receive them. 



I have a room in my barn where I can easily 

 put my ten colonies of bees during the cold winter 

 weather. It seems to me they would be better off 

 there than out of doors. 



In a closed room above the ground, bees 

 do not winter well, as a rule, if they are 

 confined. It seems to be contrary to the 

 nature of bees to be confined in a room, 

 the temperature of which is varying from 

 below freezing to 40 or 50, or even 60 

 degrees Fahrenheit. There are exceptions, 

 of course. For instance, one beekeeper last 

 fall asked our advice as to whether he 

 should place his bees in an unused room 

 in his house. We advised against the plan 

 unless he could locate them close to the 

 windows so they could have an entrance 

 outdoors at all times. Before he received 

 our letter, however, he had gone ahead and 

 ] laced the hives, of which there were three 

 or four, in this unused room, and he de- 

 cided to leave them there, as they seemed 

 to be so quiet. Last spring he wrote us 

 that they wintered well. We should say 

 that they wintered in spite of being placed 

 in this room, and we feel sure that they 

 would have been better ofl^ in a cellar or 

 well packed out of doors. 



There are several inches of honey in the upper 

 part of the central combs in one of my hives, and 

 rather more in the outside combs. Is this enough ? 



It all depends upon the size of the colony, 

 and also as to how much you mean by 

 "several inches" and "rather more." A 

 medium-strong colony should have not less 

 than 30 pounds of sealed stores. But you 

 probably do not know how much comb 

 space this amount would take. A comb of 

 Langstroth size, which is the size of the 

 regular Hoffman frame, if full of honey 

 will weigh anywhere froui seven to ten 

 pounds. You can tell something from this 

 about how much comb area should be filled. 

 If a colony is being wintered on eight 

 combs we should say that there should 

 be three or four inches of honey in the 

 upper part of the four central combs, four 

 to five inches in the next comb on each 

 side, and five to six inches in the outside 

 comb on each side. 



My bees have enough to last them through the 

 coldest part of the weather, and then I expect to 

 feed again in the spring. How shall I make the 

 syrup for spring feeding? 



It depends on circumstances again; but 



