GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



footing-. I say ieekeeping, for I do not 

 confine its effects to the wintering j-ioblem 

 alone. Bees, if put in proper shape for 

 winter, build up better in the spring and 

 give a better honey crop. This side of the 

 question has not received the attention it 

 merits. 



There is a long-distance view — a vision, 

 if you will — which I have had for many 

 years, which api^lies to the beekeeping in- 

 dustry in general, and the correctness of it 

 does not reflect any very great credit ui:on 

 beekeepers: but this view will remain true 

 as long as bees are largely in the hands of 

 those having other business interests. 



For many years I have been able to fore- 

 see heavy winter losses under certain con- 

 ditions. One condition under which these 

 losses occur is failure of the late honey-flow 

 in sections where a flow is usual, or where 

 there is any quantity of honey-dew in the 

 brood-chamber, or where the entire apicul- 

 tural season has been unfavoi'able. Then 

 there is the co^istant selection of the most 

 unfit, which often results from our modern 

 methods, when the colony is headed by a 

 queen which keeps the brood-chamber well 

 filled with brood to the exclusion of stores, 

 in such a condition that starvation is likely 

 to occur before spring. Such a forecast 

 should not be possible in beekeeping; but it 

 is true in Canada and the northerly if not 

 the middle States. Human nature remains 

 much the same. A "sufficient unto the day 

 is the evil thereof" policy has ruined many. 

 "open" fekces not desirable. 



In the discussion about fences, I was 

 elspecially interested. I have five such 

 fences, each covering ground space from 

 40 to 50 ft. square. These fences answer 

 a purpose entirely different from a railroad 

 fence. My fences are 8 ft. high, and have 

 for their ])urpose the keeping of cold winds 

 from the bees during autumn, winter, and 

 spring, and, incidentally (and a very de- 

 sirable feature), keeping the snow from 

 drifting about the bees. The only object 

 a railroad fence has is to prevent large 

 snowdrifts on a railway track. With a 

 fence built so as to leave openings between 

 the uprig'ht boards, surely the greatest 

 amount of shelter is not obtained. By an 

 open fence the railway company secures a 

 distribution of the snow; a portion of the 

 snow rests on one side of the fence, and the 

 rest will drift through and over the fence, 

 and thus the snow is distributed over a 

 larger area. In parts of the country where 

 snowdrifts are very prevalent I have seen 

 two such fences on each side of the track 

 in order that the second fence might catch 

 what the first did not. The wind and tem- 



perature are of no interest in this matter; 

 but the snowdrift is all-important. I am 

 so particular to shelter the bees from this 

 wind that 1 consider it quite injurious to 

 the bees to have even an opening under the 

 fence. In a couple of instances where these 

 existed, owing to faulty construction, I 

 have taken care to have them stopped up. 

 On a bitterly cold, windy day, would a bee- 

 keeper take shelter in a jilace protected by 

 a tight board fence, or in one with an open- 

 ing between the boards, such as is advocat- 

 ed by some writers? I know where I would 

 look for shelter, and I feel so sure that 

 every one else would knoAv that I shall not 

 undertake to answer the question. 



AVith three winters' experience with the 

 tight-board fence in three apiaries, the 

 snow drifted last winter for the first time 

 inside the fences ; and the reason for this 

 was because we had two very heavy snow- 

 storms with high winds ; but even in this 

 case the drifts which were next to the 

 fences could have been thrown out through 

 the open spaces which the loose boards in 

 the fence afford. It must be remembered 

 that in most storms the wind and snow will 

 'blow right across a space enclosed in a 40 

 or 50 ft. area enclosed by a fence 8 ft. 

 high. The space inside of the fence is not 

 a vacuum, and the tendency to a downward 

 pressure is largely overeom.e by the air in 

 the bee-yard. 



In conclusion let me say I am quite sat- 

 isfied with tight board fence. I have put 

 up two more such fences this autumn. It 

 is well to get the bee-yard well shaded with 

 trees in summer, as this shade reduces the 

 tendency to swarm, and in the winter the 

 branches of the trees lessen the effect of the 

 wind. 



Brantford, Ontario, Canada. 



SOME EXPERIENCES IN SHIPPING BEES 



The Importance of Giving Bees Water on the Way 



BY G. C. MATTHEWS 



In the spring of 1911 I went to Colorado 

 to shii3 several cars of bees to Idaho Falls 

 for a company in Ogden, Utah. Some of 

 the bees were already bought, among which 

 were my own sadly dejileted apiaries which 

 another man had been running. The sea- 

 son of 1910 was a hopeless failure, and 

 what bees had not starved were in a sad 

 condition in March, 1911. 



At such an early date, foul brood, though 

 present, shows very little, and one must be 

 exceedingly careful to find every ]!art of it. 

 In addition, the ordinary hives need lots of 



