ESTABLISHED '"1661 ^m\ 

 'the OLDEST BEE-PAPER -AMER 



PtiMisTiecl VTe&lcly, at St^OO per nnniini. 



Sample Cop3'- sent on -Apj>7ic«f/ojj, 



36th Year. 



CHICAG-O, ILL., JAN. 16, 1896. 



No. 3. 



''ticbf 



Bees Eating in Winter Quarters. 



BY D. W. HEISE. 



What a wholj-hearted bee-keeper Mr. Cotton is. On page 

 783 (1895), he already asks me to forward that pig-tail ; and 

 not the tail only, but the whole carcass clear up to the ears ! 

 Verily, Mr. Cotton knows a good thing when he sees it ! But 

 he wants me to send the premium before he has complied with 

 the conditions upon which it was offered. He wants me to 

 make the experiment, and determine for myself whether his 

 contention is founded on facts, or merely theory. I am not at 

 all anxious to make the experiment, which he outlines for me, 

 just at present, because I never like to disturb my bees after 

 they have " gone to bed " for their long winter's repose, except 

 In cases of extreme necessity. In the meantime " let us reason 

 together " a little in a friendly way, for I am sure neither of 

 us want to quarrel, much less fight, over this matter. And if 

 we did, it would not be possible for us to injure each other 

 very seriously, knowing that we are about 1,000 miles apart ; 

 and more than that, we are bee-keepers, and supposed to be 

 good-natured. 



I presume, from the certainty with which Mr. Cotton af- 

 firms that his statements are correct, that he has an experi- 

 ment similar to the one he outlined for me. If so, please let 

 us have all the facts and figures in connection therewith, and 

 perhaps that will satisfy me, and victory may yet perch on his 

 banner. 



Now here are a few thoughts which will perhaps enable us 

 to get at the facts in the case without much laborious experi- 

 menting : Is it not accepted as an established fact, by all ex- 

 perienced bee-keepers, that bees will consume more food when 

 wintered on the summer stands, than when wintered in the cel- 

 lar? but yet they do consume honey when in the cellar. But, 

 according to Mr. C's theory, they would not, because they do 

 not, and cannot, fly out from the time they are put into it in the 

 fall, until they are taken out in the spring. 



Again, what is it, I ask, that causes the difference in honey 

 consumption, with wintering in the cellar or out-doors — is it 

 only from the fact that the temperature is more uniform, and 

 therefore they keep more quiet? or is it not also reasonable to 

 suppose that they have to comsume more food when in a low 

 temperature in order to keep up animal heat? Now if the 

 latter supposition figures in the difference — and I truly believe 

 it does — how would they keep up animal heat without any 

 nourishment for three or four months of confinement in a low 

 temperature ? 



It is too generally supposed by bee-keepers in this coun- 

 try — I do not know whether upon good authority or not — that 

 bees must have access to food every four or five days in cold 

 weather in order to sustain life ; and I have had several in- 

 stances to come under my notice during my short bee-keeping 

 experience, which, if it does not thoroughly prove the matter, 



it certainly goes a long way towards showing that my supposi- 

 tion is well founded. For instance, during the month of Feb- 

 ruary, 1895, on a fine day when some bees were flying 

 from all the hives except one, wanting to know what was 

 wrong, I listened at the entrance after tapping upon the hive. 

 No response ; all was still as death : and upon lifting the cap, 

 such was really the case. Now, I would ask Mr. Cotton, what 

 was the cause of this colony's death? He may say disease; 

 but I say no, for there were no perceivable signs of disease — 

 the combs were clean and dry ; no spotting of hive, etc.; but 

 they were dead. He may say they froze. I cannot swallow 

 that, either, for I am not the only one who will tell you that a 

 healthy colony of bees will withstand almost any degree of 



Mr. Adrimi Oetaz, KnnxvUle, Tenn. — See paye 41. 



cold, providing they keep dry and have free access to good 

 honey. Then why did they die? Why, bless your heart, they 

 starved to death ! 



You say, bad management. I say, not so, for they had 

 plenty of good sealed honey right in the hive, and yet they 

 starved, for the very reason that the honey was on the one 

 side of the hive and the cluster on the other. The honey had 

 all been consumed around and about the cluster, and I have no 

 doubt, had the weather been warm enough for the bees to 

 break cluster, and move toward the honey, that colony would 

 have survived along with the others. But according to Mr. 

 Cotton's theory they filled themselves after returning from a 



