1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



579 



pound cases, that can be easily thrown about, Is a mistake, 

 especially In small or less than carload shipments. The crate 

 is made much the style of a one-piece section crate, of light 

 lumber, but In such a way as to be strongly nailed and large 

 enough to allow of packing of straw or shavings, which will 

 surely give a spring jar instead of a thump when the case is 

 handled. The head of the crate is made of two thick boards 

 iust the size of the lid of the honey-case. If you use a 24- 

 pound case, which shows four sections through the glass, the 

 size of these head-boards are 12 by 18 inches and one inch 

 thick. One of these boards Is laid on the floor and on it Is 

 placed a layer of straw, then five 24:-pound cases of comb 

 honey are set on It and the other head-board goes on top of 

 all, with a little packing underneath. Now the thin crate 

 strips are nailed to the head-boards at each of the four cor- 

 ners, making your crate complete. 



"The crate is then marked with a request to place it 

 lengthwise in the car. Now this orate gets a better handling 

 on account of its size and weight, because it is too heavy for 

 one man to lift, and is either handled by two men or by hand- 

 truck." 



I think that the editor of the Pacific Bee Journal is cor- 

 rect In thinking that much honey is shipped that Is not in a fit 

 condition to stand a long shipment, and that It better be sold 

 in the home market. I would use a larger crate than he does, 

 one that would require the strength of two men to lift and 

 handle It. If handles are furnished they will be used. A 

 crate holding about 200 pounds is the size I have used, and 

 would ask for nothing better. It is possible that a smaller 

 crate would work just as well, but there is nothing like actual 

 experience. — Review. 



The Proper Amount of Stores for Winter. 



Br G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I have concluded to take the following from a corres- 

 pondent's letter, which has just come to hand, as a text for an 

 article In the American Bee Journal, as it comes at a time 

 when we should be preparing our bees for winter. 



" How much food does each colony of bees require, in 

 order to winter successfully ? I notice that some claim that 

 good, strong colonies can be wintered with as little as from 6 

 to 10 pounds, while some of the 'doctors' in bee-cnlture say 

 that 50 pounds in a hive is better than anything less. Which 

 am I to believe? and what am 1 to understand by this great 

 difference of opinion ?" 



The above questions remind me of ray early days in bee- 

 keeping, and how perplexed I used to be to know what was 

 right and what was wrong. In that which I read In the differ- 

 ent papers on bees. These things are often very confusing to 

 a beginner, and I do not wonder at it; but, as a rule we can 

 find grounds for charity when we come to understand that the 

 writer of an article in any of our periodicals cannot well go 

 into all of the minutia connected with his or her subject, 

 because it would make too long an article for one number or 

 issue of such periodical ; and " coutiuued stories " do not 

 seem to be just the thing for a bee-paper. That none need be 

 thus confused, my advice to all beginners would be, that they 

 purchase one or more of our valuable books on bee-culture, 

 and in these they will find the most, if not all they want to 

 know about spoken of at length, and the reason for the 

 writer's opinion given, so that they can form an opiuion at 

 ouce whether the writer's views are correct or not. With 

 these words of explanation, I will proceed to answer as best 

 I can. 



While I do not think that 50 pounds of honey should be 

 required to winter a colony of bees, under any condition, yet 

 the amount required depends very largely upon the location, 

 whether the bees are wintered In the cellar or on the summer 

 stand, and upon what is meant by "winter." It will be plain 

 to all, that more stores would be required to winter a colony 

 where winter held Its sway from the middle of October to the 

 middle of April, as it does in some of our most extreme North- 



ern localities where bees are kept, then would be required in 

 some Southern localities where winter does not last over two 

 months. If I understand aright those writers who claim only 

 a small amount of honey for winter, their idea is to give 

 only enough honey during the winter months proper to supply 

 the " fuel " required to keep the colony warm, and not to sup- 

 ply them food for brood-rearing In the spring. They argue 

 that this scanty supply of food tends to make the bees re- 

 trench, and so they would use this supply only for fuel, and 

 thus early brood-rearing, which Is considered by many to be 

 of no advantage, would be done away with, thus wintering 

 our bees at little cost, and at the same time place them in a 

 condition which Is most conducive to their prosperity. But 

 these persons did not calculate that the supply given them in 

 the fall was to last them till honey was gotten from the fields 

 in the spring, for they generally tell us that they have a sup- 

 ply reserved, to fall back on when the supply given in the fall 

 becomes exhausted. 



The only thing which I see against this "short-store" 

 plan, as put forth by its advocates, is, that in our locality the 

 bees might run out of supplies at a time when It would be 

 Impossible, on account of protracted cold, to supply their 

 wants, thus increasing the probability of loss to those who are 

 a little inclined to be careless with their bees. 



Years ago, when I first began to keep bees, I thought that 

 each colony wintered on the summer stand should have at 

 least 30 pounds of honey to carry them from the first of 

 October to the first of May; but after repeated trials I am 

 fully satisfied that 20 pounds is just as good as 30, and I find 

 that not one colony in 25 will consume 15 pounds during this 

 time. The only reason for giving the 20 pounds instead of 

 15, lies In the fact that the bees will retrench when their 

 stores are becoming low, just as the advocates of the scant- 

 store plan tell us; and if this retrenching comes when the 

 bees ought to be rearing brood in the spring, then we are 

 losing largely by not having honey enough in the hive to keep 

 brood-rearing prospering as it should. 



I claim that all colonies wintered on the summer stands 

 should have at least 10 pounds of honey in their hives the 

 middle of April, in this locality, to give them the confidence 

 they need to start out aright for the season ; for with this 

 amount of stores they will not feel the need of retrenching, 

 but will push brood-rearing on rapidly. If they can be win- 

 tered on five pounds up to this time, so much the better ; but, 

 if at this time they do not have pleuty of honey it should be 

 supplied to them in some shape. 



For cellar-wintering I allow five pounds less honey than 

 for out-door wintering, finding that, as a rule, 1}4 pounds of 

 stores per month Is the average amount consumed by the bees 

 while in the cellar. 



Now where we feed our bees, no matter how done, I find 

 that It can be done to better advantage In the spring than in 

 the fall, for the bees wll! go to brood-rearing with renewed 

 vigor where fed ; and for this reason I would say, give the 

 bees only enough to safely carry them through to May, then 

 supply their wants by feeding the amount you would other- 

 wise have given them in the fall. The amount which I think 

 right in this locality, I have given above. 



In feeding in the spring, care should be used not to feed 

 so plentifully that the combs will be filled with the feed 

 Instead of with brood, for It Is brood we are after at this time 

 of the year, not stores. Borodino, N. Y. 



The McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given In Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Poul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational "Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



