THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Januari 



97 degrees. But we see from a care- 

 ful experiment that it will go nearly 

 30° below that. 



Mr. Doolittle rightly says that it re- 

 quires an extra expenditure oi: honey 

 to keep up a temperature so much 

 higher than the surrounding temper- 

 ature. Using this as a basis he inti- 

 mates that us fellows who advocate 

 out-door wintering, might figure out 

 where we are losing in dollars and 

 C3nts by the practice. 



I will admit that it requires more 

 honey to carry a colony through the 

 winter out-doors than in a repository. 

 But there are other features to be con- 

 sidered besides the difference in 

 amount of honey consumed. Now I 

 believe success in wintering, whether 

 in the cellar or on the summer stands, 

 depends more on the quality of houey 

 used than anything else. That honey 

 that is a superior article for wintering 

 in a repository, will often give dire re- 

 sults if used out-doors and vlci versa. 

 In fact I have proven it to be so to my 

 satisfaction, by a series of experi- 

 iments, which I will mention further 

 on. 



In this locality the bees usually get 

 enough late fall honey to fill the 

 brood combs. This honey comes in 

 slowly and as the brood is decreasing, 

 it all goes in the broodnest. It is a 

 dark, strong and inferior quality of 

 honey, and if we should extract it, it 

 would be useless as we couldn't give 

 it away. So you see, considering the 

 quality of the honey and the quantity 

 we usually get off it we are not out 

 much in dollars and cents, even if it 

 does require a little more of it to win- 

 ter outdoors than in the cellar. But 

 while this is apparently an inferior 

 grade of honey it is a very superior 



honey for wintering on the summei 

 stands. It is strong, aromatic anc 

 very condusive of heat. Yet it give.' 

 very poor results when used by bees ii 

 long, dose confinement. 



When I first began keeping bees, ^ 

 thought too much of my bees to think 

 of risking them out-doors in the win 

 ter. So I put them in the cellar 

 The nexs spring my bees all had thi 

 dysentary and dwindled away unti 

 it took them nearly all the next sea 

 son to get into shape for another win 

 ter. This I ascribed to some defec 

 in cellar. Accordingly the next fall 

 made arrangements with a neighbo 

 who had a good, warm, dry cellar 

 well cemented, to let rae put my bee 

 in his cellar. The results here wen 

 nearly or quite as bad as in my own 

 This made me think that there migh 

 be something in the quality of th( 

 honey, and led me to try a series o 

 experiments as to what was the bes 

 food for wintering and where to us( 

 it. 



The next fall I selected three col 

 onies, and took all fall honey front 

 them, and gave them combs of clove 

 houey instead; from three other col 

 onies I took the honey and substitute! 

 sugar syrup instead; three colonic 

 were allowed to retain the fall honey 

 These colonies were as near alike a 

 could be, and all were set in my eel 

 lar at the same time. Having bu 

 twelve other colonies, I treated then 

 in same manner. Giving four clove 

 honey; four sugar syrup, and four lat 

 fall honey. These colonies were al 

 lowed to remain on the snmmer stands 

 Now as to the results: The colonic 

 that wintered on the clover houey ii 

 the cellar came out in good condition 

 While those with the fall honey cam* 



