68 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Feeding Bees Kept on Shares. 



Query No. 7.— What is the custom, where 

 honey is fed to the bees iu the spring: for 

 stimulating purposes or to prevent starving, 

 Avhen the apiary is run on shares— Who 

 furnishes the teed ?— New SmjTna, Fla. 



G. W. Demaree replies as follows : 

 " After the bees have been wintered, 

 such party should share the expenses 

 of extra feeding, in proportion to 

 their respective interests." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus : 

 " The one who is to bear the expenses 

 of the apiary should pay for the feed. 

 Feeding is an expense just the same 

 as comb foundation," 



Dr. G. L. Tinker answers : "The 

 bee-keeper who shares equally in the 

 protits with the owner of the bees 

 should furnish half." 



J. E. Pond, .Jr., responds thus : " I 

 do not know that there is any custom. 

 I should suppose, however, that all 

 expenses of the kind should be borne 

 equally." 



Prof. A. J. Cook says : " It would 

 seem that both parties should share 

 it equally." 



Dr. .J. P. II. Brown answers thus : 

 "That depends upon the agreement. 

 The usual custom is to share expenses 

 and losses equally." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son reply as 

 follows: "If the bees were kept on 

 shares during the previous season, and 

 the apiarist did not save honey enough 

 to carry them to the next crop, it is 

 his fault, and he should bear the loss ; 

 but if there was not honey enough 

 harvested to carry them through, or 

 if he has just taken charge of them, 

 the feed sliould be furnished by the 

 owner of the bees." 



James IIeddon answers as fol- 

 lows : " I should say that the fur- 

 nishing of such food should be shared 

 by the lessee and leaser in the same 

 proportion that thesirplus honey and 

 increase of colonies are to be divided." 



Dampness in Bee Repositories. 



Query, No. 8. — I looked into my bee- 

 house the other day and discovered that the 

 water had soal<ed into it so that the sawdust 

 on tile floor was saturated, and was com- 

 mencing to mold. A post in the centre was 

 quite wet, caused by the dampness. My 

 bees are very quiet, and apparently doing 

 well. Would it be better to leave them 

 where they are while they are quiet, or to 

 move them into the cellar, which is drier 

 than the bee-house, but not as dry as it 

 ought to be ?— Lyndhurst, Ont. 



Jaiues Heddon says : " I should 

 leave them just where they are, 

 ' letting well enough alone,' " 



Prof. A. J Cook replies as follows: 

 " Leave them where they are. So long 

 as they are quiet, they are all right," 



G. M. DooLiTTLB remarks thus : 

 " I have never been able to discover 

 that such dampness as is spoken of, 

 made any difference with the bees ; 

 but where hives are saturated, I be- 

 lieve it to be injurious. As long as 

 the bees are quiet, I should leave 

 them where they are." 



Dr. C. C. Miller advises to 

 " Either leave them where they are, 

 so long as they do well, or try a few 

 in the cellar to see which do the best." 



W. Z. Hutchinson answers thus : 

 " Let the bees alone where they are." 



J. E. Pond, Jr., remarks thus : 

 " Under the circumstances stated, I 

 can see no reason for making any 

 change, and should leave the bees 

 alone just where they are. So long 

 as they are quiet, they should be al- 

 lowed to remain so, and not be dis- 

 turbed until they show some signs of 

 inquietude. Many colonies have been 

 ruined by too much fussing with, 

 when they were all right if let severely 

 alone." 



Vegetable Cellars for Bees. 



Query, No. 9. — Is my cellar a suitable 

 one for wintering bees in ? It is frost proof, 

 with hard, dry earthen floor ; it has ventila- 

 tion from the l)Ottom by means of achimue,v 

 with an east and west window, and is under 

 the dining room. In the winter there are 

 usually Iron 10 to 20 barrels of apples stored 

 in it. Are they injurious to the bees ? — 

 Woodstock, Ont. 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus : 

 " I should consider the cellar suitable 

 for wintering bees, and the presence 

 of the apples no objection. For sev- 

 eral years I haye kept bees in the 

 cellar under my kitchen. In this 

 cellar are kept potatoes, apples, cab- 

 bages, and other family vegetables, 

 and the cellar is visited daily. Dur- 

 ing some winters all of the bees have 

 wintered well, while during others, 

 nearly all have died. Those having 

 sugar stores have always lived." 



G. Jsl. DooLiTTLE says : " I con- 

 sider vegetables in no way injurious 

 to bees when in the same cellar." 



James Heddon remarks thus : 

 " You will find by experiment that 

 when the conditions within the hives 

 are right, your cellar will winter your 

 bees all O K ; but when such internal 

 conditions are not right, the cellar 

 will prove a failure." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son say : " We 

 would judge that that cellar is a very 

 good one." 



Prof. A, J. Cook replies as follows: 

 " The cellar is a good one, and the 

 apples will do no harm, as long as the 

 cellar is kept sweet." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker says: "The 

 cellar is no doubt a suitable one. As 

 the apples would do no harm, the 

 only question about it would be as to 

 the ventilation. The long, under- 

 ground drains are expensive, and I do 

 not think them at all necessary to the 

 successful ventilation of bee-cellars. 

 No special ventilation is needed for a 

 few colonies in a cellar; but 100 colo- 

 nies or more develon considerable 



heat. If the cellar is well banked, 

 as every cellar far north should be, a 

 single air-shaft extending from near 

 the bottom of the cellar upward 1-5 

 feet high will cause enough air to en- 

 ter to supply from one to two hun- 

 dred colonies of bees. If more air is 

 required at any time, place an oil- 

 lamp in the shaft." 



Dr. C. C. Miller answers thus : 

 " I should think that it might be an 

 excellent cellar for bees ; but I would 

 find out by trying only a few, if other 

 modes of wintering had been success- 

 ful. If a cellar is well ventilated, 

 apples will not make much, if any, 

 difference." 



Management of a Large Apiary. 



Query, No. 10 — What is the best plan of 

 management for a large apiary that has to 

 be kept in several localities V— Huron Co., O. 



James Heddon says : " I cannot 

 do this question any justice, even so 

 far as I have matured thoughts and 

 experience with the subject, in the 

 space which I have a right to use here. 

 It will vary much with different 

 localities." 



Dr. C. C. Miller remarks as fol- 

 lows : " This question is so compre- 

 hensive that it would take several 

 numbers of the Bee Journal to con- 

 tain the answer, I have done some 

 hard studying on it, and would pay a 

 good price for an infallible answer." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son answer as 

 follows : " We have kept bees in 

 from 2 to 6 locations for 14 years past, 

 the total number of colonies ranging 

 from 1.50 to .5.50. We think that it 

 is hardly advisable to keep more than 

 100 colonies in any one place, and 

 that about SO is a good number ; this 

 being the number that one practical 

 apiarist with one boy can overhaul in 

 one day for ordinary overseeing. One 

 man can easily take care of .5 to 7 

 apiaries if he has everything in readi- 

 ness, and has not to attend to the 

 harvesting of swarms. We think, 

 however, that the production of comb 

 honey, requiring more pains and care, 

 will require more time than the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey. We have 

 not tried it exclusively for a number 

 of years on any of our apiaries, being 

 satisfied by past experience that it 

 would not pay so well, especially as 

 large apiaries make the prevention of 

 swarming a matter of necessity, and 

 it cannot be successful when produc- 

 ing comb honey. 



1^ By reference to an advertise- 

 ment on page 77, it will be seen that 

 a stock company has been formed in 

 Eastern Ohio, to manufacture bee- 

 hives, sections, etc., on a large scale. 

 The incorporators are some of the 

 solid men of the town, including Mr. 

 B. L. Shoemaker, who has for years 

 done a successful business in bee- 

 keepers' supplies. We are informed 

 that nearly one-third of the stock is 

 already sold, and those wishing a 

 good investment will not be slow in 

 securing the balance. 



