234 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



He says : " I am blamed for not mak- 

 ing careful aud prolonged experiments;" 

 and then proceeds ti> vindicate tlie liaste 

 witii wliicli lie anuiiuuoed his discovery. 

 Evidently Mr. CliirUe lias an ambition to 

 shine among the lights of the bee-keeping 

 world, but he should remember that such 

 lights, to be valuable, should be reliable. 

 They must cast their rellection forwai'd as 

 well as backward. He who wonld lead 

 others should first make hiuiself faunliar 

 witli the roail wliii'h lies licfori' liim ; for a 

 high autlioritv savs that " if tlic blind lead 

 the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." 



Prof. Cook, in his Manual, page 20, while 

 paying a tribute to Mr. A. J. Root's service 

 ni the advancement of apiculture, never- 

 theless regrets " that he often so stoutly 

 praises that with which he has had so brief 

 an experience, and must consequently 

 know so little." The same excellent au- 

 thority, in an article in " Gleanings," en- 

 titled "The Danger of Hasty Conclusions " 

 takes Mr. Hutclunsou to task for publish- 

 ing his seennng success in wintermg bees 

 in a clamp, so confidently. "Sucli re- 

 ports," he says, " are premature, and mis- 

 lead, and do much damage. Mr. H. says 

 that two of his neighbors are his compan- 

 ions in suffering. 1 doubt not that there 

 are scores ; for Mr. Hutchinson is an ex- 

 tensive writer, and his words have weight. 

 It seems to me that in 

 our writings we cannot be too careful in 

 with-holdiug coiiclusioiis till a generous 

 number of exaui]ilcs makes a real demon- 

 stration. Beecher is reported to liave said 

 that his gi'eatest fault is ' slopping over,' a 

 rude phrase, but it may well apply to some 

 of us writers." 1 would eonnuend these 

 words of wisdom to the consideration of 

 Mr. Clark, especially if he aspires to be a 

 leader of thought among reading bee- 

 keepers. 



In replving to my assertion that he has 

 turnisheu no demonstrable proof that bee 

 hibernate, Mr. Clarke says : " I have 

 furnished demonstrable proof that bees 

 relapse into a state of torpor or semi-tor- 

 por, quiescence or dormancy." Observe 

 the latitude wliich he gives himself here. 

 Toi-por, semi-torpor, quiescence— like the 

 three degrees of comparison, good, better, 

 best, are all-embracing. If this be liis idea 

 of hilieruation, we stand on common 

 grouiiil, and there is, on this point at least, 

 no contiiivcrsy between us ; and although 

 1 repudiate his implied accusation, that 1 

 have misrepresented his position, as merely 

 insisting on what bee-keepers have almost 

 unanimously agreed to be the normal win- 

 ter condition of bees, viz : quietude, his 

 own words now clear me from an\- such 

 charge ; for quiescence and quietude are 

 identical in meaning, and may lie defined 

 as a state of rest or repose. 



But this is not the idea which he attaches 

 to the word hibernation, for on the next 

 page he defines his position explicitly, 

 where he says : " 1. Bees naturally fall 

 into a condition of torjwr, scientifically 

 known as hibernation, during winter." 

 Now, has Mr. Clarke furnished us with 

 demonstrable proof that the nonnal condi- 

 tion of bees in winter is a state of torpor, 

 as contradistinguished from a state at 

 quietude ? Most clearly he has not. To 

 say that hibernation, as lastly defined bv 

 Mr. Clarke, is demonstrably proved beeaus'e 

 the bees were quiet, consumed little honey, 

 and came out in good condition in tlie 

 spring, is certainly very illogical ; for the 

 question still remains : " Were the bees in 

 a state of torpor, or merely in a condition 

 of quietude ? 



Just here I would like to raise the in- 

 quiry, wliat is the si-icntific meaning of 

 the word hibernation V Webster defines 

 hibernation, " to winter : to pass the season 

 of winter in close quarters, or in seclusion 

 as birds or beasts." If this be the real 

 scientific meaning of the word, Mr. Clarke 

 has tnily made a wonderful discovery. 



Fancy the cudgeling of brain with which 

 the student ot apiculture of some future 

 generation, in consulting the great lights of 

 our own dav, will strive to account tor the 

 fact that iii'the year 18Si, W. F. Clarke an- 

 nounced to the world as one ot the most 

 important discoveries which had yet been 

 made in apiculture, tliat bees actually pass 

 the season of winter in close quarters, or 

 in seclusion. 



In concluding his article, Mr. Clarke 

 says : " One thing is certain, it (hiberna- 

 tion) was not recognized as such, and 

 among the multitudinous methods ot win- 

 tering, was not so much as named." In 

 correction of this assertion, I would refer 

 Mr. C. to the "Kansas Bee- Keeper" for 

 April 188.3, where Mr. Heddon uses the 

 word, and also to the Bee JouKN.VLfor 

 1879, page 378, where the word hibernate is 

 used. 



In conclusion I will say that while I 

 would not pluck one leaf from the laurels 

 of the patient, faithful, laborious investi- 

 gator in any department of science, I am 

 not disposed to render homage to any one 

 who appears more anxious to be crowned 

 than to wear his laurels worthily. 



Hudson, N. Y. 



For the American Bee JuumaL 



The Wintering Problem Solved. 



HILAS D. DAVIS. 



I have successfully wintered my bees 

 for the past three winters. In 1883, I had 

 64 colonies ; in 1883-84, I wintered 84 colo- 

 nies ; in 1884, 1 packed in my bee-yard 109 

 colonies, among them 12 queen-rearing 

 nuclei, none of them containing over three 

 pints ot bees. One of this number 

 starved, as there were not bees enough to 

 move the cluster to where there was 

 honey, on account of the steady cold 

 weather this spring. This winter I tried 

 to test the wintering qiialities of the hive 

 (which I call the New England No. 7), and 

 my method of feeding, and 1 liavf lost but 

 one colony in that hive during the three 

 years, and that was one ot the twelve 

 nuclei. 



The hive that I use (the New England 

 No. 7 hive) is one upon which I have been 

 employed for a number ot years, and em- 

 bodies many and oft-repeateci experi- 

 ments. The hive is constructed in sec- 

 tions, the cap, two sections and the base. 

 The brood-nest is disconnected from the 

 hive, being separated therefrom both be- 

 neath and at the sides, so that it can be 

 removed without any disturbance of the 

 outer case. The space between the brood- 

 nest and the hive is packed during tlie en- 

 tire year with buckwheat, India-wheat, 

 dry sawdust, or any material that is dry 

 and fine. The object of this packing is 

 to protect the bees from the extremes of 

 both heat and cold. The packing beneath 

 the brood-nest is serviceable during win- 

 ter, in that it inclines the bees to seek the 

 bottom of the hive (which is the warmest 

 part of it) instead of the top. In this 

 case, when the bees drop from the combs 

 they do not die ot exposure, but finding a 

 place among the cluster, they are warmed 

 and revived. It is also an advantage to 

 have bees at the bottom of the hive in 

 spring, as they then jirotect the brood 

 above, from the draughts of air. 



In this locality, the last harvest of 

 honey is gathered from basswoori. As 

 soon as the surplus from basswood is 

 sealed, I remove it and put a set of extra 

 combs in its place. I then feed strictly 

 pure granulated sugar syrup (in the pro- 

 portions of 4 pounds of sugar to one quart 

 of water) until the combs are filled there- 

 with. In preparing this food, I pour the 

 water in a boiling state, upon the sugar, 

 and stir it until it is dissolved. Having 

 these combs filled at this time in the sea- 



son, it serves the double purpose of stimu- 

 lating bees to rear young brood for winter 

 use, and also to thoroughly ripen the 

 sugar syrup which is of the utmost im- 

 portance. On no account should any but 

 an expert attempt late feeding which, as 

 a rule, is unadvisable and a detriment to 

 the bees. 



Before the fall harvest of honey is gath- 

 ered, 1 remove these combs filled with 

 sugar syrup, to the storehouse, and also 

 lift out of tfie brood-nest all of the frames 

 of honey that are not filled with brood, re- 

 placing them in the centre of the brood- 

 nest with empty combs or frames filled 

 with comb foundation. If the bees gather 

 a large quantity of fall honey, the bee- 

 keeper must u.se his judgment in the mat- 

 ter, supplying room tor surplus. 



After the colonies have finished storing 

 fall honey, and the brood is all hatched, I 

 remove the fall honey to the storehouse, 

 keeping it tor another season for the 

 young colonies to use while rearing brood. 

 In place of tliis fall honey thus removed, 

 I give combs filled with sugar syrup. 

 Upon this the colonies will feed during 

 the winter. As a final arrangement, 1 lay 

 two one-inch-square sticks crosswise over 

 the frames to enable the bees to pass from 

 one comb to another ; then I cover them 

 with two thicknesses of burlap or porous 

 cloth, and cover the whole with packing, 

 such as has been described, to the depth of 

 4 inches, excepting over the centre of the 

 brood-nest. Thus fed and packed on the 

 summer stands, no colonies need be lost 

 during winter. 



On Nov. 15, 1883, I put into the cellar a 

 number of colonies of bees, in old hives 

 with movable frames, which were fed on 

 sugar syrup. By some mistake one colony 

 was left in the cellar until June 39, 1883, 

 when I was informed that there were bees 

 in the cellar ; and upon examination I was 

 astonished to find thecolony in a perfectly 

 healthy condition, lively, and no traces of 

 diarrhea, which was remarkable as the 

 colonv, which was a small one, had been 

 confined about 324 days, and was removed 

 from the cellar when my other bees were 

 nearly done swarming. It was amusing 

 to see what a grand flight they had after 

 their long winter's repose. 



In this connection 1 will give my method 

 of transferring bee<. I do not transfer 

 them until late in the fall, when the hive 

 is the most free from brood, and when I 

 am preparing them for winter. I then 

 drum out the bees, running them into a 

 hive containing a set ot combs filled with 

 sugar syrup. If there be any brood in 

 the hive, I cut it out and transfer it into 

 frames, placing it in the centre of the 

 brood-nest, after which I pack and pre- 

 pare the bees for winter. There are val- 

 uable features in this method. First, one 

 is not obliged to stop during the busy sea- 

 son to attend to this work. Second, as all 

 bee-keepers are aware, if the bees are 

 transferred in the spring, and the season 

 proves a poor one, while the expert may 

 overcome this and build up in time for 

 winter, yet with the beginner, disastrous 

 results are almost certain to follow on 

 account of the bees not properly building 

 up in time far winter. 



While I consider strictly pure sugar- 

 syrup in combs, properly sealed, the Best 

 tiling for winter stores (pure clover and 

 basswood honey which are free from fall 

 honey, are good, but more expensive), yet 

 I wonld caution all never to allow one 

 ounce of it to be placed in with the sur- 

 plus honey. 



All of my bees have had a flight, and 

 are in good condition. I have no frosty 

 brood-nests, moldy combs, or dead bees in 

 my yard. I have mastered the wintering 

 problem. With proper food, fed at the 

 proper time, and with a faithful manager, 

 and a properly constructed hive, there is 

 no need of any loss among bees. 

 Bradford, Vt. 



