THIS? MMEJRICSrt BEE JOURNRIU. 



203 



h ^».jmkM^^M^.d 



* 



just our desideratum, if we would have 

 them ready for an early flow? Certain- 

 ly, if the good, warm weather could be 

 relied upon to bo steady through the 

 whole si)ring. but we all know this is 

 not the case. We are generally blessed 

 with a good many '-squaw winters." 

 ■Cold nights set in and kill the brood, 

 the bees become discouraged, and so 

 we have "spring dwindling." 



Another reason : The bees, when tak- 

 en oei. of the cellar, will fly at every pos- 

 sible chance. The winds in early S])ring 

 are often cold, and thousands of the 

 pool', diligent workers will never re- 

 turn to their home, and the consequence 

 is. chilled brood, weak colonies, and 

 in manj^ instances empty hives. 



When, then, shall they be taken out ? 

 Not before they can gather pollen from 

 majiles and willows. I am every year 

 wintering some of my colonies on their 

 summer stands, and they will tell me 

 when the work has begun. I now take 

 the bees out of the cellar and put each 

 on the same stand they occupied the 

 previous season. 



In taking them out I follow this 

 method : I use a leather strap with 

 hooks in each end — a la Doolittle. 

 This strap I put over mj* shoulders, 

 fasten the hooks in the hive, and oft' 

 we go. I prefer to carry them out in 

 the evening, as the}' will not rush out 

 so much en masse the next morning 

 after they have been out in the open 

 air the niglit previous. 



As soon as the weather permits, I 

 examine them to see how much space 

 they need, and if they have plenty of 

 food. If any are deficient they are 

 marked, and afterwards are supplied 

 with combs of honej' left over from 

 last season, or are fed. A splendid 

 rule is to have all our colonies well 

 supplied with stores throughout the 

 whole winter and spring. Colonies 

 occupying too much room are confined 

 to as manj' combs as they can cover. 

 This is done by means of division- 

 boards or dummiea. 



Why do I contract the hive ? To 

 accumulate the heat and thereby en- 

 courage breeding. If the colony is 

 verj- strong, and the hive is an eight- 

 frame Langstroth, I do not contract, 

 because such a colony is able to fill 

 that space with sufficient animal heat 

 for brood-rearing ; if let alone it gen- 

 erally gets everj'thing booming for the 

 harvest. 



Tlie other colonies I give more room 

 as often as needed. It is my custom 

 to put a comb in the centre of the 

 brood-nest to force brood-rearing. If 

 the colony needs feeding, that comb is 

 full of honej', if not, it is empty. If 

 more than one comb is i-eqnired each 

 week, I give the necessary comb at the 

 outside of the brood-nest. 



**^*^*'^'''>* ^ • ^a*'ii'i"**Oi*^i*t^r-^'.l-^-'-^rt^ii-r--^--^».— -.^.^j 



This judicious " spreading of the 

 brood-nest" I have never found to l)e 

 detrimental to the bees, bnt always 

 l)eneficial. I have to depend on white 

 clover as the onh- resource for surplus 

 honey, and I must liave a good force 

 of bees ready wlien it commences to 

 bloom, or the entire season is lost. 

 Some bee-keepers practice packing in 

 the spring. I tried it one year, but 

 found it too expensive. 



I would emphasize the following 

 points : 1. Do not take the bees out 

 of the cellar until late in tlie spring — 

 not l)efore there is sometliingfor them 

 to do. 2. Let them be well supplied 

 with stores. 3. Confine them to a 

 space in proportion to their strength. 

 4. Give the queen plenty of room for 

 breeding, and see to it that it is kept 

 up till the hives are crowded with 

 workers ready for the harvest. 



Stoughton, Wis. 



COWVEXTIOIV DIRECTORY. 



1R89. Time and Place of Meeting. 



Mar. 30.— AKency, at Ajrenry. Mo. 



'r. S. Smith, Sec, Awency, Mo. 



Apr. 23.— DeaMoines County , at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John Man. sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



May 1. 2.— Texas State, at Greenville, Te,x. 



G. A. Wilson. Sec.. McKinney. Tex. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, l*a. 



H. M. Seefey, See., llarforU, Pa. 



May 21.— Northern Illinois, at l*ecBtonica, 111. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec. Cherry Valley. Ills. 



8^" In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKS.— Bd. 



Packing Bees — The IVeatlier. 



— A. Holding, Langley, B. C, on Mar. 



5, 1889, writes : 



I had 12 colonies of bees last season, 

 and they averaged about 40 jiounds of 

 extracted honey per colony. I protected 

 14 colonies last fall on the summer 

 stands, under a shed, with a double- 

 walled case (with about 3 inches of 

 space between each wall) slipped on 

 over the hives. The cases are about 

 6 inches deeper than the hives, and 

 these spaces over the frames are filled, 

 some with clean old sacks, and some 

 with wool. I think tliat they are all 

 alive, as bees are Hying from all the 

 hives. They would have wintered well, 

 however, this winter, so far as cold 

 was concerned, in the unprotected 

 hives. We are having fine, warm and 

 clear weather witli frosty niglits. I 

 sliould judge that the temperature in 

 the sun to-day was n<it less than 80-. I 

 observed the bees for the first lime 

 carrying pollen on March 3. 



Results of the Paitt Seai«oii. — 



B. F. Carter, Patterson, Iowa, on Mar. 

 11, 1889, writes : 



I packed 35 colonies of bees last fall 

 out-doors, witli a good bed of straw 

 under them and between the hives, 

 leaving the fronts open. They have 

 had several nice days to- fly everj' 

 month this winter, and from all ap- 

 pearances they are in good condition, 

 except one colony that came out and 

 went into another liive. There are but 

 few dead bees as yet. My yield of 

 honey was 400 pounds from 20 strong 

 colonies and 8 weak ones. I increased 

 my a]iiary to 4.') colonies. I sold 10 

 co'lonies for I^W last fall, and $26 worth 

 of comb honey in one pound sections, 

 at 15 cents per pound. It was the 

 poorest yield I ever had, but I am not 

 discouraged. Mj' bees are hybrids and 

 pure blacks. The best yield I ever had 

 from one colony was 140 one-pound 

 sections of honey in one season, three 

 years ago. 



IVIntering in ChafT-IIires. — H. 



L. Sisson, Freeport, Mich., on March 

 11, 1889, says: 



I have 7 colonies in chaft'-hives on 

 the summer stands.all wintering finel)-. 

 The winter has been very mild here, 

 and the bees liave had several flights 

 during the time. They are in far better 

 condition than one year ago at this 

 time. 



Earl)' Pollen Ciatlicring, etc. 



— Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont, Mich., on 

 March 16, 1889, says : 



The first pollen was brought in yes- 

 terday, and to-day it is coming it quite 

 lively. The snow is nearly all gone, 

 and it is the first time I ever saw pol- 

 len brought in in March, in this lati- 

 tude. I have lost onl}- one colony so 

 far, out of 250, and that was quceiiless. 



Honey Colic — Stormy IVeallier 



— C. G. Ridout, Hutchinson, ]\Iinn., on 

 March 14. 1889, writes : 



On p.age 172 I notice the following 

 question, wliich is answered by Chas. 

 Dadant & Son : "What is the cause 

 and cure for honey giving people who 

 eat it, the colic ?" I do not wish to 

 contradict Messrs. Dadant & Son, for 

 they evidently siieak from experience, 

 and intended to aid the manj- honey- 

 colic suflerers ; but their experience 

 and mj- own, and tliat of several of my 

 friends, is certainly contradicting ; for 

 I have invariably found it to be the 

 case that, where lioney was inclined to 

 make persons sick, a small amount 



