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G81 



Putting llees into CeIIar»>. 



The first question asked was, " How 

 early sliall bees be put in the cellar ?" 



A. S. Haskins would put them in as 

 soon as they were through storing 

 honey. 



James Heddon did not want them 

 put in until they were through breed- 

 ing and handling ])ollen, and liad had 

 several little llights afterwards. No 

 definite date can be given. 



L. A. Aspinwall had put iu bees late, 

 leaving them until the last niouicnt, 

 and they wintered well. 



A vote was taken to learn at about 

 what time tlie majority would put bees 

 in the cellar. The greatest number 

 voted Nov. 25. The question gratlually 

 drifted into the one of 



^Vinterins: Bees. 



Mr. Heddon — If there were any sys- 

 tem of wintering l)ees that would al- 

 ways prove successful, we would all 

 have known it long ere this. Having 

 said this. I will still fui'thersay that by 

 putting bees on clean combs, feeding 

 them properly-prepared sugar-syrup, 

 and putting them into a warm cellar, I 

 can winter them with less danger of 

 loss than any one can winter a horse 

 or a cow. 



E. P. Gibbs — How about dampness ? 



Mr. Heddon — I am not afraid of 

 dampess in itself. I do fear a low 

 temperature, and dampness is equiva- 

 lent to a low temi)erature ; but keep 

 the temperature high enough, and 

 dampness will do no harm. Before 

 some one gets to talking about "Na- 

 ture," let me say that bees are natives 

 of a warm climate, wliere the oppor- 

 tunities to fly are frequent. In cold 

 climates they are awa}' from their 

 natural environments. For months, 

 the cold confines them to their hives. 

 If they consume a food containing 

 much nitrogenous matter, the intes- 

 tines become overloaded, and disease 

 is the result. 



M. Aspinwall would keep the bees 

 warm by having them in a house- 

 apiary, and warming it with a stove 

 when necessary. He advocated large 

 combs, because they contain more 

 '.. .stores, and there is less necessity of the 

 bees shifting from comb to comb in 

 search of stores. 



Mr. Gibbs — Did you not lose befcs 

 [ one year, Mr. Heddon, when the stores 

 ^Y^}v^i sugar ? 



Mr. Heddon — Not in the cellar, nor 

 i oy diarrliea. I lost some in the open 

 air, that actually yroje; but there were 

 no signs of diarrliea. 



Mr. Gibbs — I cannot believe that it 

 is pollen that kills bees. I think that 

 it is "cold." I have wintered bees in 

 different cellars, and lost 5(1 pur cent. 



in a cellar that was verj' cold, and in 

 the others 1 lost none. As I now win- 

 ter my bees. I would not give a man 

 50 cents to insure them. 



Mr. Heddon — I do not care what 

 kind of "fixings" you have, nor how 

 you prepare your bees, if you have 

 some bees from my apiary, with the 

 stores tliat my bees have, and my bees 

 die, yours will die also. It is a ques- 

 tion of food, except that cold induces 

 a greater consumption of stores, and 

 the sooner overloads the intestines. 

 There is uo other theory, except the 

 " pollen theory," that exidains all win- 

 ter losses. 



President Miller — Well, suppose that 

 we admit that it is pollen that causes 

 the loss, what are we going to do about 

 it? If there is nothing that we can 

 do, except to take our chances, what 

 is the use of discussing it ? 



Mr. Heddon — When sugar is much 

 cheaper than honey, it will paj' to win- 

 ter bees on sugar ; but when houej' is 

 worth less than sugar, as it is now, we 

 cannot afford to do it. It will be more 

 prolitable to take our chances on 

 honey. But we can have a selection of 

 stores. I can have a case of honey 

 stored in the summer, when but little 

 pollen is stored, and put it aside for 

 winter. After the brood is hatched, 

 we can simply shake out the bees, and 

 allow them to run in and take posses- 

 sion of the reserved ease. We can 

 winter the bees in a wai-m cellar, 

 where there will be the least induce- 

 ment to consume pollen. We can do 

 the best we can. 



Uest Size of ^Sections. 



The gist of this discussion was that 

 the pound .sections were the most de- 

 sirable. Less than a pound was pref- 

 erable to more than a pound, as the 

 dealer would be asked to " throw in " 

 an ounce or two over, while no fault 

 would be found with a little lower 

 price, as the result of a little less 

 honey. All of Mr. Heddon's comb 

 honey for this year had been stored in 

 half-pound sections. He secured as 

 much honey as when larger-sized sec- 

 tions were used, and it enabled him to 

 get ahead of the farmers who brought 

 in honey and sold it at a low price. 

 His half-pound sections sold readily at 

 10 cents apiece. 



Pakag^eM tor Extracted Honey. 



Mr. Heddon — The pound sections 

 made a success of the marketing of 

 comb honey. The best package for 

 retailing extracted honey is glass. It 

 should hold al)out one pound. Tlie 

 dilliculty is with the price. It ought 

 not to be more than one cent or ten. 

 When honey was high, it did not mat- 

 ter so much. Honey has fallen in 

 price more than glass has. 



Niipei-N lor Hives. 



S. N. Black — I am using something 

 like the old style of Heddon case. It 

 does not exactly suit me, but I have 

 not found anything better. 



J. A. Green — No super is advisable 

 that needs taking apart. I use a sim- 

 ple rim with tins nailed to the bottom 

 of the ends to support the " section 

 holders." I think that wide frames 

 without top-bars, are preferable, as the 

 bottom-bars will sag a little, which 

 leaves a crack at the top in which the 

 bees place propolis. There are no ad- 

 vantages in top-bars. 



Mr. Heddon — If separators are not 

 used, there is nothing better than my 

 old style of super. With separators, 

 the T-super is preferable. So far as 

 working is concerned, I prefer my 

 new style of case with wide frames, 

 but the cost is against it. 



Mr. Gibbs — I think that wide frames 

 may cost the most, but they are the 

 cheapest in the end, as I do not break 

 so much honey iu removing the sec- 

 tions. I think that separators are a 

 necessity. 



Surplus Itces. 



Mr. Gibbs wished to know what to 

 do with bees when he had more than 

 he wanted. 



President Miller advised uniting, and 

 in the spring making stronger colonies. 



Mr. Aspinwall said that the best 

 yield he ever knew was the result of 

 such uniting. 



YVIien to Market Honey. 



Mr. Gibbs said that' most of • the 

 honey was sent to market too soon. It 

 becomes soiled and stale from stand- 

 ing about, before the season is fairly 

 open. 



Mr. Heddon — People desire honey 

 when the weather is cool — not much 

 before. If sent to the market in large 

 quantities before there is much de- 

 mand, it aids largely in reducing the 

 price. Small cr.ates have advantages, 

 less likelihood of breakage, and many 

 are sold direct to consumers who would 

 not buy a large crate of honey. 



^Vliat Hive -will Prevent Swarm- 



J. A. Green — A lai-ge hive. 



Mr. Heddon — With my hive and 

 management, I believe that I can pro- 

 duce extracted honey with so little 

 swarming that it will not pay to keep 

 a man in each apiary all the time. 



Mr. Aspinwall — I wish to mention 

 the wooden coml)s in this connection. 

 No bees have swarmed when occupy- 

 ing these combs. No drones can be 

 reared, and I do not believe that the 

 instinct of the bees will allow them to 

 swarm when they can rear no drones 

 to mate with the young ijueens. 



