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Jan. 26 19( 5 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



E. S. LovKSY (Utah)— The bait-sections, at least this is 

 my experience. 



Jas. a. Stone (111.)— Never had any good results from 

 so doing', so I quit it. 



C. P. Dadant (111.)— There will not be much difference 

 when they are side by side. 



N. E. France (Wis.)— Generally bait-sections, but they 

 will not be as white when finished. 



O. O. PoppLETON (Fla.) — It is too many years since I 

 produced section honey to remember about this. 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown (Ga.)— Work will always be started 

 in the bait-combs first, and they will usually be finished 

 first. 



J. M. Hambaugh (Calif.) — This is largely owing to the 

 strength of the colony. The baits will be accepted first, as 

 a rule. 



Rev. M. Mahin (Ind.) — I have not had enough experi- 

 ence to speak authoritatively, but I think the bait-sections 

 will be finished first. 



Dr. C. C. Mii,i,er (111.) — Baits, every time, in this 

 locality. Possibly baits might be so objectionable in some 

 way that the bees would prefer the foundation. 



G. M. DooLiTTLE (N. Y.) — Depends where baits are 

 placed. If in the center, the baits will be finished first. If 

 baits are in the corners or outside rows, then about alike. 



Wm. Rohrig (Ariz.)— I don't know. If I were permitted 

 to guess I should say if the bait-combs were nice clean ones, 

 placed in the center of the super, they would be finished 

 first. 



S. T. PBTTiT(Ont.)— If the bees are on the weak side, 

 nad the flow slack, the bait-sections. If the bees are in 

 good condition, and the flow good, there will be no appre- 

 ciable difference. 



R. C. AiKiN (Colo.) — Baits, under unfavorable condi- 

 tions of strength of colony and flow ; foundation first when 

 we have rousing colonies, and the nectar just rolls in. 

 Strange, but true. 



G. W. Demaree (Ky.) — As far as my observation ex- 

 tends the partly-built combs used as inducers take the lead, 

 at least at the start. As to z.zXw.?l\ finish^ my attention has 

 not been, called to that point. 



Iv. Stachelhadsen (Tex.) — During a slow or moderate 

 honey-flow the bait-combs will be finished first. During a 

 good honey-flow there may be no difference, and sometimes 

 even foundation may be finished first. 



Eugene Secor (Iowa) — If honey is coming in slowly 

 the baits will be finished first, and if the crop is short some- 

 times they will be the only ones finished. If the flow is 

 generous the others will be completed as soon. 



E. D. TowNSEND (Mich.)— Bait-combs, if in the center 

 of the super; if in the corners, as we use them, a few of the 

 cells on the outside lower edge of the bait-section will be un- 

 sealed when the rest of the super is ready to come ofl^. 



James A. Green (Colo.)— If the honey-flow is moderate, 

 or only ordinarily good, the bait-sections will be finished 

 first. But in a really good honey-flow the sections having 

 full sheets of foundation will usually be finished first. 



E- Whitcomb (Nebr.)— I have noticed that the new 

 combs with foundation are usually finished first. The bees 

 do dislike to finish up an old last year's job, and the result 

 is never satisfactory to the customer. I have never thought 

 advisable to put unfinished sections back into the hive. If 

 we can not get finished sections it is better to work for ex- 

 tracted honey. 



C. Davenport (Minn.) — It depends upon the strength 

 of the colony, the flow, kind of bees, and where in the super 

 the baits are placed. In a good flow a strong colony that 

 has considerable black or German blood will finish sections 

 filled with foundation as soon as they will baits. Although 

 outside the question, I would like to say that these bait- 

 sections are never first-class comb honey when finished. 



Some Facts About Honey and Bees.— This is the 

 subject of an article written by Mr. J. E. Johnson, and pub- 

 lished on pages 581-82 of the American Bee Journal for 

 Aug. 25, 1904. We have republished it in 4-page leaflet 

 form for general distribution, and furnish it, postpaid, at 

 35 cents per 100 copies. Send all orders to the oflSce of the 

 American Bee Journal. 



\ (£ontrtbutcb -f 

 Special Clrttcles 



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J 



Airing Cellared Bees— Is It Wise to Do It ? 



BY DR. C. C. MII.I.ER. 



ON page 694 (1904), Mr. H. R. Boardman, speaking about 

 bees in winter confinement, says : " I used to open the 

 outside door to admit the fresh, cool air at night to 

 quiet the bees down when they became restless, but I am 

 sure it is a mistake to ventilate in that way. The bees will 

 surely become quiet after admitting the fresh air and low- 

 ering the temperature, but they will not stay quiet. It only 

 increases the impulse to rear brood, just the diSiculty that 

 already exists ". 



Mr. Boardman is a man of sane judgment and ripe ex- 

 perience, and his view is apparently endorsed by Mr. Hasty, 

 page 794 (1904). The paper of such a man, with such an 

 endorser, ought readily to passcurrent as " gilt-edged ", and 

 the beginner who cellars his bees might naturally conclude 

 that when a warm spell comes in late winter or early spring 

 it will be unwise for him to open up the cellar, no matter 

 how warm nor how uneasy the bees. Such a conclusion 

 would, I think, be a mistake. Mind you, I don't say I 

 know — I don't know — / think. It is clearly one of those 

 things of which our good Af terthinker well says, page 794 : 

 " Manifestly it takes time and brains, and close observa- 

 tion, to reach the hardpan of correct practice". 



Mr. Boardman winters bees above ground ; I below. 

 That may make a difference ; and there may be other dif- 

 ferences that make a thing right for me and wrong for him ; 

 and there still remains the possibility that I may be wrong 

 in my views and in my practice. In any case it will do no 

 harm to tell why I believe and practice as I do. 



Throughout most of the winter the temperature in the 

 cellar is higher than that outdoors. Toward the latter part 

 of winter, however, and especially in spring before cellar- 

 wintering is over, there come warm spells, perhaps only a 

 day, possibly several days, when the outdoor air is as warm 

 as that in the cellar. So long as it is colder out than in, the 

 colder air forces its way into the cellar, making the venti- 

 lation constant. When the outdoor air becomes as warm as 

 that in the cellar, there is an equilibrium, and ventilation 

 ceases. Under ordinary circumstances, when these warm 

 spells come, the bees become quite uneasy. I formerly 

 thought it was because the bees were too warm, for the 

 bees were quiet in the cellar at 45 degrees, and noisy during 

 those warm spells when the cellar temperature went up to 



48 or SO degrees. I do not think so now Since writing 



that last sentence I have been down cellar, and the ther- 

 mometer there says 54 degrees ; outdoors 27 degrees. The 

 bees are quiet ; I think they would be more quiet at 45 de- 

 grees, but a furnace does not allow that. 



The point I wish to make is, that if formerly, in warm 

 spells, the bees were very noisy at 48 or 50 degrees, they 

 ought to be still more uneasy at 54 degrees if their uneasi- 

 ness was caused by the heat of the cellar. On such occa- 

 sions I opened the cellar wide at dusk ; the admission of 

 fresh air only made the bees worse for a time, but by morn- 

 ing they were very quiet. That agrees with Mr. Board- 

 man's testimony so far ; but he says they will not stay 

 quiet. I would not like to be too positive in such a matter, 

 but I think they remained quiet until another warm spell. 

 He says : " It only increases the impulse to rear brood, just 

 the difficulty that already exists ". What made it already 

 exist ? The only condition already existing that could 

 start brood-rearing, so far as I can see, was the excitement 

 from foul air or from warm air. Why should removing 

 either of these conditions make the matter worse ? 



In my case, however, it was a rare thing for brood-rear- 

 ing to start before the bees were taken out of the cellar for 

 good, and I think the airing of the cellar did not increase 

 brood-rearing. When a warm spell of several days oc- 

 curred, if I had left the cellar closed I think the situation 

 would have become intolerable. Conditions must be some- 

 what different with Mr. Boardman, if at such times his 

 bees remain quiet with all closed. 



I would at leasti.advise that beginners who cellar their 



