Feb. 23, 190S. 



THE AMERICA ; BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



I am satisfied that the claim that tin separators have a tendency 

 to less work in the sections, and a decreased yield of section 

 honey, is unfoimded. I have used sections without separators 

 and separators of five-sixteenths mesh wire-cloth, so that the 

 cluster of bees would be broken up as little as possible, where 

 separators were used, and at the end of many careful experi- 

 ments I failed to see any greater production of section honey 

 with either of these, than was obtained with the tin separa- 

 tors. I know that the theory put forth in favor of an un- 

 broken cluster seems reasonable, and from such theory it 

 would appear that a less yield should be the result where 

 separators were used, but the cold facts with me say that all 

 such reasoning is fallacious. 



Then, I use wide frames on account of the great advan- 

 tage they have in that the bees do not have access to the 

 outside of the sections at any point, except the edges of 

 the horizontal pieces above and below the separators, and here 

 there is very little stain or bee-glue used. Hence, when 

 the sections are filled and finished, they are nearly as new and 

 perfect as they were when put on the hive, requiring very 

 little, and often not any, scraping to clean them of propolis or 

 bee-glue, as it is often called by many apiarists. This is no 

 small item, as all of our older bee-keepers know, who have 

 spent days, if not weeks, in cleaning sections so they would 

 be in presentable shape for market. 



From the honey obtained from basswood, the sections 

 come out of these wide frames almost as clean in all parts 

 as they were when put on the hive ; and no large amount 

 of work is required where the honey is from buckwheat, at 

 which time there is more propolis carried in and daubed 

 about the hive than at any other time of the year. 



That this cleaning of sections is no small item will be 

 seen from the many section-cleaners which were invented and 

 advertised a few years ago, many of which are still in use. 

 These find no place with the apiarist who uses properly-con- 

 structed wide frames. Yes, more : All the expense required 

 in constructing one of these section-cleaners, or in buying 

 one, is entirely saved by using such wide frames. 



More, still : All the time required in using them can be 

 taken for the improvement of the mind in reading, etc. : 

 going to some summer resort and hearing some of the best 

 talent in the world ; or, if nothing else seems of more import- 

 ance, the time saved can be used to go camping or fishing, if 

 one is so inclined ; and with me, either or all of these seem 

 to meet my requirements better than spending days and weeks 

 in cleaning sections with a section-cleaner or without one. 



As to inventing section-cleaners, I have no discouraging 

 word to saj', for in the inventing of anything the mind is im- 

 proved, and a certain joy comes, which is often greater than 

 any that can be experienced in going fishing, etc. I would 

 not discourage inventive genius in any way, for. when used 

 aright, it is not only a help to the world through the inven- 

 tion, but a help to the world also by making the inventor 

 a greater man or woman, socially and intellectually. 



As to the ease of cleaning separators, I am not much 

 interested where tin is used ; for, to my knowledge, I have 

 cleaned mine only once, and many of them have been in use 

 for from 25 to 30 years. In using the wood separators in 

 conducting my experiments, I found that the bees daubed 

 them to a much greater extent than they did the tin ones. 

 But this was not my reason for discarding them, but was 

 because they did not answer their purpose as well, when ured 

 in connection with wide frames, as did the tin. It is possi- 

 ble that if I were to live in some of the localities of the South 

 and West, I might find reasons that would change my views 

 from the above; but for all sections where white clover, bass- 

 wood and buckwheat are the chief sources of honey, I firmly 

 believe that there is nothing better to use in securing our 

 section honey than wide frames with tin separators. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



# 



Cellar-Wintering of Bees and Its Difficulties. 



BY F. GREINER. 



In this locality of New York State, wintering bees i'\ 

 the cellar gives us the best results with the least worrv. 

 We learned a dear lesson last winter, viz.: It is saier 

 to place bees in their winter quarters early than defer it 

 till December. Even though that nestor, Rev. Dzier^: n, 

 hao said: "Do not worry about the bees even should it 

 freeze and snow before you put the bees in." Abe it 

 Christmas, he thought, was a good time. The difFeren e 



in the climate may have something to do with it; per- 

 haps if Dzierzon had such winters to contend with as we 

 here, he might have given other advice. 



If I am informed right, the German beekeepers have 

 so far had a mild winter up to Christmas, almost no freez- 

 ing weather. With such weather it would not matter so 

 much whether the bees were cellared a month later than 

 we practice. The reason why I deem it wise to put in 

 our bees early and before freezing weather is, hives and 

 combs are dry; hives are not frozen down to the hive- 

 stands and may be carried in without disturbing the bees 

 very much. Bees need no cleansing flight during November; 

 they are even loth to improve an opportunity in December, 

 and thus I can see no reason for keeping them outdoors at a 

 risk. Imagine the state of affairs when taking in hives that 

 are icy, the combs freezing cold. You bring them to the 

 cellar into a warmer and humid atmosphere. What will 

 be the effect? The hive and combs would soon be dripping 

 with water, a condition to be avoided by all means. We 

 might wait for a warm spell before we carry the hives in; 

 but supposing that spell does not come, as was the case 

 last winter; what then? 



It is quite evident for this climate the best policy is to 



F. GREINER. 



get the bees in early. Some of our best bee-masters advise 

 not to take all the colonies out at once and put them on 

 hive-stands sufficiently far apart to prevent any mixing up— 

 in other words, scatter them about over the yard. I have 

 never noticed serious results to follow from this mixing up. 

 Particularly with an out-yard far away, this method is not 

 practicable, and I do not hesitate to put the whole bunch out 

 in one night, about April 15. When the bees warm up in 

 the morning, of course, everything that has legs and wings 

 is out. I always try to be on hand as soon as the bees have 

 become quieted down, and close up the entrances to about 

 one inch in width. On a day following— preferably when it 

 is real cool— I clean the bottom-boards or exchange the 

 filthy ones for clean ones. The majority of bottom-boards 

 are usually clean enough. 



Sometimes it occurs that after putting the bees out on 

 the summer-stands we have a heavy fall of snow, with bright, 

 sunshiny weather to follow. This is unfortunate, for if bees 

 come out under such conditions many will be lost. They 

 become dazed and fly right into the snow where they will 

 die. Something will have to be done at once to keep the 

 bees in the hive as long as is safe without worrying them. 

 Having a great many colonies to see to, it would be im- 

 practicable to cover up the snow with sacking, canvas, straw, 

 etc., as may be done in case of a house-apiary, or where but 

 few colonies are kept. The bee-keepers in Germany are sure 

 to do something of that sort, but with us this is out of the 

 question. The best we can do is to bank up our hives with 

 the snow and keep the bees thus confined till the snow has 



