20S 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 16, 1905. 



age weight when put into winter quarters, 58 pounds and 10 

 ounces ; when taken out April 22, 49 pounds and 3 ounces ; 

 showing that the average loss of each hive was 9 pounds and 

 7 ounces. 



Experiment No. 4. — Six colonies were put into the cellar 

 and placed on the shelves, with bottoms of the hives left on, 

 just as they were brought in from the bee-yard. The wooden 

 covers were removed and nothing left on except a tightly- 

 sealed propolis quilt; the natural entrance was left wide open. 

 Temperature of cellar same as in Experiment No. 1. During 

 the entire winter the bees kept perfectly dry, and a very 

 slight hum could be heard. There were but very few dead 

 bees on the bottom-board and no sign of dysentery. On 

 examination when put on the summer stands all the colonies 

 were found to be in first-class condition. The average weight 

 when put into winter quarters Nov. 23 was 59 pounds and 

 ounces; when taken out April 22, 49 pounds and 3 ounces; 

 showing that on an average each had lost 8 pounds and 12 

 ounces. 



DAMP CELL.\RS FOR WINTERING BEES. 



Many letters are received enquiring whether a damp .cel- 

 lar is a fit place to winter bees in. An experiment was con- 

 ducted during the winter of 1902-3 with three colonies of bees. 

 During the winter of 1903-4 it was thought best to try this 

 experiment with six colonies in a similar manner as in the 

 previous experiment. Seven pails of water were arranged in 

 such a way that the colonies of bees would rest on the edges 

 of the pails, allowing the full surface of the water to be 

 exposed. 



Six colonies were selected for this experiment, all of 

 about equal strength, and all in Langstroth hives, weighing 

 on an average 571^ pounds each. The wooden covers "were 

 removed from the hives and replaced with propolis quilts; 

 the bottom of each hive was loosened from the brood-cham- 

 ber and a block 2 inches square was placed at each corner 

 between the bottom-board and the brood-chamber, ensuring 

 free ventilation from the bottom of each hive. The cellar 

 was kept at a very even temperature of 44 to 48 degrees. 

 The bees could be seen hanging below the frames in a auiet 

 chister all winter. They were all examined once each week" and 

 at no time did there appear to be any sign of uneasiness from 

 the extra moisture. There were scarcely any dead bees on 

 any of the bottom-boards nor any sign of dysentery, and all 

 came out in excellent condition. The colonies were put on 

 the summer stands on March 20 ; the day being fine and warm, 

 all began flymg at once. The average weight of the six 

 colonies when put on the summer stands was 4414 pounds 

 each. Durmg the days intervening from March 20 to April 

 .'■> the weather was cool and no flying took place up to the 

 later date. At this period there was but one good, bricrht 

 warm day (April 5) and the bees had to content themselves 

 lo remain indoors until April 22, when the weather turned 

 nuite warm. The bees then built up very rapidly and were 

 m excellent condition for the honey flow. 



A second experiment was tried, adding more moisture 

 Six colonies were selected for this experiment, all of about 

 equal strength, and all in Langstroth hives, weighing on an 

 average 58^ pounds each. The wooden covers were re- 

 nioved from the hives and the sealed propolis quilts left on 

 the bottom-board of each hive being loosened from the brood- 

 chamber and a block 2 inches square placed at each corner 

 between the bottom-board and the brood-chamber ensuring 

 free ventilation from the bottom of each hive. Seven pails 

 of water were then put on the floor in such a way that the 

 SIX hives were resting on the edges of the pails, allowing 

 the full surface of the water to be exposed. In addition to 

 the pails of water six inches of sand was spread on the 

 cellar floor between the pails and covering six inches of the 

 floor outside of the pails. There was also a large cotton 

 sheet spread over the six hives. The sand and sheet were 

 kept thoroughly saturated with water once each week dur- 

 ing the winter. The cellar was kept at a very even tempera- 

 ture of 44 to 48 degrees and was well ventilated during the 

 whole winter. The bees in this test were more uneasy than 

 in the experiment first described where no sand or cotton 

 covering was used, having to keep up fanning for ventila- 

 tion. Ihere were also considerably more dead bees on the 

 bottom-boards and several had drops of water along the 

 entrance, but there was no sign of dysentery. On March 

 20, the day being fine, the colonies were removed to the 

 bee-yard, where all began flying at once. The average weight 

 of the SIX colonies when put on the summer stands was 44i<j 

 pounds each. From March 20 to April 22 the bees had but 



one good flight. After April 22 the weather became consid- 

 erably warmer, they began building up rapidly, and were in 

 excellent condition for the clover bloom. 



The average strength of the six colonies that had the 

 extra moisture was not as great as in the former test, but as 

 soon as they got fine weather they gained rapidly. Care was 

 taken to see that the colonies in both tests had plenty of un- 

 sealed stores before fruit-bloom and between fruit and clover- 

 bloom. This was done by uncapping one side of a frame 

 of honey nearest to the cluster, allowing the bees to use up 

 the honey for food and providing space for the queen to lay 

 her eggs. Although so much moisture was in close proximity 

 to the colonies, a great deal of the success of this experiment 

 is no doubt due to the good cellar in which it was tried, the 

 cellar having stone walls, cement floors, good ventilation and 

 the temperature being easily regulated. This goes to show 

 that good ventilation and even temperature have a great deal 

 to do with successful wintering. An excellent plan for ven- 

 tilating is to have sliding ventilators in the doors, so that 

 much or little air may be let in as desired. Also connect 

 an extra stove-pipe, provided with a damper to the regular 

 heating stove. This may be done by means of a T or an 

 extra flue will answer. Allow the pipe to extend into the 

 cellar. This plan of ventilating has proven very successful. 



EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE WHICH BEES WOULD CONSUME 



MOST, OF HONEY OR SUGAR, WHILE BEING CONFINED 



IN THEIR WINTER QUARTERS. 



Eight colonies in Langstroth hives were selected for this 

 experiment, all of as nearly equal strength as could be se- 

 cured. On September 1 their natural stores were removed 

 from both sets. On September 2 all were weighed as fol- 

 lows : 



(o). The 4 colonies fed sugar syrup: No. 1 weighed 



30 lbs. 7 ozs. ; No. 2, 31 lbs. 12 ozs. ; No. 3, 31 lbs. 10 ozs. ; No. A. 



31 !bs. 3 ozs. ; average of weight 31 lbs. 4 ozs. 



(ft.) The 4 colonies fed extracted honey; No. 1. weight 

 30 lbs. 9 ozs. ; No. 2, 31 lbs. 10 ozs. ; No. 3, 30 lbs. 12 ozs. ; No. 

 4, 31 lbs. 1 oz. : or an average of 31 pounds. 



Miller feeders were placed in empty section-supers, close 

 to the top of the brood-frames, any part of the brood-frames 

 not covered by the feeder being covered bv a propolis quilt 

 cut so as to allow the bees a passage through it. By keeping 

 the feeder well packed around, except where the bees outer, 

 the heat is kept in and at the same time the bees cannot daub 

 themselves with the liquid. In both experiments the bees 

 had a constant supply of syrup and honey. Both the honey 

 and the syrup were supplied to the bees at about blood heat. 

 The syrup was made of the best granulated sugar, two parts 

 to one of water by weight. The water was first brought to a 

 boil, then the boiler was set back on the stove and the sugar 

 having been poured in, the mixture was stirred until all was 

 dissolved. 



The 4 colonies fed sugar syrup when put into winter 

 quarters November 24 weighed as follows: No. 1, 61 lbs. 4 

 ozs.; No. 2, 62 lbs. 9 ozs.; No. 3, 62 lbs. 7 ozs.; No. 4. 62 

 lbs. oz. ; or an average of 62 lbs. 1 oz. 



The 4 colonies fed extracted honey when put into winter 

 quarters on November 24 weighed as follows: No. 1. 6..' lbs. 

 13 ozs.; No. 2, 62 lbs. 14 ozs.; No. 3, 62 lbs.; No. 4, 62 lbs. 

 5 ozs. ; or an average of 63 lbs. 8 ozs. 



The 4 colonies fed sugar syrup when taken from their 

 winter quarters March 22 weighed as follows : No. 1, 47 lbs. 

 3 ozs.; No. 2, 49 lbs. 4 ozs.; No. 3, 51 lbs. 5 ozs.; No. 4, 51 

 lbs. 8 ozs. ; average, 49 lbs. 13 ozs. 



The 4 colonies fed extracted honey when taken from their 

 winter quarters March 22 weighed as follows : No. 1 50 lbs. 

 9 0Z.S. ; No. 2, 53 lbs. 1 oz. ; No. 3, 51 lbs. 13 ozs.; No. 4, 51 

 lbs. 2 ozs. ; average, 51 lbs, 10 ozs. 



Difference in favor of the honey, 1 lb. 13 ozs. per colony. 

 When put into winter quarters they were placed on the 

 shelves in the cellar, and the wooden covers were raised at 

 one end lA. an inch, while the sealed propolis quilt was left 

 undisturbed. The hives were all given extra ventilation at 

 the bottom by placing at the entrance a wooden block be- 

 tween the bottom-board and the brood-chamber, thus rais- 

 ing the front of the brood-chamber 3 inches extra. During 

 the balance of November and December very slight humming 

 could be heard ; January and February scarcely any apprecia- 

 ble hum could be heard. During the whole winter there was 

 no sign of uneasiness of any kind and very few dead bees 

 about the entrance, the bottom-boards were quite clean and no 

 sign of dysentery in either experiment. All came out in first- 

 class condition and built up rapidly for the honey-flow. 



