760 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Nov. 2, 1905 



bees that usually fall to the floor of the hive. In this condi- 

 tion the living bees were helpless and soon died, for nothing 

 short of a transfer on dry combs could help them, and such 

 a transfer was impossible in cold weather. But in every case 

 where our bees had upper ventilation, or absorbents in the 

 upper story, the conditions were entirely different, as the 

 moisture had been allowed to pass off as fast as produced. 

 This experience was plain, for we saw the same result in hun- 

 dreds of hives. 



As 1 said before, this happened only in two or three win- 

 ters, but the experience with the hives that had a water-tight 

 ceiling was so lamentable that it became an absolute rule with 

 us never to winter bees out-of-doors or in the cellar without 

 giving them either moisture absorbents in the upper story or 

 upper ventilation, the former being very much preferable on 

 account of the economy in heat. 



Any sort of covering will do that allows the humidity to 

 pass on through. Langstroth, at one time, recommended corn- 

 cobs, carefully piled side by side, so as to leave no interstices. 

 Some apiarists recommend cork-dust, which would be all right 

 if not so expensive. A sack full of chaff, or leaves, or wool- 

 waste, cotton, or even carpets, will be far superior to the ordi- 

 nary tight oil-cloth which serves during the summer. 



Outside shelter is good, no matter in what shape, and the 

 material used for this purpose will differ according to the 

 location and ease of securing it. An outer covering or case is 

 the best if it were not for the expense. We have sometimes 

 wintered small colonies in small-sized hives by covering them 

 with a large dry-goods box, which was tipped back during 

 warm days. With such a covering a very small colony or 

 nucleus is often wintered safely, and helped through the 

 spring months without much trouble. But it requires con- 

 stant attention, as they must be given a flight whenever the 

 weather is suitable. 



Above all things, it is well to put our bees in winter quar- 

 ters before the opening of cold weather, so as not to disturb 

 them after the cold days have begun. Hancock Co., 111. 



Requeening Colonies— Uniting Weak with 

 Strong 



BY EDWIN BEVIN8 



THERE seems to be an unfortunate or misleading use of 

 words in the heading of that article by W. T. Gary, on 

 page 647. Under the heading, " Uniting Weak Colonies 

 with Strong Ones," Mr. Gary tells how he requeened 2 colonies 

 in an old-fashioned way — how he didn't requeen the third one, 

 and how he did requeen the fourth one. 



Mr. Cary does not say that he used bee-zinc when he tried 

 to requeen the 2 colonies which had their old queens killed, 

 but, supposing that he did, I will venture to say (begging his 

 pardon) that I believe his method of procedure was a great 

 mistake. The work might have been done without any fight- 

 ing or the loss of a bee. 



My way would have been to place those shallow extract- 

 ing supers having the nuclei and young queens on bottom- 

 boards having the usual ?^-inch strips to form entrances. 

 Then I should have removed the covers and put two thick- 

 nesses of newspaper with small holes over each nucleus, and 

 then set the hives with the queenless bees on top. There 

 would have been no fighting, and there would have been no 

 swarm, unless the work had been delayed so long that queen- 

 cells had come too near maturity. 



Now comes the puzzling part of Mr. Gary's experiments. 

 His attempt, it seems, was to requeen a colony having a lay- 

 ing queen with a young queen hatched from a queen-cell in a 

 nucleus placed above the colony to be requeened. It is well 

 known (so queen-rearers say) that a virgin queen reared over 

 a colony will, when released, go below and kill the laying 

 queen. It is evident, however, that Mr. Cary did not intend 

 to reiiueen in this way. lie waited until the young queen was 

 laying, then removed the temporary bottom-board and put in 

 its place two honey-boards. These, it seems, served to pro- 

 tect the young queen ami prevent any great disturbance. The 

 rear entrance may have contributed something to this result. 



If only requeening was what Mr. Cary had in view, why 

 did he not kill that old queen when the young one came on 

 the stage of action, and then unite by some of the usual 

 methods? If the purpose was to test the efficacy of two 

 honey-boards instead of one, in the preservation of peace be- 

 tween a strong colony of bees with a laying queen below, and 

 a weak colony or nucleus with a laying queen above, then the 

 experiment has some significance. The results obtained by 



the use of two honey-boards instead of one will be awaited 

 with interest. 



When a weak colony in spring is put over a strong one 

 with a view to build up the weak colony by the. aid of the 

 warmth and superior numbers of the strong one, it would not 

 be prudent to give a rear entrance to the upper colony, as 

 many bees would seek the old location and be lost. 



I am a little curious to know what Mr. Gary would have 

 done with that nucleus if those hybrid rascals had not 

 swarmed. Did he put the two honey-boards between the 

 nucleus and the rascals ? Decatur Co., Iowa. 



=^ 



(£ont)cntton 

 Procecbings 



Report of the Missouri Convention 



«/ 



The Missouri State Bee-Keepers' Association met in Seda- 

 lia, Aug. 22 and 23, 1905. The convention was called to order 

 by Pres. J. W. Rouse at 2:30 p.m., Aug. 22. Prayer was of- 

 fered by Dr. Drunert. Roll called and the following members 

 found present: E. T. Abbott, Lewis A. Osborne, M. E. Trib- 

 ble, J. T. Shackelford, W. T. Cary, .1. W. Rouse, R. A. Hole- 

 kamp, N. R. White, M. E. Darby, W. H. Wilmer, Dr. F. H. 

 Drunert, E. E. Lawrence. W. T. Garrio came later. The 

 following joined during the session: E. G. Guthrie, N. G. 

 Lang, E. B. Gladish. 



Secretary Gary and Assistant Secretary Holekamp read 

 their reports, the latter's showing a balance due him of $42.15. 

 which he kindly donated to the Association. 



On motion, the secretaries' reports were approved, and a 

 hearty thanks tendered Mr. Holekamp for the noble work 

 he had done, and for his donation to the Association. 



Pres. J. W. Rouse gave an address. 



At the night session Mr. Holekamp read a paper on fout 

 brood, and a discussion followed in which L. H. Wilmer, Dr. 

 Drunert, E. T. Abbott, and others, participated. 



Hon. Geo. B. Ellis, secretary of the Missouri State Board 

 of Agriculture, was introduced to the Association. Mr. Ellis 

 gave a valuable talk on bees and their relation to farming 

 and horticulture, and promised to issue a State bulletin about 

 bees. 



SECOND DAY. 



The meeting was called to order by Pres. Rouse ; prayer 

 by E. T. Abbott. 



The election of officers resulted as follows : J. W. Rouse, 

 president ; M. E. Darby, vice-president ; Robt. A. Holekamp, 

 of St. Louis, secretary ; and M. L. Long, treasurer. 



Mr. Holekamp read a paper on " How to Transfer Bees 

 from Box-Hives to Movable-Frame Hives." It was listened 

 to with great interest, and a discussion followed in which 

 Messrs. Wilmer, Abbott, and others, took part. 



A motion was made to raise $25, or as much thereof as 

 possible, to help pay Mr. Holekamp's expenses to the conven- 

 tion of the National Bee-Keepers' Association in Chicago. Mr. 

 Holekamp refused to receive the donation, saying that he 

 would pay his expenses himself. But he said that a free-will 

 contribution to the funds of the Association would be very 

 acceptable, as the treasury was always empty, and a good 

 deal of good could be done with some extra money, as it could 

 be used for printed matter and postage to briLg new members- 

 into the Association, and to bring the old members in closer 

 touch with it. Thereupon it was voted that the secretary be 

 instructed to issue a circular calling for free-will contribu- 

 tions to the funds of the Association, to be used at the discre- 

 tion of the secretary in promoting the welfare of the Associa- 

 tion, and enlarging its membership through circularizing and 

 furnishing such literature as would interest, the bee-keepers- 

 of the State. 



E.T.Abbott brought up the advisability of patronizing 

 the Progressive Bee-Keeper, the only paper in Missouri de- 

 voted exclusively to bee-keeping. The secretary, on motion, 

 was instructed to write to the editor of the Progressive Bee- 

 Keeper, asking him to co-operate with the bee-keepers of Mis- 

 souri. 



Mr. Abbott offered to print 4000 or 5000 small circulars 

 free of charge to be sent out in the catalogs of bee-supply 

 dealers, to stir up the interest of the bee-keepers of the State 

 in the Association. 



