58 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



April 



cape of warm air, the conditions are 

 about as adverse as they could be. 

 These conditions will winter a col- 

 ony of bees but they won't 

 carry them safely through the spring. 

 When the colony is compactly cluster- 

 ed and quiet during the cold of winter, 

 upward ventilation will keep the combs 

 dry and the hive sweeter than when 

 no means of ventilation is provided. 

 But notice the difiference in the re- 

 quirements of the colony during the 

 two periods. A mild, dry atmosphere 

 for the former, a warm, moist one for 

 the latter. Water is almost as essential 

 to bees when breeding, as pollen; 

 and if thej' cannot get it within the 

 hive they will go outside for it on days 

 that are so cold that hundreds, yes 

 thousands of them become chilled and 

 never get back to the hive. There can- 

 not be a very appreciable gain in the 

 strength of a colony when an old bee is 

 lost for every young one reared in this 

 way. Of what avail is the giving of 

 good, ripe stores for winter food — 

 which contain a very small per cent of 

 water — and then compel the bees the 

 following spring to go down to the 

 branch and sip the cold water to their 

 almost certain destruction? 



These are fine points in the manage- 

 ment of bees and we cannot afford to 

 ignore them. By closing the spaces be- 

 tween the combs at the top, the heat 

 within those spaces actually occupied 

 by the cluster, will be enough warmer 

 than the surrounding atmosphere to 

 cause a perceptible condensation of 

 moisture upon the outer combs and the 

 hive walls on days that are too cold 

 for bees to leave the hive with safety. 

 If cool, dry winds prevent the practic- 

 al efifect of this and the bees give evi- 

 dence of the fact, I would give them 

 water in a Doolittle division-board 

 feeder. It is well known that bees will 

 not leave the hive only under pressure 

 during unfavorable weather, and no 

 progressive bee-keeper will suffer his 

 colonies to become depicted in number 

 by searching for water in early spring. 



.^s soon as the winter season proper 

 is over or when the protracted cold of 

 winter is past, colonies in frame hives 

 should liavc the cushions removed and 

 common newspaners laid snug and trim 

 directly on the frames, within the bcc 

 space. Then if a telescope cover is 

 used, several thicknesses of paper 

 should be laid on extending out over 



the edge of the hive far enough to lap 

 down warm and tight when the cover is 

 on. An empty super placed on top of 

 the paper and the cushion again push- 

 ed down into it, makes the hive condi- 

 tions as good or better than those of 

 the box hive. One can often get old 

 sample copies of newspapers at almost 

 any postoffice for the asking. The bees 

 will sometimes gnaw the paper some- 

 what and some colonies will do this 

 more than others. But they seldom 

 gnaw clear through them before it is 

 time to remove them from the hive. In 

 fact T regard this rather as a help in 

 determining the strength of colonies, 

 for the strong ones will pile up more 

 paper fuzz at the entrance. Weak col- 

 onies should have their hives exchang- 

 ed for clean, dry, warm ones before the 

 papers are put on. By putting a sheet 

 of waxed paper next to the frames, 

 the bees will usually not bother them 

 much. A little later on, all colonies 

 should be overhauled to determine the 

 amount of stores each contains. If 

 some have died outright the combs- of 

 honey left can be distributed among 

 the other colonies verj' advantageously. 



Spring feeding is more often a source 

 of evil than it is one of good; that is. 

 when liquid honey or syrup is given 

 the bees daily in small quantities, for 

 it entices them to fly out on days when 

 they should remain in the hive. This 

 kind of feeding is one which beginners 

 will do well to let alone save on a 

 small scale for experimental purposes. 

 When it is absolutely necessary to feed 

 I advise giving enough at one time 

 so that the job may be gotten through 

 with as soon as possible. 



To sum it up, spring dwindling is 

 but the logical consequences of a 

 wrong usage of the modern hive. Give 

 the bees a chance by observing the 

 foregoing regulations and this difficulty 

 may be entirely surmounted. 



Wheelersburg, Ohio. March i, 1902. 



Feeding. 



my Arthur C. Miller.1 



TO FEED or not to feed? That is 

 the question, and I presume that 

 for some time yet it will continue 

 to be answered by most bee keepers 

 according to their own idiosyncrasies. 

 However, a few more words may not 



