THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



63 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



new york and florida. 



Dear Sir : 



There is no one thing in the 

 science of apiculture that has de- 

 manded more attention than that 

 of successfully wintering our bees. 

 What we should call successful win- 

 tering is to have them come out in 

 the spring with brood in all stages 

 in two combs at least and no less 

 in the number of colonies. 



Colonies in such condition will 

 withstand the sudden changes of 

 spring with no apparent loss. 



This is our ideal of successful 

 wintering which, as yet, very few if 

 any have ever been able to attain. 



Our experience in New York 

 State in wintering bees has been 

 accompanied with a yearly loss of 

 from five to fifty per cent, besides 

 the poor weak things we are obliged 

 to call "colonies" to keep up ap- 

 pearances. One great reason for 

 this loss is the very short season 

 we have in which to prepare our 

 bees for the coming fall and winter. 

 The early part of the season is 

 spent in building up our colonies 

 preparatory to the honey harvest, 

 regardless of our queens and only 

 too soon fall comes on finding us 

 with poor queens in our colonies : 

 the result being poor wintering 

 and worse springing. 



It is a very natural conclusion 

 of the apiarist that if he could 

 move his bees, before cold vs^eather 

 came, to some warm climate and 

 there prepare them for the abun- 

 dant honey flows that we have in 

 New York, by superseding old and 

 poor queens with young and vigor- 

 ous ones, he could double his num- 

 ber of colonies if successful and 

 get surplus enough honey to pay. 

 Certainly a fascinating theory which 

 remains to be put into practice. 



Our bees here in southern Florida 

 during the month of January have 



been almost idle as we have had a 

 very wet month of it. I have taken 

 three observations daily of the 

 temperature during the month at 

 7 A. M., 1 p. M. and 8 p. m. Aver- 

 age temperature at 7 a. m., is 55°, 

 at 1 p. M., 78°, and at 8 p. m., 54°, 

 greatest variation during the day, 

 38°. 



It was so damp and cold that I 

 could do nothing with the bees ex- 

 cept to see that they had honey, 

 and keep them as quiet as possible. 



At this date old bees are nearly 

 all gone (taking up land for or- 

 anges probably) and the queen is 

 reluctant in spreading brood over 

 more than the two combs which 

 were occupied in December. 



I think that in my former com- 

 munication I spoke of the surplus 

 pollen that was being stored ; they 

 have used it up during the past 

 month and now gather about what 

 they use. It seems surprising 

 that so little is known of advanced 

 beekeeping in a country where there 

 are so many natural advantages. 

 I transferred a colony from a cy- 

 press log on February first, and 

 found the comb so full of honey 

 and pollen that the queen could 

 not do justice in keeping up the 

 numbers of the colony. 



That is one great diflaculty here 

 with bees in log-gums and the tall 

 box-hives which are used extensive- 

 ly. The bees crowd the brood nest 

 with honey so that the queen is 

 found to occupy small patches of 

 comb, when if the honey was re- 

 moved they could cast much larger 

 swarms. 



The natives in removing the 

 honey pry off the top ; cut out what 

 can be reached handily and fasten 

 on the top leaving the bees to build 

 up again. It is no wonder that 

 the southern bee has the name of 

 being indolent or idle, but it is not 

 the fault of the bees. 



Orange trees, under the more 

 favorable circumstances, are com- 



