THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



unprotected. We have had several 

 mild winters in succession, and the 

 first winter, neighbor Jones says to 

 Smith, Oh ! I wintered my bees with- 

 out any packing and they came 

 through in splendid shape, so Jones 

 makes a convert, and where one man 

 wintered in this way in 1888, there are 

 four in 1890. But, wait until a severe 

 winter comes, as it may this year, then 

 there will be some mourners in the 

 spring. "Bad luck" will be blamed 

 and not carelessness. Wintering with- 

 out protection is particularly danger- 

 ous when bees have not an abundance 

 of stores. The reason is, they require 

 more food, and then if it turns very 

 cold the bees cannot bieak cluster to 

 reach stores, and if it remains cold 

 long they must perish. The best of 

 stores, too, become necessary, as the 

 more the bees consume the more they 

 require to have cleansing flights at 

 frequent intervals. Such being the 

 case it will not be a difficult matter to 

 foresee that the winter losses will be 

 great. No one desires to see the con- 

 trary more than myself, and for that 

 reason I would suggest even now, that 

 unprotected colonies be cared for. Of 

 course, it will not do to disturb them 

 in cold weather, as they will eat an 

 undue amount of honey and become 

 diseased, unless they can have a clean- 

 sing flight at once. 



It would, however, be well to pre- 

 pare cases that can be placed over the 

 hives gently and quickly, and after 

 bridging the entrance pack with saw- 

 dust, chaff or the like, to keep off the 

 cold. I prefer to put several colonies 

 in a clump, as the hees are probably 

 able to stand the cold better, yet this 

 should not be done at this time of the 



year, as the disturbance is too great. 

 If the bees should take a cleansing 

 flight it would be a good time to give 

 them any little extra attention required, 

 as it will do no harm to disturb them 

 a little at that time. If the upper 

 stories are still on the hive it will be 

 better to let them remain until spring, 

 and theu they should be taken off, as 

 the room is to large for the bees to 

 keep warm, and brood rearing will be 

 retarded. 



Of course, these remarks do not 

 apply to latitudes where bees can have 

 cleansing flights every few days with 

 certainty, yet even here, some points, 

 it appears to me, will apply, and more 

 care generally will give better results 

 and less failures in bee-keeping. 



Romney, Out. 



^\ja< S^vv^y^w<Lu/v^- 



A Letter from Cuba. 



Mr. Editor : Perhaps you would 

 like to hear from this "land of flowers." 

 We are getting along very well, every- 

 thing considered. The last year has 

 been a remarkable one for Cuba. The 

 lack of our usual amount of rain has 

 operated to :i great disadvantage to 

 the bee-keepers here as well as else- 

 where, but, notwithstanding all. our 

 bees have done remarkably well, pass- 

 ing through a long dearth during the 

 summer with but little help, and con- 

 sidering that we have 500 colonies in 

 our apiary you can readily appreciate 

 the great resources of this country. 

 However, we take considerable credit 

 to ourselves for the good result.- we 

 are now getting, for through the 

 months when there is nothing one can 

 see for the bees to feed upon, not a 



