1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



285 



seasons the bees have always gathered 

 enough for winter from golden rod 

 which is here in great abundance, and 

 other fall flowers. Alfalfa makes four 

 cuttings here so there is bloom almost 

 continually throughout the season. 

 The sumtper season is very hot, and I 

 find it quite an advantage to wire all 

 my frames, and hives must be paint- 

 ed. I have never had any combs to 

 melt down when in painted hives and 

 facing east, so that the afternoon sun 

 strikes the back end of the hive, but 

 when the sun shines directly against 

 the side of the hive at 2 p. m., there is 

 great danger of the comb on that side 

 of the hive breaking down. Bee-eat- 

 ing birds are very numerous here in 

 early spring; the only remedy is the 

 shot gun. This season I have been 

 having a great deal of trouble with 

 ants; they kill the bees and eat them. 

 They have killed several nuclei, and 

 they frequently attack strong colonies. 

 I have not yet succeeded in getting 

 rid of them. Most apiaries here are 

 located on a low piece of ground and 

 water is turned on from irrigating 

 ditches until the ground is thoroughly 

 soaked, and in such places ants are 

 kept in check, but the disadvantage 

 is that if there is any work to be done 

 in the yard it will have to be post- 

 poned until the ground dries. 



The principal crops here are wheat, 

 corn and alfalfa, the latter being the 

 best paying crop as it makes four cut- 

 tings per year. Apples, peaches, pears 

 and grapes grow to perfection and 

 immense quantities are shipped from 

 this valley. As a winter resort this 

 locality is growing in popularity. The 

 number of people that come to spend 

 the winter is increasing each year. 

 Donna Anna, N. M. 



(From Progressive Bee Keeper). 



PREPARING FOR WINTER. 



IJY E. W. MOORE. 



It is now time to prepare our bees 

 for winter and our success for another 

 season depends on the way our bees 

 are managed this fall and winter. In 

 the rush of swarming time there are a 

 good many hives set on the ground 

 and now is the time to prepare suita- 

 ble stands for them to set on, and save 

 the bottom board from roting and 

 to keep the bees dry and comfortable. 

 It also makes it more convenient for 

 the apiarist to work with if they are 

 on a stand eight inches above the 

 ground saying nothing about the dif- 

 ference in looks. 



After all hives are prepared with 

 suitable places or stands we are then 

 ready to commence the most import- 

 ant work of the season in wintering 

 our bees successfully. Feeding bees 

 so that all have plenty of stores for 

 winter and early spring is no small 

 item in a large apiary, provided we 

 have to use sugar syrup. 1 always try 

 and save enough extracting combs of 

 nice sealed honey to do all my feed- 

 ing, but then there are a great many 

 who do not produce anything but 

 comb honey so they must of necessity 

 feed sugar syrup or extracted honey, 

 and all my experience in feeding has 

 been in favor of sugar syrup as it 

 comes cheaper and 1 think that the 

 bees winter better on it than they do 

 on dark or fall honey. 



As for the best way of feeding I 

 shall not try to say, but as for me I 

 have not been able to find anything 

 or way that has given more satisfac- 

 tion than the quart can feeders. Each 

 colony should have at least 25 pounds 



