132 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUUIST. 



queon in:iy be very prolific and yet 

 lior ol!sj)i'ing far (Voin being strong 

 and har(l3\ Unhealthy bees can- 

 not properly digest food of an in- 

 ferior qiuilit}', say such honey as is 

 gathered late in the fall. The con- 

 sequence is, disease is sure to devel- 

 op long before spring and the col- 

 ony dies of dysentery. The sickly, 

 weakly l)ee cannot digest the un- 

 suitable food gathered and stored 

 in the combs. A strong, hardy 

 queen is pretty sure to carry her 

 colony through the winter in good 

 condition. 



DEAD BEES ON BOTTOM OF CELLAR. 



On March 14, I removed all the 

 thirt3'-six colonies of bees from the 

 cellar to the stands. They had a 

 chance to fly four hours in the 

 brigiit and warm sunshine, the 

 weather was very warm and no 

 bees were seen on the snow. The 

 dead bees on the cellar bottom were 

 all swept up and I found not far 

 from three pecks. It strikes me 

 that such a large number of dead 

 bees from thirty-six colonies was 

 more than there should be. Not- 

 withstanding tlTe large quantity of 

 dead bees, the hives were very full, 

 and before the bees were done fly- 

 ing everything within a dozen rods 

 of the apiary was pretty well be- 

 spattered with the excreta of the 

 bees. 



Before dark all the colonies were 

 placed in the cellar again where 

 they remained till April 4. Con- 

 sidering the fact that a large num- 

 ber of our colonies are used late in 

 the season for queen-rearing which 

 of course is a damage to them, we 

 do not think our loss a heavy one. 

 Some of the colonies which were 

 used for queen-rearing after August 

 tenth died, while those so used be- 

 fore that time came through in ver^^ 

 good condition. In future all col- 

 onies, used for queen-rearing after 

 Aug. 8, will be united, that is, the 

 combs containing brood will be 

 o-iven to other stocks, and in so do- 



ing the loss in winter will be very 

 much lessened. 



BKES ON THE SUMMER STANDS. 



All the colonies wintered on the 

 summer stands, that were in good 

 condition in the fall, came through 

 the winter in splendid ordei-. Tiie 

 hives are very full of bees, and so 

 far as I can judge not 20 per cent, 

 as many bees have died out-of- 

 doors as died in the cellar. 



1 luirdly think I shall ever winter 

 any more bees in the cellar. Am 

 satisfied that the hive described in 

 the "Api" last fall, is far better to 

 winter bees in than any cellar. 

 The advantages of wintering bees 

 on the summer stands are many 

 over those claimed for the cellar ; 

 and out-door wintering is far the 

 best method in the long run. With 

 a good hive, a strong vigorous 

 queen and suitable food, one is 

 pretty sure to have as many strong 

 colonies in the spring as he had in 

 the fall. When the above condi- 

 tions are not complied with, then a 

 good lot of empty hives will ho on 

 hand in the spring. 



WIKE-CLOTH HONEY-BOAHDS. 



The cloth honey-boards which 

 were on all our out-door hives dur- 

 ing the winter, were removed and 

 replaced by wire-cloth ones in- 

 stead. This change is made so 

 that the bees can be \'q<\ at an}'- 

 time, and their true condition 

 known at a glance without openino- 

 a hive. A small amount of gran- 

 ulated honey can be placed on the 

 wire-cloth, all covered up warm 

 and the bees will take the food 

 through the meshes of the wire. 

 Our hives, you will remember, are 

 so constructed that this method of 

 feeding can l)e practised with little 

 or no trouble. The brood-cham- 

 ber consists merely of the eight 

 frames and two side-boards, and 

 then all is covered and protected 

 fi-om the weather by an outer c.-ise. 

 The packing still remains between 



