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(Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter) 

 Published Weekly at gt.OO a Tear by George W. York & Co., 334 bearborn St. 



QBORQB W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY 4, 1906 



VoL XLVI-No. 1 



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Cbitorial Hotes 

 anb Comments 



Position of Winter Hive-Entrances 



At the present day nearly all entrances to hives in this 

 country are directly upon the floor or bottom-board. For- 

 merly entrances were higher up, and indeed such entrances 

 are still by no means uncommon in other countries. It is 

 likely that entrances were lowered not so much because bet- 

 ter for the bees as because more convenient for the hive- 

 maker. 



True, it is easier for the bees to carry out their dead 

 through a low entrance, but it is equally true that it is 

 easier for the low entrance to become clogged in winter. In 

 view of the fact that the chief argument against small en- 

 trances is the danger of clogging, may it not be in order to 

 reconsider the advisability of having entrances so low down? 



Sugar Cakes for Winter Feeding of Bees 



In the Modern Farmer, Editor Emerson T. Abbott gives 

 the following directions for making and feeding sugar cakes 

 to bees in winter : 



We have had a number of inquiries about sugar cakes 



for bees We find by inquiry and observation that a 



great many colonies in this locality are short of stores. The 

 same conditions may prevail elsewhere, and we advise all 

 of our readers to examine their bees at once, as there is 

 sure to be a great fatality among them this winter if they 

 are not properly looked after. Do not try to feed them 

 liquid feed now. 



If the bees have been left without looking after them, 

 and making sure they have plenty of food, the best plan of 

 procedure is as follows : 



Secure a high grade of granulated sugar. Dissolve the 

 sugar in boiling water, put in as little water as possible, but 

 enough to dissolve the sugar thoroughly and make a thick 

 syrup. This syrup should be boiled, being very careful not 

 to let it burn, as burnt sugar is injurious to bees. Boil the 

 syrup until it will harden and mold into a small cake. By 

 dropping a little of the hot syrup in cold water one can 

 easily tell when it has boiled enough. When the. syrup 

 solidifies quickly in the cold water, then proceed to mold it 

 into cakes weighing from 5 to 8 pounds each. This can be 

 done by pouring the syrup into a bread-pan or something 

 of that kind. A cake of sugar that is 5 inches wide and 7 or 

 8 inches long is about the proper shape for use for winter. 

 The cake should be at least 1,'i inches thick; 2 inches would 

 probably be better. 



As soon as the weather turns cold and the bees have 

 clustered, carefully remove the honey-board or hive-cover, 

 and lay this cake of sugar directly over the cluster of bees. 

 It is better to put a few short sticks, say y 2 inch square, on 

 the frames crosswise before the sugar is put on, and then 

 lay the sugar on the sticks directly over the cluster. Now 

 spread a piece of cloth over the top of the hive and sugar so 

 that it will fit down snugly all around the sides — a piece of 

 old gunny-sack is very good for this purpose. After the 

 cloth is on this may be covered with several thicknesses 

 of newspaper, or, if thought best, the super can be left on 

 and this filled up with dry leaves, or the chaff from oat- 

 straw. After the hive is prepared in this way shut it up 

 and cover it if possible with a store-box or otherwise. 



It would seem that with such a simple process of feed- 

 ing in cold weather, no bees should be allowed to starve 

 during the winter. Often a fairly warm day comes during 

 winter when the hives can be opened up and the sugar 

 cakes put in as directed. It is better that the bees have too 

 much food than not enough. So look well to their supplies, 

 especially when wintered outdoors. 



Anti-Swarming Treatment Used by J. E. Crane 



On page 773 was given in brief Mr. Crane's plan for 

 preventing swarming, and it is a pleasure to give the fol- 

 lowing fuller particulars : 



You inquire in regard to the method I have adopted for 

 many years to prevent, or rather control, swarming, as to 

 how long after the old queen is removed before a virgin 

 queen is introduced. I have found the best time to be 2 

 weeks. If introduced much earlier a swarm is liable to 

 issue ; if much later, the queenless colony may not accept 

 her. As a matter of practice, it is usually 16 or 17 days, as 

 I expect and do go over each yard once in 8 days, except 

 when the 8th day is Sunday, when it is 9. Perhaps I may 

 as well say right here that I have practiced this method of 

 controlling swarming for some 25 or 30 years. 



I can not give the number or the percent of swarms 

 that issue with virgin queens in this way, but I think they 

 would be few indeed if introduced in 14 or IS days from the 

 time the colony was made queenless, and the queen was 

 removed at about the time the colony would have swarmed 

 if left to itself. 



I commenced giving virgin queens because I found it, 

 with my bees, almost impossible to introduce a laying 

 queen to a colony that had cast a swarm, or had its queen 

 removed when it wa« preparing to swarm. I can not tell 

 why this is so, as some of my friends seemed to do so with- 

 out difficulty. 



I tried giving a queen-cell nearly ready to hatch, but 

 found a colony receiving it much more inclined to swarm 

 than when given a virgin queen. I have not been able to 

 tell why this is so. I have read, over and over, that if after 

 a colony has swarmed all cells were removed but one there 

 will be no further swarming for that season. With me it 

 seems to be no protection whatever. 



