50 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 18, 1906 



to educate the bee-kepers we have, and promote the im- 

 provement of the honey produced. 



R. F. Holtermann would emphasize the desirability 

 of promoting the knowledge of foreign ideas. He had 

 gotten some of his best ideas from German literature. 



In regard to the value of bees to seed, it would be wise 

 to issue bulletins showing the value of bees, and also ask 

 those who can to bring forward proofs to the contrary. 

 In looking over the alsike clover report he had noticed a 

 great variation in the yield this year, and in many cases 

 where large yields were reported he knew bees to be kept 

 in large numbers. 



What we are suffering from is that bee-keeping is not 

 treated as a business. We should show people that it is 

 a business, then they will be more careful about rushing 

 into it without first counting the cost. 



J. D. Evans thought we should be very careful about 

 urging an over-supply of honey, as there is very little 

 foreign market for it. 



W. A. Chrysler — Education should start with the 

 young. Every avocation should be presented in the public 

 and high schools so that the child could choose what he 

 likes best and go on with it. Nine out of ten make a 

 failure of bee-keeping. 



Arthur Laing — We should do nothing to increase the 

 production of honey. Many of us make our living out of 

 bee-keeping, and it is small enough. What we need is to 

 develop markets rather than bee-keepers. 



Mr. Holtermann — Fruit-growers, etc., send their spe- 

 cialists over to work up the foreign market. Bee-keepers 

 do not send representatives, therefore they do not get the 

 market. 



(Continued next week.) 



Southern 

 * Beebom -f 



=^ 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl, New Braunfels, Tex. 



J 



Who Shall Keep Bees ? 



It is not so very long- since it was said that anybody can 

 keep bees. That was true, but it is not now. Times and 

 conditions have changed. The unfitted bee-keepers will 

 have to yield and give way to the more fit, just as small 

 manufacturing concerns, illy located and without the 

 power, machinery, and the brains to run them, have to give 

 way to the larger and stronger ones. The bee-keeper who 

 gets out of the old ruts traveled by his grandfathers, and 

 adjusts himself to present conditions, is wise. He must 

 keep pace with the times, and to do this he must think, 

 study, and read. He must adopt new methods and apply 

 them. To such a bee-keeper success may be assured. 



Wintering Bees in the South 



It may be supposed by some perhaps that such a thing 

 as wintering bees in the South does not exist. Yet we win- 

 ter our bees. Cellars, of course, are entirely unnecessary, 

 and when we read about the trouble of cellar-wintering we 

 should appreciate our good fortune of not needing them. 



Chaff-hives protect bees nicely where they are in an 

 exposed location where the bleak, cold winds strike them 

 full-blast. But these are expensive, and have no advan- 

 tages as a summer hive ; at least none were found while 

 using several for experiment for 3 years. The brood-nest 

 is kept at a more uniform temperature for early brood-rear- 

 ing in spring, but the extra cost of the hives and the num- 

 ber of disadvantages far overbalance the few advantages, 

 and hence do not warrant their use. Mr. Stachelhausen 

 gave them a thorough trial, but discarded them as worse 

 than useless. 



Instead of using chaff-hives where bees are very much 

 exposed, I would recommend the use of only temporary pro- 

 tection. Old boards, straw, corn-stalks, sorghum, and the 

 like, or old quilts and sacks, placed against the hives to 

 protect them on the north side, This, of course, is to be 

 applied in small apiaries. On a larger scale I would use 

 cheap roofing-paper, simply tacking it on with a few large 



tacks that can be removed easily so the paper may be used 

 again. The paper should also extend around the hive sides, 

 leaving only the front of the hive free ; supposing, of 

 course, that this has a southern exposure. 



In locating an apiary I have always paid much atten- 

 tion to the matter of winter protection, so locating the yard 

 that it is well protected on the north side by a hill or wood- 

 land, or both, and having an open southern exposure. A 

 hedge, or even a high board fence, will answer very well. 

 An apiary in a cozy nook of this kind is well protected. 



In warmer localities of the South, of course, it is hardly 

 considered necessary that any attention be paid to winter 

 protection of this kind, yet there are years, sometimes, 

 when cold spells late in spring mean much damage to young 

 brood. But I remember one season when colonies were 

 already preparing to swarm, a " cold snap " depleted them 

 so by chilling the brood that they were in no condition for 

 storing the crop of honey only a little later. Had the bees 

 been protected in this case, it would have meant hundreds 

 of dollars in the bee-keepers' pockets. 



One of the main and most important factors in winter- 

 ing bees, however, is that the colonies are supplied with 

 sufficient stores. Unless they are thus supplied all the 

 other protection will mean naught. As this serves as so 

 much fuel, a colony with a good supply of honey will sur- 

 vive while others starve. 



This preparation, therefore, should begin in the fall, 

 when the brood-nest should be arranged to the best possible 

 shape for the welfare of the colony. Not only should this 

 preparation suffice for the wintering, but the coming spring 

 should be provided for. This consists of the proper ar- 

 rangement of the combs and stores — honey and pollen — to 

 provide ample room, and of the right kind, for the use of 

 the queen when the season opens. To this end, straight, 

 all-worker combs, not clogged with pollen, should occupy 

 the middle of the hive. If there is nothing to hinder the 

 queen — which, of course, should be a good one — a rousing 

 colony will soon be the result. 



If the colonies are deficient in stores it will be well to 

 keep a close watch over them, and if feeding is necessary 

 then feed. Combs of sealed honey are my first preference, 

 as they can be placed right in the brood-nest for the bees to 

 cluster on. The next best, in my opinion, is the Doolittle 

 division-board feeder for feeding syrup, sugar, honey, and 

 water, as given in the text-books. Other methods can also 

 be used, whichever is most practical. 



With our warm weather during many days it is possi- 

 ble to examine the bees at almost any time during winter, 

 but care should be taken not to disturb them unnecessarily. 

 If, however, the proper attention was not given them last 

 fall, they can still be attended to, by either feeding if short 

 of stores, or arranging the brood-nest properly as soon as 

 warm weather permits. It will be better still to do this in- 

 stead of not paying any further attention to the matter at 

 all and allowing the bees to suffer in consequence. For 

 this reason, and for the purpose of answering a recent in- 

 quiry, this discussion is given at this time. 



(Dur*Stster 

 Beekeepers 



J 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



A Texas Sister's Experience With Bees 



I received a queen Oct. 9. She had lost one fore leg, 

 but appeared to be in perfect condition, and her attendants 

 were all right, so I at once made ready to introduce her at 

 10 a.m. I pressed the brood-frames apart and slipped the 

 cage in and closed the hive. In 36 hours I gently exam- 

 ined, and she was not released, and at exactly 48 hours, 

 when she was due to be released, there came a swarm with 

 full determination to go in. Being on watch, I at once 

 closed the hive with a wet rag, which I find very handy to 

 close a hive, as the bees won't push against it. They clus- 

 tered on the front of the hive, and I very quickly found 

 where they belonged. The ants had driven them out of 

 their home. I quickly gave them their own house and a 

 new stand, and then looked to see if my new queen had been 

 released, but Hot yet. The next morning I took the cage 



