March 8. 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



217 



facing 1 the east to a low stand 6 feet away and facing- the 

 southeast? Will many of the bees get lost when they fly 

 out ? Indiana. 



Answers. — 1. It will be quite safe to feed in the way 

 you outline. Neither do you need to fear as to robbing:, 

 even if the entrance is not left so very small. The bees 

 that empty these combs will take to the flowers when they 

 bloom. 



2. Yes, if the bees can be induced to empty them. But 

 they are not so sure to empty them when placed on the hives 

 as they are when the sections are placed some distance away, 

 say 2 rods or more. But if placed away from the hives you 

 must leave entrance for only one bee at a time, or the bees 

 will tear the tender combs. 



3. Something: depends upon the weather. If, after the 

 moving:, the weather is cold enoug-h to confine the bees to 

 the hive for a few days, or if the bees have not been flying 

 for a few days — say a week or so — there will be little trouble 

 about moving bees any distance, great or small. In the 

 particular case you mention there will be no trouble, even 

 if the bees are flying every day, provided no other colony 

 stands within 6 feet of where the colony in question now 

 stands. 



*-•-* 



Amount of Stores Used in Wintering 



1. Last winter I weighed 3 hives to see how much they 

 would fall short per month, and for January I found 2 went 

 3^2 pounds each, and 1, ^y^. In February 2 went about 3' 2 

 to 4 pounds, and the other went 6. The weather was cold. 

 The ones that used 4}< and 6 pounds died in April, leaving 

 honey. This winter I weighed again, thinking perhaps it 

 might be a good way to tell how they were doing, and what 

 ones might die. They are in a shed made purposely for 

 them, 30 inches wide, 14 feet long, and one tier or row. On 

 the other the floor is about 10 inches above the ground. 

 Both ends and back are closed with a good roof, and their 

 backs turned to the north. The front is all open. 

 The weights of some are as follows : 



Dec. 1. Jan. 1. 

 No. Frames. Lbs. Lbs. 



1 10 52% 40 



2 8 41 35 



3 10 50^ 47 



S 10 S7/ 2 S3 



6 8 47'A 44 



9 10 48 46 



10 8 46 42 



11 10 SO 45 



12 8 47 43 



13 10 56 52 



IS 10 51 47 



16 10 51^ 47 



17 10 55 51 



The rest are too heavy for my scales, as they weigh 

 only 62 pounds. To look at them on the outside of the 

 hive they all seem to be alike — only a few dead bees, and 

 the rest run about alike, and turn out about the same. The 

 hives are the dovetail. The 8-frame hive-bottoms are the 

 same thickness as the sides, "s I suppose. The 10-frames 

 have reversible bottoms, which are much thinner than the 

 8-frames, making them of about equal weight. I will say 

 that an empty hive and combs would weigh about 25 pounds. 

 The thermometer has shown for the coldest 12 degrees be- 

 low zero. 



1. How cold has it been with you ? Do you think it 

 might be best to put the bees into the cellar where it would 

 be warmer? 



2. What about those using the most — Nos. 1, 2 and 11 ? 

 They fly only when it warms up to about 55 or 60 degrees. 



Illinois. 

 Answers. — 1. I think it has been no lower than zero 

 here up to Feb. 1. You are about 150 miles further south, 

 and it has no doubt been quite a bit warmer there than here, 

 only it has just happened that you have had a very cold 

 spell. You speak of the bees flying at 55 or 60 degrees. 

 We've had no weather here so warm since November. 



2. It is doubtful that it would be well to cellar your bees. 

 You are in latitude 40 degrees, and in ordinary winters it is 

 best to leave bees out so far south. The usual consumption 

 of stores this winter is not because it is colder than usual, 

 but because it is warmer. I suspect that your bees have 

 had several flights, and the more numerous flights stir them 

 up and make them consume more. In so mild a winter they 

 would probably have suffered if they had been in the cellar. 



3. For some reason, perhaps not easily understood, 

 these have used more stores than others. That does not 

 say that they may not be wintering as well as others, only 

 they must be watched and fed if there is any danger of 

 their starving. Your bees, very likely, are getting along 

 all right, and need nothing more than watching to see that 

 they do not run short of stores. But it would be no harm 

 to try the experiment of cellaring two or three colonies to 

 see how they would compare with others — cellaring them 

 not more than a day or two after their having a flight. 



(£onr>entton 

 Proceedings 



A 



J 



Report of the Wisconsin State Convention 



BY HARRY LATHROP. 



The Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Association met at 

 Madison, February 6 and 7, 1906. There were between 40 

 and SO present, nearly all men. The weather was cold, and 

 doubtless deterred some of the ladies from attending. We 

 want them to know that we missed them, and hope all will 

 make an effort to attend next year. 



It is also true that none of the bee-paper editors were 

 present, and only one bee-supply firm was represented, that 

 of the G. B. Lewis Company, by Mr. Bacon, who is also a 

 bee-keeper. We missed the editors and want to remind them 

 that it will be our turn to entertain them next year. 



On the whole, we had a good showing, considering the 

 weather and the fact that a good many of our members had 

 attended the National Convention at Chicago, and doubtless 

 thought they could not afford to go to Madison. 



To my mind, one of the most important features of the 

 meeting was the following paper by C. A. Hatch, on 



CONTROL OF INCREASE 



There comes a time to every successful bee-keeper when 

 he has all the bees he wants, and would like less swarming 

 and more working of bees — less work in hiving increase he 

 does not want, and more work taking off surplus. He reads 

 all the literature on the subject, and every article in the 

 papers on control of increase is sure of his careful attention. 



He reads essay after essay telling the cause of swarming. 

 One says too many bees, another too much brood, another 

 too many nurse-bees, another too much honey, another too 

 much larval food — until, almost distracted, he comes to the 

 wise conclusion that it is simply their nature, and therefore 

 cannot be entirely stopped, but is something that needs direc- 

 tion rather than suppression. It is the expression of force, 

 surplus energy of the colony, the legitimate result of unused 

 power and strength. 



All the efforts of the bee-keeper since early spring has 

 been to get and increase this surplus force, for, from this, 

 comes his honey crop; the surplus of force that is not required 

 to support and carry on the regular demands of the hive give 

 the surplus honey for which the bee-keeper labors. 



Up to a certain point all the strength of the bees is used 

 to support the legitimate wants of themselves. The tem- 

 perature must be kept at a proper point, larvae must be fed, 

 comb must be built or cleaned and polished to receive eggs, 

 etc. ; and it is only after all these wants are provided for that 

 the attendant bee-keeper can hope for any increase of stores 

 for his share; but to get each colony above this condition of 

 self-support is his constant aim — even part of the honey stored 

 goes to support the colony. 



Let us compare a colony to an engine. In the spring the 

 fire is low and no steam can be used, but the bee-man keeps 

 adding more fuel (honey), and I" June 1st he has steam up 

 so he hopes to overcome the inertia of the engine and do some 

 work. He looks well to each leak} pipe, sees that the safety 

 valve is set at the righl notch so i Mow-off would not spoil 

 all his effort to keep up a working power of steam. 



The swarm is the safj the hive. We force our 



bees up to a high pressun nig force, but mil. 



look at this natural outlet— just as we turn on our steam to 

 run our machinery (surplus)— away goes our safety-valve; a 

 swarm issues, and we have to begin again to get up steam. 



As far as I know, there are three means of absolutely 



