AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



56B 



mode of wintering bees, and in direct 

 opposition to the natural tendency and 

 propensity of the bees. Any man that 

 has ever handled bees in the old-fash- 

 ioned movable-frame knows that the 

 bees will seal it down every time. 



FEEDING BEES FOB WINTER. 



-How about Mr. Catter- 

 f eeding for the winter ? 



Pres. Russell- 

 son's method of 



Mr. Muth — It is the best way of feed- 

 ing that I ever heard of. This is not 

 intended as a compliment, but as the 

 truth. 



Pres. Russell — There seems to be some 

 trouble arising as to the proper feeder to 

 use in the spring. It does not take so 

 much trouble to winter the bees, as it 

 does to get them safely through the 

 spring. 



' Mr. Muth — If our bees are strong in 

 spring, and if the fruit-trees don't bloom 

 and the bees get no honey from that 

 source, then unless we feed them they 

 will starve to death. 



Mr. Catterson — May be what I have 

 said cannot be understood by all. I am 

 opposed to extracting honey from the 

 lower chamber in the fall, and then be 

 compelled to feed up the bees with sugar 

 syrup to take them through the winter. 

 If they had the honey, in my opinion, it 

 is not necessary to give them the gran- 

 ulated sugar in the spring ; if it is neces- 

 sary to give it at all, give it in the fall 

 rather than lose the bees ; but if the 

 brood-chamber is old, then no honey 

 should be taken out of it. The bees will 

 store enough honey to winter them. 

 Some of my colonies swarmed the past 

 season just when I did not want them 

 to, and I gave them honey from the 

 other hives. 



Pres. Russell — Here seems to be the 

 problem throughout the State, where 

 farmers and many others engaged in 

 bee-keeping do not examine the bees 

 closely enough to see that there is 

 plenty of honey to last until February 

 or March. Three-fourths of the bees 

 die in March, chiefly from want of food. 

 The question is how we can best feed 

 the bees. 



Mr. Catterson — Some years ago I used 

 bee-candy, but at present I use the 

 sugar syrup, putting it into the hives, if 

 they have not a good quantity of ripe 

 honey. They would take this sugar 

 syrup and put it in the combs ; but if 

 you take the cakes of this candy and 

 lay them in just over the clusters of 

 bees, my experience has been that if 

 they have plenty of honey, they will 

 not bother this candy, but if they are 

 poor, then they will go to work on it. 



Mr. Simmons — I do not know that I 

 have anything to say that can be of par- 

 ticular benefit. In making chemical 

 analysis of honey, I find that it is com- 

 posed largely of oxygen and nitrogen 

 as the fundamental constituents. There 

 is an element called " saccharine," which 

 is 240 times sweeter than our ordinary 

 sugar. In feeding my bees I take a little 

 of this saccharine and place it in a 

 quantity of water, and also place with 

 it some loaf-sugar. I find that the bees 

 eat this and appear to fare well, much 

 better than those which were fed on 

 sugar syrup or the stick candy. I like 

 to try all plans and experiments, and if 

 I can find a safe plan, an easy one, and 

 one that is remunerative to me, I try it, 

 and am always perfectly willing to give 

 to my neighbors the benefits of my ex- 

 periments. 



Mr. Pope— I heard two parties say 

 that they fed their bees on this granu- 

 lated sugar and lost them. 



Mr. Simmons — That was doubtless on 

 account of the inorganic substances 

 which it contained, such as lime, chalk, 

 and other things. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 9:30 a.m. the next day. 



(Goutinued next week.) 



JHLeeping^ Bees Near a Railroad 

 — Queen Cramps, Ete. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes to know if it 

 will be a damage to an apiary, if located 

 within ten rods of a railroad. As a rule 

 it should not, yet if the bees are to be 

 wintered in a cellar or under-ground 

 cave, such as I use, the jar from the 

 trains might cause trouble. As I live 

 some eight miles from the railroad, I 

 have little experience along this line, but 

 a friend of mine who lived within six 

 rods of the railroad told me that he be- 

 lieved that very much of his loss during 



