THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



305 



2nd.— The bees shoiild not go into winter 

 quarters without at least 30 fts. of good 

 capped honey. If tlie eonibs contain un- 

 capped honej' it sliould be extracted. If 

 the apiarist lias not the re(iuisite amount of 

 suitable honey it will do equally well to 

 supplement his supply by feeding good, 

 thick honey which has been extracted early 

 in the season, or if that be not at his com- 

 mand a syru]! made of coffee A sugar of the 

 consistency of honey, or just so tliat it will 

 not crys^talize upon cooling, will answer 

 equally well. Pcrhavvs the most convenient 

 method to feed this is to imt it in a bag 

 made of drilling which is tacked to a strip 

 of wood just like the top bar of a frame, ex- 

 (;ept that it is two inciies wide and has a 

 hole cut in the centre 1 inch wide and 2 

 inches long. Hang this between the frames 

 and the end of the hive, then pour in the 

 honey or syrup. The bees will sip it up 

 and store it away as it oozes through the 

 feeder. Of course; the bag should not reach 

 quite to the bottom or sides of the hive. 

 The feeding should be done as early as the 

 last of September, so that the bees may 

 have time to cap the cells before the 

 weather is too cold. 



3rd.— Any impotent queens or any not 

 first-class, should be superseded early in 

 the season. If the bees stoji gathering in 

 August, feed sparingly, as descriljcd above. 

 One-half pound daily will suffice. Again 

 if storing be very rapid in August and Sep- 

 tember, as it is likely to be where fall 

 bloom is plenty, the honey must be extract- 

 ed, so that the queen may have a chance to 

 deposit eggs. Brood rearing would have 

 entirely ceased in all my colonies the pres- 

 ent season as early as August had I omitted 

 to extract. As it "is there is brood in nearly 

 all of them to-day— October 18tli. Those 

 apiarists about here who have not extracted 

 may look for spring dwindling the coining 

 spring. 



4th. — Immediately above the bees there 

 should be placed a (juilt made of good fac- 

 tory, and still above this if the hives permit 

 as in most cases they will, tiiere should be 

 placed a factory bag filled loosely with 

 chaff. This may be from G to 12 inches in 

 thickness. 



So sure am I that the above methods will 

 succeed without fail, that I sell my bees in 

 autumn, warranting them to winter if I can 

 oversee the preparation. A. J. Cook. 



On Wintering Bees. 



AN ESSAY BY THE REV. E. L. BKIGGS, 



READ BEFOKE THE NATIONAI. B. K. 



ASSOCIATION, OCT. 2G, 1876. 



Having investigated this matter closely 

 for years, it is my opinion that the gkeat 

 and Ai.i,-iMroirrANT matter now to be 

 understood, is, )io)c to mniiage the afjiarn 

 80 as to carry the beefisucces^fullythnnigh 

 the interval from the first of November to 

 the time of fruit blossoms in tfie spring. 

 Give to the bee-keeper this knowledge, and 

 bee-keeping is a success. 



For the past ten years I have lived right 

 in the midst of the "bee-disease," by which 

 hundreds of colonies have perished all 

 around me; and up to this hour not a colony 

 has perished in my possession from this 

 epidemic, of which I had the handling in 

 the fall and winter. 



Forty-eight colonies were wintered at 

 Ottumwa, Iowa, under my direction in the 

 fall of lS71-7-i, without the loss of a .single 

 colony, when other bee-keepers lost almost 

 their entire stock. . 



1 also wintered twelve colonies at home 

 in 186!»-70, when every other ))erson suffered 

 great loss, losing none of them; while with 

 sixteen of my colonies which were taken 

 care of by another person, all but two <lied. 



Having investigated this matter to my 

 entire satisfaction, and believing that I can 

 impart the secret of almost entire success, I 

 shall proceed to give my method in tin; most 

 concise manner, and I shall first notice 



the CAUSE OF EOSS IN FAEE AND WINTER. 



There are four prominent causes of loss, 

 viz: 



1. Starvation. 



2. Intense and protracted cold. 



3. Damp moukly combs. 



4. Unwholesome or vitiated winter food, 

 causing the so called '"bee-cholera." 



Tke one remedy which I propose, will 

 cover in a measure all of these four causes 

 of loss. But I shall first speak of them 

 separately. First: 



CAUSES AND REMEDY' OF STARVATION. 



Starvation will result where the colony 

 lacks a sufficient supply; of course, in the 

 latter part of winter or before spring 

 flowers come,earlier or later in proportion to 

 the amount of honey on hand in the fall, 

 the larger number perish— after moderate 

 weather conies in the spring. The most 

 fatal time is from one to three weeks before 

 the opening of apple blossoms; and if these 

 fail to yield honey, and cold raw weather 

 continues, the danger increases until the 

 blooming of white clover. Fifteen pounds 

 of honey in the hive in the fall, when they 

 go into winter quarters, will under ordinary 

 circumstances give them an ample supply 

 during the five months from November 1st, 

 to March 31st. But it must be real honey, 

 or good syrup made from white sugar oi 

 about the same consistency of ordinary 

 honey. Bee-bread, or any other substance 

 will not answer as a substitute. It must be 

 fifteen pounds of honey or syrup. The cost 

 of 15 pounds of syrup would be about one 

 dollar and a half, when sugar costs 123-^c. ^ 

 lb ; and there is no pore excuse for letting 

 a colony of l)ees starve for the lack of a 

 dollar and a half expense, than there would 

 be to let a calf, sheep or other animal starve, 

 because the food necessary to winter it 

 would cost a dollar and a half. 



To feed them this syrup, nothing more is 

 necessary than an ordinary glass tumbler, a 

 piece of new cotton cloth, and some wrap- 

 ping thread. Pour the syrup into the 

 tumbler up to the brim, lay the cloth 

 smoothly over the top, and witli the wrap- 

 ping thread bind the cloth tightly around 

 near the top of the glass, and then' turn the 

 glass bottom side up over a hole, upon three 

 little sticks, so as to keep the mouth half an 

 inch above the honey board; do this just at 

 sundown, and the bees will suck the syrup 

 through tlu! cloth and carry it below before 

 morning. Always keep the glass protected 

 from outside iutru<lcrs by jnitting on the 

 cover for the honey boxes. For spring feed, 

 in case of destitution, a jill each day will be 

 sufficient to supply their wants, and will 

 also promote early bi'eeding. At the same 

 time give them rye or wheat flour in some 

 sunny nook, spread out thin ui)on some 



