310 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



thick one thickness is suflicient, but if not, 

 then two; put on the baj^ging, see that it 

 fits well, so as not to let the chaff through; 

 put on the second story and fill two-thirds 

 tuU of chaff, and close the hive tight, ex- 

 cept one-half of the usual entrance. Shade 

 the entrance so that the sun's rays will not 

 enter the hive. The philosopny of this 

 plan is this: the bagging lets the evapora- 

 tion from the bees pass up through it into 

 the chaff, which is a powerful absorbent of 

 dampness. Some advocate straw mats, but 

 they have their objections; the dampness is 

 not absorbed but carried through the pores 

 of the straw, and in case of hard fi-eezing 

 they are stopped up; also in case of rain 

 and sleet, if they be not covered by a shed; 

 lastly, they are too expensive for a large 

 apiary. 1 need not stop to explain the cause 

 01 dampness in the hive, for all know that 

 after a long freeze if you open a hive you 

 will find a large quantity of frost adhering 

 to the walls of the hive; and if bees are put 

 in a house or cellar and the temperature 

 goes below freezing point, they will show 

 more frost or dampness than if in the open 

 air. 



Five points need to be observed in a hive 

 for wintering. A good, tight and dry hive; 

 2nd, no drafts of air; 3ra, a good queen; 

 4th, young bees and sealed honey. The 3rd 

 and 4th are more necessary for spring. 

 Some may say that that they can't have the 

 hive to contain young bees, another that he 

 cannot have sealed honey. Well, I have 

 directed you and if you do not come through 

 successfully, then do not blame this essay. 

 Unite a sufficient number of your weak 

 colonies to make one of the proper condi- 

 tion. I would prefer to start into winter 

 quarters with one good colony than four 

 poor ones. If you must take them through, 

 winter them the same as you would queen 

 nuclei, or division hives for wintering 

 queens. 



Methinks I hear many asking, "How it is 

 that there was such a fatality among the 

 bees during the past four years?" That is 

 easily answered:— the great success with 

 bees in 1870 and 1871. About this time pat- 

 ent hives and Italian queens had a swarm- 

 ing trade; two new bee journals started: 

 increasing was the order of the day, but in 

 1872 and 1873 (the winter) a reverse of suc- 

 cess came; but not yet daunted the novice 

 increased his bees to infinity again, and the 

 winter of 1873^ showed a much greater fa- 

 tality; so in 1874-5 the result was about the 

 same as 1872-3. In 187.5 the patent hive 

 business declinc>d terribly, Italians increas- 

 ed, the peoph' refused to be duped any 

 longer by hive vendors; and in 1875 they did 

 not want any Increase, but honey, so as to 

 pay for theirhives and patent moth trai)s. 

 And the ccmseciuence was less increase, 

 stronger stocks, plenty of honey and little 

 or no disease or loss; and the wintering of 

 1875-6 was a reasonable success. I am safe 

 in saying that the greatest cause of the dis- 

 asters for the jiiist four years lias been— 

 over-increasing. 



After having i)repare(l all your colonies 

 properly, leave them undisturbed until 

 severe freezing sets in, then wraj) some old 

 clothing around the liivcs \n which you are 

 wintering (pu'cjis, and no others need it; 

 then leave them until a big thaw in tlu^ 

 spring; then leave the cover off during the 

 day for the chaff to dry out. As soon as frost 

 is over, take off' the chaff' and second story, 



the sacks and sticks, shake the bagging and 

 put it on again. A fair warm day should be 

 taken for examination of the bees. As soon 

 as breeding begins, which is governed by 

 locality in whicli the bees are situated. At 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., it begins from the 1st to the 

 15th of April; in New England states last 

 of April ; and if the bees were properly pre- 

 pared they will now be found in fine condi- 

 tion and ready for 



SPKINGING. 



Commence breeding by stimulating the 

 bees with uncapping a comb or feeding 

 sugar syrup; prepared and fed in the same 

 manner as directed for fall feeding. You 

 must ascertain how much your iiive contains 

 so as to know how to feed. Do not allow 

 them to get short of rations, for if you do 

 they will destroy their brood; the queen will 

 cease depositing eggs, and 1 care not how 

 much stimulating you do, j;ou cannot start 

 again for a fortnight: and just here let me 

 say a great many stimulate their bees for a 

 time until fruit bloom, then they think 

 that will give plenty of honey, but it does 

 not, then the bees drag out the larvte. the 

 queen quits oviposition and it is two weeks 

 before any honey comes in, and another 

 week before breeding begins again. It 

 is now time that they should be able to 

 swarm, while they are not yet starting a 

 queen cell, and here is where you malte 

 your mistake and springing is a wreck. 



Breeding should commence six weeks be- 

 fore the swarming season, and these six 

 weeks will decide your success for summer. 

 After breeding fairly begins do not allow 

 your bees to be short of stores for one day, 

 for just here is where work begins for a 

 successful summer. Feed in a comb 



g laced on the outside of the brood chamber. 

 Tdinarily a hive should be fed once a week, 

 and from 1}4 to 23^ Rs. of syrup, as the de- 

 mand may appear. We have a good ex- 

 ample from England this year. Those that 

 fed regularly succeeded beyond all expecta- 

 tion, and those that did not, lost their bees. 

 The whole year depends more or less upon 

 the springing. To know how much feecling 

 should be done, feed suflicient to have at 

 least a half of a ccmib full all the time. Bees 

 should have water convenient to their hives. 

 Artificial pollen should be given liberally. 

 As soon as breeding begins, place pieces of 

 comb in the fiour for the bees to rest on 

 while loading themselves. Some salt water 

 convenient will draw many bees; continue 

 the feeding until you are sure that the bees 

 get plenty of honey; and at any time after 

 tliis, should rain or cold weather occur to 

 stop the flow, then feed again. After a good 

 yield of honey begins, take out your queen 

 nuclei and make full colonies or give them 

 to queenless ones. This brings us to 



SWARMING TIMK. 



There are three ways of increasing bees, 

 natural swarming, artificial swarming and 

 the nuclei. 



As to natural swaruiing we are mwer sur« 

 at what time swarms may apjiear, and very 

 often do not swarm at all and cause disap- 

 lioiiitiiHMit to their owner, after many days 

 of wati'hirig. A great many "lounge 

 around the corners" and the hive becomes 

 idle and if used for box honey, does litth^or 

 no good ; but if extracted it will set them at 

 work. Again, they swarm before they have 

 queens near ready to hatch; it is ten or 

 twelve days before she is fertilized and from 



