1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



355 



although I have been in the bee busi- 

 ness for nearly 80 years, my "bee 

 fever" is at as "white an heat" today 

 as it ever was. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Points on Wintering, Getting 

 Ready for Next Season, etc. 



FKEU S. THORINGTON 



The honey season of 1897 is now 

 past, and luy bees are enjoying their 

 quiescent repose ever needful to them 

 at this time of year. Tlie}^ have more 

 than 25 pounds each of good honey to 

 amuse themselves with eating when 

 needed in their wakeful hours. I 

 never like to lob ray bees of honey 

 too closely in the fall. Past exper- 

 ience in this locality has taught me 

 better. We have a drouth at some 

 time most every year, usually between 

 the first of July and last of Septem- 

 ber, though it may come on at any 

 time, and if bees are robbed too close- 

 ly of their honey, feeding has to be 

 resorted to, especially in the fall, 

 which I don't like to do at any time; 

 yet I would much rather feed bees in 

 the fall than at any other time of 

 year. If they have plenty of good 

 stores to go into winter quarters with, 

 I think they are much better prepared 

 for wintering (provided they are pre- 

 pared for winter in other ways as they 

 should be) than they would be if we 

 were obliged to open the hive every 

 little while during winter and early 

 spring to give them food. I like to 

 have enough good honey in the hives 

 at the closing down of the honey flow 

 in the fall, to last until honey can be 

 gathered from apple bloom or some 

 other source in spring. 1 think the 

 time that elapses between the final 

 closing down of the flow in fall, until 



the honey is being brought in from 

 blossoms or flowers in spring, can 

 properly be styled the winter months 

 in beekeeping, for during this time 

 the bees are obliged to live upon the 

 stores of the hive entirely, as they can 

 get no food abroad in the fields. 



At the approach of cold weather, 

 bees naturally seal up all cracks and 

 crevasses they can conveniently, to 

 protect them from cold draughts of 

 air in winter and (o make things as 

 firm and secure as possible. They 

 amuse themselves sealing the ends of 

 the top bars to the frames that they 

 may be more secure, and the quilt or 

 honey board that is placed over the 

 frames is sealed all along the edges 

 wherever it comes in contact with the 

 edges of hive or frames. Why open 

 the hive every few days in winter and 

 rip up the honey-board or quilt, and 

 tear up the frames clear to the center 

 of the brood nest just to see what the 

 bees want? I expect if they could 

 talk as well as sting, they would ask 

 their keeper why he or she did not 

 fix them properly before real cold 

 Aveather, then there would be no need 

 of tearing up their home on a cold 

 winter day, letting out the much 

 needed warmth and otherwise doing 

 damage which could not be repaired. 

 On November 3, 1896, I finished put-, 

 ting on the cushions on my bees and 

 not a cover except one was removed 

 until in April, 1897. This one was 

 removed sometime in March as it 

 seemed the lightest of them all. The 

 bees were found in good condition 

 with plenty of honey to do them un- 

 til well into spring, and I had no 

 spring feeding to do, yet all wintered 

 well. For fear the above remarks will 

 be misleading to some beginner I 



