116 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



PREPARING IIF.ES FOR \\I.\TER. 



^Ir. A'irgil Sires spoke on this sul)ject. He said that a colony 

 should not be too strong — nor too weak ; a goodly portion of young 

 bees, a good queen, with plenty of good stores, and a hive-cover that 

 insures the bees against dampness — these are the essentials for good 

 wintering. 



He favors the plan of providing slight upward ventilation, 

 through a quilt or packing of some kind. He places at least four 

 thicknesses of burlap over the frames, putting the cover on this, and 

 leaving an air space between the cloth and the cover. Ne\'er place 

 the cover tight down on the cloth — far better, use no cloth at all — 

 for when the cloth gets damp it has no chance to dry out easily. If 

 there is a space between cloth and hive-cover, dampness can more 

 easily escape. 



]\Ir. Sires begins to prepare his bees for winter at the last ex- 

 tracting; or if comb-honey colonies, when removing the last supers. 

 If everything is in normal condition in the brood-chamber at that 

 time, the hive is covered up for the winter. There should be at least 

 2o pounds of good honey in the hive — 30 or iO pounds would be bet- 

 ter. If the brood-chamber has not enough stores, he removes empty 

 combs and replaces them with combs of honey. A very strong col- 

 ony requires much more stores than one of average strength. 



In the locality of North Yakima Mr. Sires believes chaff-hives, 

 or any kind of protection to the hive-body, is a needless expense. 

 Some sort of packing with an air-space is all tliat is necessary, and 

 the best in his estimation ; also a good hive-cover that will not leak. 



The last nectar-gathering was about September 1st, and then the 

 preparation for winter was begun. Mr. Sires extracts twice during- 

 the season. 



r.EE-KEEPIXG AT THE STA'l E COEEEGi-:. 



Prof. A. L. Melander, the \A\ishington State Entomologist, at 

 Pullman, AA^ash., was present and addressed the convention. Pie 

 said the agricultural college would be glad to do anything possible 

 to help bee-keepers of the state. He desired to know from the bee- 

 keepers themselves just what they Avould like the college to do for 

 them. The prospect is that a course in practical bee-keeping will 

 soon be arranged and installed, and a thoroughly competent expert 

 emploved throughout the year. Prof. Melander surely captivated 

 the convention with his pleasing manner and evident desire to get in 

 touch with the bee-keepers and bee-keeping of AA'ashington. 



SECOND DAY. 



The convention was called to order at 9:30 a. m., and Mr. A. G. 

 Kuykendall spoke on 



