164 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 13, 1902. 



^ii..i£^iSmJS^)a.Ji,.ia,JAM 



Convention Proceedings. 



Report of the IKichigan Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



EV JAS. A. D.\RT, SEC. 



The annual meeting of the Michigan State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was called to order by Pres. Geo. E. Hilton, at 

 I :30 p. m., Jan. i, in Petoskey. 



Mr. Hilton congratulated the Association on the success- 

 ful results of the last meeting in procuring the enactment 

 of a foul-brood law. 



The following communication, received from Mr. T. F. 

 Bingham, of Clare Co., Mich., was read : 



Safe Wintering of Bees in Northern Micliigan. 



Regretting that I cannot be with you I have decided to 

 bring before our Association a feature in the management 

 of bees which, while perhaps not strictly new, will afford at 

 least a sense of novelty. I will, with your permission, re- 

 quest that you take up the subject of safe wintering in this 

 Northern country. I define the location, as our wintering 

 must ever be our great danger. 



Young queens found laying in October are a danger, and 

 as they are so determined to lay there seems to be no other 

 way of disposing of them but to kill or remove them — the 

 bee-keeper must make the decision, even though the 

 time seems inopportune. 



One colony with a laying queen in a winter repository 

 will jeopardize the whole apiary, especially those colonies 

 nearest to it. In looking over my bees preparatory for 

 winter, about October i, I killed all queens found laying, 

 united their bees with other colonies having plenty of bees 

 and in all respects No. i. 



It has been argued that late-hatched bees were the 

 bees to pass the winter ; all of which may be true. But those 

 bees must all be eight days old long before going into 

 winter quarters. 



All this will lead up to the consideration of what queens 

 will be best adapted to winter. There is but one answer, 

 if the premises are sound, viz. : Queens that have stopped 

 laying when the honey season stopped. Any queen that has 

 not settled down to matronly ways, and does not go into 

 hibernating ways as other bees do, cannot be trusted. Any 

 queen that does not do this will surely keep the colony in 

 commotion long after every bee should have gone into hiber- 

 nating conditions and deepest repose. 



You may call to mind the winter losses of years ago, when 

 we had late-fall honey, and concluded it was late honey 

 that caused the losses. A late honey-flow caused late brood 

 and late supersedure of queens, and these young queens kept 

 the colony breedmg, and dying, and worrying others, and 

 the whole dwindled, and dwindled, and dwindled away. 



Again, you may call to mind that all spring-dwindled 

 colonies have more brood than the bees can care for. Many 

 reasons have been advanced for these conditions. I, of 

 course, cannot explain as clearly as if with you, but I trust 

 I have said enough to give a plain, clear understanding of 

 the idea that our winter losses are not entirely due to cold 

 ■ or poor honey. 



My bees are all wintering on buckwheat and other late 

 iioney, and dying much less than last winter, when, at this 

 time (January l), they had used nothing but granulated- 

 sugar syrup. 



One thmg above honey is the hibernating rest. If that 

 is broken by brood-rearing, the great essential of long-con- 

 tinued existence is absent, and premature death takes place. 

 Temperature has much less to do with hibernation than has 

 been supposed. The air does not require to be cold to cause 

 bees to hibernate. When the honey-flow stops the queen is 

 three months' old, hibernates, and the whole colony goes 

 into winter quarters, just as do the "ground hog," snakes, 

 etc. It is not a matter of atmospheric 'temperature, but of 

 food conditions and the unerring instincts of the bees. 



I don't think I ought to have written "unerring" — so 

 many have had so much faith that the swarming instinct 

 could be evoTutioned out of bees, etc. Any poor season will 

 wipe out the swarming instinct for that year. 



I believe you will have a delightful meeting and a profit- 

 able reunion. T. F. Bingham. 



Mr. Bingham's subject was then discussed as follows: 

 E. E. Coveyou says he does have serious winter losses, 

 and advocated ventilating by opening the doors and windows 

 at night, thus keeping the cellar cool. He says 8 per cent 

 is his heaviest loss; usually much less. 



D. S. Kkson wants young bees for winter, and ventilat- 

 ing the same as Mr. Coveyou. 



Mr. Bacon put 36 colonies in for winter one year ago; 

 lost one colony ; no late swarms, old bees ; put in building. 

 One winter he covered six colonies with straw and lost two 

 from lack of stores. He thinks it is not a hard problem 

 to solve in this region. He wants plenty of old bees, and 

 thinks that wintering in a building is best for early building 

 up. 



Geo. H. Kirkpatrick thinks the important part is to re- 

 queen in July. He put his bees into the cellar with 25 to 

 30 pounds of sealed honey per colony; hives with no bottom-i 

 board, and had very light losses from wintering. 



Ira D. Bartlett kept bees seven years, and wintered 

 them out-doors. He never lost a colony until last winter; 

 that one starved. He gives about 30 pounds of honey put 

 up in the latter part of September ; makes winter hives con- 

 taining about four colonies each, with three-inch soace in 

 the bottom ; takes off covers and then puts on a piece of 

 carpet, kiln-dried planer-shavings, two inches kiln-dried saw- 

 dust, then eight inches planer-shavings ; gives dead-air space 

 in front, sort of portico and board, and packs over with snow. 

 Mr. Kirkpatrick one winter put 63 colonies into a pit 

 on a side hill — 8 inches of straw over scantling, no bottom- 

 boards, ducking over brood-frames, straw, then dirt — then 

 straw and, dirt again ; he took out 60. The only ventilation 

 was at the lower end of the pit, of a 4-inch wooden frame and 

 wire netting over the opening. Straw was under, between 

 and over the hives ; boards over to shed rain. 



Mr. Hilton says such pits are successful only on sandy 

 soil, not in clay soil. 



C. F. Smith had 22 years' experience both in and out 

 of cellars, and in pits, and says cellars are noisy and bees 

 hear the noise. He thinks, however, a cellar is the place. 

 Beginners often have success out-doors, but will have a year 

 come that will change their ideas. He doesn't see much 

 difference between using absorbent or a cover over the 

 frames. Last winter he accidentally knocked a cover off of 

 one, and this colony wintered the best of all, but it was a 

 very strong colony. He thinks after this he will take both 

 bottom and top boards off, but have some heat-retainer, as 

 burlaps and chaff. 



Mr. Hilton thought best to leave the bottom off and have 

 a top covered with a pillow of chaff. 



Mr. Kitson asked to have discussed in this connection 

 double and single-walled hives. 



Frank Erdt thought chaff' hives best, but does not like 

 cellars ; he thinks we ought to keep snow crust opened. 



M. M. Hungerford says when he first-came North he 

 made double-walled hives by digging a hole in the snow; in 

 spring he found one-foot space around the hives. He has had 

 20 years' experience in keeping bees, and never lost a colony 

 in winter. Mr. Hungerford gave his amusing experience 

 when coming North. He brought bees from Mount Pleas- 

 ant on sleighs about 175 miles; it was hot over the bees; 

 started with 12 colonies, and lost some by drowning over 

 night, having left the sleighs standing in water, but the rest 

 wintered fine. 



J. A. Dart thinks there is no better place for safe win- 

 tering than Northern Michigan ; he never lost any except 

 once by starvation. He does not think it safe for amateurs 

 to try Mr. Bingham's method of killing queens. He handles 

 his bees in winter, any time he feels like it. He thinks 

 noise or disturbance has no bad effect, and doesn't believe 

 that bees hibernate. 



Mr. Hilton thought that noises had no bad effect, and 

 said that he wintered where railroad trains jarred the bee- 

 building. He does not think the word liibernate. used by 

 Mr. Bingham, is a proper term. He thought Mr. Bing- 

 ham misleading, especially to young bee-keepers, but Mr. 

 Bingham being absent he did not desire to take advantage, 

 and preferred not to speak strongly on the subject introduced 

 by the article. He thinks one of the causes of bad wintering 

 is to have the bees too old: old bees are not so likely to 

 live through the winter. He doesn't believe bees 



