November, 1907. 



American .Bgc Journal j 



No, not unless you wish to remove 

 the inside fixtures and substitute pack- 

 ing material. 



2. Will it hurt the bees to open the 

 hives in cold weather? 



Yes. Ordinarily hives should not be 

 opened after the cold weather sets in, 

 as it breaks the propolis sealing and 

 permits cold wind to blow through the 

 cracks. If it is absolutely necessary, 

 wait until a warm day. 



3. Which are better — sealed covers or 

 absorbent cushions laid on the tops of 

 the frames? 



Sealed covers. There was a time 

 when it was considered best to place 

 cushions directly over the frames; but 

 since they often get wet from water of 

 condensation, and freeze, flat covers 

 sealed down by the bees are now rec- 

 ommended. 



4. Should queen-excluders be left on 

 through the winter? 



No. 



5. How can I tell whether there is 

 enough honey in the hives? 



By looking over the combs before 

 cold weather comes. There should be 

 an average of three or four pounds of 

 sealed stores in each comb. 



6. How much honey does it take to 

 winter a colony? 



From 20 to 30 pounds, depending upon 

 the size of the colony. Bees in a cel- 

 lar usually need less than those out of 

 doors. 



7. How can I winter a weak colony? 



In a good bee-cellar. But it is gen- 

 erally best to unite the weak ones be- 

 fore winter. 



8. Does it pay to give cellared bees a 

 mid-winter flight? 



Yes, if necessary. But the best way 

 is to manage so that they will not need 

 such a flight. As long as bees are quiet, 

 don't disturb them. 



9. My cellar has a damp floor; will 

 it do for wintering bees? 



Yes, if the damp floor is the only ob- 

 jection. If the atmosphere is dry, the 

 air good, and the temperature kept 

 about 4S degrees, there should be no 

 trouble. 



10. Is cork dust good for winter pack- 

 ing? 



Yes, if you can get it cheaply. Usually 

 it is pretty expensive. 



11. Shouldn't double-walled hives 

 have packing material under the bot- 

 tom-boards ? 



Not unless they are raised from the 

 ground, and in many cases it would not 

 even be necessary then. 



12. Why did four of my five colonies 

 die that I wintered out-of-doors? 



We don't know, as you haven't given 

 us all of the particulars. Any of the 

 following reasons might explain the 

 trouble: Colony too weak in the fall; 

 bees too old ; packing insufiicient ; lo- 

 cation too much exposed ; entrance too 

 large or small; queen dead; poor qual- 

 ity or too small quantity of stores; wet 

 packing. 



13. How large an entrance should I 

 have for my colonies in eight-frame 

 hives wintered out-of-doors? 



It depends upon the strength of the 

 colony; but 3^x4 inches is probably not 

 too small. Smaller entrances are now 

 considered better than the larger ones 

 advised several years ago. 



14. One of my queens died in Jan- 

 uary. What can be done? 



Introduce another queen if you are 

 so fortunate as to have one. If not, 

 unite the queenless colony with some 

 other weak colony. 



15. The packing over my bees is wet. 

 What shall I do? 



You should have put on a super cover 

 so that the bees could seal it down. 

 A dry cushion can be placed over th's 

 if necessary. 



16. How can I keep my bees from fly- 

 ing out when the sun shines, and dy- 

 ing on the snow? 



Place a board in such a position that 

 the sun can not shine in at the en- 

 trance, thus luring the bees out when it 

 is too cold for them to fly. 



17. Can I winter my bees in a build- 

 ing above the ground? 



Yes, if the temperature cai; be kept 

 uniform at 45 degrees. Otherwise you 

 had better not experiment. 



18. How can I feed my bees in the 

 cellar? 



Place an empty super on the hive, 

 and partly fill it with moistened loaf su- 

 gar. 



19. How may I know whether my 

 colonies out-of-doors are short of 

 stores? 



If necessary, open the hives and make 

 an examination on the first warm day. 

 But it would have been much better if 

 you had made sure that there were 

 plenty of stores in the fall. 



20. Why is sugar syrup preferable for 

 winter food to honey? 



Because it is cheaper, less stimulat- 

 ing, and always the same. Some kinds 

 of honey are not at all suitable for 

 winter food. — Gleanings in Bee Culture. 



The Bravery of Bee-Keeping 



BY T. MAGUIRE. 



I never fully realized the possibilities 

 of bee-keeping under the bar-frame sys- 

 tem until I saw an "expert" at a local 

 show handling a soap-box full of bees 

 for the edification of the public. He 

 was just an ordinary "expert," nothing 

 exceptional about him to all appearances, 

 but the way he handled those bees was 

 a caution. He wore neither gloves nor 

 veil, but nevertheless he treated these 

 bees with a familiarity absolutely un- 

 canny. He took the combs out of the 

 box, with myriads of bees clinging to 

 them, and showed them round to the 

 admiring crowd. He playfully stirred 

 the bees up with a pencil, pulled their 

 ears, and tickled their tails, and they 

 seemed to enjoy it. He gathered them 

 in fist-fulls off Tiis nose and eyebrows, 

 and went round and caught stray ones, 

 and brought them back to the fold, with- 

 out the slightest objection on their part, 

 and he talked volubly all the time of 

 subduing and swarming, dividiing and 

 doubling, of queens and drones, ana 



workers, and many other things, in so 

 off-hand a way that his audience were 

 thoroughly convinced of the absurd sim- 

 plicity of it all. I was delighted beyond 

 measure to find it so easy, and I en- 

 tlhusiastically hastened home with some 

 carbolic and musKn to emulate the per- 

 formance of the plausible old scoundrel, 

 putting on veil and gloves, however, 

 just as a matter of form. 



I invited two ladies to see me tame 

 the ferocious insects, and I got them 

 to adjust the veil, as being "experts" 

 in that form of garment. I have since 

 had occasion to distrust experts of every 

 kind whatsoever. 



At first everything went off beauti- 

 fully. The smoke and the carbolic 

 had a most soothing effect on the in- 

 sects, and I was able to examine them 

 at much closer quarters than I had ever 

 done before. I was delighted, and be- 

 gan to feel quite proud. It did feel a 

 bft queer to find so many stings wag- 

 ging about in such dangerous proximity 

 to my face — it was about as exhilarating 

 as being in a somewhat flimsy cage in 

 the middle of a forest of tigers — but I 

 pretended to enjoy it, and explained to 

 the two ladies that it was nothing when 

 you got used to it. They were lost in 

 admiration of my bravery and skillful- 

 ness, and gaining courage I began to 

 bustle the bees round a bit, as I saw 

 the old chap doing at the show. But 

 they were evidently a different race 

 of bees from his, or perhaps they 

 found such treatment a little strange 

 at first. At all events, they re- 

 fused to be bustled. The peaceful buzz 

 quickly changed into a vicious snarl, 

 and it soon became evident the 

 nasty little beggars had got up their 

 backs and were looking for scalps. They 

 bashed up against the veil with an an- 

 gry whizz, and they fizzed round the 

 fingers of my gloves in a way that made 

 me thank Providence for having the 

 kindly protection. I was rather alarmed, 

 to tell the truth ; but I felt fairly secure. 

 Alas! however, I had not counted 

 on the way that veil had been fixed. 

 Bees have evidently a very efficient intel- 

 ligence department. There was a weak 

 place in the fastening of the veil, and 

 they found it out. I thought I could 

 almost distinguish a chuckle from the 

 first bee, as, to my intense horror, I 

 felt him crawl up my neck inside the 

 veil ! Soon another followed, then sev- 

 eral more, and in a short time they 

 seemed to be dozens, hundreds, thou- 

 sands, millions of bees crawling all over 

 my face and neck. They explored the 

 roots of my hair, they sounded the 

 depths of my ears, they crawled over 

 my face and eyelids and moustache in 

 endless numbers, The situation was ap- 

 palling. If one dropped into a nest of 

 rattle snakes or a bears' den he could at 

 least fight for his life, but what was an 

 unfortunate wretch to do with a big pair 

 of gloves firmly and relentlessly tied on 

 his wrists, and with a veil secured in the 

 most diabolical fashion with dozens of 

 pins, and swarming with excited bees 

 on the lookout for soft spots round his 

 face, and all getting ready to sting at 

 a given signal? When the two ladies 

 became apprised of the situation they 

 hastily decamped. Whilst I was trying 

 to consider what on earth I should do 



