December, 1907. 



American ^ee Journal 



bcc-pnpcrs. Ill's place in the "Old Re- 

 liable" as manager of "Southern Bee- 

 dom" is too well kni^Au to require 

 further comment. 



lunally, if you have never tasted 

 Southern hospitality, then you will have 

 to do so to appreciate it, and Texas 



is a good place to go in order to get 

 this taste. Wonderful country, and 

 wonderful resources! In the words of 

 Horace Greeley, with a slight modifica- 

 tion, we believe it to be good advice to 

 say, "Young man, go Soulhwest." 

 Columbus, Ohio. 



■-.V* i l-Z*"'". 



\ all 



Confribiifed 

 rflrficlc^ II 



lU^ 



The Problem of Wintering 

 Bees 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



Shakespeare is so frequently quoted 

 by our friends of the East — "This is 

 the winter of our discontent" — that any 

 words that may be helpful to the be- 

 ginner will be welcome at this season 

 of the year. The question has no im- 

 portance to the bee-keepers of the Pa- 

 cific Coast and will have less interest 

 to our friends of the East when the 

 principles involved are thoroughly un- 

 derstood, and guide in the general prac- 

 tice. 



Nutrition and Activity. 



We have from high authority that 

 "He that doth not work, neither shall 

 he eat." The reverse is equally true. 

 If one does not eat, he can not do any 

 effective work. All e.xercise of muscles or 

 mind demands corresponding nutrition 

 and nutrition only follows, among the 

 higher animals, on eating and digestion. 

 In California, where the bees fly every 

 month of the year, they must eat much 

 more than in the East, where they are 

 confined and inactive for months to- 

 gether. In the East, if anything tran- 

 spires that e.xcites the bees, so that they 

 move about to any considerable extent, 

 they will, perforce, eat. But if they 

 eat, there is danger of trouble, unless 

 the amount is very slight, and the food 

 of the very best. 



Import.\nce of Good Food. 



Of course the bees are somewhat ac- 

 tive in the coldest winters of the East, 

 as they preserve the heat of the cluster, 

 and must move somewhat. There is 

 never a time when a blow on the hive 

 will not meet with a response, by the 

 bees, which show that they are alive 

 and may become awake. Thus it is 

 evident that the bees may — yea, must — 

 eat even in winter, and when the cold 

 is very severe. 



We know that there are two kinds 

 of food that the bees consume — the pro- 

 teids and the carbo-hydrates. The pol- 

 len or bee-bread furnishes the proteids, 

 and the honey the carbo-hydrate part 

 of the food. We know that they often 

 eat of the bee-bread, or have previously 

 done so, as dissection shows pollen- 

 grains in the stomach. I dare say Mr. 



Mcddon was correct in his contention, 

 that in long, cold winters bees were 

 better with no pollen at all in the hive. 

 Proteid food is essential for muscular 

 development, and if the bees stir much 

 they must have it. But if bees are very 

 quiet in winter, it is safe to presume 

 tliat they take very little pollen, or bee- 

 bread; and it is safe to affirm that the 

 taking of this food would do no harm 

 were they to fly out often, and in such 

 event would be absolutely necessary. 

 But in the quiet of a severe winter, the 

 bees will consume a little honey, and 

 that should be of the best, and in such 

 case it will be all digested, and will do 

 no harm. 



Wholesome Winter Stores. 



We can never be too careful in giv- 

 ing the 'bees the very best for their 

 winter supply. This requires — if we are 

 to be certain — that we feed them the 

 best cane-sugar syrup. Granulated sug- 

 ar will always be wholesome, and as 

 they store it, they will reduce it or 

 change it to reducing sugar; it will 

 need no digestion, and so the bees will 

 safely take what is needed for their 

 slight activity; and other things being 

 right, they will surely winter well. 



It is true that in most cases, if we 

 feed what seems good honey, they will 

 do well ; but we can never know what 

 there is in honey that the bees gather. 

 Cider, rotten-apple juice, glucose from 

 some grocery store or leaky barrel ; 

 honey-dew, which may be good and may 

 be rank. So we see that there are many 

 ways that the bees may have faulty 

 stores, in case we trust to their natural 

 stores for the winter supplies. It is 

 wholly safe here on the Pacific Coast, 

 but never safe where the rigors of an 

 arctic winter swoop down upon the 

 apiary. In case we do as Mr. Alexander 

 advises — and it is sound advice — extract 

 all in spring, that we may give room 

 for brood-rearing, we may dispense 

 with the cold, heavy combs that are a 

 serious hindrance, in the midst of the 

 brood-nest ; and, best of all, may prac- 

 tice stimulative feeding— then we shall 

 remove all the stores, and no one can 

 complain that we are marketing arti- 

 ficial honey. 



Quiet Very Essenti.al. 



Again, it is not enough that we see 

 to it that the winter stores are of the 



best, but wc must, at the .same time, 

 do all that we may to preserve the ut- 

 most quiet in winter. In the bec-ccllar 

 the bees must not be disturbed. Every 

 disturbance means loss of bees, and all 

 such loss weakens the colony, arKi courts 

 disaster, in late winter and spring. 



It may be true that in some cases 

 the bees may suffer no little irritation, 

 and consequent uneasiness, and still 

 survive the winter. Bees differ in tem- 

 perament as much as do people, and so 

 some are less disturbed by noise than. 

 others ; and, again, some become, ap- 

 parently, used to confusion and noise, 

 and so come through the winter with 

 safety, even though this rule is not ob- 

 served ; yet we may rest assured that 

 they will do better, if the quiet is se- 

 cured, and it should be our aim and 

 object to secure and maintain the ut- 

 most quiet that is possible. This involves 

 good food, as poor food will disturb 

 and irritate the bees. The same will 

 follow from too severe cold. The very 

 cold winters are generally the disas- 

 trous ones. Wc all know how our 

 slumbers are affected by cold feet or a 

 general sense of chill. I imagine that 

 the same is true of bees, and the cluster 

 will be disturbed by a sense of cold — 

 will move, and as a result will eat too 

 much; and, as they can not tlv, will 

 suffer. 



I fully believe that one who will heed 

 the above suggestions, will have no 

 difficulty in wintering bees well every 

 winter. The ideal condition is the best 

 food, the greatest quiet, and a uniform 

 temperature about and outside the hive 

 of as near 20 degrees F. as it is possible 

 to secure. Those who attain to this 

 have little trouble to winter bees well. 



Eucalyptus Honey. 



I have always thought that honey 

 from any plant would be good no 

 matter how aromatic the juice of the 

 plant, or ^-hat odors might pass from 

 the leaves. I have grave doubts if 

 honey is ever poisonous. We all know 

 how strong the odor from the eucaljTJts 

 is. I was eager to get some honey 

 from these flowers, and a few years 

 ago did so from Mr. Barber, of our'For- 

 estry Station. It was^light and fine. 

 The mints are very strong scented ; yet 

 what fine honey we get from the sages. 

 The sap of the plant is no key to the 

 nectar of the bloom. 



Clareniont, California., Nov. 11. 



Honey Crop Reports and 

 Prices 



BY R. F. HOLTERM.'VNN. 



No one can read with careful con- 

 sideration the various market quota- 

 tions for honey in the United States 

 and know their quality without realiz- 

 ing that the prices vary by several 

 cents out of all proportion to the cost 

 of transportation to the various centers. 

 The prime reason of this is lack of 

 organization among bee-keepers, lack of 

 apicultural information (which may in 

 a measure at least be secured through 

 the various apicultural journals.) and 

 to the difference of opinion as to the 



