88 



GLEAA'IXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FEr.. 



member, this is only the waste heat flowing out of 

 the entrance during- a period of certainly not more 

 than a month and a half, and I think not over half 

 that time. 



It would be impossible to confine all the heat 

 generated by a colony of bees by any method of 

 outdoor wintciung-. The plan 1 have advocated 

 comes nearer to it than any thing- else. 



Some mig-ht say, "Why not close or contract the 

 entrance, and thus save more, or all of the heaf?" 

 The difficulty then would be to get rid of the mois- 

 ture. We should have to run the risk of its ill ef- 

 fects, or employ upward ventilation, and thus 

 waste more heat than by free downward ventila- 

 tion. 



Perhaps we may yet find out how to do it. I in- 

 tend to keep on e.\perimenting-; but in the mean- 

 time my main dependence will be on small hives, 

 larg-e entrances, and enameled cloth above, well 

 protected by chatf. 8—.]. A. Green, S.'i— lOO. 



Dayton, 111., Jan. 21, 1880. 



Friend G., you strike on a point tiiat has 

 often been in my mind, and lias been a good 

 deal talked about in years past, and I can 

 not now see why it is that we have not made 

 more of it than we have. It is this: Mak- 

 ing the hive close and tight, all around, ex- 

 cept the entrance, and leave that large 

 enough to give all ventilation needed. The 

 best colonies of bees I ever had were those 

 that were strong enough to send a draft of 

 warm air out of a good-sized entrance all 

 winter long. You remember that this mat- 

 ter is touched upon in the A B (' book; and 

 while we are about it, 1 should like to see 

 tlie experiment tried, of wintering a colony 

 of bees in a large-mouthed glass bottle, say a 

 two-gallon candy- jar. I believe with you, 

 that it could be done, and I should not 

 wonder if it would be one of the keys to 

 success. The way to do it is to put some 

 foundation in the candy-jar, and get the bees 

 to build it full of comb, then fix it upside 

 down, with three or four inches of chaff 

 covering every part of the jar except the 

 mouth. Leave the mouth open all winter, 

 like a good many suspended box hives with- 

 out any bottom. It is my impression, that 

 tlie bees would take care of themselves, even 

 if their stores were not extra. Who will 

 trvit V 



MANY OR FEW COLONIES: WHICH V 

 khienii c. c. mii.i>er considers the matter 



PRETTY THOHOl'OHT.V. 



0N pag-c ~;i Mr. Root asks me, "Would it not be 

 better to take a little of the advice Doolittle 

 gives ill the present number, and get larger 

 yields from fewer colonies, or else have them 

 scattered more in different localities?" Now, 

 Bro. Root, don't you know you ought not to rile me 

 in that reckless numuer? You needn't think, be- 

 cause I'm little, and you have Doolittle to help you, 

 I'll stand rirry thing; so, here's at you both. As 

 you ought to know, from my saying I hauled my 

 bees away in the spring, I did not keep them in one 

 apiary, but in two. That made about 90 colonies 

 in each. Do you think a less number would have 

 done any better? Moreover, my spring- count, 179, 

 was only "i more than I had in 188;J, when from 17+ I 



took i6,.'>49 lbs., to which you refer as an enormous 

 yield. I have read Bro. DooUttle's article twice 

 over. It is exceedingly interesting, and a valuable 

 contribution toward the exploration of that region 

 which, he very truly says, is " well deserving of our 

 best thoughts and ettbrts." From the premises 

 given, however, I do not make all the conclusions 

 he and you seem to make. He says, " There seems 

 to be a growing tendency of late to multiply our 

 number f)f colonies, rather than see how good re- 

 sults can be obtained from a few." If this means, to 

 possess a large number of colonies, without refer- 

 ence to the profit therefrom, the tendencj' is wrong: 

 if it means, to multiply our number for the sake of 

 multiplying our profits, rather than see what large 

 yields per colony we can secure from a few, then 

 the tendency is right. It has been too much the 

 case that exceptional instances of large yields from 

 a single colony have been quoted as patterns to be 

 imitated; as, where A, with .50 colonies, gets .'iOO or 

 1000 lbs. of honey from a single colony. From his 

 whole apiary he gets 4000 lbs., while B, with an equal 

 number of colonies, gets oOOO lbs., getting from no 

 colony more than l.'iO lbs. It is well enough to talk 

 about As big yield; but;;after all, I had rather imi- 

 tate B's example. Of late years I have had some 

 misgivings as to some of these large yields from 

 single colonies. Not but that the owners mean to 

 he perfectly truthful, but there are so many ways 

 in which we may be mistaken. A few years ago I 

 had a colony which gave me, if I remember rightly, 

 104 lbs. comb honey. If you had asked me, I should 

 have asserted very positively that they^had no help 

 in any way, more than every other colony, and 

 should, perhaps, been indignant if you had suggest- 

 ed there might be any mistake. 1 would not be so 

 positive now. Without remembering it, I might 

 have given them some partly finished sections, or, 

 without my knowledge, another colony might have 

 united with them. 



There are many circumstances to be taken into 

 consideration in deciding the proper number of col- 

 onies to be kept. Not only the resources of the 

 field, but the experience, ability, tastes, and desires 

 of the bee-keeper are to be considered. I believe I 

 would placciny own limit something like this: That 

 number from which I can make the most clear 

 money annually, duo regard being had to my own 

 enjoyment in the work. T once asked Bro. Doolittle 

 why he did not keep a larger number of colonies, 

 and I think he told me he did not want a greater 

 number than he could care for without outside help. 

 He probably is unwilling to take the extra profit he 

 might have from a larger number, and pay for it 

 in the price it would cost him in the worry the extra 

 help would cause him. I respect his taste in the 

 matter; and yet, another man seems to enjoy the 

 bustle of a lot of hands under his'direction, and his 

 taste should be equally consulted. In one respect 

 I am most fully in accord with you, and would like 

 to emphasize the statement, that "the mania for 

 rapid increase is oftentimes a very sad one." One 

 thing bearing- on this matter is not genei-ally con- 

 sidered: Where bees are wintered in cellars, a score 

 might be wintered in a given space, where one or 

 two hundred would fare disastrously, and from no 

 other reason, I think, thau the greater number. 

 Then the amount of pasturage must be considered; 

 and here, Bro. Doolittle, is another important unex- 

 plored region. You refer, Bro. Root, to reports of 

 beginners getting large yields from a few colonies, 



