1886 



gleani:ngs m Bee cuLtUUI--. 



445 



to keep these pestS away for a season. The scent 

 of the oil seems to be obnoxious to them, and they 

 will not cross where the oil has been applied. Let 

 those troubled with red ants try coal oil, and report 

 success. Geo. Wiseheart. 



Ida, Clay Co., Ills., Feb. 32, 1886. 



MOVING BEES IN THE DEAD OF WIN- 

 TER. 



NOT ALW.WS FATAI,, AND SOME OTHEIJ FACTS IN 

 HEOAKU TO THE MATTER. 



'T Struck mo that a report in regard to my suc- 

 IC cess in moving- bees during the past and pre- 

 j|L vious winters might not be out of place, as 

 there seems to be a great aversion to moving 

 an apiary during the cold season. I commenc- 

 ed bee-keeping with one swarm in the summer of 

 1881. This was moved about Christmas, by sleigh, a 

 distance of about 13 miles. It was in a hive holding 

 a frame about the size of the American. 



The summer of 1882 found me with 4 swarms, the 

 first having swarmed three times. 'These I fed 

 about fO lbs. of granulated sugar, having' previous- 

 ly taken about 13 lbs. of honey. I packed them in 

 boxes, leaving about fi inches on all sides, filled with 

 cut straw. I again moved, about New Year's, 13 

 miles, and again in April, 1883, H miles, in each case 

 by sleigh. The four colonies wintered well; and 

 during that year I transferred to Simplicity hives 

 and increased to 14, with :{0i! lbs. of surplus honey. 



I fed 73 lbs. of gramilated sugar, and mo\ed all col- 

 onies in October, 1883, .5 miles, to the railroad sta- 

 tion, and thence per car 30 miles. 



After moving I transferred all to chaff hives 

 (Root's). I found a great many bees had died in 

 transit; having left the quilts on, the bees had 

 forced their way above, and had either died of starv- 

 ation or sutfocation. The day of moving was very 

 warm. Three of these succumbed during the win- 

 ter of 1883, leaving 11, spring count. During the 

 summer of 1881 I increaseil to 33, taking 475 lljs. of 

 surplus honey. I fed 143 lbs. of granulated sugar. 

 These were moved again in October, by wagon and 

 car, a distance of 80 miles; 14 were in Koot's chatT 

 hives, and 8 in Simplicity. The Simplicity I iiacked 

 in straw clamp. 



A large quantitj' of very dark honey was gather- 

 ed during the fall, which I took to be goldenrod, as 

 the blossom of that plant was particularly profuse 

 that season. Soon after Christmas the bees began 

 to show signs of uneasiness; many were evidently 

 affected with dysentery, and on the slightest mod- 

 eration of the extreme cold they came out and 

 dropped from the alighting-board on the snow. 

 During the mild spell at the end of February, I 

 found that 16 were dead; the remaining 6 were all 

 either very weak, badly affected with dysentery, 

 or both. I fed the survivors candy. When I again 

 examined I found that all were gone. My consola- 

 tion was, that I was not alone, and that bee-keepers 

 nearby, with Ave times my length of experience, had 

 suffered a similar loss. I took heart of grace, and 

 in the spring of 1885 1 sent for 4 four-frame nuclei 

 from Viallon, and some queens from Root. The 

 first nucleus proved a complete failure, through a 

 young queen being hatched out, and the old one be- 

 ing destroyed. From the other three were built up 



II good colonies. I took 360 lbs. of honey, extract- 



ing all after the flow had ceased, and then fed 387 

 lbs. of granulated sugar made into syrup. 



In view of the fact that I intended to move the 

 bees again during the coming winter, and the loss 

 of the previous winter, I took particular care in 

 fixing up. Having raised the frames about m 

 inches higher than their summer position bj- plac- 

 ing blocks under the shoulders of frames, 1 con- 

 tracted the brood-chamber to about two-thirds of its 

 usual size, leaving half the number of frames prop- 

 erly spaced. I then packed chalf behind the divi- 

 sion-board, pinned the frames to the blocks with 

 large tacks, arranged a space above the frames, 

 covered with cloth, then packed loose chatt' to fill 

 the upper story of the chaff hive. On the first of 

 February this year, the hives were removed one 

 mile and a half to the car, remained 3 nights and 

 nearly 3 days on board, during Ihe coldest snap wo 

 had last winter. They were then removed from 

 the railroad station, stored in a room for two days 

 and nights, then moved to the open air, the snow 

 piled up on the north-east and west sides, with a 

 slight covering over the entrance on the south. 

 They were then moved again April 5. On examin- 

 ing them T found all in excellent condition, queens 

 all present, raising bi-ood, and very few dead bees; 

 in some hives there were none at all. 



1 hope not to have any more experience in mov- 

 ing bees in winter. I thought this report might be 

 of some benefit to any who may find it nccessai-y to 

 do so. I was much inclined to sell rather than 

 mo\e, but selling would have been the more expcn' 

 sivo way out of the difficulty. 



T. Chap.ma>j (Ik ah AM. 



Wingham, Ont., Canada, May 3, 188j. 



Frieiitl (i., I should think you had had (ex- 

 perience enough in moving bees in tlie win- 

 ter time. If I were you I tliink 1 would stop 

 moving bees or else stop keeping them. We 

 value the facts you furnii-h, liowever. 



THE LOCATION OF AN APIARY. 



THE IMl'OKTANT HEAHING IT HAS UPON SUCCESS- 

 KUr, WINTEIUNG. 



V experience corroborates the words of Mr. 

 France, on page 3.53 of the current volume 

 of GiiEANiNCS, where he says: " In the lo- 

 cation of an apiary I am satisfied that a 

 great deal of our success or ill success 

 comes." My home apiary is located on the south 

 side of our barns, and near enough them to be pro- 

 tected from the north wind. The other sides are 

 partially protected by an orchard. Here I have 

 wintered, on an average, 78 colonies during the past 

 six years; and, with the exception of winter before 

 last, when 13 out of 117 starved to death, I have 

 never lost a colonj-. Last fall I packed 155 colonies 

 in this yard, and I have 153 at present, one having 

 been stolen during the winter, and the other two 

 being (jucenless. 



My hives are in rows running east and west, and 

 quite close together; and it is a noticeable fact that 

 the outside row on the south contains nearly all 

 my poorest colonies. It seems almost incredible 

 that one row of hives should furnish appreciable 

 protection to an adjoining row, yet I am unable oth- 

 erwise to account for the great difference between 

 this outside row and the rest of my colonies. 

 Two years ago 1 started an out-apiary. Not ap- 



