1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



for food, but you sliould not save the seed to plant. 

 It is for this reason that most seeds should be grown 

 quite a distance away, say a mile or more, from any 

 other of the same family.] 



LATE egg-laying; PUTTING BEES IN A CELLAR 

 OR ROOM, ETC. 



1. Do queens lay eggs and make brood at this time 

 of year ? 



3. Can I with safety winter bees in a room in my 

 house, in Simplicity hives ? Do I want the room 

 darkened, or let tliem have all the light I can ? 



3. What price should T pay for bees in the old box 

 hive, say swarms the size of a 4 to B quart pail V 



Arden, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1888. J. G. Earl. 



[1. In places about this locality, most queens have 

 ceased laying about the middle of October. During 

 the latter part of September and all of October we 

 find very few eggs, if any, in any of our colonies. 



2. It is not advisable to winter bees in an upper 

 room in a house. Better put ihem in a cellar. It 

 is pi'eferable to have the repository darkened. 



3. It is a dilBcult matter to say what would be a 

 fair price for bees in bo.x hives. In our locality, 

 even if we wanted them, we would not pay more 

 than $3.00 on an average, in the spring of the year.] 



With Replies from our best Autliorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question SS.— When, in ymir localitu. if you win- 

 ter indnors, have you found it advisahk to carry the 

 bees into the cellar or other repository'? 



I winter out of doors. James A. Green. 



About the first of November. G. M. Doolittle. 

 Middle to last of November. P. H. Elwood. 



My experience in indoor wintering is limited. 



O. O. Poppleton. 

 From the first to the tenth of November. 



Dr. A. B. Mason. 

 Last of November or beginning of December. 



Dadant & Son. 

 We let our bees stand on their summer stands. 



Paul L. Viallon. 

 We winter outdoors on their summer stands. 



E. France. 

 From the first to the middle of Novemlier. 



L. C. Root. 

 I don't know from experience. I winter outdoors 

 only. Chas. F. Muth. 



As near the 1.5th of November as the weather will 

 admit. H. R. Boardman. 



I am in favor of putting the bees in early, and 

 taking them out late. James Heddon. 



Not until steady cold weather sets in, usually be- 

 tween the 15th of October and the 15th of Novem- 

 ber. Geo. Grimm. 



About Dec. 1st, and sometimes a little later. 

 While " Indian summer" lasts, I think my bees are 

 better off on their summer stands. 



Mrs. L Harrison. 



I have taken them in at different times in Novem- 

 ber, and I never thought they were taken in too 

 early. Possibly it might bo better to take them in 

 late in October, if the weather is cold. 



C. C. MlIjLER. 



About the 30th of N^emh^F^I^hink.'if-pne^ 

 a thoroughly good cellft, even tfcclh-gt of Nove^ 

 ber is safe, and occasionally a, year itLis none ^too^ 

 early, as the severe cold c 

 a winter was that of 1880. 



I have begun to experiment o? 

 wintering, which I will give. During 

 the winter, bees are very quiet, and use only about 

 one-third of an ounce of honey a day per hive. Let 

 them stay out of doors during pretty much the 

 whole of this period. Just before the time when 

 they would naturally begin to get astir, and begin 

 to breed, bring them into the cellar, and the unac- 

 customed mildness and darkness will keep them 

 quiet for another long period, thus securing the 

 best wintering and the least consumption of honey. 

 I tried only one colony last winter. The thing 

 seemed to work according to the theory, and they 

 came through in very excellent condition. They 

 were put in January 21st and taken out April 25th, 

 and had no brood when taken out. E E. Hasty. 



At the Columbus convention, the testi- 

 mony seemed to be mainly in favor of put- 

 ting the bees in early, say some time in 

 October, and also of taking them out late, 

 say in April, or, in some localities pretty 

 well north, even as late as May. I suppose, 

 however, a good deal would depend upon 

 the cellar in which they were placed. We 

 sometimes have quite warm weather during 

 the last of October and first of November ; 

 and when we wintered bees in a sawdust- 

 packed room above ground, I have known 

 the weather to be so warm, even in the lat- 

 ter part of November, that it was almost an 

 impossibility to keep the bees in their hives. 

 A good cellar well down in the ground can 

 be Kept much cooler than any wintering re- 

 pository above ground ; and with such a 

 cellar there will generally be but little trou- 

 ble in putting bees in, almost any time in 

 October. I suppose it is well known, that, 

 in our locality, we have decided against cel- 

 lar wintering, for the reason that warm 

 spells are so likely to occur during any one 

 of the winter months. Our success outdoors 

 ought to settle the matter, so far as loss is 

 concerned. It is, however, pretty well de- 

 cided that we might save a good many 

 pounds of stores per colony by cellar winter- 

 ing, providing, of course, we could winter 

 as safely in the cellar as we do in our chaff 

 hives on summer stands. 



Question S9.— When, i7i your locality, .should tiees 

 wintered on their summer stamls, packed in chaff, re- 

 ceive their final attentions before winter? 



L. C. Root. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Dadant & Son. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 



P. H. Elwood. 



In October. 



Nov. 1st to 15th. 



Nov. 1st to 1.5th. 



In September. 



As early as possible. 



When all honey-gathering has stopped. 



Geo. Guimm. 



No packing of any kind is required in this local- 

 ity. Paul L Viallon. 



At any time after we have a hard frost, up to the 

 time when we get our first snows. B. France. 



