86 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



" I always aim to. that my hives may be pro- 

 tected from cold winds in the spring: for I no- 

 tice that, where my yards are most protected, 

 the colonies in them are the strongest when the 

 honey season opens; hence from these I get the 

 best results, especially in poor seasons. To il- 

 lustrate: My Williams apiary is on a sidehill. 

 the upper half being well protected from the 

 southeast and north wind. The lower half is 

 protected only from the south Wind, and that 

 not fully. Now, it is a fact that the upper half 

 always winters better, and the colonies are al- 

 ways strong at the approach of clover bloom; 

 hence I always get much more honey from the 

 upper half of that apiary. It is very seldom 

 that I lose a, colony in winter or spring from the 

 upper half: and another feature that is very 

 noticeable is, I very rarely have to feed those 

 colonie.s in the upper half, as they usually have 

 enough honey for winter, or nearly so; hence, 

 from my experience with this apiary, I am sat- 

 isfied that protection is very essential, and 

 I am building high tight board fences, as fast 



up the moisture. He aims to keep the temper- 

 ature up to 50. and at no time does he allow it 

 to get below 45. Mr. Barber tells me that his 

 loss in wintering very rarely reaches 3 per cent. 

 He is a very careful manager, and has made 

 bee-keeping' a success, and, I understand, is 

 quite forehanded, having made the most of his 

 money in the bee-business. 



In order that we might have a longer time to 

 visit, and a better opportunity to view the 

 country. ISIr. Barber took me to Canton, a dis- 

 tance of six miles from liis house, where I took 

 the cars; and, as I bade him adieu, I did so 

 with the feeling that from him I had received a 

 vast amount of knowledge which well repaid 

 me for my iourney. A. E. jNIaxum. 



Bristol, Vermont, Jan., 1891. 



[Your map. Mr. Manum. is suggestive and 

 interesting — the more so because it shows the 

 mountains, hills, and roadways, and how you 

 have to drive to reach each one. The first 

 thing that attracted my attention, when I ar- 



OUT-APIARIES AMONG THE MOUNTAINS IN THE VICINITY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT. 



as I can get to it, around such of my yards as 

 are not well protected by nature; and, Mr. 

 Barber. I am more thoroughly convinced than 

 ever, since we have had these five poor seasons 

 in succession, that, in order to be successful, we 

 must have our colonies strong at the com- 

 mencement of the honey season.'' 



" Manum, do you ever move your bees from 

 one yard to another in the fall, to have them 

 fill up for winter?-' 



" No, I do not, because there is not much dif- 

 ference in one of my locations from the others, 

 so far as fall honey is concerned." 



At this point we ai'rive at Mr. Barber's bee- 

 cellar, where I find 80 colonies already stored 

 for winter. This cellar, if I remember correct- 

 ly, is 20 x 30 feet. It is not a dry cellar: and as 

 the bottom is often very wet, the hives are set 

 on plank, which are set on hive-caps some 15 

 inches high, and are packed in as closely as they 

 can be conveniently, and four hives high. Mi'. 

 B. removes the honey-board, and spreads a 

 piece of heavy ducking over the frames, and 

 over this a cushion three inches thick to take 



rived at Bristol, was those mountains on the 

 east. '■ Oh!"' said I, '," Mr. Crane" (with whom I 

 was riding), "that is where Mr. Manum gets his 

 basswood honey." But I was a little surprised 

 to learn that there was little or no basswood on 

 those mountains, and that his reliance for 

 honey from this source is from certain hills; but 

 those mountains furnish that beautiful Ver- 

 mont white poplar for sections, so i)opular with 

 the Eastern bee-keepers. I am doubly sorry 

 now that I could not. or. rather, did not. steal 

 the time to drive around with you over those 

 zigzag roadways, and visit some of those yards. 

 I leai'ued a good many things when I went 

 around the country with Mr. Elwood, and I 

 have no doubt at all but that I could have 

 picked up many a valuable item from you in a 

 similar drive. 



Overstocking must be a rather complicated 

 problem with you. Why, what a lot of other 

 bee-keepers thei'e are around you! I should 

 think you'd quarrel, so close together as you are 

 in some cases; but 1 am reliably informed that 

 there is the best of feeling among all of you. 



