126 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



Several years ago I was considerably amused 

 by a conversation I had on the cars with a bee- 

 keeper from Illinois. I was deeply interested in 

 the subject of wintering bees, and the talk very 

 soon drifted into this channel. 1 was soon 

 given to undci'stand that my fellow-traveler 

 knew (?) all about bees, if nota little more than 

 all. From his standpoint the wintering ques- 

 tion was of no particular importance — was more 

 the result ot ignorance than an unsolved mys- 

 tery: he had no trouble in wintering bees, and 

 did not see why other bee-keepers should. See- 

 ing that loquacity was his weakness I content- 

 ed myself with listening, only now and then 

 asking a question at a favorable opportunity. 

 I learned a great deal from this man — so much 

 that I could not mentally digest it: and when I 

 asked him to explain, instead of doing so he 

 suddenly became comparatively dumb, and, at 

 the first opportunity, retired to another car. 

 Now. this man was as well posted on bee-keep- 

 ing as the average: but he was keeping bees 

 from year to year, apparently ignorant of the 

 fact that a large percentage of his colonies died 

 every wiutei' and spring, simply from want of 

 proper care. I know this to be the fact, because, 

 in reply to my interjected questions, he gave 

 me the following information: 



a. He had about T.') colonies: 5 years before, 

 he had 60. 



/). He very seldom sold bees — no buyers. 



';. He never "' took uj)bees," that is, destroyed 

 them. 



d. He usually doubled his number of colonies 

 each year. 



e. He seldom lost in wintf-ring more than two 

 or three colonies — quite a trivial matter. 



The average reader can readily sec tlie point. 



When I commenced to devote attention to the 

 subject in question I supposed that 2.5 per cent 

 was a fair estimate of the average loss of colo- 

 nies in the Northern Stat<>s; but after a careful 

 comparison of repoits given in the bee-periodi- 

 cals, and from my knowledge of the usual rate 

 of loss in my neighborhood. 1 am constrained to 

 believe that the figures given in " The Winter 

 Problem " are not in excess of the facts. It is 

 true, that there are some apiarists who winter 

 with very small loss; thei'e are also seasons 

 when this loss is comparatively small in some 

 localities; but in a decade this does not cut 

 down the figures to a very great extent. 



PRIORITY OF DISCOVERY. 



Mr. Massie. of West Virginia, in Gi.kanings 

 of Jan. 15. page 52, is rather disposed to claim 

 the honor of being the first to advocate letting 

 the bees seal the covers for winter. Very well ! 

 I do not claim any discovery in that direction, 

 for I know from personal knowledge that the 

 idea is at least 25 yeai'S old, and I I'ather think 

 it is as old as bee-keeping. When tiie Lang- 

 stroth hive was first introduced in Wisconsin, 

 the main objections urged against it were, that 

 it was too shallow for the bees to winter well: 

 and that the top. being loose, more or less of 

 the warm air from the colony would escape. 

 The objections were met, by those interested, 

 by the argument that the loose cover could be 

 secui-ely sealed by the bees after the honey sea- 

 son was over, and that the hive might! with 

 but little labor or expense, have an additional 

 covering of hay or straw. There are hundreds 

 of bee-keepers who have for the past ten or 

 fifteen years kept bees on this plan. 



Neither do I claim to have first discovered 

 the method of wintering in cases as described 

 in my book, though I first used it during the 

 winter of 1882. The plan is a very simi)le and ra- 

 tional one. and is only an improvement on the 

 old method of covering with hay or straw. 



A careful perusal of my book, "Winter 



Problem." will show that the seiting-forth of 

 new methods or d(nices was not the object in 

 view; in fact, this is just what I wish to avoid. 

 What I have aimed to do is to explain trliy bees 

 perish in winter, and theicby show what co7i- 

 (7if)VnKs are essential and vital to healthv bee- 

 life. 



There is a wide difference between knowing' 

 7io»' a thing should be done and (c/ii/ it should 

 be done. The foinx'i' knowledge is acquired by 

 experience — is empirical: the latter can be 

 gained only by an investigation into the work- 

 ing of the laws gov<'rning the subject under 

 consideration — is scientific. Empirical knowl- 

 edge may often be acquii'ed simply by the use 

 of sight — and memory: but scientific knowl- 

 edge can be obtained only by a study of the re- 

 lation of cause to effect. Let me illusti'ate the 

 difference when ai)plied to some of th<' opera- 

 tions of bee-keeping. 



I have noticed of late that several of our 

 prominent bee-keepeis recommend the use of a 

 rim under the hive in order to have an empty 

 space about two inches deep— this, of course^ 

 only during the winter. I believe Mi'. Hutch- 

 inson has, in one of his articles on wintering, 

 said that colonies prepared in this way seemed 

 to do better than those placed directly on the 

 bottom-board, but frankly admits that he is 

 unable to explain why this is the case. Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, also, in "Stray Straws."' Feb. 1. 

 gives a quotation from the British BeeJournal. 

 favoring the use of the space below the frames. 



If I remember aright, this plan was first pro- 

 posed by W. F. Clarke, of Canada, about the 

 time that he introduced his " hibernation 

 theory.'" and, as soon as I found it convenient, 1 

 tested the plan thoroughly in the following 

 manner: 



Ten colonies were wintered on their summer 

 stands, prepared as usual, the hive resting on 

 the bottom-board, and ten were placed with an 

 empty hive — frames removed— under each one. 

 These twenty colonies averaged nearly equal 

 strength in honey stores and bees. 



When winter set in I noticed that, during 

 every sunny day after a cold snap, the bees in 

 those hives I'esting on the bottom-board would 

 be busy carrying out dead bees. The colonies 

 ovei' the empty hivi's did not. of course, need to 

 do this, and this gave me the opportunity to 

 -see that many more bees perished from the 

 hives prepared in the usual manner than from 

 those having the under air-space. All experi- 

 ments made in this mannei' confirmed the 

 claim made for this method of wintering: and 

 had I been satisfied to let the matter rest at 

 this point it would have been positive evidence 

 to me that an air-space under each hive was an 

 absolute necessity. But this was the how of 

 the matter, not the tvhy. The placing of the 

 empty hive under the several colonies was sim- 

 ply following a suggestion which had been 

 proposed by another person: the explanation of 

 the phenomenon was quite another mattei-. 



The first fact that attracted my attention 

 was, that the gi-eatest loss of bees from the 

 hives lacking the air-space occurred in the 

 strongest colonies, judging trt)m the appear- 

 ance of the cluster at the; bottom. This was 

 rather remarkable, and the reader might ex- 

 plain it by saying that these colonies contained 

 the largest percentage of old bees; but this was 

 evidently not so; toi' it is not likely that all the 

 coloniesso constituted would be found in one 

 class. 



Again, another fact was presented: The loss 

 was greatest in those hives where the bee- 

 clustei' touched the hottom-hoard. 



I have not time to set forth all the methods 

 adopted to solve the question, so I will explain 

 and set forth the conclusion reached. 



