1892 



({LEANINGS IN UV.E CUl/rURE. 



(;'.)! 



till' iin'inbiTs of iht' riiiiiM. and they liavc in 

 tliis manner stamped witli tlicir approval tlic 

 work 1 have done for tlie Union: bnl wlien it 

 I'omes to tile consideration of a new policy for 

 tlie fmiii'e. tlu^ memtiers of ttie riiion are fully 

 competent to determine for tliemselves as to 

 tlie e\[)edii'iicy I liereof, ami 1 am fully persuad- 

 ed lliat tlii'y will act for the peiiiianent jjros- 

 perity of the organization. witlu)ut deference to 

 my personal views or desires. I would tiiank 

 Hro. Root for th(> compliment intended, and 

 shall treat it as such. 



In order to add this new feature to the Na- 

 tional Hee-keepei-s' I'nion. the Constitution 

 must be amended: and. perliaps. the best way 

 will be to have 10 members sign a request and 

 send it to me. to have the proposed amendments 

 submitted to vote. Then let the matter be 

 fully discussed in all tlu^ bee-periodicals, so 

 thai the members may vote tinderstandingly, 

 after mature deliberation. 



If it is voted to add the new feature, then the 

 Washington convention can formulate plans to 

 make an aggressive war upon adulteration and 

 adulterators. 



The greatest difficulty to be encountered will 

 bf the diversity in the laws of the several 

 States. A national law should be enacted l)y 

 Congress against adulteration, applicable alike 

 to every State and Territoiy. Then something 

 may be accomplished: but until then, I fear 

 much of the labor will be in vain. 



Another trouble is. that the honey from dif- 

 ferent localities varies so much in consequence 

 of the diverse soils and atmospheric conditions. 

 On that account, even the analysis of honey by 

 chemists of national reputation is totally un- 

 reliable. 



Another thing must be provided for. The 

 new departure would require so much time and 

 energy of the General Manager that a salary 

 should be attached to the office. I have done 

 the best I could for the love of the pursuit 

 alone: but it is hardly probable thai my suc- 

 cessor would accept the office on that condition, 

 with that additional feature attached, to prose- 

 cute all honey-adulterators. 



Such a union will require a young, energetic, 

 and persistent man. and he should be a good 

 lawyer. None of "'these essential qualities" 

 will be found in the present General Manager, 

 and therefore a new man will have to be elect- 

 ed to that important position. 



Fraternally yours, Thomas G. Newman. 



Chicago, Ills.. Aug. 29. 



— American Bee Journal. 



WINTERING. 



WHKN AXI) HOW TO I'ltKI'AHP: P"OK IT. 



A correspondent writes, asking when it is 

 best to prepare his bees for winter, and wants 

 to know if it will not be better to wait till it 

 comes cold weather, so that all brood is out of 

 the hives, and then feed and fix them up so that 

 they can carry the feed right into the center of 

 the'cluster. As I have many questions similar 

 to the abovf! I thought I could serve the readers 

 of Gi.KAXiN<iS no better at this time than to 

 talk to them a little jusi now along the line of 

 getting ready for winter. To the above ques- 

 tion I would say. Don't, on any account, wait 

 till cold weather comes before fixing the bees 

 for winter: for if you do. winter will be almost 

 sure to come and find your bees not ready for it. 

 Years ago I used to think that the month of 

 November would do well enough to fix the 

 bees in: and when November came, something 

 would occur so that I would think that waiting 

 a few inore davs would do no harm, and so I 



kept putting it ofT and putting il oil' till I was 

 caught by freiv.ing cold weather: and, if I re- 

 member rightly, thei'e can be foimd in tlie back 

 numbers of (Ji.kaninos an article on how bei^s 

 of certain colonies had their stor(>s e(|iialized in 

 cold weallier. when the mercury was near zero, 

 and that article was signed by Ci. M. Doolittle. 



Well, the next spring found a lellow of about 

 my size looking similar to that fellow of the 

 JJlasted Hopes depai'tment, as givciii in the 

 A H C. with a neighbor telling him that the 

 month of September was the proper tiiiui to fix 

 the bees for winter. After [irohting by this ad- 

 vice for yeai's with th(i best of success. I am 

 sure that the neighbor was right, and more es- 

 pecially so wliere the bees have not stores 

 enough to carry them through to the next 

 honey harvest. If there is one item above an- 

 other having great iiriportaiice in the wintering 

 problem, it is the getting of the winter storeys 

 near and around the cluster of bees in time for 

 them to settle down into that quiescent state so 

 conducive to good wintering, prior to the mid- 

 dle of October, in this locality. To aiTange 

 these stores and properly seal thein requires 

 warm weather; hence all will see the fallacy 

 of putting oft' caring for them till cold weather 

 aiTives, as is suggested by our friend above. 

 To be sure that all have the desired amount of 

 stores, there is only one certain way to do. and 

 that is, to open the hives and take out each 

 fratue and weigh it. after having shaken the 

 bees oft' it. Next weigh a frame of empty comb, 

 or several of them, so as to know the average 

 weight, which, when deducted from the weight 

 of those in the hive, will give the weight of 

 honey, note being made in all cases of the 

 amount of pollen said combs may contain, their 

 age. etc., and all allowance being made ac- 

 cordingly. Not long ago I saw it advised to put 

 into an empty hive the number of combs used, 

 and weigh the hive so arranged, when the 

 hives in the apiary were to be weighed, the 

 amount of the other deducted; and, if there 

 was 20 lbs. left above this deduction there 

 would would be sufficient stores in that hive 

 for wintering on the summer stand: and if 15 

 lbs., sufficient for cellar wintering. I call any 

 such mode of procedure a slipshod way, and ^ 

 one which tends toward making wintering a 

 failure. Hives subject to the weather weigh 

 more than dry hives, liable to be taken from 

 the shop, do: colonies of bees differ very much 

 as to size and weight; old combs weigh double 

 that of new ones: combs froiu a colony which 

 was some time queenless during clover bloom 

 will often contain one-half the amount allowed 

 for cellar wintering, of pollen: hence these and 

 other factors make that mode of procedure lit- 

 tle better than guesswork. Again, the amount 

 named is too little by far. were this all availa- 

 ble stores. If, after going over a hive and 

 weighing each comb as I have given above. I 

 find that there is 2.") lbs. of actual stores. I call 

 that hive or colony all right for winter. If less, 

 it must be fed the deficiency: if more, it can 

 spare some to help another colony which is 

 sliort. In this way the whole apiary should he 

 gone over, ecjualizing and feeding, if it is re- 

 quired, till all have the requisite 25 lbs. 



But I hear soiue one say. " This is a fearful 

 job to shake the bees oft' from evi-ry comb and 

 weigh it. W(>ll. so it would ho if done with 

 each colony; yet I think it would pay in the 

 long run, even then; but you will have to do 

 this with only one or two till you get the right 

 conception of just how much honey there is in 

 each frame, by simply looking at it. when you 

 can count oft' the number of pounds almost to a 

 certainty, and doit as rapidly as you can handle 

 the frames. However, you will huve to weigh 

 a few if you have never practiced this plan, to 



