1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



461 



this is in line with some of the arguments put 

 forth by Mr. Dadant, we give it right here. — 

 Ed.] 



DRAPERS BARNS. 



large Hives for Wintering. 



BY A. N. DRAPER. 



Who ever before heard of a man wanting to 

 carry his "barns" into his cellar? I never 

 did. Please do not try it, Dr. Miller. I'll tell 

 you a good deal better way, and, also why it 

 is better. The proper place for those 1 arns is 



joined together in a way that rendered the frames im- 

 movable. In the fall we extracted from the brood- 

 chamber of nearly every colony, as was then our prac- 

 tice, leaving only seven Quinby frames on an average 

 for winter. The colonies that had crooked combs 

 were left with all of their stores — ten frames (take no- 

 tice, Quinby frames), because we could not disturb 

 them without breaking combs and causing leakage 

 and robbing, and it was not the proper season to trans- 

 fer them. These colonies did not have to be fed the 

 following spring, became very strong, and yielded the 

 largest crop. This untried-for result caused us to 

 make further experiments, which proved that there is 

 a profit in leaving, to strong colonies, a large quantity of 

 honey, so that they will not limit their spring breeding. 



Page 333 : 



If the colonies are to be wintered in the open air 

 they should all be made populous, and rich in stores, 



SEPARATOR AND NON-SEPARATOR HONEY. SEE EDITORIALS. 



on their permanent summer stands, with a reg- 

 ular winter-case around them. As it is neces- 

 sary for the barn to be warm and well packed 

 for February, March, April, and May, to se- 

 cure the best results this packing should be 

 done in November, when it is convenient to 

 get the leaves for packing If properly pre- 

 pared for spring there is no trouble about their 

 wintering, as your barn has from 40 to 60 lbs. 

 of honey, a good vigorous queen, and a popu- 

 lous colony of bees in it. I quote from Da- 

 dant's Langstroth Revised, p. 328, Art. 625 : 



Some 18 years ago, in an apiary away from home, 

 where we were raising comb honey, we had a number 

 of swarms, which, in the rush of the honey crop, we 

 did not examine until their combs were built. At that 

 time the triangular bar was the guide principally 

 used, and the combs of some of these swarms were 



even if to do so requires their number to be reduced 

 one-half or more. 



Art. 632 : 



Small colonies consume, proportionally, much 

 more food than large ones, and then perish from ina- 

 bility to maintain sufficient heat. Bees in small or 

 contracted hives, etc., have too scanty a population 

 for successful wintering, especially out of doors; for 

 as it is by eating that bees generate warmth, the ab- 

 domens of a small number are soon filled with resi- 

 dues; and if cold continues for weeks the bees get the 

 diari hea. We have often seen colonies in small hives 

 perishing side by side with large ones whose bees 

 were very healthy. . . . Such facts abound, and 

 we have but to open the bee-journals to find confirma- 

 tion of our statement. 



Page 334 : 



In the Amer. Bee Journal for February 8, 1888, page 

 83, Mr. J. P. Stone, of Holly, Mich., asks why a colo- 

 ns-, which was hived in 1859 in a large box, is prosper- 



