930 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



cubic dimensions, and I find a few customers 

 who, knowing a good thing when they see it, 

 prefer this honey to that of a more pleasing 

 exterior. 



I think you will find, on examination of 

 the brood- chamber of a populous colony, that 

 the newly made comb, if filled and capped 

 during the hot dry season, unless it is at the 

 outside, will, almost without an exception, 

 have a greasy appearance. I am not speaking 

 now of travel- stains, which are quite different 

 in appearance, and which any experienced 

 bee-keeper will readily detect. 



Now, you veterans in the business, allow a 

 novice to admonish you to hesitate before you 

 " pinch the head " of a queen that has filled 

 your hive to overflowing with bees that can 

 go to the very bottom of the nectar recepta- 

 cles in the dryest, hottest season of the year, 

 and store up an abundant supply of sweets 

 " fit for the gods to sip." 



I may be wrong, but it seems to me this 

 matter will bear further investigation, and it 

 will disappoint me greatly if the truth does 

 not lie along the lines herein indicated. At 

 any rate, let us have the truth. 



It would do my soul good ( I will not attempt 

 fo disguise the fact) to be able to tell Dr. Mil- 

 ler and some of the other old sages in the 

 brotherhood, something, perchance, they do 

 not know. I should feel that some slight re- 

 turn had been made for the large fund of val- 

 uable information they • have imparted, of 

 which it has been my good fortune to appro- 

 priate no small share. 



Kankakee, 111., Nov. 11. 



[You may be right ; but it occurs to me just 

 now that I have seen greasy (or what some call 

 water-soaked) sections come from some colo- 

 nies, and pearly-white ones from others at one 

 and the same time ; but I do not remember to 

 have seen water-soaked honey and white hon- 

 ey come from the same hive. 



This matter is something that will stand a 

 little discussion ; and I should be glad, there- 

 fore, to get reports from some of our leading 

 honey producers. If the queen is never to 

 blame, it is too bad to pinch the heads of oth- 

 erwise good queens. — Fr>.] 



CELLAR WINTERING OF BEES, AND THEIR 

 PREPARATION. 



BY F. A. SNEU. 



That the successful wintering of our bees 

 depends considerably upon the necessary fall 

 work, no one doubts; and this work, or a part 

 of it, should be done during September or 

 October and November. The work for the 

 earlier dates named are to see well to it that 

 the bees are securing food enough in some 

 way to keep up the rearing of young bees, and 

 also the storing of a good supply of food for 

 the long coming winter months and early 

 spring. During September, if no young bees 

 are reared or the queens are not laying, the 

 colonies should be fed enough to secure this 

 desired state. A good supply of good food 



for winter must never be lost sight of, and a 

 good force of young vigorous bees must also 

 be teemed or had if our bees are to be well 

 wintered. 



In cellar wintering it is, I think, very nec- 

 essary to the best success to h ve the bees 

 housed while the hives and combs are dry, 

 and frte from frost, and just after a good 

 flight has been secured. One fall our bees 

 were housed Oct. 29, and other yeais from 

 Nov. 10 to Dec. 10. It was about twenty 

 years ago that I laid it down as my rule to put 

 our bees in the cellar right after the first good 

 flight our bees had after Nov. 10. Previously 

 I had been caught by leaving them out too 

 late, and the hives became filled with frost 

 more or less, and hives were frczen fast to the 

 stands, and covered with snow, and the combs 

 with frost — a condition not in the least desir- 

 able. In such cases the hives, when removed 

 from their stands, came up with a terrible 

 snap, which aroused the bees, causing a gen- 

 eral t xeitemeut and rearing. Right after a 

 good cleansing flight the bees handle well ; 

 combs and hives are dry; and after two or 

 three puffs of smoke are given each hive the 

 bees are quietly lifted from their stand and 

 placed two colonies a' a time on a cushioned 

 cart and wheeled to the cellar hatchway-door, 

 and then removed from the cart, and carried 

 to the Cellar where s'.ands have been previous- 

 ly placed, upon which to set the hives, and 

 the hives are gently lowered to the stand. 

 The colomies are thus all carried in. 



When a full tier of hives is placed on the 

 first rack in the cellar to be used, lath are 

 placed on top of the first tier of hives, and 

 the second tier of hives placed on the lath, 

 which gives Y% inch space between the first 

 and second tier of hives. Lath are placed on 

 top of all rows, over which another tier is to 

 be placed. We tier up three hives deep when 

 necessary in the cellar, leaving room between 

 the hives of each row to readilv insert the 

 hands in placing and removing hives on and 

 from the stands or racks. The hive-bodies 

 and bottom boards we carry to the cellar; but 

 the hive-covers are left off, and a 3s-i"ch-deep 

 frame covered with burlap or carpet is fasten- 

 ed with two J^-inch screws at the center of 

 each side of the top of hive-body. The bees 

 thus prepared have upward ventilation, and 

 are kept from coming out at the top of the 

 hives in handling. 



After over thirty years' trial in the matter 

 of hive ventilation I prefer some upward, as I 

 find the combs keep much dryer, and with 

 little or no mold, while with no top ventila- 

 tion the inside of hives and the combs would 

 be wet and moHy, with other conditions just 

 as favorable. Damp or wet combs are bad. 

 The honey and pollen are liable to ferment, 

 and thus endanger the lives of the bees from 

 diarrhea, which may result from the bees 

 eating the fermented food. The frames cov- 

 ered with burlap for upward ventilation are 

 placed on the hives some time before the bees 

 are put in the cellar. The racks are also put 

 in the cellar, so that, if an unfavorable change 

 of weather comes, the bees may be soon put 

 in. The month of November, 1898, was so 



