1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



877 



In a social way he is a genial good fellow, and 

 T know that the Colorado Bee-keepers' Associ- 

 ation will miss not only a practical man but 

 an enlivening spirit that is always able to keep 

 a convention from getting dull and monoto- 

 nous 



With regard to the eight-frame hive, I no- 

 ticed that it is used very largely in Colorado, 

 although there was a tendency to use the ten- 

 frame width ; but the use of that size was con- 

 fined almost exclusively to those who made 

 the production of extracted honey a specialty. 



There can be no doubt that the eight frame 

 Langstroth hive is well adapted to most local- 

 ities in the United States. While some other 

 size or style may excel it, yet on the average 

 it meets fairly well the needs of most localities 

 and most bee-keepers. And speaking about 

 the size of hives, I am a little inclined to be- 

 lieve, from testimony that has been offered, 

 that a seven-inch brood- chamber, ten-frame 

 Langstroth width, for the production of comb 

 honey, is a little better, especially if the honey- 

 flows are very short, as they are in many 

 places in the northern part of the United 

 States. It is certainly true that a small hive 

 in any case is better for such localities than a 

 large one, except, perhaps, in some instances 

 where an outyard or two are used, and the 

 bee-keeper can not keep some one to look 

 after swarms. In such cases a large hive often 

 finds favor. — En ] 



FAILURE OF HONEY LAST YEAR. 



Wintering in the Cellar; \\'intering with a Virgin 



Queen; Shipping Bees long Distances ; Should 



one Go to Colorado? 



BY J. A. HAYNES. 



1. To what do you attribute the honey fail- 

 ure in many of the States the past year ? 

 Here in South Dakota there has been practi- 

 cally no honey this year, and I am told that 

 Illinois and several other States have but little 

 comparatively. So far as we could tell, the 

 conditions here were perfect, but no honey. 

 Instead we have had to feed for winter. I 

 have fed 320 lbs. of sugar to 36 colonies of 

 my apiary. 



2. In wintering in cellar, where the bottom- 

 boards are left on would it not be a good plan 

 to go through now and then with a wire hook, 

 and rake out the dead bees that have fallen in 

 the entrance ? 



3. I have a colony with a virgin queen. Is 

 it safe to let her remain until spring, and then 

 become fertilized, or requeen? 



4. Does W. L. Porter keep his bees in Den- 

 ver? 



5. What success has attended bee culture 

 along the Platte River in Colorado this year ? 



6. Is it possible to ship bees from South 

 Dakota to Colorado successfully ? When is 

 the prop? r time to do it ? 



Vermillion, S. D., Nov. 7. 



1. No one can give an entirely satisfactory 

 reason. The best one that can be given, how- 

 ever, and it may be the real one, was the gen- 



eral dryness throughout the country along in 

 late spring and early summer, and an insuffi- 

 cient snow and rainfall during the preceding 

 late fall and winter. The result of all this 

 was there was very little white clover grown ; 

 and what did sprout up was consideiably 

 hampered and held back by the lack of rains 

 just at the very time they were needed to 

 cause the flowers to yield honey later. This 

 fall, fortunately, we have had a considerable 

 amount of rain ; and if we have plenty of 

 rain next spring and summer, preceded by 

 heavy snows during winter, we shall expect a 

 growth of a large amount of white clover ; 

 and white clover is, after all, the main stay 

 for honey throughout the Northern States. 

 When this fails there is a general failure. 



2. Yes ; but better take off the bottom - 

 boards entirely, if they are the removable 

 kind ; if not, cut the entrance so it will be 

 one or two inches deep and the width of the 

 hive. It may be impracticable to do this dur- 

 ing winter. 



3 I can not answer. We have some virgin 

 queens, or what we suspect to be such, in our 

 hives. They may be fertilized already this 

 fall, or, if not, it is possible they will become 

 fertilized next spring. I would always avoid 

 having a virgin queen in a colony just going 

 into winter quarters, for she is liable to be- 

 come a drone-layer the following spring, or to 

 be missing just when the colony needs her the 

 most. 



4. Mr. Porter lives in Denver, and has a 

 series of out-apiaries anywhere from three to 

 fifteen miles from the city. 



5. I could not answer, only that I know the 

 season in Colorado, in a general way, has been 

 very good. 



6. Yes, providing you put the bees up prop- 

 erly in a freight-car and go with the car and 

 bees, so that the hives can be put to rights 

 whenever the car is bumped. It is a long te- 

 dious trip for the man, and the expense is 

 great. Ordinarily I advise buying bees in 

 one's own locality rather than go to the ex- 

 pense of shipping. 



But, say ; if you are going to Colorado with 

 the expectation of finding unoccupied terri- 

 tory for keeping bees you may be disappoint- 

 ed. Better go beforehand and look over the 

 field and leave the bees at home ; then go 

 back for them if you find conditions favora- 

 ble. Or, better still, go to Colorado for one 

 season and work bees on shares, or hire out to 

 some bee-keeper, so you can determine for 

 )-ourself whether the climate, the elevation, 

 and general conditions will be favorable or 

 not. Money would not induce me to live 

 there the year through, on account of the 

 elevation. It seemed as if I was out of breath 

 whenever I attempted to walk any distance ; 

 and when I reached an elevation of 9000 feet 

 my pulse at a normal rate of 68 in Ohio jump- 

 ed up to 130, and kept up that fearful rate all 

 the time I was at that extreme height. This 

 pulse rate was noted when I was sitting still, 

 and had been sitting still for half an hour. 

 There are men who could not stand such an 

 enormous strain on the heart, and you may be 

 one of them. — Ed.] 



