70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



sum of 50 cents, and fails to do so, well — er, 

 yes — I feel sorry for him. Sorry for him 

 that he won't join for his own sake, and 

 sorry that he can't or doesn't see that the 

 org^anization stands for the g'ood of the bee- 

 keeping- interests in the greatest bee country 

 in the world, a country that produces annu- 

 ally such an enormous output of honey that, 

 if it were loaded on cars, it would make a 

 trainload 2^ miles long. 



CONTRACTING THE ENTRANCE FOR OUT- 

 DOOR-WINTERED BEES. 



Those who winter out of doors would do 

 well to have the entrances of all their colo- 

 nies contracted down to very close quarters 

 during- zero weather — say ;?sX2 inches; but 

 as soon as it warms up a little they should 

 have almost the full width— say >iX8 inch- 

 es. It should again be contracted at the 

 approach of a cold snap. 



Two years ago, for the purpose of experi- 

 ment, we left some colonies with their en- 

 trances % by the whole width of the hive, 

 and others ^X8 wide. The ones with the 

 wide and deep entrances either died out- 

 right or came through in very weak condi- 

 tion, while those with narrow entrances 

 came through in good order. 



During the very coldest weather, the bees 

 require but very little ventilation; and the 

 smaller the entrance, up to a reasonable 

 limit, the eas'er it will be for the bees to 

 warm the cubic capacity. A large entrance 

 is like an open door or window to a house — 

 too much draft, too much cold air. It may 

 take a little extra time to open and contract 

 the entrances, but it will be time well spent. 

 While opening up the entrances, be sure to 

 rake out any dead bees that may have ac- 

 cumulated in the empty space. 



In milder climates where the temperature 

 does not go lower than 25° above zero except 

 for a day or two the entrances will not need 

 to be changed. Contract at the beginning- 

 of winter to an opening not larger than ^ 

 X6 inches, and leave it at that all winter. 



THE CROSSEST bees. 



Mr. O. M. Blanton, in the American 

 Bee-keeper for January, in writing on the 

 subject of the best honey-gatherers, is sat- 

 isfied that there is but very little difference 

 in the various strains of bees. The Cypri- 

 ans, he considers, are the most vicious; and 

 then come the Holy Lands, the Italians 

 crossed with blacks, and then Carniolans. 

 The last he thinks very easy to control. 

 He then adds: " I see no advantage in Cyp- 

 rians at honey-gathering; and it is the 

 height of folly to suffer such torture from 

 them without any remuneration. The Cyp- 

 rians whipped me out on several occasions 

 while I was endeavoring to remove the sur- 

 plus honey. Tobacco and even sulphur 

 could scarcely control them when the smoke 

 was comparatively cool." When we were 

 furnishing the Cyprians it was our experi- 

 ence and that of our customers that they 



were by all odds the most vicious bees to 

 handle. Smoke, on many occasions, seemed 

 to have absolutely no effect on them. We 

 were not surprised on removing the cover of 

 a hive of them to have hundreds and hun 

 dreds of them dart out, and sting the mo- 

 ment they struck us. On one occasion I re- 

 member that one of our new bee men, not 

 understanding them, and not having been 

 cautioned, stirred up a mess, the like of 

 which I hope never to see again. If one 

 can imagine a swarm of bees, every one of 

 which is bent on stinging, he can get some 

 idea of what I saw in the yard that morn- 

 ing. It seemed as if nearly every bee had 

 deserted the hive to attack the supposed en- 

 emy. I had no more than got into the yard 

 than I had to beat a hasty retreat. We had 

 to kill the queen finally. 



It is fair to say that not all Cyprians 

 were as cross as these; but even the gen- 

 tlest of them were disagreeable to handle. 



WHY outdoor-wintered BEES DIE DURING 

 LONG-CONTINUKD COLD SNAPS. 



We have been having unusually cold 

 weather, beginning about the middle of No- 

 vember, and letting up a little this morning, 

 Jan. 8, when it is thawing a little. Much 

 of the time the mercury has been playing 

 very closely around zero, and a great deal 

 of the time we have had high winds. These 

 are trying t'mes for outdoor-wintered bees, 

 and why? During very cold weather the 

 bees will dra^v up into a very small cluster, 

 and they will remain in this bunch, closely 

 compacted, as long as it continues to be 

 very cold. If no warm spell comes on, giv- 

 ing them a chance to move over and seek a 

 new spot from which they have eaten 

 the honey all out, they will be liable to 

 starve to death. After a very cold snap I 

 have gone over some of our outdoor colonies, 

 and found little bunches of bees dead. 

 The honey had been eaten away from the 

 cluster for perhaps two inches all around. 

 They had contracted into a small bunch un- 

 til the honey was out of reach. A few stray 

 bees will always be found that have left the 

 cluster in the effort to get food but chilled to 

 death. It was too cold for the cluster to 

 move, and hence it starved to death. 



It has been stated that the cluster will 

 move during cold weather; but I have never 

 had the evidence of it; but I have seen the 

 outside bees on the cluster stiff and cold, 

 but still showing signs of life. 



This warm spell that has just come on, 

 even if it lasts for only a day, will give the 

 bees a chance to get over to one side to get 

 on the honey again, with the result that 

 they are ready for another cold snap. 



In very cold winters the indoor plan is 

 certainly much to be preferred. In all cli- 

 mates, while the thermometer remains be- 

 low the freezing-point during most of the 

 winter the indoor method will be somewhat 

 more economical of stores, and furnish 

 stronger and healthier bees for the follow- 

 ing spring. 



