1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



277 



competition and lower prices. There are 

 persons who, if ihsy were not deathly afraid 

 of stings, would make hot competition. 

 Would we remove the stings from our little 

 defenders who give us bread and butter, 

 renderinar them perfectly helpless and 

 harmless? 



And after all, when we use a good 

 smoker, and thoroughly understa-d the 

 habits of our pets, are the stings an actual 

 hindrance in getting a crop of honey? Is 

 there any real excuse for getting stung 

 more than four or five times a day? In- 

 deed, is it not possible to work day after 

 da}' without stings when one is properly 

 clothed, veiled, and protected at the wrists? 

 I remember I once worked every day in the 

 yard f jr a period of nearly a month, with- 

 out a single sting; but I had pure Italians 

 of imported stock — the gentlest bees, in my 

 mind, of any in the world. 



ONE SERIOUS OBJECTION TO THE HOFFMAN 

 OR ANY METAL-SPACED FRAME. 



In my footnote to the last Straw in this 

 issue I see I failed to cover one important 

 point — namely, that ;;/(?/a/-spaced Hoffman 

 frames would be very objectionable to the 

 extracted-honey man on account of the dan- 

 ger of dulling the keen edge of the uncap- 

 ping-knife, unless it were held so carefully 

 and operated so slowly as to increase very 

 materially the expense cf uncapping. The 

 same thing applies to any of the metal- 

 spaced frames, the Dr. Miller nail-spacer 

 included. Indeed, I do not know cf any 

 extensive extracted-honey producers who 

 find it practicable to use metal spacers, all 

 because of their intei ference with the edge 

 of the uncapping-knife. 



Dr. Miller and a good many others say 

 they are producers of comb honey; that 

 they do no extracting, and therefore never 

 use an extracting-knife; and they ask, with 

 some show of reason, why they shouldn't 

 use a frame that suits their convenience, 

 even if it is objectionable to the other fellow. 



HEAVV winter LOSSKS REPORTED FOR 

 OUTDOOR BEES; THE INDOOR BEES COM- 

 ING OUT WELL. 



In response to my request in our last is- 

 sue, for reports as to how the bees were 

 wintering, a large number of our friends 

 have responded, so we are able to present a 

 very good birdseye view of the situation all 

 over the country except points west of the 

 Rockies. 



There will be heavy losses, just as I 

 feared. A large number report from 5>0 to 

 75 per cent cf the bees dead — some all dead. 

 New York seems to have sustained the 

 heaviest losses; then next in order [ would 

 place Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indi- 

 ana, Wisconsin, and the New England 

 Slates. Illinois does n3t seem to have had 

 very severe losses, although some bee keep- 

 ers have had a good many bees die. Io,va 

 seems to show up well. In Missouri, and 

 in most of the States west of the Mississip- 



pi and east of the Rockies, the winter has 

 been very favorable, and the bees are in 

 prime condition. There have been some 

 losses in West Virginia, but most of the 

 other States south of the Ohio River will 

 show good wintering. 



But now let it be understood, the places 

 where los ies were very h iavy seemed to be 

 confined almost entirely to outdoor- wintered 

 bees. I do not remember to have had a 

 single report out of the large number re- 

 ceived when there was bad wintering in 

 cellars or repiositories. A few bee-keepers 

 in all the regions where losses h ive been 

 extremely he.iv}' report excellent wintering 

 outdoors. Among the number is J. B. Hall, 

 of Woodstcck, Canada. 



Whether these losses will affect the clover 

 market next summer remains to be seen. 



Since the first of March the weather has 

 moderated very materially over the country 

 — just enough to give occasional flights in 

 warm localities, but cool enough to prevent 

 brood-rearing going on to any extent. 



WINTERING IN THE MACHINE-SHOP CELLAR; 

 IMt-ORTANCE OF VENTILATION. 



SoMK question has been raised whether 

 it is advisable or desirable to ventilate a 

 bee-cellar at night during moderate or mug- 

 gy weather, closing the doors in the morn- 

 ing. We have been pursuing that very 

 policy with our bees wintered in the ma- 

 chine-shop basement. And what are the 

 results to-day? Appearances indicate that 

 the bees are coming out in fine condition. 

 The dead ones on the cellar bottom can al- 

 most be Counted, so few are they. The 

 clusters ar ■ quiet, clean, and health}', and 

 contentment reigns supreme, notwithstand- 

 ing the temperature outside to-day is about 

 50. We have tried this over and over; and 

 if we do not ventilate during warm spells 

 they become uneasy. 



Can it be we are mistaken in this belief 

 that ventilation is an important factor in 

 cellaring bees? I can hardly see how it is 

 possible. The results, after several win- 

 ters, are so gratifying that I am rather in- 

 clined to the opinion that we shall winter 

 indoors exclusively in the future. So quiet 

 have the bees been this winter it has not 

 been necessary so far to carry them out and 

 give them a flight, and return them, as we 

 did last year. 



I mii<ht say in this connection, if one 

 finds his bees uneasy, and can do so, let 

 him carry them out on a warm day when 

 they can fly, and take them back at night. 



I can only regret that we did not have all 

 of our bees in the cellar this winter. If we 

 had done so, I imagine we should have had 

 stronger and better colonies. We expect to 

 keep our bees indoors for a month yet. 



REFRESHING FAIRNESS. 



A SHORT time ago the great paper, the 

 Chicago Inter-ocean, in one of its weekly 

 editions published a statement to the effect 



