1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURF. 



431 



well stocked with bees, or are in a shape 

 where I may expect that they will chang^e 

 the size of cells before they reach the bottom 

 of any frames they may have started with 

 worker comb, I take out any full frames 

 they may have alreadj' built, and thus put 

 them in the same condition they were in 

 when I started with that colony." 



"Will they do as well in this way as 

 thej' did at first?" 



" They will not build combs quite as free- 

 ly now as they did before, unless there can 

 be some 3'Oung' bees emerging; so if I can, 

 conveniently, I give them a comb contain- 

 mostly honey with some emerging brood (if 

 they have such a comb it is left with them, 

 which is more often the case than other- 

 wise) from some other colony, when they 

 are ready to work the same as before. If 

 just the right amount of brood is left, or 

 given them, so that they stay in about the 

 same condition, they will build worker 

 comb all summer by the apiarist supplying 

 them with hone}' or feed when none is com- 

 ing in from the fields. If not so strong but 

 that 1 think they will build worker comb 

 still longer, instead of taking the brood 

 awa}', I spread apart the combs now built, 

 and insert one or more frames with starters 

 between, when these will generally be filled 

 with worker comb before enough young bees 

 emerge for them to change the size of cell." 



"Suppose they do change the size of cell, 

 what then?" 



"One thing is always to be kept in mind 

 whenever you find them building drone 

 comb. The combs they then have, all ex- 

 cept the one mostly filled with honey, are 

 to be taken away so that they may feel 

 their need of worker brood again, when 

 they will build cells of the worker size once 

 more." 



"Have you used this plan much?" 



"To the extent that I have had hunrlreds 

 of frames built full of worker comb in this 

 way, hundreds completed that the bees had 

 built partly full the season previous, and 

 hundreds if not thousands patched where I 

 had cut out patches of drone comb which 

 had gotten in in one way or another; or 

 where I had cut out pieces of comb having 

 little larvae in that were to be used in queen- 

 rearing. In this way the bees fix these 

 holes in any comb in a very perfect manner; 

 in fact, very much better than any man can 

 do it by fitting in patches of worker comb 

 as was the manner of fixing up combs 

 having a little drc e comb in thetr, during 

 the past. Therefore I do not fear mutilated 

 combs nearly as much as I formerly did." 



"This has been an interesting and profit- 

 able talk with me, and I feel very grateful 

 to you for telling me so freely. I will be 

 going now. Good day." 



"Good afternoon. If you see anyone of your 

 bee-keeping friends who wishes amutilat^d 

 comb fixed so it will be a surprise to him, 

 tell him to give it to a little colony fixed the 

 way I have described to you, and let him 

 see what nice work they can do at patching 

 with all- worker comb." 



Thk bee keepers of Pennsylvania effected 

 a permanent organization at Williamsport, 

 Pa., April 12. The following were chosen 

 as officers: President, H. A. Surface, of 

 Harrisburg; Vice-president, E. E. Press- 

 ler, of Williamsport; Secretary, Rev. L. D. 

 Woods, of Muncy; Treasurer, E. L. Pratt, 

 of Swarthmore ; Executive Committee, R. 

 D. Barclay, of State College; C. N. Green, 

 of Troy; E. F. Phillips, Philadelphia; E. 

 A. Dempwolf, of York; J. D. Costello, of 

 Harrison Valley. Two additional vice- 

 presidents were chosen — John Prothero, of 

 DuBois, and Wm. A. Selser, of Philadel- 

 phia. Prof. F'rank Benton, of Washing- 

 ton, delivered an address on bees, at the 

 evening session. The next session will be 

 in Harrisburg next December, of which due 

 notice will be given. 



SUCCESSFUL WINTERING OUTDOORS IN SIN- 

 GLE-WALLED HIVES. 



A SHORT time ago one of our friends and 

 patrons, S. F. Miller, North Manchester, 

 Ind., said he sent us an article that I ig- 

 nored, something over a year before, that 

 he said he considered to be one of the best 

 on the subject of outdoor wintering that we 

 had ever received; that he had aimed to give, 

 briefly, to the bee-keeping public what had 

 cost him something like $600 in loss of bees. 

 I immediately had a search made, and 

 found that such article had been sent, but 

 it came in June, when it was entirely out 

 of season, and when, as a rule, communi- 

 cations on wintering are shoved aside, and 

 the general subject of honey- production and 

 summer work in general are of more vital 

 interest. As our friend was an extensive 

 bee-keeper ii seemed proper to go over the 

 article very carefully, and discover what it 

 was thai he considered of such vital inter- 

 est to the bee-keepers at large. Well, here 

 it is: It is wintering in single-walled 1 ives 

 having a Hill device put on lop of the frame. 

 A piece of old carpet is spread over the 

 hive, large enough to hang down over the 

 sides a half or two thirds of the way all 

 around. Another one is spread on in the 

 same way. Over this is then set an empty 

 super, squarely over the top. This is filled 

 full of rags p icked all rouml the edges. 

 The oilcloth that covers the frames is then 

 put over the whole, and, last of all, the regu- 

 lar hive cover. This, in the opinion of cur 

 correspondent, beats all cellar wintering he 

 ever saw or heard tell of, better than a 

 double- walled hive, and warmer. Chaff, he 

 says, is too light. 



During the past severe winter he trans- 

 ferred 380 colonies on empty frames in 27 



