432 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



different localities from 5 to 22 miles apart, 

 and they all wintered well, notwithstand- 

 ing that half the bees about him were dead 

 from winter losses. 



Pel haps the matter is a little out of sea- 

 son; but I am willing to place it before our 

 readers; but I would suggest that they first 

 test it in their own locality in a limited way. 

 A plan or method that will answer for one 

 bee-keeper or for one part of a State will 

 often prove to be a failure in another. 



WINTER AND SPRING LOSSES HEAVIEST FOR 

 20 YEARS. 



The reports are still coming in, and the 

 situation is, if anything, more serious than 

 last reported. The losses are confined to 

 localities around the lakes, mainly. As 

 before, Michigan, New York, and Pennsyl- 

 vania seem to be the chief sufterers. The 

 backward spring has been a fearful setback 

 to the bees. In York State the losses are 

 so severe that not only the beginners but 

 even the veterans, according to inspector 

 Stewart, in many cases, have suffered heav- 

 ily. Taking it all in all, I am rather of 

 the opinion that the aggregate mortality for 

 the lake regions will be the heaviest known 

 for a period of over twenty years. 



another tall section USING SHIPPING 

 CASES AND SUPERS. 



One of our neighbors, Mr. J. B. Hains, 

 of Bedford, O., well known to our older sub- 

 scribers — in fact, he was the inventor of 

 the Hains feeder— uses a section 5- i in. high 

 by 4% wide and Iji thick — that is, he di- 

 vides up the length of a super, designed to 

 hold 4X sections, into three equal spaces 

 instead of four. For example, the section- 

 holder is just 17 inches wide in the clear. 

 If we divide up this 17 inches we get three 

 spaces 5-3 inches each— instead of four. 

 This makes it possible to use the section in 

 an ordinary super, laying it on the side, of 

 the dimensions above given. It also makes 

 it possible to use the regular shipping- 

 cases for 4 '4^ sections. Mr. Hains' argument 

 in favor of this size is that it makes a thin 

 comb of large surface, and it holds approxi- 

 mately a pound; that the bees will fill these 

 thin combs quicker, and finish better, than 

 they will thicker ones, and that such sections 

 fit his regular supers and shipping-cases 

 without any change whatever. The boxes 

 certainly present a very pretty appearance 

 when filled with honey. Of course, a sec- 

 tion taller than broad, laid on its side, or, 

 more correctly speaking, a good deal broad- 

 er than tall, will have one long side not so 

 well filled out as the other long side, while 

 a tall section that stands up in the super 

 will have one short side imperfectlj' filled 

 out instead of the long one. Mr. Hains 

 says these sections laid on their side are 

 nicely built out by the bees, and that no one 

 but an expert would notice which way they 

 were laid on the hive. 



Mr. R. C. Aikin, however, gave the rule 

 that the bees would more readily build a 



comb downward, making it long, than they 

 will build a shallow comb much wider than 

 deep. I suppose there is something in it. 

 But Mr. Hains prizes very much the feature 

 of being able to use the regular supers and 

 shipping-cases. 



SOME LESSONS GLEANED FROM INDOOR WIN- 

 TERING; A POSSIBLE SOLUTION OF CON- 

 FLICTING OPINIONS. 



During the past winter we have been 

 conducting a series of experiments on the 

 general subject of wintering, particularly 

 respecting the indoor plan. Our readers 

 will remember that I have advocated a 

 large amount of ventilation for repositories, 

 even going so far as to recommend the open- 

 ing of doors at night, and closing them 

 again in the morning in moderate weather. 

 Experience with our bees under the ma- 

 chine shop has shown most conclusively 

 that far betti r results have been secured by 

 giving the bees frequent infusions of fresh 

 air than by shutting them up and compel- 

 ling them to breathe the same air over and 

 over, day after day. But in this there were 

 some prominent and skillful bee keepers 

 whj took issue, and it seemed difficult to 

 harmonize their opinions with the other 

 school to which I belonged who contended 

 for ventilation. 



We put 2i0 colonies last winter into a 

 small compartmei t under the machine shop, 

 with the rumble and roar of machinery 

 above, with the occasional dropping of 

 heavy castings, and the constant walking 

 to and fro of the employees during working 

 hours. How did they come out? There 

 was a loss of only one colony, and that a 

 nucleus, out of the entire number. There 

 were very few dead bees on the floor, and 

 what there were showed no signs of disease. 

 They were simply superannuated fellows 

 that had served out their usefulness. I call- 

 ed Mr. Vernon Burt and Mr. Francis Dan- 

 zenbaker into the cellar the day before tak- 

 ing the bees out, and they both pronounced 

 themselves as being highly pleased with 

 the conditions as they found them. Said 

 Mr. Burt, "Why don't you winter all your 

 bees here — save your stores, and be pre- 

 pared for any kind of winter?" 



"I would, but I want to experiment for 

 Gleanings," I said. "We will continue, 

 however, to put in more and more bees un- 

 til we finally have them all in." 



Ha: f of the 250 colonies were two and 

 three frame nuclei, and they could not pos- 

 sibly have survived outdoors. All of these 

 were in healthy condition; and when we 

 put a part of them outdoors a few days ago 

 there was no spotting of the hives. 



But I wi&h I could show as good results 

 in indoor wintering in the two out-yard 

 cellars, each of which contained from 50 to 

 60 colonies. The one at the north yard was 

 damp, although it was built on the cistern 

 plan with a large ventilator, as recommend- 

 ed by Mr. T. F. Bingham. From 10 to 15 

 per cent of the bees are dead, hives badly 

 soiled, and there are many dead bees ia 



