850 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



the house. Will partitioning off a part of 

 the cellar with inch boards covered with 

 some heavy paper, and having in this apart- 

 ment a window from out of doors, regulate 

 the heat so that the bees will winter all 

 right. 



How large a part should be partitioned off? 



Pierpont, 0. Edgar Williams. 



[Your bees can be wintered in your cel- 

 lar, but you must be sure the temperature 

 of the furnace-room does not materially af- 

 fect the temperature of the room in which 

 the bees are confined. A board partition 

 would hardly be tight enough. Temperature 

 should be kept as near as possible about 45 

 degrees. Very much of a fluctuation above 

 or below this would result in the death of a 

 good many bees. Last winter was an ex- 

 ceptionally hard o)i<', and I would advise you 

 to go slow about wintering in the cellar; for 

 in the majority of localities in Ohio, unless 

 conditions of temperature can be absolutely 

 controlled, you had better winter outdoors, 

 providing, however, that you have good 

 hives double-walled, and protected from the 

 prevailing winds. 



The space for 80 colonies should not be 

 less than 8x8, and better 10X10. There 

 should be a window which can be opened, 

 and the wall that projects above ground 

 should be earthed up or protected with 



cers in home towns, the " manufactured- 

 honey " story would soon die out. 



This spring, when bees began to gather 

 honey fast from white clover there would be 

 many bees dead and dying around in the 

 grass, sometimes in hollows in the ground. 

 We feared for a time it would decimate our 

 hives, but in a few days it passed away. 

 We do not know the cause. We then feared 

 some one was trying to poison them, though 

 we mentioned it to no one. We knew they 

 bothered our neighbors sometimes; but if 

 such is the case we had better say but little 

 about it, and try to kill the neighbors' trou- 

 ble with kindness if possible. 



Our bees have done fairly well this year, 

 though not yet more than half as much hon- 

 ey as last year has baen gathered. But wc 

 hoj)o for a fall honey crop, which we d'd 

 not get last year. Bees are in good condi- 

 tion for a fall crop, and frequent rains give 

 promise of more honey-bearing weeds, such 

 as smartweed and teasel. 



Roseville, 111. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



[There may be something in your idea of 

 putting out honey with stains or marks of 

 the hive on it in your own locality; but in 

 the large markets, at least, cleaned and 

 carefully sorted sections bring a higher 

 price as a rule. The public always prefers 

 something really fancy. 



A RETURNING SWARM. 



straw, not so much to keep the cellar warm 

 as to keep it cool. In Ohio the great diffi- 

 culty is keeping the cellar cool enough. Our 

 machine-shop cellar that gives such' good re- 

 sults furnishes conditions that will not be 

 found in the ordinary house cellar. —Ed.] 



WHY SECTIONS SHOULD NOT BE CLEANED OR 



SCRAPED ; BEES DYING DURING OR 



AFTER A HONEY-FLOW. 



When we used to clean our sections so 

 nicely, people used to say our honey was 

 manufactured; but since selling it direct 

 from the hive with wax on the supers, they 

 seem satisfied it is made by|!the bees. If 

 every one could sell his honey in that way 

 to farmers by the sui)cvful, and to the gro- 



- We have noticed exactly the same thing 

 you describe, cf bees dying'during the hon- 

 ey-flow. If anycf rur readers are able to 

 account for it we shoul.i be glad t:> have 

 them write us. — Ed. | 



A RETURNING SWARM. 



I am sending you a half-tone of a return- 

 ing swarm. The queen was caught in the 

 tr?p, and when the swarm came back from 

 the plum-tree she was allowed to enter. All 

 my bees are Italians, and very g jntle. Th's 

 colony gave me 13.3 choice sections, 3's >.5. 

 Mv average was over 90 for the apiary. I 

 sell all my honey to the local trade, and 

 can't get enough. F. H. Drake. 



East Brookfield, Mass. 



