1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



135 



Friend Dadant: — I read all the articles that you. 

 Dr. Miller, and J. L. Byer wrote. In the fall of 1875, 

 with division-boards I crowded half the colonies in 

 my apiary on five all-capped combs, so as to shut 

 off brood-rearing till near spring. 



The colonies in the other half of the apiary were 

 left with the full sets of combs, and all these had 

 empty space in the center, and plenty of honey to 

 winter on. The winter of 1876 was one of the warm- 

 est we ever had; and during that fine weather the 

 queens filled the empty space with eggs and then 

 started far too much brood for the time of the year, 

 and used up more stores than I expected. All these 

 colonies that bred so in winter dwindled down very 

 low in spring, and some of them got robbed out; 

 and those that came into June were not strong 

 enough to gather a fair crop from clover. The oth- 

 er half, that had been crowded on five all-capped 

 combs, wintered finely, and came into spring very 

 strong; and many of these swarmed the last of ISIay, 

 and gave me large yields of clover in that honey 

 season. Of course, that mild winter caused the bees 

 to breed more, break cluster, and wear themselves 

 out caring for so much brood in what should have 

 been their season of rest. I made up my mind nev- 

 er aeain to let bees have space going into winter 

 which would get larger as the honey was used out 

 of the combs. I have, ever since 1876, with division- 

 boards, crowded my bees on five, six, and seven 

 combs of all-capped stores. When I have not cap- 

 ped combs enough in the supers to fit up all, I put 

 six of the most capped in the brood-chambsr. and 

 then fill out the rest of the brood-chamber with dl- 

 vision-board.s. I then put on a Miller feeder and 

 take the middle off so as to let the bees rush up by 

 wholesale into syrup that is covered with straw. I 

 give the bees all they crowd into the six combs and 

 cap. When the bees can not put any more in these 

 combs they start building comb up in the feeder. I 

 then put a Porter bee-escape under the feeder: and 

 when they are down (aplace they soon leave) I move 

 the feeder to another hive. 



I pack with four inches of maple leaves on the 

 sides. I pull the cloth forward so as to leave one 

 inch wide of the queen-excluder uncovered so as to 

 let the .steam up ofT the bees. I put four inches of 

 leaves on the top so as not to let too much heat up 

 through the part of the queen-excluder that the 

 cloth does not cover. I then place the hive-cover 

 on top of the leaves and over all I put the cover of 

 the winter case. The entrance of my hive is >8 by 

 3 inches, and I keep the snow away from it all win- 

 ter. In the winter of 1904 all the bees in the Province 

 of Ontario that were wintered on the summer stands 

 had a hard time of it, and many lost all. Many 

 came a longdistance to see my apiary in the spring, 

 and were surprised to see my colonies in grand con- 

 dition after such a winter. 



Crowding the bees on all-capped stores and let- 

 ting the steam up off the bees and keeping the snow 

 away from the entrance at all times saved every 

 one of my stocks in the hardest winter ever known 

 on bees. 



Woodburn, Ont., Feb. 6, 1906. Wm. McEvoy. 



Now do not let your readers infer that I 

 believe it is necessary for us to follow the 

 same method in our latitude. I still advise 

 what we recommend in "The Hive and 

 Honey-bee," that the combs be "at least 

 half full of honey." 



I believe that latitude, length of winter, 

 etc., have a great deal to do with success 

 under different kinds of managements. 

 The Canadians place their bees in winter 

 quarters earlier than we do; they need more 

 feed for the same length of time, and their 

 bees begin to eat off the stores in the center 

 earlier than ours, for they have fewer warm 

 days in the late fall. I believe if conditions 

 of the cluster were compared abotit the first 

 of January they would be found in much 

 the same condition as ours, with a certain 

 amount of dry combs on which to cluster at 

 the bottom of the center frames. In other 

 particulars McEvoy 's method is exactly ac- 

 cording to my views, narrowing the colony 



to the most compact space and allowing the 

 moisture to escape in a porous ceiling with- 

 out deperdition of heat. 



This discussion shows once more that we 

 must not condemn others who find them- 

 selves in different conditions and come to 

 different conclusions. The first human be- 

 ings who said that not only the sun and the 

 moon but all the stars had been made for 

 our own special benefit, did not know that 

 there are "other worlds than ours," and 

 that other beings may also imagine that 

 our earth exists only for their own special 

 benefit. 



Hamilton, 111. 



THE WINTER NEST VS. SOLID COMBS OF 

 HONEY. 



A Cold Climate makes Necessary a Large Amount 

 of Honey Above the Cluster. 



BY J. B. HAND. 



I note by the Feb. Ist number of Glean- 

 ings that the subject of the desirability of a 

 winter nest is again open for discussion: 

 therefore, with your permission, I will en- 

 deavor to present my views concerning this 

 mooted question with the hope of arriving 

 at something approaching a definite solu- 

 tion of this important branch of the winter- 

 ing problem. After giving the subject due 

 consideration I am persuaded that, if the 

 discussion with reference to the merits and 

 demerits of a winter nest were conducted 

 along purely isothermal lines, the difference 

 of opinion would not be sufficient to awaken 

 any thing approaching a lively discussion. 



An experience covering a period of twenty 

 years in outdoor wintering of bees in the 

 latitude of Northern Ohio has led me to 

 conclude that a winter nest, if not too large, 

 is a comparatively safe proposition where 

 the colony is well protected. On the other 

 hand, an experience of thirteen years in out- 

 door wintering in North-Central Iowa, 

 where the theremometer frequently regis- 

 ters as low as 20°, and often remains below 

 zero for days at a time, has taught me the 

 wisdom of having an abundance of sealed 

 stores above the winter cluster; in such a 

 location the condition of the comb shown 

 in the illustration on page 19 might mean 

 that there was only about two inches of 

 honey between the colony and starvation; 

 for, just so surely as the bees consume that 

 two inches of honey, and arrive at the top- 

 bar of the frames during a spell of zero 

 weather, just so surely is that colony doom- 

 ed. At ieast, this has been my dearly 

 bought experience. 



No amount of argument could convince 

 one who has lost scores of colonies from star- 

 vation in the midst of plenty, under condi- 

 tions as above described, that a liberal-sized 

 winter nest is a desirable proposition in a 

 cold climate. The fact that bees will usual- 

 ly winter well in a mild climate liUe Central 

 Ohio, in spite of the presence of empty 



