SEPTEMBER 1, 1914 



693 



how the bees were faring. I prepare them for win- 

 tor by putting on an empty super, putting a piece of 

 bent woven-wire fencing over the frames to make a 

 concave space on top of the frames ; then a cushion 

 of burlap filled with leaves on top of that. When I 

 removed the top I saw a little mouse-hole drilled 

 through the side of the cushion. I removed this, and 

 looked carefully down among the frames, then patted 

 the cushion all over, and concluded Miss Mouse was 

 not at home. So I replaced the cushion and put 

 the winter case on. A month later came the first 

 day warm enough for the bees to fly ; but on looking 

 over the entrances I saw this particular hive nad 

 the entrance entirely choked with bee wings, legs, 

 and such debris. Well, Miss Mouse was there all 

 right, but it proved to be Mrs. Mouse, and she had 

 her family with her. Such a cosy nest as they had, 

 right on top of the frames at the front end, close 

 up to the cluster. Mice evidently don't care for 

 honey, as they had not disturbed the combs, except 

 for a spot about as big as my hand, eaten down to 

 the midrib on the outside of the outside comb, and 

 it had no honey in it (I forgot to say that I had 

 wedged in the entrance stick at the time of the first 

 examination). They had been fastened in the hive, 

 and evidently thrived on a diet of bees and a little 

 wax for a change, for they were sleek and fat. The 

 cluster of bees was much depleted, though, and I 

 do not know whether they will survive the winter or 

 not. The next time I winter any mice I hope it will 

 not be on bees. 



Mannington, W. Va., Jan. 27. D. S. Ferry. 



Wintering Bees on the Let-alone Plan 



Last fall we prepared our 78 hives of bees on 

 their summer stands, feeding them up for the winter, 

 and packing them with chat? and planer shavings; 

 with no upper ventilation. To-day, May 4, I went 

 through the yard and found every colony carrying in 

 pollen. Almost every colony is strong. I had not 

 looked at the inside of a hive since last fall. This is 

 what I did: I mixed about 250 lbs. of granulated 

 sugar, made into a syrup, with about 50 lbs. of 

 honey to flavor it. I fed this out near the yard in 

 April, using my large feeders, and took part of three 

 days to do the feeding, though I will overhaul each 

 hive soon during apple bloom. Some colonies are 

 clustering out now, and need room. 



Lakeville, Ind. C. A. Bunch. 



A Cold Cellar 



I did not lose over fifty bees out of two colonies 

 that wintered in a cellar where the average tempera- 

 ture for the winter was 33 degrees. Can you beat 

 that? 



Howard, Pa., May 8. Chas. Heverly. 



Pollen from Cotton-seed Meal in Midwinter 



Last fall all my bees went into winter with about 

 30 lbs. of aster honey, and with a goodly number of 

 bees, taking the apiaries as a whole. My Golden 

 breeding-yard is 3 V2 miles south of here ; and during 

 the winter one of my neighbors, whose barn is about 

 Vi mile from this apiary, told me that my bees were 

 working heavily every nice day on the ensilage and 

 cotton-seed meal he was feeding his cattle. I fully 

 expected these bees to be weak in the spring on 

 account of so many being lost going after this pol- 

 len, not to mention the corn ensilage and aster hon- 

 ey ; however, I found that this yard was consider- 

 ably ahead of all our others — not a single weak 

 colony in the lot. Some at this late date have 14 to 

 17 L. frames of brood. Nuclei were stronger by one- 

 half the first of April than when consolidated last 

 fall. Yes, some were twice as strong. It's true we 

 had a very mild winter ; but does that account for 

 the difference in strength of apiaries ? 



The way I look at it is, the sap from the ensilage 

 and- the cotton-seed meal combined, as this feed was, 

 iipproaches very nearly the natural pollen as a brood- 

 rearing combination. 



Spring Hill, Tenn., April 22. Ben G. Davis. 



Earthquake in Jamaica Does No Damage to 

 Bees 



A violent shock of earthquake accompanied with 

 several lighter shocks occurred in Jamaica on the 

 morning of August 3 at 6:30 A. M. The bee industry, 

 however, was not damaged except in a few apiaries 

 where some of the colonies shifted their position. 

 About half an hour before the earthquake I noticed 

 that rats rushed from the upper story of the house 

 and took shelter in the trees. A few seconds before 

 the first quiver of the earth the fowls all collected 

 together and appeared to be in a great panic. An 

 intense stillness prevailed before the shock, and the 

 hills were enveloped in a grayish mist. During he 

 shock, the earth rocked like a cradle, and one won- 

 dered how any building could stand. The trees 

 appeared to be enveloped in a strong whirlwind, and 

 a regular storm appeared to rage during the shaking 

 of the earth. A heavy artillery duel seemed to go 

 on in the air. The earth became an unsafe footing, 

 and one would stagger about like a drunken man, 

 and even the atheist would call upon the Lord for 

 help, for there was no other to call upon. 



F. A. HOOPEE. 



Four Paths, -Jamaica, B. W. I., Aug. 4. 



Sending Comb Honey by Parcel Post in Tin 



I notice what Mr. E. T. Bond says on page 560, 

 in the July 15th issue of Gleanings about sending 

 comb honey by parcel post. I wish to say that I am 

 sending out many packages of comb honey by parcel 

 post. I order the square syrup-cans to be sent to me, 

 all made up except that the top end without cap or 

 handle is not to be put on. The end is the same in 

 the top as on the bottom. I cut the comb honey in 

 pieces that very nearly fit the can. With these the 

 can is filled up to within half an inch of the top, 

 and the air-space left is filled with extracted honey. 

 Then the end is soldered on with the ordinary sol- 

 dering-iron. What is the use of shipping sections 

 whole as long as the wood is to be torn oflf and 

 thrown away ? I have also had tin cans made with 

 a large-sized screw cap. After the can of honey is 

 sealed up, it is put into a wooden box for the mail. 

 Tags are tacked on the side of the box. 



Owensmouth, Cal. C. W. Dayton. 



Feeding with Near Candy 



I have been obliged to conserve my time and 

 strength; and, not being satisfied with the feeders 

 on the market, many of which will leak while the 

 entrance and rear feeders are cold, I began devising 

 a method of feeding which would do away with the 

 objectionable features of the others. 



My inclination is toward the vacuum feeder; but 

 whether the syrup is thick or thin, a change of tem- 

 perature in the imprisoned air in the feeder causes 

 the syrup to be forced out; and if the bees chance 

 to be clustered under the feeder many of them are 

 drowned or daubed up. 



While making candy I was impelled to put half a 

 pound into a Mason jar with a perforated top, and 

 invert that over the brood-nest. I proceeded to make 

 several degrees of hardness of near candy from a 

 syrup which would just pour at 60 degrees P. to a 

 mass that was really candy. These, five of them, I 

 put in hives, in holes cut in the super-covers, seeing 

 that the surface of the perforated top did not touch 

 the top-bars by a bee-space or better. 



