SEPTEMBER 15, 191t 



725 



ITEMING BEES 



ESOTA 



Meaal Ijefore tllliie MiuiieegaDtta Beekeepers' Aggcrocialtioe DeCo 4, 1913 



I'.V Fi. I). LEONARD 



When beekeepiiii;' is t-uiulucted on a busi- 

 ness basis, the hit-and-miss plan, under 

 wliich most beekeeping is carried on to-day, 

 will have to be relegated to the past. Why 

 is it that one beekeejier manages his apiary 

 in one way and another one in an entirely 

 different manner? Simply because he has 

 not yet established any system that is recog- 

 nized as applying universally to beekeeping 

 in Minnesota. If we wish to do all we can 

 to further tliis industry, thereby adding to 

 the wealth and prestige of ourselves and the 

 State, we must begin to settle upon some 

 fundamental principles regarding methods 

 to be practiced here. 



Our conditions in Minnesota are so differ- 

 ent from those further south, where it is 

 warmer most of the time, and where the 

 winters are less severe, that we must neces- 

 sarily make our own rules and do our own 

 experimenting if we would be successful. I 

 believe it will not be long now before a 

 text-book will be constructed and published 

 by our State apiarist wherein the best meth- 

 ods for us in this Northwest will be set 

 forth. If such a book is gotten up I have 

 no doubt that the individual members of the 

 Minnesota Beekeepers' Associatiou will be 

 called upon to contribute from their past 

 experience such facts as they may know 

 beyond a question. I am going to forestall 

 my invitation to write a text-chapter, and 

 give it to you to-day — " Hoav to winter bees 

 in Minnesota." 



The time to commence wintering bees in 

 Minnesota is August 15th. At this time the 

 bees will have been resting for at least two 

 weeks. All the light honey Avill have been 

 ripened, and should be removed from the 

 hive by this time, if not before, Avhether in 

 supers or brood-chamber, excepting frames 

 with brood in them, thus making room in 

 the hive for fall brood-rearing. For thirty 

 days, or imtil Sept. 15, there should always 

 be empty combs in the brood-chamber. 



At this time, Aug. 15, every hive should 

 have a feeder permanently attached, so that 

 the sugar syrup can be fed any clay or 

 every day if nectar is not coming in from 

 the fields. The object is to keep brood- 

 rearing steadily going on for the next thirty 

 days. In twenty-one days, or on Sept. 5, 

 the young bees will be emerging from the 

 cells in response to this feeding, too late in 

 the season to wear themselves out working 

 in the fields, consequently in the best condi- 

 lion to cairy the colony through the long 



winter. This feeding kept up for lliirly 

 days, or until Sept. 15, will bring the hatch- 

 ing season to a liractical close on Oct. 5, 

 with a hive full of young bees. 



In the mean time, for ten days after 

 Sept. 15, let the bees rest. Don't feed or 

 disturb them in any way; but on Sept. 25 

 go tln-ough the hives, estimate how much 

 sugar syrup each colony will need to carry 

 it through the winter — the authorities say 

 25 to 30 pounds — then feed all at once 

 Avhatever is needed. Syrup fed warm at 

 this time should be made of two parts of 

 sugar to one of water, with a little cream of 

 tartar. Thus feeding will be over by the 

 first of October, after which the bees should 

 be let alone until the time for removing to 

 the cellar. 



By tliis method you have accomplished 

 two important things: 1. Extracted all of 

 the salable honey while wintering the bees 

 on dark honey or dark honey mixed with 

 sugar syrup, which improves it for winter- 

 ing purposes. And, by the way, if you are 

 an up-to-date business man you will feed 

 granulated sugar, damaged for table pur- 

 poses, but all right for winter stores, which 

 m.ay be had for 2V2 cts.'* per pound. 



Now that I have outlined the method for 

 feeding Avhich I think best to use in Minne- 

 sota, I wish to describe the hive arrange- 

 ments Avhich I think are best adapted to our 

 conditions. 



THE HIVE AND ITS ARRANGEMENT. 



The ideal hi\-e is not yet invented — the 

 one good for all purposes such as producing 

 a large number of bees when Ave want 

 them, getting the most out of them in the 

 matter of honey production and for winter- 

 ing purposes. I know, hoAvever, that exper- 

 imentation is going to be made next summer 

 with some neAV hives, the principles of 

 which are entirely different from these noAv 

 in use. HoAvever, the hives Ave now have 

 ought to be made the most of since Ave have 

 them, Avhich I think the beekeepers are not 

 doing at the pi'esent time. 



The hive-bodies and the frames are the 

 only parts of the hives in general use that 

 are fit to have a place in Minnesota. The 

 single flat cover and the ordinary bottom- 

 boards are, in my estimation, not fit, and 

 should either be thrown aAvay entirely or 

 modified to suit our conditions. As regards 

 the cover I shall onh' sav that evei'v hive 



Ed. 



Such a price does imt prevail now, of course.- 



