FEBRUARY 1, 1916 



115 



and $2.50 per colony — quite a difference 

 again, between those figures and tlie start- 

 lei's given in this editorial. 



As to brimstoiiing bees in the fall, surely 

 an unheard-of proposition here in the 

 North, and the only mention I have ever 

 seen in this line was on the part of a good 

 friend in the South, who sells bees by the 

 pound. The shipping of bees in combless 

 packages has a future, but no pound pack- 

 age can ever compete in the matter of jn'o- 

 ducing surplus, with well-wintered full 

 colonies. No, sir, "it can't be did." Wheth- 

 er bees will consume more or less stores 

 here in Ontario than they will in Ohio — 

 frankly, I don't know. As pointed out, 

 what Dr. Phillips says proves conclusively, 

 tJieoreticalli/, that our bees should consume 

 more ; but as a matter of fact I am not con- 

 vinced that all his claims in that line worjc 

 out in practice. I know that during winter 

 we have some thaws, causing the bees to get 

 stirred up more or less, and yet not warm 

 enough for them to fly; that if these thaws 

 are at all frecjuent, our bees consume more 

 stores than they do during seasons of steady 

 cold weather. 



The question of insuiation is a difficult 

 ])roblem to settle satisfactorily; and while I 

 believe in lots of it for our climate, I was 

 somewhat jarred in this line when visiting 

 friend House to see that while his bees were 

 well protected on sides, rear, and tops, yet 

 he had absolutely no packing in the fronts. 

 Dr. Phillii3S says that the insulation of a 

 hive is just as complete as its weakest place, 

 so on that basis of reckoning the bees in 

 House's apiary have no insulation except 

 the inch board that comprises the front of 

 the hive. It is not necessary to say as to 

 liow House's bees winter, and I do not at- 

 tempt to make any explanation, but will 

 leave that for Dr. Phillips to do. 



As to the matter of snow over hives, I 

 should think that in localities Avhere they 

 have m.any thaws snow would never be all 

 over hives very long at a time. When snow 

 is over hives very long we find that there 

 will be large spaces melted around en- 

 trances, and there is no danger of water 

 congealing there. Just at present I only 

 wish we had snow over our hives here in 

 York Co., as we have none at this date, 

 Jan. 12, and we are apt to have severe 

 weather during the next four weel^. How- 

 ever, I would not advise any one to take 

 any chance on my advice not to worry ovei- 

 the snow problem, as we have had but tlnee 

 winters when our bees have been covered 

 oyer so long at a time. Altho they have 

 wintered so well so fai-, another season 

 might tell a different tale. I exi)ect and 



hope that the noith bees are covered over at 

 present, and we are doing no worrying. 

 Another thing, do not forget that I empha- 

 sized the matter of having a quilt over 

 frames instead of a board, and that we 

 want lots of absorbents over the quilts and 

 an air-space between packing and tops of 

 winter cases. 



In conclusion, while there is a chance that 

 my advice might not be the best for some 

 localities regarding the matter of allowing 

 snow to drift over the hives, if there is 

 anything I am sure of it is this : that 20 

 pounds of sealed stores, combs and all, are 

 entirely inadequate for wintering bees out- 

 doors in our locality; and I again say, 

 without any hesitation, that we want double 

 that allowance to carry on beekeeiDing suc- 

 cessfully here in Ontario. 



Markham, Ont. 



[The whole discussion hinges on a careless 

 reading and an unfortunate misprint. On 

 page 969 the little word " not " was omitted 

 in the sentence replying to Mrs. Grace 

 Allen. It should, therefore, have read as 

 follows: "We should figure on 20 lbs. of 

 sealed stores, not including combs." On the 

 face of it, it might look as if it were an 

 ingenious way to crawl out of a hole. Be 

 that as it may, that this must have been the 

 meaning is clearly shown by rei>eated state- 

 ments to the same effect in these columns, 

 and particularly in the ABC and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture, late editions. On this ques- 

 tion we state that " the opinon of the bee- 

 keeping world is somewliat divided;" but 

 we recommend " from 20 to 25 lbs. per 

 colony of sealed stores." This statement 

 has stood unchallenged in our ABC and 

 X Y Z for the last three or four editions. 

 In earlier editions we find the following: 

 " See that every colony has from 20 to* 25 

 lbs. of sealed stores." In the light of Dr. 

 Phillips' experiments and the practice of 

 beekeepers in the North where it is much 

 colder than here, perhaps we should make 

 the figures in the next edition read " from 

 20 to 30 lbs. according to locality." 



The same lack of time, or carelessness, 

 that permitted the little word " not " to be 

 left out of the quotation above mentioned 

 also caused the misreading of the statement 

 as to the amount of stores that Mr. Sibbald 

 found necessary for good wintering out- 

 dooi's. We have no excuse to offer, excejjt 

 that at the time we had " too many ii'ons in 

 the fire." 



But when the corrections are all made, 

 we still consider that 42 lbs. is a large 

 allowance, and 28 los. ample. Some of the 

 time the beekeepers of Ontario will be com- 

 j)elled to use ten-cent honey. On that basis 



