MAY 1. 1916 



373 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



THE BACK-LOT BUZZER. 



1 pound of honey is better than a pound of heef- 

 itenk. Sammy Cucumber says he doesn't care if it 

 if. JSam's a vegetarian. 



I 



The Winter in Montana. 



I went into the winter with eleven colo- 

 nies, two of which were second swarms, and 

 none too strong. They were all wintered 

 out of doors; and as we had the severest 

 winter ever known in this section of the 

 state— -not the coldest weather, but the long- 

 est continuous spell of cold weather, getting 

 as low as 40 degrees — I was very anxious 

 about the bees, as my experience covers only 

 a few years. 



About the 10th of February the weather 

 broke, and the bees came out for their first 

 Hight since before Christmas. Every colony 

 showed signs of life and considerable activ- 

 ity, and all but one were strong. Of this 

 cold spell I may say that, for three weeks 

 or more, the temperature was away below 

 zero every night, and for much of the time 

 did not get above zero during the twenty- 

 four hours. Another thing about this spell 

 of weather, which I feared might have a 

 bad effect upon the bees, was that, after 

 about ten days of extreme cold, the weather 

 moderated one day, and the next day the 

 temperature was 53 above zero in the after- 

 noon, and within twelve hours thereafter it 

 again fell to 20 below, and the extreme cold 

 continued for another ten days or more; but 

 all of this severe weather seems to have had 

 little effect upon the bees. 



I winter in double hives, patterned after 



the Root hive — one of them is a Root; but 

 the outer casing is considerably larger than 

 the Root double hive — large enough for four 

 inches of filling around the brood-nest. In 

 this space I put three thicknesses of thick 

 cellular box material next to the outer walls 

 and bottom of the outer case, and the rest of 

 the space is filled with chopped alfalfa, and 

 over the top about six inches of leaves. 



Last summer was a poor honey season 

 here, and my bees were wintered mostly 

 upon syrup. I gave them all that they would 

 store. The system is not what might be 

 called "beekeeping for profit," but I keep 

 the bees mainly for the pleasure they af- 

 ford, and, incidentally, to have my own 

 honey. 



The experiences of the past winter have 

 convinced me that a bee-cellar is not a 

 necessity in this climate, however it may be 

 within the arctic circle or some other cold 

 section of the earth. 



Rudolf von Tobel. 



Lewistown, Mont., March 10. 



Massachusetts Society of Beekeepers 



The fifth of the six regular meetings of 

 the years 1915 and 1916 was held in the 

 Williams room in the Ford Building, Boston, 

 Saturday evening, March 18. Miss Dorothy 

 Q. Wright, of Lowell, was the speaker. Be- 

 ing a practical beekeeper she was very in- 

 teresting, and held the attention of the 

 large gathering for about two hours. She 

 had a display at an exhibition in Lowell re- 

 cently. There were miniature hives in an 

 apple-orchard, dolls with hoods of net tend- 

 ing them. The trees were made of bayberry 

 shrubs with the berries painted red. Above 

 was a sign ' ' An Apiary, ' ' and a large num- 

 ber of visitors stepped up to ask her what 

 sort of animal an apiary was. 



Miss Wright believes that all beekeepers 

 should raise their own queens, as queens sent 

 by mail are more or less injured. 



Henry W. Britton. 



Stoughton, Mass., March 20. 



An Inexpensive Way to Bind Gleanings 



The following is the most satisfactory 

 way of binding coisies of Gleanings that I 

 have yet found: Punch four holes with a 

 leather-punch, one pair near each end and 

 about 1/4-inch from the back edge. Then get 

 two pieces of tough cardboard for corners 

 and punch corresponding holes in them. The 

 holes should all be punched with the same 

 pattern. Strong cord is used to tie them 

 together. I put six issues in a volume, as 

 this is the handiest size. The word Glean- 

 ings and the date of the first and last issues 

 are written on the corner, and the volume is 

 complete. These volumes can be opened and 

 handled as easily as a book, and any article 

 can be quickly referred to. 



Jennings, Kan. M. L. Dodson. 



