GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



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is sufficient, and that they would prefer 

 to have Gleanings reacli them in a 

 single journal monthly than to receive it 

 in separate journals twice a month. We 

 believe that this judgment of a very 

 great majority of our readers who have 

 written us commenting on the intended 

 change will be concurred in by most of 

 Gleanings' followers. 



We have intentionally and purposely 

 refrained from drawing any highly color- 

 ed picture of what the new monthly 

 Gleanings is to be. We expect it to be 

 a decided improvement on the old semi- 

 monthly Gleanings. We are indeed en- 

 thusiastic about it, but we have repressed 

 this enthusiasm, so far as printing it, pre- 

 ferring to let fulfillment rather than prom- 

 ise furnish the basis on which our readers 

 should judge us. 



Accordingly, we shall submit the case of 

 the new monthly Gleanings^ without argu- 

 ment in advance, to the gi'eat jury of our 

 readers, hoping for a unanimous verdict 

 of approval when they have weighed the 

 testimony that its first appearance will 

 bring them. 



Moving Bees During Midwinter; Lo- 

 cation of Yards 



During mid-winter it is easier to move 

 bees a short distance than during summer. 

 If they are put into a cellar they can be 

 placed the following spring anywhere, altho 

 Mr. Dadant, of the American Bee Journal, 

 feels that it is desirable to put them back 

 on their old location. During mid-winter 

 or after settled cold weather has set in we 

 have moved yards short distances without 

 any trouble. 



If bees are to be moved during winter, 

 the question of location should be carefully 

 considered. There are three important req- 

 uisites: First, accessibility to a common 

 highway; second, windbreaks; third, shade. 

 If a yard is located in the middle of a piece 

 of woods or pasture two or three hundred 

 yards from the general roadway, it means 

 that an automobile truck or even a horse 

 and wagon will have difficulty in reaching 

 the yard in early spring when the frost is 

 coming out of the ground. It is very ex- 

 pensive and wasteful of time for one man 

 or two men to tote supplies crosslots over 

 soft ground, across creeks and fences. 



The second requirement, windbreaks, is 

 vei'y important, especially if the bees are 

 wintered outdoors. Experience is proving 

 that, while winter iiacking is essential, a 

 scieen of natural windbreaks is even more 



so. An artificial windbreak, such as a high 

 board fence, is better than nothing; but bet- 

 ter still are hedge fences, trees, or anything 

 that will break the force of the wind from 

 those directions whence the prevailing winds 

 come. Over and over again we have found 

 that our colonies that are well packed out 

 in the open will either die or be weak in 

 the spring, while those well screened would 

 be in the best condition. 



Shade is not essential, but quite helpful 

 during hot weather and during the swarm- 

 ing season. It may be secured artificially 

 by means of shade-boards; but small de- 

 ciduous trees that shade the hives only 

 during certain hours of the day and certain 

 parts of the season are more convenient, 

 and more comfortable to the apiarist. 



During these winter months plans should 

 be made to find good locations if extra ones 

 are needed. It is important to select such 

 positions as furnish these three require- 

 ments, as they not only mean economy but 

 more honey in warm weather. 



Drifting 



This is a newly coined word that has 

 been creeping into our nomenclature, and 

 now for the first time finds a place in the 

 ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture. It 

 means exactly what the word signifies — bees 

 drifting from their homes by mistake into 

 other hives. Young bees especially are in- 

 clined to drift at times. In their play- 

 spells in spring and summer they will run 

 out like a little swarm, and then gi'adually 

 work back into the hive. One playspell 

 begets another, and the result may be that 

 there will be several colonies with a big 

 demonstration in front. Young bees when 

 out for the first time in the season after 

 getting a considerable distance away from 

 the parent hive will sometimes join the 

 entrance where there is the largest number 

 of bees flying, whether it is their own hive 

 or not. The result is that one colony will 

 be weakened and the other strengthened 

 in numbers. 



But the drifting that does real harm takes 

 place when bees are set out of the cellar 

 in early spring or when hives are placed 

 too close together. Sometimes the drifting 

 is aggi'avated when a high wind carries 

 bees, young and old, clear across the yard, 

 with the result that they will join almost 

 any entrance, especially if they are a little 

 confused as to where they belong. The ef- 

 fect of this is to weaken some and to give 

 too many bees to the others. Tl:e former 

 die of spring dwindling, and the latter from 

 starvation. 



