7o0 



GLEANINGS IN 



EE CULTURE 



October, 1917 



It will have to be used largely in canning. 

 When honey once gets this enlarged foot- 

 hold, and the public once learns that it can 

 use honey in place of sugar, its future as 

 a food product and as a confection will be 

 established forever. 



War, and especially the present one, is 

 an awful thing; but in the wake of war 

 come some good things; and in this partic- 

 ular case it is honey that reaps a benefit, 

 for it is apparent that honey will form a 

 larger part of our dietary than it has ever 

 done before. Even when the great war is 

 over, and a series of years have elapsed and 

 things have resumed th^ir normal condi- 

 tion, honey will not lose its food grip on 

 the public that it secured during this war. 



THE QUESTION of packing bees outdoors 

 or jDutting them inside in a winter reposi- 

 tory will depend on 

 CELLAR climatic conditions. 



VEBSUS In a general way 



OUTDOOR it may be said that 

 WINTERING unless the winters 

 are severely and 

 continuously cold, beginning about the first 

 of December and ending in March or April, 

 with a temperature playing around zero or 

 lower, the outdoor method of packing 

 should be employed. It may be said, also, 

 that the average person will winter better 

 outdoors than in. 



Indoor wintering is not practical in a 

 climate Avhere the winters are mild, with 

 cold and warm days playing between 10 be- 

 low zero and 50 to 65 above at times when 

 bees can fly. Besides the question of the 

 outdoor weather is the one of ventilation 

 and temperature in the cellar itself. The 

 mercury should not go higher than 55 de- 

 grees nor lower than 40. In climates where 

 the outdoor weather is variable it is im- 

 possible to control the temperature in the 

 bee-cellar within the ranges mentioned. A 

 variable temperature in the cellar — one go- 

 ing down below 30 or 37 and above 60 — 

 will prove disastrous before spring. Cellar- 

 ed bees, when they become uneasy, either 

 because the temperature is too low or too 

 high, or because the ventilation is insuffi- 

 cient, or because the combination of tem- 

 perature and ventilation is poor, will be 

 almost sure to have dysentery toward 

 spring. The bees that contract dysentery 

 in a bee-ccUar are as good as lost ; and even 

 if they live thru the period of confinement 

 they Avill not be worth much for honey pro- 

 duction during the season. 



As a general rule, south of the Great 

 Lakes outside packing on summer stands 



is much more preferable, and even to a 

 considerable extent north of the lakes out- 

 door wintering can be employed to advan- 

 tage. In localities like noiihwestern Iowa, 

 and the Dakotas, where the mercury goes 

 down to zero and stays there thruout the 

 winter, falling sometimes as low as 60 de- 

 grees below, with snow on the ground that 

 never melts during the entire winter, the 

 indoor method may be employed to advan- 

 tage ; but even then the beekeejier will have 

 to look after the matter of temperature and 

 ventilation in the cellar. 



MORE AND MORE the whole beekeeping 

 fraternity has settled down to the conclu- 

 sion that wind- 

 WIND- breaks for bees 



BREAKS wintered outdoors 



T'^*. PACK- are vitally import- 

 ING ant. No matter how 



well the bees are 

 packed, if they are out in the open, ex- 

 posed to strong wind-sweeps, there are 

 quite liable to be some winter losses be- 

 fore spring, especially with these colonies 

 whose entrances happen to face the pre- 

 vailing winds. 



Windbreaks are important south as well 

 as north. If we had to choose between 

 suitable shelter fi^om the prevailing winds 

 or ample packing, Ave would unhesitatingly 

 select the former. But it is very important 

 to have both in all northern localities, and 

 packing may do a world of good in south- 

 ern states. It is not alone important to 

 bring colonies thru till spring ; but from an 

 economic point of vicAv, as well as for 

 the health of the bees, it is important to 

 keep doAvn the consumption of food to the 

 lowest point possible. 



In the southern states, except in some 

 localities, bees can fly almost every day. 

 In some places they oan gather consider- 

 able pollen, and i^erhaps a little nectar. 

 All this incites brood-rearing; but brood- 

 rearing may not replace the loss of flying 

 bees that are chilled or Avorn out and never 

 get back to the hive. Beekeepers in the 

 South might just as Avell wake up to the 

 fact that their Aviniering problem, in some 

 respects, is more difficult than in the North. 

 Southern wintering requires more stores, 

 twice over; and eA'en then the chances of 

 starvation will by no means be removed. 

 While a colony may not starA'^e it will not 

 do much brood-rearing unless it has plenty 

 of stores and pollen. 



Erom every point of view, Avindbreaks 

 and packing are important south as well 

 as north; and the sooner the southern bee- 



