DilCKMBKE, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



911 



giving the bees loss room to warm up, and 

 more packing, or both. 



Our own ex]iorience sliows that a colony 

 in a single-walled hive will consume from 50 

 to 75 per cent more stoi-es than one well 

 and amply packed with a brood-nest reduc- 

 ed down to a capacity no larger tlum is 

 necessary to take the cluster and the combs. 



"When it is almost impossible to get sugar, 

 the importance of reducing the size of the 

 winter nest, and at the same time increas- 

 ing the aniount of packing, cannot be too 

 strongly emphasized. The beekeeper who 

 fails to gave his bees every advantage is 

 wantonly wasting stores, and at the same 

 time he is killing his colonies. Right now, 

 when thcie is such a demand for sugar, it 

 is the patriotic duty of evei\y beekeeper to 

 save sugar stores and increase the amount 

 of sweets bj^ producing honey. The likeli- 

 hood that the war will be over by next Jan- 

 uary has gone glimmering. We may see 

 several Januaries vet with the war still on. 



MOST BEEKEEPERS had their bees sup- 

 plied either with artificial or natural stores 

 before the sugar 

 SUGAR shortage came on. 



FOR Some of them, how- 



FEEDIXG ever, were caught 

 badly. In a few 

 cases we have learned that beekeepers have 

 been able to get sugar from wholesale 

 houses by showing that, for every pound 

 of sugar they get, they can raise at least 

 ten pounds more, for honey is sugar. 

 AVhere sugar is given out in this way it 

 coes not contravene the spirit and purpose 

 of the government regiilations. 



Tn some cases, as pointed out in our last 

 issue, brown sugar can be secured ; in others 

 molasses, and in still others cheap candy. 

 Where one is located near a candy-factory 

 he can get the sweepings of candy from 

 the floor. While this will be a conglomer- 

 ation of everything, it will make a very 

 fair s>iM!) when strained thru cheese-cloth. 

 But fiom now on, candy should not be 

 melted up, but given to the bees on top of 

 the frames in wooden butter-dishes. If it 

 is very hard and dry it should be moistened. 

 In no case shoulcl glucose be used. • In 

 the first place it is difficult to get bees to 

 take it, and in the second place it will kill 

 them before spring. 



In soine localities, not even two pounds 

 of g-ran -dated sugar can be obtained. In 

 Cleveland, foi- example, the housewife can- 

 not get anything in that line. Tliis means 

 tliat she will lie diiven to the use of honey 

 provided it can be had. 



WHILE yVDMITTlNG that the large 

 cases afford tlie most ample pi-otection to 

 outdoor wintered 

 QUADRUPLE 

 WINTER 

 PACKING- 

 CASES 



colonies, and while 

 they are undoubt- 

 edly superior to 

 anything else for 

 northern climates 

 for outdoor wintering", they have some 

 drawbacks. First is the cost, amounting to 

 five or six dollars per ease; second, the g'leat 

 amount of woilc in packing and unpacking: 

 tliJrd, they are not suitable where outyaid:, 

 ha\e to be moved frequently from one lo 

 cality to another; fourth, they cause a great 

 amount of drifting, or at least we have had 

 considerable trouble in our locality. In O'' 

 dei- to make the plan work, the hives should 

 be placed and kept in groups of fo \r all 

 summer, back to back and side by side. Af- 

 ter the four hives are slid together and 

 packed in one big- case the appearance en- 

 ti]-ely changes, and for a day or two the 

 bees act very much confused. After mid- 

 winter flights, such as we have in our lo- 

 cality, we sometimes find one colony very 

 sti-ong and the other, right beside it, quite 

 weak. This is caused by the fact that the 

 two entrances are so close together that 

 when the bees are flying at one entrance 

 pretty strong they are apt to di-aw the ot'.ier 

 bees just coming out. Fifth, when hive3 are 

 placed in gioups of four, it means that one 

 paij- of entrances will have a much more ad- 

 vantageous position, so far as exposure is 

 concerned, tlian the other. 



Prize Articles Wanted 



T)'e editors of Gleanings wish to harvest 

 the best experience and best methods of 

 management learned anywhere during the 

 past season. To this end we offer cash 

 prizes for papers on the following subjects: 



For the most practical, money-saving 

 plan of management, accompanied by sharp 

 clear photographs: $15.00 for best paper; 

 $10.00 for second best, and $1.00 additional 

 for each ijhotograph used. 



For an illusti-ated system, practical for 

 out-apiaries, that requires the minimum of 

 labor: $15.00 for best paper; $10.00 for 

 second best, and $1.00 additional for each 

 photograph used. 



All otlier material offered in ^competition 

 and acce]ited will be paid foi- at a rate cor- 

 responding to tiie value of the ])lan. 



Wi-iters for these prizes must have their 

 papers in the Gleanings office not later 

 than Jan. 15. 



For the best paper on beginners' work, 

 success, and how accomplished, $10.00; for 

 second best, $5.00. 



