482 



GI. EANINGS tN fefif: CULTURE 



AiTQusT, 1921 



niorial that shall be a fitting tribute to this 

 great man, even if it takes many months 

 to do it. 



The following letter from Doctor Phillips 

 expresses clearly the viewpoint of the com- 

 mittee in making this decision: 



Dear Mr. Root: 



I have your inquiry regarding the desirability 

 of continuing the effort to obtain subscriptions for 

 tlie Miller Memorial Fund. I am very much in 

 favor of going right on with this until all bee- 

 keepers who wish to do so may have the oppor- 

 tunity to contribute. The amount so far obtained 

 does not, I am sure, include contributions from 

 all who have been benefited by the life and work 

 of Doctor Miller, and it would be a pity to close 

 this fund until all have had a chance to do their 

 part. The various associations will doubtless take 

 tlii.s u]> at their meetings, and more money will 

 come in. 



When we consider what the work of Doctor Mil- 

 ler has meant to the beekeepers of the whole world, 

 it is evident that there are many more who will 

 feel it a duty and privilege to help. Those bee- 

 keepers who had had but who conquered European 

 foul brood will realize that but for the work of 

 Doctor Miller their returns from their bees would 

 be many thousands of dollars less, and they will 

 want to show their appreciation of his aid. Comb- 

 honey producers who successfully control swarming 

 in out-apiaries realize that without his aid they 

 would necessarily be content with less colonies of 

 bees, and they will wish to share the extra profits 

 ill honoring the man who, more than any one else, 

 made their larger operation.s possible. Many other 

 classes of beekeepers could be mentioned who have 

 received financial benefit from his work ; but there 

 is the still larger class of beekeepers who are bet- 

 ter, bigger men and women because of his life, and 

 that is an obligation which we can not pay off in 

 dollars. This calls for our best efforts. 



Under these circumstances, it seems to me that 

 we should go on asking for funds, until we get 

 an amount that will be a living, growing thing, 

 which will for all time benefit beekeepers every- 

 where, for that was what Doctor Miller wanted to 

 do more than anything else on earth. There is no 

 hurry about closing this up, for the memory of 

 Doctor Miller is not a transient thing, and bee- 

 keeping will last as long as there are flowers and 

 bees, without which none of us would care to stay 

 here. Let's keep at this until the fund can do for 

 beekeeping what Doctor Miller would so much have 

 liked to do. Very truly vours, 



Washington, D. C, June 28. E. F. Phillips. 



Subscriptions may be sent to any mem- 

 ber of the committee, as follows: C. P. Da- 

 dant, Hamilton, 111.; B. F. Kindig, East Lan- 

 sing, Mich.; E. G. LeSturgeon, San Antonio, 

 Texas; Dr. E. F. Phillips, Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, Washington, D. C; E. E. Root, 

 Medina, Ohio. 



30 ^ ac 



WHILE beekeepers are harvesting their 

 crop of honey they are usually too busy to 

 give much thought to 

 ^^\ Preparations a subject so remote 

 fe — ^^ For Winter. as the preparation for 

 next year 's crop, yet 

 the beginning of the foundation for the 

 1922 honey crop is made tliis month, wheth- 

 er the beekeeper directs it or. not. With all 

 that has been written on the subject of 

 wintering, too little emphasis has been 

 placed upon the history of the colony during 

 late summer and fall, and much of the so- 

 called winter loss should not be charged to 

 the winter but rather to late summer and 

 fall management. Really, the problem of 



wintering begins about the middle of Aug- 

 ust, for the condition of the colonies from 

 that time until brood-rearing ceases deter- 

 mines largely how well they will winter. 



Where brood-rearing ceases early in Oc- 

 tober, as it does thruout the greater portion 

 of the North, the bees which form the win- 

 ter cluster must be reared in August and 

 September. When conditions are favorable 

 the bees will rear jjlenty of young for win- 

 ter without any attention on the part of the 

 beekeeper; but if conditions are not favor- 

 able for a moderate amount of brood-rearing 

 during any considerable part of the time 

 after the middle of August, the bees may 

 be in poor shape for winter. 



Colonies that are queenless or that have 

 old or failing queens during this period can 

 not be expected to withstand the winter. 

 While it may not be profitable for extensive 

 honey producers to examine every colony to 

 find a few that may be queenless, beekeep- 

 ers are finding that systematic requeening 

 in July and August pays well for the time 

 it requires. In the North many beekeepers 

 advocate replacing the queens after the sec- 

 ond year, usually requeening half of Ihe 

 colonies each year. Farther south, where 

 the seasons are longer, many find it profit- 

 able to requeen every year. 



Midsummer requeening is especially prof- 

 itable in those localities where there is a 

 dearth of nectar during August and Sep- 

 tember, for a young queen that begins to 

 lay this month will usually lay enough eggs, 

 even during a dearth of nectar, to make a 

 fair-sized winter colony if there is enough 

 honey in the hive to feed the brood, while 

 an old queen would practically cease egg- 

 laying. In addition to this the young queen 

 reared at this time is in prime condition 

 for her heavy work next spring. 



Colonies that run short of stores after 

 the middle of August may be ruined by liv- 

 ing on the verge of starvation for even a 

 few weeks at the time the winter bees 

 should be reared. Thousands of colonies 

 have been lost during the winter and the 

 loss counted as winter loss, because the bee- 

 keeper extracted all the honey from the 

 supers, expecting the bees to get along with 

 what was left in the brood-chamber. When 

 this is done the bees are almost .sure to run 

 short of honey just when they should be 

 rearing young bees to tide the colony thru 

 the winter, unless there is a fall honey 

 flow sufficient for their needs. 



Some of our best beekeepers are now 

 solving this problem by leaving from five 

 to seven full-depth combs of honey in the 

 last super when extracting, or providing 

 each colony with a shallow extracting super 

 filled with honey. Of course, where there 

 is a fall honey flow, this is not necessary; 

 but, unless the fall flow is assured, the 

 leaving of plenty of honey now is a good 

 form of insurance. 



Now that the problem of marketing honey 

 is a serious one, the beekeeper may well 



