346 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



BEES THAT WON'T WORK IN THE UPPER STORY OB 

 BOXES. 



I have a number of full colonies— large colonies 

 in 2-story hives, but they will not work in the upper 

 stories, cither in the L. frame for extracted honey, 

 or in the section boxes which I have ia wide frames. 

 What is to be done? The flow of honey at this time 

 is immense, Jno. W. Hinsdale. 



Raleigh, Wake Co., N. C, May 11, 1881. 



This question is pretty sure to come up 

 many times each season. Friend IL, you 

 must mal-e them go up and go to work. 

 With hives fixed for extracting, it is an easy 

 matter, for they will usually go up on tin- 

 ished combs without trouble; but if they 

 don't, just put a comb of brood up among 

 them. With our arrangement of section 

 boxes in the wide frames, you can raise a 

 comb of brood to start them in the sections 

 also ; but a better way is to hang a frame of 

 sections at each outside in the lower story, a 

 little before the upper stories need to go on, 

 and when they get well to working in these, 

 raise the frames of sections above, putting 

 more empty ones below. I suppose of course 

 you have fdn. starters in all your frames and 

 sections. Putting on the upper stoiies too 

 soon is often one cause of getting the bees 

 averse to going above. You should wait 

 until they begin to be a little crowded, and 

 then they will usually go right up and com- 

 mence work, just as soon as the room is giv- 

 en them. 



VENTILATION IN WINTER. 



My report for this winter is 3 out of swarms 

 dead, for want of ventilation; one swarm, with 

 opening in top, 2x14 inches, saved In extra good con- 

 dition. One box hive with two-inch hole in top, al- 

 ways open, wintered without any dead bees; now 

 ready to swarm; 4 in Simplicity hives, with oil-cloth 

 cover; no ventilation; got dysentery badly in 

 March. I fed each, one quart of coffee A sugar syr- 

 up, and gave good ventilation: nil were well in two 

 days. Ventilation is the thing. My bees had no 

 protection. M. L. Hobbs. 



Middleport, Meigs Co., O., May 18, 1881. 



There is, without question, a significance 

 in these reports of favorable winterijig, with 

 an opening, or openings, of not too large a 

 size, right over the cluster. Suppose we 

 have a hole in our chaff cushions, right down 

 into the cluster of beesV I know this idea 

 is not new; but are we sure it has been 

 sufiiciently looked after':* 



PACKING WITH FOREST LEAVES. 



My bees that were packed, 17 stands in all, are in 

 fine condition. My box hives, with no protection, 

 all died. I think fully ?i of the bees in this locality 

 have died this winter and spring. I am fully con- 

 vinced of the importance of packing in some form. 

 I packed mine in forest leaves. C. L. Bostwick. 



Sandy Hook, Fairfield Co., Ct., May 13, 1881. 



I believe friend Dadant at one time used 

 forest leaves, and may yet for aught I know. 

 Will he please tell us about it? As these 

 are much more loose and porous than chaff, 

 it may be that they would offer some of the 

 advantages secured by leaving sections on 

 fill winter; viz., more thorough and com- 

 plete ventilation. 



ITALIANS WORSE ON SORGHUM-MILLS. 



Last fall I had 24, all in trim on the ABC plan, 

 painted like Joseph's coat: IT colonies were Italians. 

 When I ground the amber cane (the seed of which I 

 got of you), the Italians just swarmed over the mill, 

 and were reduced so much during that winter I lost 

 10 of them. The blacks did not bother, and so all 

 wintered well. With me, I came off better than 

 mDst of ray brother bee-keepers here. 



W. WiNINGER. 



Glasgow, Barren Co., Kj-., March 17, 1881. 



CHAFF niVES AGAIN. 



Don't go back on chaff hives. My neighbors lost 

 bees in cellars, in bee-houses, and in tenement hives. 

 I have been several miles around, and examined 

 them. Some have 3 out of 50, while others having 

 100 lost all. Mine on their summer stands in chaff 

 hives are all right. May 12, drones flying; lost 1 out 

 of 25. I don't want anj' space in Blasted Hopes this 

 spring. W. D. Higdon. 



Jackson, Mich., May 16, 1881. 



Friend II., if you could see the number of 

 chaff hives we are sending out, even in this 

 month of June, you would think that neither 

 ourselves nor customers had any thought of 

 " going back on them " right away. 



CHAFF PACKING, ETC. 



It is about time I told you how I came out, for it 

 was a~hard winter on bees. I am sorry so many 

 have lost almost all their bees. Well, the trouble is 

 in the stores that the bees had to live on through 

 the winter. You see, two years ago I lost 67 out of 

 70, and it was not as bad a winter as the pnst. My 

 wife said I had better give up the bee business now. 

 I told her I would get my money out of where I lost 

 it, and so I have. I didn't like to give up, for I had 

 been at it for 15 years. Now I will try to tell you 

 how many I lost last winter, and how I wintered. 



COLS. LAST FALL. HOW PAC'KEn. DEAD. 



21 in c'haff hives, - - 



OinliousoNo. 1, iiaokcd in chaff, - 



4 in house No. 2, iKirked in ehaff, 



5 in house No. H, starved, packed in hay, - - - - 2 

 1() in house No . 4, packed in iiay, 2 



2 in house No 5, paelced in eliaff, ------ U 



18 no protection, ._--..--- 8 



These houses are 3 feet wide, and high enough for 

 hives; frames to hives are all one size, and all have 

 9 in a hive, except a few weak ones I am building 

 up now. STEPHEN Hill. 



Port Huron, Mich., May 8, 1881. 



You say the trouble is in the stores, friend 

 IL, but yet you don't tell us what stores 

 they had during this last winter, different 

 from when you lost so many. 



CHAFF ONCE MORE. 



I have been reading so much in Gleanings about 

 wintering bees, that I felt a strong desire to tell you 

 of my success. I have not lost a single swarm since 

 1 have packed in this way ! I use Sayles No. 1 hive, 

 with Langstroth frame; take out 4 frames, put di- 

 Aision-board on each side, and pack tight with oat 

 chaff, then put a piece of carpet over, then a peck 

 of loose chaff, then a chaff cushion on top of that, 

 and leave just as they stand through the summer. 

 I packed 21 last fall that way and never lost one. 

 The hives were all dry and clean, with hardly any 

 dead bees. I do not like oil-cloth over them, for it 

 always creates a moisture on the sides of the hives 

 for me. Most bee-keepers in this section lost a great 

 part of their bees. :^y bees averaged S!13.50 to the 



