1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



431 



a horse, and a dry-goods box, had a sled, and it was 

 certainly comical in the extreme to see so many 

 different ideas. But this is not bees. 



Last fall I went into winter-quarters with 78 

 stocks— Italians, but not pure. I use the Champion 

 hive, frames lOxltJ, and Id frames in hive. I gave 

 them all on an average 50 lbs. of good new honey, 

 basswood and goldenrod, covered tops of frames 

 with two thicknesses of common cotton or domestic. 

 I drove two rows of stakes three feet apart, then 

 spread straw between, about six inches ileep, then 

 covered that with boards, nice, even, and level; 

 then set in my hives in a row, with their fronts al- 

 ternate, placing the hives about 3 inches apart, then 

 protected my entrances in order to keep out chaff, 

 and give bees an opportunity to fly when they chose 

 to. My next move was to place a board to the front 

 and to the back of bees, leaning against inside of 

 post. Now I commence to pack chaff ail around, 

 leave off my covers, add more 6-inch boards until 

 they are four high, then top off with coarse hay. 

 Thus you see they have one foot of chaff' in front 

 and behind, with :} inches -between. 



You would almost venture to say they were free 

 from the sudden changes of even an unusually cold 

 winter; but such is not the case: my entire stock 

 all died but nine. 



But now comes my confession. Just before I 

 packed awaj', I transferred 19 in cold weather, so 

 cold that mittens were comfortable. I gave them 

 their winter supplies in somewhat cool weather, and, 

 last of all, had to pack them away in just such 

 weather. Kept waiting for our nice warm days to 

 come, such as wo usually have; but, ;ilas! they never 

 came, and I was forced to put them away .iust then, 

 or leave them out, which I thought would be sure 

 death. Hundreds of my combs were handled, jar- 

 ring and breaking their cosy little homes for winter, 

 but no opportunity came to repair the <lamage done. 

 Cold winds and drafts penetrated, snow drifted in» 

 ice formed all over the combs, and the moment 

 a bee left the cluster, it had to crawl to a fro- 

 zen, icy comb, there only to meet its doom. The 

 combs were too close, not allowing enough bees to 

 cluster together to keep up the necessary amount 

 of heat. No holes were cut in order to give bees a 

 free passage to and from any comb. As it was, the 

 space between combs soon became clogged with 

 dead bees, and they died so rapidly that, in their 

 effort to remove them, they only clogged the en- 

 trance tighter and tighter (entrance about Sx'a in.) 

 The once prosperous swarm soon dwindled down to 

 nothing. The heat became less, and a mighty effort 

 was necessary to keep body and soul together; but 

 it was too much for the little fellows, so they buried 

 their heads in the cells, and gave up the ghost. Not 

 one mouthful of honey could they get, but just in 

 the next comb there was an abundance. I had 

 many stocks come out in just such shape, but some 

 others starved outright, and put away with .")0 lbs. 



Had they been put away at an earlier season, and 

 allowed time to seal up with propolis, good and tight, 

 then removed gently to their winter location, I feel 

 confideHt they would have come out unscathed. 

 I will give you my reasons for thinking so. 

 My partner {then) wintered his Co stocks within 40 

 feet of mine, in just the same manner of packing. 

 His loss was about 18 or 20, but he packed them be- 

 fore mine a week or ten days, and had no jarring to 

 do, — simply to set his hives into ricks, and quietly 

 cover them up. 



We have wintered in this manner for ten years, 

 and have always been successful. It's ray opinion 

 the majority of bee-keepers were a little careless 

 last fall in attending to their apiaries, and prepar- 

 ing for winter; liut they are somewhat justified, on 

 account of the. extremely cold weather which set in 

 so soon, taking every one by surprise, compelling 

 farmers to leave broad fields of yellow corn, to the 

 mercy of hungry, roving cattle. Bift in another 

 sense of the word, we are responsible for the loss of 

 almost every bee. I have reference to men who fol- 

 low apiculture as a profession. There is a shadow 

 of an excuse for men who are engaged in some oth- 

 er occupation, not depending on bees for their bread 

 and butter exclusively, but who keep them for fun, 

 I guess. Whatever we do. if we intend to make it 

 our business, let us do it ; don't leave one stone un- 

 turned; devote every spare moment to improve- 

 ments ; do whatever lies in your power to advance 

 your loved profession. Don't let any thing wait un- 

 til to-morrow; go at it with a determination to make 

 it win, come what will ; and above all things, have 

 faith, and don't give up. Hang on to the last, and if 

 you get on your back, lie there and kick. I feel so 

 glad over my victory this spring, that I can not help 

 speaking as I do. 



Nino poor weak stocks, and I badly in debt! Nine 

 weak stocks.! could it be possible? could I ever face 

 my creditors, and feel that, when the time caine 

 around, I could pay them? I was on the point of 

 giving up, when a little advice given by a friend 

 turned the balance. I went to work with a will, 

 cleaned out my hives and combs, transferred my 

 dirty, sticky little fellows into a clean hive, con- 

 tracted the space in hivo and fed them. I soon dis- 

 covered pollen coming in from soft maple, and 

 from that time it has been a continuous boom. Not 

 one bit of robbing; all is well, and " the goose hangs 

 high." I soon started nuclei, raised my queens, 

 bought about 18 stocks, and now I have 70 rousing 

 stands, ready for our fall crop of goldenrod, which 

 is what we depend on almost entirely; no clover, 

 and no fruit-blossoms. Basswood, goldenrod, buck 

 brush, tanweed, sumac, and sunflowers, are our 

 honej'-plants. I have now a surplus of about 1000 

 lbs. of honey, and my 70 stocks. If we have an av- 

 erage crop of goldenrod we will gather 6000 lbs. easi- 

 ly. I raise none but extracted honey, as I can make 

 it pay much better. 



When I think how blue every thing looked in 

 spring and now go out and see my yard full of lively 

 little fellows, each bringing in his sweetened bur- 

 den, working all day long so unselfishly for me, 

 my heai't goes out in tender gratefulness to Him 

 who is the giver of every good and perfect gift. I 

 am truly grateful for all I hnve received. 



Ed. F. Christie. 

 Maple Landing, Monona Co., Iowa, Aug. 8, 1881. 



It seems to me a little unkind for the A. B. J. 

 folks, ojiy of them, to intimate that our apiary, of 

 which they gave a fine picture a short time ago, was 

 more a picture than a reality. Four of the seven 

 apiaries are filled completely, and two of the re- 

 maining three are partly full. One man has entire 

 charge of it now, and if there is an apiary worked 

 more successfully for raising bees and queens on 

 the face of the earth, I should like to pay it a visit. 

 Come and see the bees and queens, and get some 

 grapes, friends, and then you won't think it is cdJ on 

 paper. 



