440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



bees a much more intelligent management, 

 rrotection by means of chaff, leaves, etc., is 

 also far ahead of no protection, as the most 

 careless observer has doubtless gatliered ere 

 this, from the reports we have been having 

 for months past. Cellar wintering, for last 

 winter. Avas far ahead of all ; and were win- 

 ters to be all like that, we should know 

 pretty well what to do. ^Vhether tliese re- 

 ports were taken so as to include the losses 

 through April, does not appear ; and, in fact, 

 it would be hard to get at this, from reports 

 sent in at many different times. As many 

 of the great losses occurred through April, 

 this is a very important point. The losses 

 in the cellar sum up to 32 per cent; outdoors, 

 with no protection, run i.p to 85 per cent. 

 The item in bee-houses I do not quite under- 

 stand, from the fact that wehave bee-houses 

 made only for wintering, house apiaries, and 

 wintering-houses partly under ground, par- 

 taking greatly of the nature of cellars or 

 caves. 1 should suppose that it at least in- 

 cluded the latter, as the per cent of loss is on- 

 ly '21. In regard to the kind of hive used, I 

 copy the summary as given: 



NO. IN DEAU IN LOSS, 



FALIi. SPRING. PEK CT. 



Box hives 311,7:« 187,705 .8ii 



All-frame hhcs 309,498 U:.',807 .W 



Langstroth 19.5,957 83,965 A'Z 



Other frames 113,541 58,34:i .51 



Our thanks are due the editor of the .1. B. 

 J. for the labor he has spent in compiling 

 this very valuable showing. 



FRIEIVD BROOKS, AND HIS £^ PEIII- 

 E>CE IN MINTEKING. 



SINGLE-WALLED HIVES. 



Jq|KlEND ROOT:-! will give you my report of 

 P'' last winter's losses before 1 am too late. Fall 

 — ' is again upon us, and we should now begin to 

 prepare our bees for the coming winter. Last fall 

 found me with 53 colonies, made during the summer 

 by dividing, which I overdid, considering the poor 

 season that followed ; besides having a good demand 

 for all the queens I can rear, I spread them a little 

 on that account. They were rather strong in bees, 

 but the majority of them needed feeding. Think- 

 ing perhaps they might fill up from fall bloom, I 

 waited ; but it failed. I then commenced to feed 

 sugar syrup about the last of September. Had the 

 weather continued as warm as we usually ha\e it, 

 all would have been well; but you know what hap- 

 pened. Winter set in earlier than usual, and of 

 course the bees did not have time to seal up their 

 stores. We had our iirst snow Oct. 17th, and on the 

 19th another, 2 inches deep. It kept gradually get- 

 ting colder, with deep snows, when, on the 19th of 

 Nov., the temperatiu-e fell to 10° below zero, and on 

 the 22d, to 12° below. Dec. 3d, the weather being 

 warm and pleasant, the bees had a good fly. It com- 

 menced to turn cold on the 6th, when I put 47 colo- 

 nies in the cellar. Of the 6 left out, 5 were in hives 

 packed — one with fine charcoal, two with sawdust, 

 one with chaff, and one with turning shavings. One 

 colony I prepared as an experiment to winter out 

 on a summer stand in a singlc-walled hive, and onlj- 

 wish now that my whole 53 colonics had been " ex- 

 perimental " ones. Sunday, Jan. 30th, the tempera- 

 ture being at 50° in the shade, I set the bees out of 



the cellar. They had a good fly; found 6 colonies 

 dead. Feb. 1st the temperature fell to 6° below 

 freezing when I put them in the cellar again, and on 

 the 22d, the day being warm, we set them o\it for a 

 fly, and found 6 more colonies dead. Returned them 

 to cellar the 23d. The 28th 1 let them fly again, and 

 returned them on the 28th. March 10th being warm 

 (52° in the shade), I set them out, and noticed young 

 bees flying from a few of the strongest colonies. 

 As the rest of the month was rather pleasant, 1 left 

 them out. They commenced to breed nicely, when 

 along came that April snap, and away went 6 colo- 

 nies more, taking one of those in the sawdust- 

 packed hives, and reducing almost all the others to a 

 mere handful. Had I put them all back into the cel- 

 lar at that time, it would have been well; but the 

 weather had been so pleasant, I thought it would 

 soon change for warm; but was disappcjinted. I 

 had a ijcunhir case of spring dwindling on my hands. 

 The 4 remaining packed colonies were in moderate 

 condition only, having lost fearfully in bees, like 

 the rest. They built up so slowly after settled 

 weather came, that I finally set the bees out into 

 single-walled hives, and let the sun strike them, 

 which seemed to help them, as they would fly with 

 the rest. The packing being so thick, the sun did 

 not warm them. The experimental colony was a 

 division like the rest, and reared their queen from a 

 cell given them. After testing her I did not open 

 the hive until ready to fl.v them for winter, when, 

 to my surprise, they had their combs full of scaled 

 honey from top to bottom, except the 4 central 

 combs, which had a little brood next the bottom- 

 bars. If there ever was a case of " bees crowding 

 the (lueen," this was one, as the colony was rather 

 weaker than I liked to risk on the summer stand. 

 However, I lifted their colony with 5 of their combs, 

 placing them in the center of a sinolc-uaUrd 15-frame 

 hive, having a large portico to shed rain and snow; 

 faced the hive south, and put in two tight-fitting 

 rubber-bound division-boards, leaving them up '» 

 in. from the bottom. I then hung the extra combs 

 in the ends close to the divisions, so the bees could 

 take out the honey if needed. On top of the frames 

 I spread a iinr clean woolen cloth, and a 4-inch thick 

 chaff cushion on that; contracted the entrance to 

 about one inch, and they were ready, let come what 

 would; but after I felt the cold that did come, I felt 

 a little uneasy alinut them, but concluded to let 

 them alone. I did not open that colony until spring. 

 The result was, that they had lost less bees, and 

 were in better con<lition, than any other colony I 

 had. They did not dwindle down in spring, but went 

 straight ahead increasing, until they had filled the 

 whole hive of 15 combs, and was the first one to 

 swarm, which was no small one, from a hive of that 

 size. 



Now, after all the reports and causes assigned for 

 our losses last winter, have we found the true cause? 

 Although I had only one eolonn to winter sti((esi<fKn>j, 

 I think I have learned irJiy it did so, and will give the 

 causes of success, the reverse of which I believe was 

 the cause of failure and loss. First, this colony had 

 only what combs they eculd cover, nf nice sealed 

 honey. Next, the divisions were plain, simple 

 boards, which did not ahsurh and retain dampness, as 

 chaff cushions or divisions are apt to do. Next, the 

 cloth or quilt covering the bees was new and clean, 

 allowing the chaff cushion on top to draw dampness 

 from them, which enameled cloth, and propolized 

 quilts would not allow (1 examined my dead colonies, 



