36 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



will be from heartsease, etc. ; and as it is 

 dark, it is not as salable as light honey, al- 

 though just as good for wintering purposes. 

 After removing the supers I place as many 

 thicknesses of paper as I can get (which 

 sometimes is 18 or 20) down between the 

 outside frames and the sides of the hive, 

 folding the paper in such a manner that it 

 extends up several inches above the top of 

 the hive body. I now place an empty super 

 on the hive, lay two sticks about the thick- 

 ness of a leadpencil across the tops of the 

 frames so that the bees can pass from one 

 frame to the other without going around be- 

 low. I now place a piece of old well-propo- 

 lized carpet over the frames and put a good 

 wheat-chaff cushion on this and replace the 

 roof. When cold weather arrives I place an 

 outside box over each hive, with two or 

 three inches of air-space on all three sides 

 as a windbreak. 



With this system of wintering I have not 

 lost a single colony in five years with the 

 exception of the winter of 1903, when they 

 ran completely out of stores and starved. I 

 have never had a case of spring dwindling 

 or a queenless colony show up in spring. By 

 this method I have hives fairly boiling over 

 with bees at the first appearance of white 

 clover; and, to be honest about it, I would 

 not give a great deal to have them insured. 



Nisbet, Penn. Grant Stanley, 



[The plan here described would, in my 

 opinion, give very good results. —Ed.] 



IS THERE A NEW ENEMY OF BEES? 



I noticed on page 1084 that Dr. Thos. J. 

 Brown, of Tennessee, describes a case of 

 the very same affection I tried to describe 

 to you on p. 1028. The only difference there 

 is, I saw and destroyed a small worm, not 

 much like the old moth-worm, which you 

 said it was. I am still impressed with the 

 idea that we have a new bee-enemy— cer- 

 tainly one I don't remember noticing be- 

 fore, and I have kept bees for quite a num- 

 ber of years. If Dr. Brown had made a 

 close examination I think he might have 

 seen what I saw. Mine attacked a colony 

 of beautiful Italians, and I think it would 

 have destroyed them had I not taken it in 

 time. I have not seen a case of it in my 

 little apiary since. L. L. Brockwell. 



Edlow, Va., Oct. 21,' 1905. 



[I would suggest that Mr. B. or any one 

 else who has seen these peculiar worms send 

 specimens of comb containing them to the 

 Department of Agriculture, Division of Api- 

 culture, Washington, for examination. If 

 they are not a moth- worm, then let us know 

 what they are. — Ed.] 



TAR PAPER OVER THE HIVES IN WINTER. 



I have put my colonies away in their "long 

 winter gowns," with tar paper cut into 

 squares, and put on top of the hives, and 

 folded down so as to reach below the supers 



which contain the cushions. I have done 

 this chiefly to guard against any possible 

 leakage from melting snow, of which we 

 have from two to five feet. I am wintering 

 outdoors. I. D. Pearce. 



Guler, Wash., Oct 20. 



[Your plan ought to give good results 

 your climate. — Ed.] 



m 



WINTERING TIERED-UP COLONIES. 



Kindly tell me how the tiered-up colonies 

 are wintered. I have several. Would it be 

 proper to take off one story, where there 

 are two, and give the queenless one a queen? 

 ^Hartstown, Pa. ^ J. D. West. 



[As a general thing a two- story colony 

 can easily be crowded into a one- story at 

 the approach of cold weather. It would be 

 bad policy to separate the two stories and 

 introduce a queen to the queenless portion. 

 The stronger we can have our colonies for 

 winter the better.— Ed.] 



WINTERING bees IN A SMOKE-HOUSE. vi 



I intend to winter my four colonies of bees ■ 

 in a house 4X6 that is frost-proof. We used 

 to smoke meat in it, so it smells of smoke a 

 little. Would this be injurious to the bees? 



Can I feed sugar syrup in a Miller feeder 

 to my bees in winter? C. J. Johnson. 



Falun, Wis., Nov. 16. 



[The smoke will do no harm. The tem- 

 perature, however, should not go below 40 

 nor above 55. A house that is merely frost- 

 proof is not enough. It should be capable 

 of maintaining a uniform temperature, or ■^ 

 nearly so; otherwise it is better to pack the 

 bees good and warm outdoors. A building 

 4X6 is decidedly small, and you could not, 

 therefore, expect to put in more than ten 

 or twenty colonies. So many bees would 

 make the room too warm, resulting in their 

 flying out and thus weakening the colonies. 

 -Ed.] 



cellar-wintered colonies in chaff 



HIVES. 



I own 80 hives of bees. I have always 

 kept them in the cellar, but I have put 35 of 

 them in chaff hives. Will they keep in the 

 same cellar with those not in chaff hives, or 

 would you advise me to keep them out of 

 doors? E. Matty. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Nov. 12. 



[I would put the chaff hives outdoors, and 

 compare results with those in the cellar.— 

 Ed.] 



no more seed. 



I have been getting letters from bee-keep- 

 ers wanting seed from the little snow-drop 

 bush in my yard that I wrote you about a 

 short time ago. Please tell your readers 

 that I have no more seed. 



Velpen, Ind. W. T. Davison. 



