1112 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



CowersatioVs 



wltb 



Poolittlt 



HOW .MANY BEE.S FOR WINTERING. 



"How are Doolittle's bees doing on buck- 

 wheat this year?"' 



"They have not done much till within the 

 last two days, which have been warm and 

 moist, after cool nights: and last night was 

 the tirst I noticed any smell in the bee-yard 

 as though buckwheat "honey were coming In." 



"What I can you tell by the smell in the 

 bee-yard when Inickwheat is yielding honey 

 or nectar?" 



"Most surely we can. Mr. Smith." 



"How does it smell?" 



"Well, when a light tlow is on. the smell 

 somewhat resembles that from a field of 

 buckwheat when in full l)loom, only in a 

 more modified form: but when there is a 

 heavy flow on, a flow sufficient to have the 

 bees "fall short of the hives from their heavy 

 loads of nectar, antl that flow continued for 

 several days, then the odor is less pleasant, 

 reminding one of carrion some distance away. 

 One year when the l)ees stored nearly 60 lbs. 

 of section honey on an average per colony. 

 in about a week's time, passersljy in the roa(^l 

 wanted to know what there was near my 

 house that smelled so, saying to me, ' It stinks 

 horrid.' " 



"Then that was what I smelled when I 

 was passing an apiary out in Cortland Co. 

 yesterday. I could not think what it was. 

 You know they raise lots of buckwheat 

 ai'ound Ripley Hill." 



"Yes. I know that ten acres are sown 

 there to where one is sown here." 



"Well. I came to have a little talk with 

 you further than a talk we had a year ago. 

 about your plan of making nuclei and colo- 

 nies of l)ees by shaking bees into the nucleus 

 box which you have told the readers of 

 Gleaning.s about during the past, and which 

 I have used successfully ever since I read 

 about it in that paper." 



"Very well. What do you wish to know 

 further?" 



"I want you to tell me how many pounds 

 of bees you would put into such a box, giv- 

 ing a queen; and the next day, when hiving 

 from the box, giving frames of honey, to 

 make a full colony to winter over." 



"It is calculated. I Ijelieve, that there are 

 about 5000 bees in a pound, where they are 

 taken from the frames without tilling them- 

 selves with honey, more than thei-e naturally 

 are when not disturbed." 



"What I so many as that?" 



"Yes. Bees when not filled with honey, 

 and especially during the fall, when no chyle 

 is being prepared for brood, are very light 



as to weight, as I have found from many 

 years of observation." 



"If one pound will contain 5000 bees it 

 should not take many pounds to form a col- 

 ony, should it?" 



"It is calculated. I believe, that 20.000 

 ])ees make a good strong colony four or five 

 weeks before swarming: but at swarming 

 time there may be more than double that 

 number, so that, where Ave work for comb 

 honey on the non-swarming plan, we usually 

 calculate on from 55.000 to 60.000 bees as 

 making a good strong colony for working in 

 the sections to the best advantage." 



"But you do not think that colonies go in- 

 to winter (]uarters with any such numbei's of 

 bees?" 



"No: and I doubt if the average colony 

 for wintering contains even the 20.000. I 

 have reasons for believing that many colo- 

 nies which are called strong for winter do 

 not contain more than from 12.000 to 15.000 

 bees — yes. more often the first number than 

 tho.se which contain 20.000." 



"But where you use the nucleus-box plan 

 a pound would hardly contain 5000 bees, 

 would it?" 



"No: because I always cause the bees to 

 till themselves with honey before putting 

 them into the boxes: and from consideralile 

 experience, by way of experimenting, I am 

 quite certain that the pound of bees taken 

 from the combs in the way they should be to 

 have 5000 in a pounil would weigh fully two 

 pounds when filled with honey the way I 

 cause them to till themselves." 



"That would change the condition of af- 

 fairs quite materially, would it not?" 



"Yes. If we call from 12,000 to 15.000 

 bees the right number for a colony good 

 enough to winter the most successfully, we 

 shall want those in our nucleus box to weigh 

 from five to six pounds, which is about the 

 number of pounds I take when forming a 

 i-olony for winter, taking the l>ees from sev- 

 eral other colonies." 



"About how many bees do you take from 

 a colony?" 



"Unless your bees breed very late in the 

 fall, or you are willing to feed to make them 

 so lireed. I would not take more than two 

 pouiuls from any one colony, for fear they 

 might be made too weak for good wintering, 

 or wintering to the best advantage: for it 

 surely can not be advantageous to make a 

 new colony, no matter how badly you wish 

 more colonies to go into winter quarters 

 with, where the making of such colony in- 

 jures the prospect of successful wintering of 

 two or three others. People become reck- 

 less, especially beginners, and seem to think 

 that number of colonies makes success, no 

 matter how weak they are: but from all of 

 my experience of the past, Quinby's advice, 

 given more than half a century ago, to have 

 your colonies in good condition as to bees 

 "for wintering, was the best advice ever given 

 to. beginners in apiculture." 



"Then you would think it best for me not 

 to try to make moi'e colonies this year?" 



