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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



On p. 63 you tell Dr. Miller that you pre- 

 fer a temperature of 65 to 70 for a winter 

 flight. May I ask where you keep your 

 thermometer? Why, sir, if we waited in 

 New England for such a temperature our 

 bees would not take a flight from the mid- 

 dle of November till the middle of March 

 one year in ten. 



I used to say that a temperature of 49 in 

 the shade was sufficient, but I now know 

 that much lower than that will do provided 

 other conditions are right. Permit me to 

 define the conditions which make flight pos- 

 sible or advisable. 



If the air is warm enough to soften the 

 snow in the shade (a temperature above 32 

 will do it) bees can fly with safety from 

 hives situated in sheltered positions of south 

 exposure, provided the air is still and the 

 sky clear. Only a few bees will be lost by 

 alighting in the shade or through weak- 

 ness. 



If the air is 45 the bees will fly safely, 

 even though there is some wind and a few 

 small clouds; but large clouds and steady or 

 strong winds will cause considerable loss. If 

 the temperature is above 55 the bees can fly 

 with comparative safety, even though the 

 sun is not shining and the wind is blowing. 

 In this case it is always a south wind. 



Dr. Miller was right to let his bees fly 

 with the temperature at 44 if his thermom- 

 eter hung where neither direct nor reflected 

 sunshine could strike it, and where it could 

 not gain warmth from bodies warmer than 

 the air. January 1, 1905, furnished a splen- 

 did flight for bees here, though the temper- 

 ature went no higher than 46 in the shade. 

 Bees cleaned house, and even started a lit- 

 tle robbing. 



I would say here that I have succeeded in 

 getting a fairly good flight from a colony 

 with the temperature only 32, and should 

 not be afraid of 34 or 35 for a general flight 

 with the air still and sky clear. Last win- 

 ter, from the middle of November till March 

 22 the temperature did not reach 40 except 

 during a night when the wind blew from the 

 south. On only one occasion did the tem- 

 perature rise to 35 unless acd'ompanied with 

 cloudiness. On that occasion I laid sacks 

 and carpets in front of the hives and scat- 

 tered hay over the snow where the bees 

 would be most likely to alight. I succeeded 

 in getting satisfactory flights from those 

 colonies favorably situated, the colony which 

 flew most coming out in spring very strong 

 in numbers, and vigorous. 



The fact is, few people have their ther- 

 mometers so hung that they record the tem- 

 perature of the air, recording only the tem- 

 perature of the object upon which they 

 hang or the temperature of the air in a 

 sheltered porch. Every bee-keeper would 

 do well to hang a thermometer in a box open- 

 ed to the north. The box should be painted 

 white, and the thermometer should hang 

 freely from the top without contact with 

 the walls of the box. Try this, and I think 

 you will deduct at least 15 degrees from the 

 temperature at which you would like to see 



your bees fly, or else Medina is a blessed 

 place for bees. 



With the air at 65 to 70 one could sit out- 

 doors without hat or wraps, and read without 

 any discomfort. He could not work about 

 the hives with any comfort unless he took 

 off coat and possibly vest. No, you would 

 not want to see such unseasonable warmth, 

 even for the bees, for harm would come 

 from it to fruit-trees and vines. 



On page 32 you advise the feeding of hard 

 candy. Have you had much experience in 

 feeding that, and with success? I wiped 

 out nearly a whole apiary one winter, fol- 

 lowing exactly the directions to be found on 

 p. 32. I found it impossible to get the can- 

 dy cooked enough without burning the hon- 

 ey. Those colonies which had cakes but lit- 

 tle burned lived through, weak : those which 

 had the worst-burned cakes died. 



Again, honey is deliquescent; and if the 

 winter comes on damp, the cake will gather 

 moisture faster than the bees can use up 

 the honey; or the weather may turn so dry 

 that the bees might as well try to eat a 

 stone. There are much better ways to feed 

 bees in winter, especially in a cellar, and 

 beginners or inexperienced hands would do 

 well to fight shy of hard candy. 



One good way is to cook white sugar and 

 water to a temperature of 230 degrees, or 

 till it will stir to the consistency of the in- 

 side of a fresh chocolate-cream. It must 

 not be so soft as to run down upon the bees 

 nor so hard as to dry up. This is a much 

 safer cake to lay over the frames. 



One can fill a jar with honey and invert it 

 over the frames on a cloth, or a piece of 

 glass with a pin under the edge. But, best 

 of all, lay some comb honey flat over the 

 frames. 



Mr. Neff can feed his bees in the feeder 

 provided he makes the syrup so thick that 

 the bees will not be roused to an excited 

 state in their efforts to evaporate excessive 

 moisture. The syrup should be as thick as 

 honey, nearly. If he will do this he will, in 

 my opinion, do better than to feed with 

 hard cakes. 



I write this that I may save Mr. Neff and 

 others from possible and probable disaster 

 by trying a method of feeding which is not 

 safe without previous experience. 



Norwich, Conn. 



[Yes, I did say I preferred 65 or 70 de- 

 grees ; but I did not mean to say that I 

 would not take a lower temperature when 

 the bees can fly. Sometimes 45 to 50 is warm 

 enough, and at other times it is too cold. A 

 good deal depends on whether there is a 

 wind blowing, and the amount of snow on 

 the ground. A few days ago it was about 

 45. Bees were flying well, but we lost thou- 

 sands of them on the snow. Why did we let 

 them fly ? Half of them were allowed to 

 fly, and the rest were confined with straw 

 over the entrances. I am satisfied that, if 

 all the bees had been confined, those that 

 were lost in the snow would have been 

 saved. A good deal depends on conditions. 



