1314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



hives came through aHve except two which 

 starved. Again, last winter there was no 

 loss except one colony by an unforeseen ac- 

 cident. 



What I have said is based upon experience 

 with hives having a dead-air space. I 

 do not know whether single-walled hives 

 would show the same results. Those who 

 wish to investigate this can do so by tack- 

 ing a piece of tarred paper over the front 

 of a few hives for trial this coming win- 

 ter. 



This article has already reached undue 

 length, although I have but barely introduced 

 the subject. Let me close by saying, if one 

 wishes to keep bees successfully the year 

 round, let him use black hives set in the 

 shade of trees which shed their leaves in 

 fall, so that the sunshine which is not de- 

 sired in summer may be of benefit during the 

 cold of winter. 



praise for this frame. Our customers are 

 all well pleased with it, and we are satisfied 

 that it is here to stay. 

 Toledo, O., November g. 



THE HOFFMAN FRAME PREFERRED. 

 The Propolis Matter not a Serious One. 



BY S. J. r.RIGGS. 



The writer notes with interest the article 

 which appears in Gle.vnings, November i, 

 by Mr. Alpine McGregor, on the Hoffman 

 frame, and the writer greatly regrets that 

 he has not the time to write an article on 

 this frame himself. We are unable to under- 

 stand how Mr. McGregor, can condemn the 

 Hoffman frame in the way he does. There 

 is scarcely a large apiary in Lenawee County, 

 Michigan, which the writer has not visited, 

 and will state that the Hoffman frame is 

 certainly the most used at this place. We 

 notice your explanation, where you speak 

 of propolis depending considerably on the 

 location. We notice by our own yard that 

 this is where the trouble lies with the pos- 

 sible condemnation of the Hoffman frame. 

 At a yard we have located at Addison, Mich., 

 where the crop is principally white clover 

 and basswood, a person could not get pro- 

 polis enough to fill a good-sized sugar-bowl, 

 and there are over loo colonies located at 

 this place, and we should like to see any- 

 body go into this locality and try to get 

 the bee-keepers to use any thing but the 

 Hoffman frame. We think they would be 

 up against a good stiff proposition. Then 

 take it at our Whiteford Center yard, where 

 the flow is principally fall honey, and we 

 notice a considerable amount of propolis ; 

 but the Hoffman frames are no more of an 

 annoyance to us than the old-style Lang- 

 stroth. H Mr. McGregor had very much 

 moving of his bees to do, we think he would 

 realize the great value of the Hoffman 

 frame. It is only natural for people using 

 a certain hive all their life to dislike to 

 change to something else, and we presume 

 this is the case with this gentleman, although, 

 from the experience we have had, the Hoff- 

 man frame ranks in the lead. 



We can only speak in words of loudest 



WINTERING BEES IN A CELLAR WITH 

 THE ENTRANCES BLOCKED. 



BY T. J. QUAIL. 



As the time of year is near at hand when 

 all bee-keepers must prepare their bees for 

 winter, I will give my experience in the past 

 three winters. The first year I wintered on 

 summer stands ; in the spring their honey 

 v/as nearly all gone, and only a handful of 

 bees left in each hive. The next winter I 

 put them in our house cellar ; put a block 

 across the entrance, and left them blocked in. 

 I took them out in the spring, and every col- 

 ony was alive and practically as heavy as 

 when I put them in. 



Last winter I put 38 colonies in the same 

 cellar, Dec. 12, and blocked them in as before. 

 I opened the outside cellar door nearly 

 every day, not to give the bees air, for I 

 don't think they need it, but to keep the cel- 

 lar dry, and that, I think, is essential in cellar 

 wintering. I took them out for a fly March 

 27, and left part of them out two days. All 

 were put back. The day I took them out 

 they were perfectly contented, while those 

 left out two days roared, and I had to take 

 them out and put them on the summer 

 stands. I used eight Hoffman-frame hives, 

 and did not weigh them when I put them 

 in. When I took them out in the spring sev- 

 eral of the hives weighed 64 to 66 pounds, 

 and all hives seemed to be practically as 

 heavy when taken out of the cellar, as 

 when carried in. I shall put 82 colonies in 

 the cellar this winter, weigh all of them, and 

 note how much honey each colony consumes. 

 I would advise all bee-keepers who have not 

 dry cellars to put their bees in, and if they 

 must leave them out doors, to give their bees 

 all the protection they can — the more pack- 

 ing around and over the hives the better. 

 Bees left outdoors should have an empty 

 super put on, and filled with ch-.ff packed in 

 a gunny sack. Hives may be put close to- 

 gether on the south side of a building, and 

 packed for winter. I give late swarms a 

 frame or two in the fall ; and if any feeding 

 is needed I feed in the spring. H I were 

 to winter my bees outdoors I would block up 

 the entrance to keep out all the cold I 

 could. In my opinion it is (jold and damp- 

 ness that kill bees in winter. 



Miller, Neb., Oct. 20. 



[The plan of closing the entrances of the 

 hives for wintering, while it would work in a 

 few isolated cases, would most surely lead to 

 disaster in most cases. Some of our en- 

 trances got closed last winter by ice, with the 

 result that the bees all died. This has been the 

 almost universal experience. I would advise 

 Mr. Quail to abandon the plan before he has 

 a heavy loss. — Ed.] 



