March, 1909. 



American Hee Journal 



cit}-. This cellar, probably one of the 

 largest on the continent devoted ex- 

 clusively to the wintering of bees, has 

 combined in its architecture all that is 

 known of the scientific and practical, in 

 so far as the indoor method of winter- 

 ing of bees is concerned. The cellar has 

 been described in the bee-papers, and is 

 also fully illustrated in the "A B C and 

 X Y Z of Bee-Culture," so it would be 

 waste of time to enter into details at 

 this time. 



At the time of our visit, there were 

 over 500 colonies in the cellar, and all 

 were so quiet that only a faint hum was 

 perceptible, notwithstanding the fact of 

 the two of us looking at nearly every 

 colony with a lighted candle. While the 

 cellar is constructed with a view to 

 using artificial heat if required, yet this 

 winter, so far, a fire has not been start- 

 ed. In lieu of this, Mr. Holtermann had 

 the inside of the walls packed well with 

 quite a thickness of straw, and up to 

 the time of my visit he had not thought 

 it necessary to use the stove, and, if I 

 am correct, he was under the impression 

 that better results were being obtained 

 than was the case when they formerly 

 had to use the sove. Certainly the bees 

 were in the very best of condition on 

 Jan. 29. 



Unlike most cellars, the floor above, 

 or ceiling, has no sawdust or other like 

 material, but is, if I remember correct- 

 ly, constructed something on this order ; 

 A tongue-and-groove flooring, felt pa- 

 per, air-space, and then another tongue- 

 and-groove flooring. Bees in a cellar to 

 tlie number of 500 or more colonies, 

 must generate a lot of heat, as on the 

 day of our visit the wind was blowing 

 a perfect blizzard from the east, and it 

 was very cold. Yet notwithstanding the 

 fact that a large ventilator was open in 

 tlic floor or ceiling, and the outside cel- 

 lar doors at the east side partly open, 

 the thermometer was at 43 degrees. 



While in the cellar, Mr. Holtermann 

 had a good joke at the writer's expense, 

 and I may as well tell of the matter now 

 and be done with it. While groping 

 around in the semi-darkness, looking in 

 the entrances of the hives, suddenly we 

 came to a couple of strange looking ob- 

 jects that in the deep gloom reminded 

 me of incubators. Naturally I figured 

 it out in a hurry that Mr. H. was like 

 other well-known bee-men, going into 

 the chicken business. Imagine my feel- 

 ings when in answer to my inquiry, he 

 said, "Why, those are Aspinwall hives !" 

 Now I am perfectly familiar with these 

 hives, in so far as that can be possible 

 without using them, and I want it un- 

 derstood, no matter what may be said 

 to the contrary, that it was the darkness 

 that deceived me. 



Joking aside, the Aspinwall hive, as 

 now constructed, is, in its style of ar- 

 chitecture, so different from all the old 

 familiar patterns, that it is not to be 

 wondered at if people should be de- 

 ceived as to what they are for, even if 

 seen in daylight. 



Returning to the cellar, I believe it 

 has always given good results, with the 

 exception of one winter when a number 

 of colonies were badly affected with 

 dysentry, owing to the presence of some 

 honey-dew in the hives. This reminds 

 me to remark, that no matter how im- 



portant the nature of the repository for 

 wintering may be, the quality of the 

 stores is still more important. Just a 

 few days ago a well-known Ontario 

 bee-keeper wrote me that his bees were 

 very restless in the cellar, and were 

 spotting the hives badly, although it was 

 as early in the winter as Feb. 5. This 

 cellar is very dry and of equable tem- 

 perature and has given good results 

 during the past winters, so there seems 

 to be no question but what the quality 

 of the stores must be to blame for the 

 present ill conditions. 



When the letter came telling me about 

 the restless bees, I 'phoned to the farm- 

 er in whose cellar I have 35 colonies, 

 and he said that he had just been down 

 cellar, and found the bees very quiet. 

 Now this cellar is damp, in fact is sit- 

 uated in a springy locality, the floor be- 

 ing wet nearly any time of the year, but 

 the stores in the hives are good, and 

 that fact explains why the bees are not 

 restless in a cellar that certainly can- 

 not be called well adapted to the winter- 

 ing of bees. The bees wintered excel- 

 lent in this cellar last winter, and from 

 present conditions we are hoping for 

 like results again this season. As a par- 

 tial offset to the dampness mentioned as 

 being ever-present, I might say that the 

 bees are only separated from the fur- 

 nace by a partition of inch boards. 

 Whether this furnace is a benefit or not, 

 I am not able to say, as the bees were 

 not wintered there before the furnace 

 was installed. 



Too Early Brood-Rearing Not De- 

 sirable. 



In a late issue of Gleanings, Editor 

 Root tells of a colony of bees that they 

 have in their office, where the tempera- 

 ture averages 68 degrees, the bees of 

 course having an entrance by way of the 

 sill of the window to the outside. He 

 reports that the bees are doing well, and 

 brood-rearing going on as in the month 

 of May, and from this fact he grows en- 

 thusiastic and says that they are con- 

 sidering the idea of putting up a house- 

 apiary, the same to be heated by steam 

 all winter, to a temperature of 70 de- 

 grees. He says, "One could have tre- 

 mendously strong colonies in the early 

 spring. While brood-rearing would 

 necessarily consume stores, yet the trade 

 of syrup or honey for young bees would 

 be a good one." 



The plan at first glance may look a 

 trifle alluring, yet with all due regard 

 for Mr. Root's arguments on the ques- 

 tion, I venture to say that the advant- 

 ages to be gained are more visionary 

 than real. It is a well-established fact 

 that brood-rearing wears out bees as 

 fast as, or faster than, honey-gathering, 

 and to my mind this early breeding 

 would be simply sacrificing not just one 

 bee for another, but more like two old 

 ones for each young one reared. With 

 a lot of brood in the hives, bees will fly 

 out in weather unsuitable even under 

 ordinary conditions in the late spring, 

 and it is but natural to assume that this 

 condition of affairs would be much more 

 aggravated if the brood-rearing were 

 forced forward under normal surround- 

 ings. Personally, I would be inclined 

 to think that no returns would be re- 



ceived for the stores consumed by the 

 early breeding, and, on the contrary, 

 that the powers of the queen, bees, etc., 

 would be drawn on to a positive dis- 

 advantage to the colony. 



Granted, for the sake of argument, 

 that the forcing system would bring the 

 bees through the winter "tremendously" 

 strong in the early spring, it is just a 

 question if that condition would be de- 

 sirable in localities where the main flow 

 comes two or three months after that 

 date. A colony wintering well, under 

 normal conditions, will be in the very 

 best condition by the time clover opens, 

 and that, in my opinion, is the goal we 

 should be aiming at. While I always 

 like to have colonies strong, yet some of 

 my best results have come from colonies 

 that were just right when the flow 

 opened, and this experience has no 

 doubt been duplicated by scores of bee- 

 keepers. 



Honey vs. Sugar. 



The latest statistics, make it clear that 

 Canada and the United States consume, 

 on the average, about 80 pounds per 

 capita of sugar. Why should not a 

 goodly percentage of this sweetness be 

 honey instead of sugar? Certainly 

 there is no good reason why this should 

 not be the case, yet if we were to sug- 

 gest such a condition, lots of people, 

 including some bee-keepers, would laugh 

 at the idea. The writer has six broth- 

 ers and sisters, and whde we were all 

 home on the farm, with our parents and 

 hired help, the family averaged twelve. 

 For a number of years we never used 

 less than 600 pounds of honey per an- 

 num. This was extracted honey, and I 

 suppose, on the average, there would be 

 another hundred pounds of comb honey 

 as well. In telling this to some folks, 

 I have heard them remark that this was 

 altogether out of the ordinary, and some 

 few would even hint that this was really 

 too much of a good thing. 



Now I have reason to believe that the 

 continual presence of real good honey 

 on the table, (we never kept any other 

 kind for our own use) lessened the con- 

 sumption of sugar, and from the general 

 good health of the family, it is certain 

 that the honey did no harm, leaving out 

 the possibility that it may have even 

 been a benefit. Yes, I believe that it 

 would be to the good interests of the 

 consuming public, as well as to the pro- 

 ducing bee-keepers, if half of the 80 

 pounds of sugar could be substituted by 

 honey instead. Indeed "substituted" is 

 hardly the right word, as it is generally 

 supposed to mean, "replacing with some- 

 thing just as good," but in this case we 

 believe the honey instead of sugar would 

 be something "quite a bit better." 



Breeding from the Best. 



The importance of breeding from our very 

 best colonies is great, and is becoming better 

 understood as the years go by; and the bee- 

 l<eepers of America stand in the foremost 

 ranks of the world on this particular ques- 

 tion." — G. M. DooLiTTLE, in Gleanings. 



The first part of that statement can 

 hardly be too much emphasized, but 

 when Mr. Doolittle placed the bee-keep- 

 ers of America at the head he must 

 have forgotten little Switzerland. 



