16 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



NOTES FROM 



THE BIENEN ZEITUNG, 



GERMANY. 



By Julius Hoffman. 



Dr. Dzierzon says : The quiet- 

 ness or dormancy of bees^ does 

 not depend on higher or lower tem- 

 perature, but on the condition of 

 vegetation ; whether vegetation is 

 stopped by cold or heat is imma- 

 terial. 



It is therefore quite wrong to 

 suppose that bees must not be kept 

 too warm in winter, in order to keep 

 them in quiet repose. Instinct 

 makes them keep quiet when no 

 honey or pollen is to be found, ex- 

 cepting some occasional purifying 

 flights, no matter how nice the 

 weather may be in fall or winter. 



Foul air and want of water in 

 connection with cold weather are 

 the principal causes of bad win- 

 tering. Cold weather will not pre- 

 vent bees from too early breeding, 

 as low temperature will condense 

 much moisture, which induces bees 

 to breeding. A warmer and more 

 even temperature will rather retard 

 breeding at unseasonable times. 



The best time for the beginning 

 of brood-rearing is when they be- 

 gin to carry natural pollen. Bees 

 are taken care of best in winter 

 when housed in a dark cellar or 

 similar locality, but plenty of fresh 

 air should be admitted into the 

 cellar and hives ; and as in an even 

 and moderate temperature not much 

 moisture will condense, the bees 



'The author is speaking of oiit-iloov win- 

 tering.— J. H. 



may also need some water in case 

 the honey should be rather thick 

 and candied. 



In another article he speaks of 

 the desirability to preserve and 

 lengthen the life of valuable queens 

 from which we may want to breed ; 

 he quotes one case where an extra 

 good queen was made useful for 

 six years by purposely limiting her 

 fertility. 



C. J. H. Gravenhorst practises 

 the following plan to prevent after- 

 swarming and raise extra queens : 

 he divides his colonies, after the 

 first swarm has issued, by means 

 of tight-fitting division boards, in- 

 to two or more nuclei in the same 

 hive by giving each a separate en- 

 trance ; then each one receives a 

 queen-cell and raises a queen. 

 By this means a colony, being di- 

 vided into several small ones, will 

 not swarm again and some valuable 

 extra queens are gained. The ex- 

 tra queens are taken out after they 

 begin to lay to make use of and 

 the nuclei united again to one 

 colony. 



Before uniting, the bees should 

 be made acquainted together by a 

 small opening at the top or bottom 

 of the division board or elsewhere 

 for about forty-eight hours. The 

 entrances, if all are on one side of 

 the hive or rather close together, 

 should be kept separated by divi- 

 sion boards fastened outside the 

 hive. 



I have practised the above plan 

 of dividing to quite an extent and 

 can recommend it. 



Fort Plain, N T. 



