THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



237 



bees can fly on warm days, and an- 

 other very important point is to leave 

 a small space of the leaves directly 

 above the bees uncovered with earth 

 so as to produce a slow circulation 

 through the hive. A thin cloth may 

 be spread over the hive to support 

 the leaves, but I have had good suc- 

 cess when they were spread directly 

 on the brood-frames. Forest leaves 

 I consider the best of all materials for 

 packing bees as they allow the circu- 

 lation to penetrate fartlier away from 

 the cluster of bees before condensing 

 and consequently will take up or dis- 

 pose of a greater amount of moisture. 

 Of the different kinds of forest leaves, 

 I prefer hard maple. Forest leaves 

 do not harbor or entice mice as do 

 the other materials. While I have 

 practised out-door wintering for sev- 

 eral winters by this method I have 

 yet to lose the first colony. The 

 coming winter I shall try loo colo- 

 nies in that way. Preparing bees for 

 winter is a plain, simple and easy un- 

 dertaking. One who understands 

 wintering can easily tell how to do it 

 in a few plain and simple statements ; 

 but for one, who has not years of 

 experience, to follow the same easy 

 directions and apply them as cor- 

 rectly is entirely a different matter. 

 Bradford, loiva. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Winter Problem.— The pat- 

 rons of the Apicultiirist will be more 

 than pleased with the contents of the 

 present number. The authors of the 

 essays on " Wintering Bees" are men 

 well known to all our readers. What 

 they say is not mere theorj', and any 

 novice or old beekeeper can safely 

 adopt and put in practise any of the 

 methods herein given for wintering 

 bees. 



All the writers do not agree as to the 

 best food for wintering bees, still there 

 is no serious clashing of ideas and 

 suggestions. 



Professor Cook thinks if bees can 

 take a flight often in the winter they 



will winter successfully, no matter 

 what the food is. Yes, we have 

 often so stated, and our experience, 

 year after year, has demonstrated the 

 fact. We have always noticed that 

 when bees had a good cleansing flight 

 in February they were pretty sure to 

 go through the winter in fine condi- 

 tion. This suggests one of the advan- 

 tages of wintering bees on the summer 

 stands. Colonies well packed early 

 in October, and left on the summer 

 stand, will usually winter well in most 

 sections. 



Mr. Doolittle's idea of standing a 

 board against the front of the hive is 

 a good one and one we have practised 

 for twenty-five years. The board not 

 only keeps the snow from closing the 

 entrance to the hive, but keeps out the 

 light and shades the hive from the sun 

 late in the winter and thus prevents 

 the bees from coming out for a flight 

 when the temperature ig not warm 

 enough for them to do so with safety. 



We are personally acquainted with 

 Mr. P. R. Russell and know that no 

 beekeeper has better success in win- 

 tering bees. Early in May, the last two 

 years we have purchased bees (about 

 flfty colonies in all) of Mr. Russell. 

 We found his hives full of bees and 

 the combs solid with brood, — a fact 

 attesting to his method for wintering 

 bees. 



]f any reader of the " Api" loses his 

 bees in wintering after this, it must be 

 from carelessness or because he did 

 not carefully read this number of the 

 Apiailturist. 



The National Convention, which 

 meets at Indianapolis this mouth, 

 should take some action regarding the 

 matter of disposing of surplus honey. 

 AVe suggest for the consideration of 

 the meeting that the sum of $5,000 be 

 collected from the beekeepers through- 

 out the United States and paid to the 

 person who will devise some method 

 for converting honey into sugar simi- 

 lar to granulated sugar. We believe 

 it can and will be done, provided a 

 proper inducement is held out and 

 a sum suflicient is offered to compen- 

 sate for the time, trouble and expense 

 of conducting experiments. 



The above sum can be easily raised 

 from the beekeepers of this country. 

 Small producers might pay .%1 and 

 larger ones as high as $5 each. We 

 respectfully submit the above sugges- 

 tions to the convention for its consider- 

 ation. 



