1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



275 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Winter Bees Successfully. 



JAMES HEBDON. 



I have just read the prize essay of 

 Mr. Chas. Dadant on the above sub- 

 ject, and never before was I so struck 

 with the difference in the actions of 

 bees and the treatment they require, 

 in different localities varying so little 

 in latitude. In this article 1 will refer 

 to some of these differences, and dif- 

 ferent conclusions arrived at there- 

 from. He says : " Bees in winter do 

 not inhabit the combs which are lilled 

 with honey. They gather directly be- 

 low the sealed honey." 



Here this is true where hives are 

 left with tight wood covers, but with 

 the Langstroth hive the cluster rises 

 to the cushion many times, clustering 

 square upon solid sealed comb below, 

 but almost universally tilling the space 

 between the top bars and cloth above 

 all, through the winter, passing over 

 from comb to comb in this space 

 (which is about 2 inches) and working 

 forward and back through the ranges 

 between the combs, thus being able 

 to avail themselves of any honey the 

 hive may contain. The quilt seems to 

 attract them to it. 



I supposed the " water in winter" 

 question was either unsettled or con- 

 ceded that all attempts to supply colo- 

 nies by means of sponges and panes 

 of glass as condensers, had failed to 

 give any satisfactory results. 



Dysentery is the only winter trouble 

 of any moment known in this vicinity. 

 Whatever will cause winter breeding, 

 will tend to engender the disease. If 

 water will do it, then let us " keep 

 dry." Perhaps from this cause lies 

 the success of the use of absorbents 

 above. 



In regard to bees being unable to 

 reach their stores, I have demonstrated 

 that bees cannot pass from comb to 

 comb through passages such as they 

 have between the ends of the frames 

 and the hive, when the hive is contin- 

 ually in a temperature of 42° P., but 

 will starve with honey close to them. 

 This being true, bees are hardly as safe 

 in special repositories (where no spe- 

 cial passage-room is made for them) 

 as they are out-of-doors, unless the 

 winter is of continued severity. Or- 

 dinarily, many times during winter 

 the sun strikes the hive with sufficient 

 warmth to raise the temperature in 

 the hive so that the bees can pass over 

 and around the frames. Here it is 

 calculated that 25 pounds of honey are 

 required to sustain a normal colony 

 from the time that they cease gather- 

 ing until they begin again. Only 

 about one-half of this amount is re- 

 quired to feed the bees during the time 

 they are confined to the hive. But 

 little more than one-third is used if 

 but little breeding takes place. Win- 

 ter breeding, however successfully 

 done, is of little or no value here. 



That crystallizable sugar is most 

 easily digested by the bees I have no 

 doubt, but this fact plays but a small 

 part in our success or failure to winter 

 our bees, in my judgment, for if they 

 eat pollen with it, dysentery and death 

 will be apt to result. 



About twelve years ago, in the month 

 of October, I bought 15 colonies of 

 bees in 10-frame Langstroth hives, of 

 a neighboring farmer. Owing to the 

 season, these hives were almost exclu- 

 sively basswood honey (the most crys- 

 tallizable we have here) and in less 

 than six weeks after putting them 

 away all were dead with dysentery in 

 its worst form. They were in a choice 

 cellar. I was first led to believe from 

 the expressions of others, that late 

 (dark) honey was unsafe for wintering 

 bees upon. Experience, coupled with 

 close observation, led me to believe 

 that it was the best. I now think that 

 the secret is this : when we have combs 

 of fall honey we usually have them 



full to the exclusion of fall pollen, and 

 in this lies our success. 



Mr. Dadant speaks of " 5 Or 6 weeks" 

 as a long time for bees to be confined. 

 but says they will stand it if the honey 

 is pure, etc. Last winter our 74 sur- 

 viving colonics were completely con- 

 lined for nearly 5 months, and that, 

 too, during spells of continued cold of 

 a severity seldom ever known here be- 

 fore, and a majority came through 

 lica It by and bright. All wintered out- 

 of-doors, and a few entirely neglected. 



One fall, in packing my bees, I left 

 many with the brood cover tightly 

 sealed, leaving no upward ventilation 

 or absorbents above whatever. I lost 

 about one-third of my colonies, but 

 there was no difference in the condition 

 of those with, and those without ven- 

 tilation through absorbents above. 

 Seeing no difference, I tried the same 

 experiment the next winter, and ob- 

 tained a decided preference in favorof 

 the absorbents above, though a few. 

 with no absorbents or other upward 

 ventilation, were in fine order — win- 

 tered perfectly. May it not be that 

 whenever tight tops act as condensers, 

 and this tends to stimulate breeding, 

 that dysentery results V 



I always objected to imprisoning 

 bees during winter, because the mo- 

 ment they find out they are prisoners, 

 they become excited to a degree that 

 causes them to eat all sorts of food ob- 

 tainable, and unreasonable quantities 

 of it. Next comes a statement in Mr. 

 Dadant's article which, while I have 

 no desire to question its being put into 

 successful effect in his location, would 

 be ready death here. I quote : 



" Now, after a spell of more than a 

 week of cold weather, as soon as the 

 thermometer rises to 45-' in the shade, 

 I disturb every colony to compel their 

 bees to fly out." 



In successfully wintering bees in this 

 climate, the first desideratum is to get 

 the colony into that quiet, semi-dor- 

 mant state which holds success in its 

 hands for any length of time that it 

 remains with them. This condition 

 our bees nearly always enter into when 

 first closed in by cold, and every time 

 they are disturbed and aroused to ac- 

 tivity, the chances for getting them 

 back into this quiet state grow less ; 

 particularly so as the winter advances. 

 Flights in the fore part of the winter 

 are seldom of any benefit, not being 

 needed ; in the after part, they tend 

 to stimulate breeding, which has a 

 tendency to destroy our bees. Re- 

 peatedly have I noticed the evil effects 

 of a "purifying flight." During the 

 winter of 1874-75, 1 had housed about 

 35 colonies. Towards spring they had 

 the dysentery badly, so much so that 

 I lost all but 14 of them, and as the 

 cold frame was then among the great 

 discoveries, I put one I had in opera- 

 tion. I raised the mercury to the 

 proper temperature ( I think 60° or 70°), 

 and placed under the glass, on a straw 

 floor, three of the diseased colonies. 

 They were strong in numbers, and 

 flew and voided fully and satisfactorily 

 (more so than they do out-of-doors in 

 the same length of time), and returned 

 to the hive with scarcely any loss. I 

 was proud of my success, and deter- 

 mined to put more through the next 

 day if the sun shone, and if not, as 

 soon as it did. Before it shone, how- 

 ever, those three colonies, and those 

 only, were dead. I have been told of 

 three different instances where, in car- 

 rying out bees from the cellar in the 

 spring to stay, a colony or two was 

 overlooked, and not discovered till 

 late in April or early in May. In every 

 instance these colonies were the best 

 of the season. 



The only cases where I have noticed 

 any good to arise from winter flights, 

 were where the bees enjoyed several 

 days of perfect freedom to bask in the 

 sunshine, and that before the time for 

 breeding to begin. This truly short- 

 ened the time of confinement, with no 

 disastrous effects to more than offset 

 the good obtained thereby. 



It seems that in Mr. Dadant's local- 

 ity the bees should " never be placed 

 in the repository after a few days of 

 cold weather," while George Grimm 

 considers the reverse of this condition 



of things one of the requisites to suc- 

 cess in his locality. Here, in our sec- 

 tion, I think that sunn' seasons early 

 housing, before any cold weather has 

 appealed, is best , while ill other sea- 

 sons a few cool, or even cold days are 

 needed to get the stubborn bees into 

 the semi-dormant state. 



I have believed and held all along, 

 that whatever the cause of our winter 

 losses was, it was one cause, to which 

 all other influences were as fox-lire to 

 the sun, and at best only acting as 

 aggravations to the great cause, and, 

 as stated in my former article, I feel 

 sure that the great main cause is the 

 winter consumption of bee-bread. Last 

 winter bees that were cellared were 

 much better off than those that were 

 left outside in this climate in any 

 shape, because while those inside had 

 the advantage of a less consumption 

 of food (which resulted in many cases 

 in a total abstinence from pollen-eat- 

 ing, though I know of one cellar full 

 where all died), those outside had not 

 the usual advantage of a thorough 

 midwinter flight, or several of them, as 

 was the case the winter before. 



I know of several cases where 

 packed colonies came through in splen- 

 did order, one lot being a whole apiary, 

 other cases, where bees entirely neg- 

 lected did usually well. But these 

 were exceptional cases. I think last 

 winter's experience gave no proofs 

 why we should turn from the out-door 

 packing to the cellar. Perhaps a little 

 of both would be good for large apia- 

 ries. We often hear old residents say 

 that years ago bees did not die during 

 the winter if they had honey enough. 

 I notice that at that time most of the 

 honey was gathered from trees, while 

 now, under a more advanced age of 

 improvement of the country, these 

 trees have been exchanged for weeds, 

 the latter being greater pollen pro- 

 ducers than the former, especially in 

 the fall of the year. 



Mr. Dadant's article, above referred 

 to, is one of much thought and infor- 

 mation, and I appreciate it. I only de- 

 sire to point out the difference in treat- 

 ment required in different localities. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Aug. 8, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Get Rid of Fertile Workers, 



W. II. ANDREWS. 



In the Bee Journal, Aug. 10, 1881, 

 Mr. E. A. Thomas writes under the 

 above quoted heading, and I feel sure 

 that as a generous man he will not 

 think it unkind if I question some of 

 his teachings, both as to logic and 

 facts. 



First, he says : "I think there is a 

 difference in colonies, for, while some 

 will readily accept the means of ob- 

 taining a queen, others seem bent on 

 their own destruction," etc. Now, 

 this implies that some colonies have 

 innate peculiarities less favorable in 

 theirown perpetuity than in the happy 

 nature of others ; this, in my humble 

 judgment, is error not meant. 



The difficulty in introducing queens 

 and brood into queenless colonies in- 

 creases with the length of time the 

 colony remains queenless and the 

 number of laying workers therein 

 produced; there is no exception to 

 this rule. 



Second: "I have never had a full 

 colony with a fertile worker, but now 

 and then have a nucleus colony, which 

 loses their first queen on going out to 

 meet the drone, and so has no means 

 of supplying the bees." 



This implies at least one, and may 

 be two of three things: 1st, that Mr. 

 Thomas never had a full colony; 2d. 

 that full colonies never lose their first 

 queens; 3d, that when they do lose 

 their first queens they are never with- 

 out the means of supplying their loss. 

 I take it that not one of these conclu- 

 sions is correct in point of fact. 



Third : " I watched her while she 

 laid quite a number of eggs, the bees 

 treating her with all the consideration 

 they would a queen, and then I pinched 

 her head." 



I do not question the correctness of 



the statement that Mr. T. saw a 

 worker lay quite a number of eggs, 

 for 1 have seen quite a number of 



workers laying in the same comb at 

 the same time, but I hat " considera- 

 tion" business puzzles me. for I never 

 saw lltal, or any thing that 1 cut i Id mis- 

 take for it ; if the other workers give 

 the laying worker the consideration 

 they are wont to give a queen, Mr. 

 T. should have no occasion to be trou- 

 bled a hunt informing his readers as to 



the best liniile of ridding a colony of 

 (he fertile worker, for he would only 

 need to say, examine your combs, and 

 when yon see the other workers treat- 

 ing one worker "with all the conside- 

 ration they would a queen, why, just 

 there and then, pinch her head" — that 

 would settle it. There is no mistak- 

 ing the consideration given the queen 

 by her workers. 



I get rid of laying workers by giv- 

 ing the colony one frame of brood, in 

 all stages, each day for 5 successive 

 days, and the work is done. 



A very good way is to put the colony 

 into a transportation case (a light box 

 made so as to receive a bee hive and 

 shut it in bee-tight, with handles on 

 each side) and set the case a few steps 

 off, and then set a new hive on the 

 old stand and put into it a comb of 

 brood in all stages, and a comb of 

 honey, then raise the rear end of the 

 case lid slightly, so that the bees will 

 find their way out slowly ; at the end 

 of the fourth day shake all the bees 

 that still remain on the old comb off 

 at the entrance of the new hive, and 

 it is accomplished. 



McKinney, Tex. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Degeneration of Bees. 



S. S. BUTLER, M. D. 



How to make and ruin an apiary by 

 gradually reducing the vigor of the 

 bees by artificial swarming is the 

 question. Mr. G. W. Thompson, in 

 the Bee Journal of May 25, page 

 166, in the 3d column, under the head 

 of wintering, says : 



" Meeting a man who keeps bees, 

 some distance from my home. I asked 

 how they wintered ; he replied, first 

 rate, sir. How many had you in the 

 fall, said I. Eight. How many now, 

 i inquired. Eight, doing finely, point- 

 ing to 8 weather-beaten pine boxes on 

 a bench ; no protection except some 

 boards nailed against the fence. There 

 they stood in January just as they did 

 in August — no cellar, nochaffnodead- 

 air space, and no dead bees." 



Now, why did those bees winter 

 well in those common hives with no 

 protection, when so many over the 

 country were lost ? I claim that his 

 bees had not lost any of their natural 

 vigor or toughness, had not degene- 

 rated by either rearing forced queens 

 himself or being near enough to one 

 who has, for his queens to get fertil- 

 ized by imperfect drones, from their 

 forced (and as I claim imperfect) 

 queens, thus giving workers not up to 

 the regular standard in hardiness. 

 The proof is that they wintered with- 

 out loss. I defy anyone to give any 

 other reason than that they had the 

 necessary vigor and hardines to carry 

 them through the winter in spite of 

 the cold and long confinement. So 

 would all those bees that were lost 

 have been hardy enough to have car- 

 ried them through, if it had not been 

 for vigor lost by almost every bee- 

 keeper rearing or buying, for years 

 past, forced queens, and, by so doing, 

 lowering the standard of his bees. It 

 is almost impossible to find one who 

 keeps bees in the common hive, who 

 either rears a good many forced queens 

 by driving or has a dividing neighbor 

 near enough to spoil the vigor of his 

 bees in a few years. 



One of the first plans given us for 

 forced swarming, with movable frame 

 hives, was by dividing, by taking \i 

 of the combs and putting them into an 

 empty hive, setting it beside the old 

 one, the entrance of each being a lit- 

 tle one side of the old one, so as to re- 

 tain about the same amount of flying 



