AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL- 



SOS 



Yes, pure granulated sugar stored in 

 combs free from other food for winter 

 stores will fill your requirement if the 

 bees are managed in an ordinarily rea- 

 sonable way otherwise. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Long-continued cold weather. 2. 

 Keep them at the right temperature in 

 cellar. If you live in a climate where 

 bees can fly out frequently, then put 

 them in chaff- out-of-doors. — P. H. 

 Elwood. 



1. I believe the principal cause is 

 dampness and want of ventilation. 2. 

 Since I have given my bees plenty of 

 ventilation at the bottom of the hive, I 

 lose scarcely any that have sufiBcient 

 winter stores. — M. Mahin. 



1. Long-continued cold weather, and 

 a lack of proper preparation. 2. I have 

 detailed my ideas on wintering, and the 

 methods I use, in these columns at va- 

 rious times. I see no reason for making 

 any change in these methods. — James A. 

 Green. 



1. Long confinement and unsealed 

 honey. 2. Keep them in a well-sheltered 

 place where they can have a flight at 

 every chance. The colonies that win- 

 tered best are those that had a flight 

 when it seemed sure death for bees to 

 venture out. — Dadant & Son. 



1. Lack of the right kind of food in 

 the right place. 2. Yes ; plenty of food 

 in the right place. Place a cake of 

 sugar candy 1}4 inches thick, and 8 

 inches square, directly over the cluster, 

 about the first of January. Bees starve 

 to death. They do not freeze. — Emerson 

 T. Abbott. 



1. Lack of proper conditions. 2. If 

 the safe wintering of bees could be 

 taught by a rule, the "wintering prob- 

 lem " would no longer harass the bee- 

 keepers. I could give my theory, but I 

 am not sure it would be valuable. This 

 space is too limited, anyhow. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



1. Long, cold winters are the causes 

 of loss. When the winter is open and 

 moderate I never lose any colonies ; but 

 when long, hard winters overtake the 

 bees, some colonies perish. This has 

 been my experience in many years. 2. 

 Only that all care should be used to pro- 

 tect the bees as though every winter 

 was hard alike. — G. W. Demaree. 



The severe and long-continued cold 

 weather. In clfianing out hives, where 

 bees have died, foul air appears to be 

 one factor. The weather was so severe 

 that bees could not clean house, and the 

 dead accumulated, closing up the en- 

 trance. We hear of bees coming through 



in good condition in old hives split from 

 top to bottom. I cleaned out a hive that 

 had contained a very large colony, and 

 well supplied with honey. The hive was 

 a close, well painted Langstroth, with 

 new muslin over a Hill's device, and the 

 cap filled with dry maple leaves. The 

 entrance was so clogged with dead bees 

 robbers could not enter. — Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison. 



1. You mistake. The heavy losses 

 have mostly been the past spring. In 

 1882 I went on record as saying that 

 after every winter in which we had con- 

 tinuous cool and cold weather, we would 

 have a heavy loss of bees, notwithstand- 

 ing the pollen and all other theories that 

 were advanced. The past winter and 

 spring have again proven that this state- 

 ment was correct. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. It is difficult to say, generally, 

 "what the principal reasons for heavy 

 winter losses" are. So many factors 

 enter into the problem, that each case is 

 an idividual one. Starvation is the prin- 

 cipal reason for winter losses in my own 

 locality (Mass.). 2. I can suggest noth- 

 ing that has not been made public in 

 text-books and the bee-journals for 

 years. Study them carefully, and you 

 will get about all the light there is on 

 the subject. — J. E. Pond. 



1. Our losses in Canada during the 

 past winter were light. A light honey- 

 flow, or a honey-flow which breaks off 

 early, I believe usually precedes heavy 

 winter losses. 2. I have great faith in 

 the statement that bees will winter with 

 reasonable certainty if they get sufficient 

 proper stores, have a good queen, and 

 are kept in proper condition during win- 

 ter. The rules of health and life are as 

 fixed with the bee as any other animal. 



— R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



1. I think there is no good reason. 2. 

 Much unnecessary ado is made about 

 the "wintering problem." Like all 

 other living things, our bees need 

 warmth and food. Preparations for win- 

 tering should be made early in the fall — 

 not later than September. Each colony 

 should have six or seven frames of well- 

 ripened honey. If wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands, they should be packed in 

 chaff hives with at least 2 or 3 inches of 

 dry chaff in the hollow walls at the sides, 

 ends and bottom. Spread a new cloth 

 of duck, or something of that kind, over 

 the frames ; but first lay three or four 

 corn-cobs or sticks across the frames to 

 hold the cloth up, and give the bees 

 a passage-way over the frames. On top 

 of the cloth put about 6 inches of chaff, 

 and cover it so that it will not get wet. 



