536 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



He speaks of "Frank Coverdale some 

 years ago having 40 pounds to the col- 

 ony, and according to Mr. Johnson did 

 not get one-third of a crop." Mr. Wil- 

 son would better have waited until the 

 season closed before he estimated my 

 income. I have colonies from each of 

 which I have taken 192 ^completed sec- 

 tions of honey since July 1, 1892. And 

 still I have not one-third of a crop ! Will 

 Mr. Wilson multiply 192 by 3, then ask 

 Mr. Coverdale if he ever got that amount 

 of honey from one colony in one year ? 



I had the honor to meet Mr. Cover- 

 dale at the Iowa State Fair this year, 

 where I exhibited honey and bees, and 

 he can tell what kind of an article the 

 honey was, compared with the eastern 

 Iowa product of 1892. If nothing pre- 

 vents, I will exhibit a part of my honey 

 at the World's Fair in 1893. 



True, Mr. Wilson hit it pretty well in 

 1891, in his predictions, and he tried to 

 imitate the same in 1892, but failed. 

 He wrote me that he wanted me to prove 

 him a "false prophet." Well, if I did 

 not prove it, the honey-flow did, and I 

 could not help stating so, as well as 

 others. 



Mr. Wilson says that if the weather 

 had been favorable, there would have 

 been double the amount of honey this 

 year. Well, multiply 192 by 2, then 

 that amount by 3, which would give an 

 average of Mr. Coverdale's honey-flow. 



Just as nearly as he can tell six 

 months ahead how much honey we will 

 have in Iowa, his prediction might come 

 true ; and he might foretell six months 

 ahead ; but if he had reversed it in 

 Iowa, and prophesied in the eastern 

 part "not an average," and for the 

 western part " a fair honey crop," then 

 we " Hawkeyes " could say that he knew 

 something about it ; but as he did not 

 thus prophesy, we could not help saying 

 what we have said. 



Coon Rapids, Iowa. 



Importance of Wholesome 

 Stores for Wintering. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 

 BY FRANK COVERDALE. 



Much space has been occupied not 

 only in the bee-papers, but in the lead- 

 ing agricultural press, and perhaps not 

 a bee-convention was ever assembled 

 without discussing the subject of win- 

 tering our bees ; but for all this, not 

 lesj' than three-fourths of the bees in 



this section perished the past winter — a 

 thing which, in my estimation, need not 

 have thus happened. 



Honey-dew was the greater enemy 

 which caused many of the bees to die 

 early in winter, and those that survived 

 until spring were in very poor condition 

 to stand the cool, rainy, backward 

 spring. How much different might the 

 condition of these colonies have been, if 

 the extractor had been put to work just 

 as the fall bloom began to yield nectar, 

 and it would not have been much of a 

 task. At that date robber bees would 

 have annoyed but little, and the bees 

 would have gathered well-nigh enough 

 to winter on, which, in this locality, 

 makes the best of winter stores ; and 

 were there any deficient, a syrup made 

 from granulated sugar would do very 

 well. 



The last winter's losses should be a 

 lesson to many which they should never 

 forget and a most plain illustration it 

 was of the value of good food for bees in 

 winter. Honey-dew is not fit for food, 

 and should never be tolerated as a win- 

 ter ratian for bees in this latitude. Well 

 ripened honey, and plenty of it, in this 

 location, cannot be excelled. 



Let no one risk bees in a damp cellar, 

 unless the temperature runs high at all 

 times, 45° to 50°, when damp, while a 

 dry cellar may do very well even if the 

 temperature runs down to 32° at times ; 

 and I feel quite confident that with a 

 dry cellar, the temperature ranging 

 from 40° to 50°, and 55° in the last 

 days in March, has failed to do my bees 

 any harm, that I have been able to note. 



A bee-cellar should be dug on the 

 highest place possible, and the walls ex- 

 tend high enough above ground to allow 

 scraping in dirt all around the wall, 

 making the ground all slant well from 

 the cellar ; and as years roll on the 

 cellar will continually become drier, as 

 the rain will all run rapidly away before 

 it soaks. 



With all of the above good points no 

 one need fear any very bad results. My 

 bees have been wintered in just such a 

 cellar for eight winters, without any loss 

 worth speaking of, while seven years 

 previous to this I had a damp cellar to 

 contend with, which so reduced my bees 

 that I was forced to abandon it. 



Good, wholesome stores may be much 

 injured by allowing frost to enter the 

 inside of the hives before moving them 

 to the cellar. It is oftimes said by the 

 average bee-man, that the bees will fix 

 all the damage, and have a late cleans- 

 ing flight. The damage will remain, to 



