1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



725 



a mild solution of salt-water with an atomizer; the combined 

 cover and feed receptacle Is placed on the hive, then a half- 

 body rim In which packing is placed ; then I place on the out- 

 side cover. Thus my bees go through our coldest winters, 

 dry-shod, and come out in the spring clean and bright — no 

 diarrhea nor dwindling from a foul or turbid hive. 



In this method the bees, first, are insured against damp- 

 ness ; second, they have sufficient space for old bees that die ; 

 third, bees and combs are treated with a cleansing bath of 

 salt-water; fourth, have ample ventilation; fifth, can be fed 

 at any time without molestation — nothing equal to it for stim- 

 ulating the queen for early breeding. 



SMOKING BEES WITH SUNFLOWER. 



Yes, Mr. Moore (page 595), I was aware that stramonium 

 was of a narcotic nature, and that's why I was led to try Its 

 effect on those high-toned bees. But, say, Mr. M., your good 

 wife didn't propose to smoke the stramonium to her injury or 

 death ? Of course not, unless she wlsht to commit suicide. 

 Likewise bee-keepers don't propose to smoke their bees to 

 death. A little smoke properly applied Is humane; a great 

 cloud of smoke blasted upon bees carelessly is inhuman ; 

 therefore, a little puff or two of sunflower or stramonium 

 smoke has the greatest controlling power on bees of any smoke 

 I have ever known. Try It, Mr. Moore. 



Morgan Co., Ohio. 



No. 2 The Care of Bees for Winteriag. 



BT C. P. DADANT. 



In a previous article, I stated, as a sinequa-non, that a 

 colony, to winter well, should contain a sufficient number of 

 bees. I am now reminded that I did not say what this num- 

 ber should be. It surely would be very difficult to state this 

 in thousands or tons of thousands, and if I could do this it 

 would be no better than so many hieroglyphics to most of my 

 readers — I might say to all of them, for no one can make 

 even an approximate guess at the number of bees a hive con- 

 tains. 



It will be much easier to say that I would have bees on 

 not less than five combs when they are clustered, or imbricated 

 together, on a frosty morning, and the clusters should extend 

 for over one-half of the length of the combs. A strong colony, 

 in a very good season, often covers the greater part of Its 

 combs below the honey, and it is a very good sign when you 

 raise the super, or the c4oth, or the honey-board, from the 

 body, to see the bees clustered a little way down from the top 

 of the combs. At the bottom they will, If healthy, reach clear 

 down to the alighting-board, and will be on the alert at a min- 

 ute's notice. 



The hive had best be reduced to the size of the colony, for 

 it Is worse than useless to have a lot of empty comb, perhaps 

 containing neither bees nor honey, at one side or the other. 

 For this reason, with the large hives that we use, we always 

 have a division-board, or dummy, which may be moved up 

 when the useless combs are removed, so as to reduce the size 

 of the hive, if needed, to a proportionate size to the strength 

 of the colony. The dry combs are removed to the honey- 

 house and put away for future use, and the empty space on 

 the side Is filled with warmth-retaining and moisture-absorb- 

 ing materials. If we cannot increase the strength of our 

 colony, it is at least a good plan to reduce the size of the hive 

 to fit it, in such a way as this. But the strong colonies, cover- 

 ing every comb, are much to be preferred. 



Now comes the question of food. If a sufficient number 

 of bees is absolutely necessary to a safe wintering. It is 

 equally evident that enough food must be had, and in an 

 available position, in reach of the bees. Twenty-five pounds 

 of honey is considered sufficient, in an ordinary winter, for 

 the needs of a colony. With large hives we would place this 

 amount as a minimum, and would say 25 to -±0 pounds. A 

 much smaller amount may suffice, and we have reliable re- 

 ports from experts showing that a colony, wintered in the 

 cellar, may be brought through with as ttle as five or six 

 pounds; but I would counsel no one to try 



First, the trials that have been made . resulted in so 



light a consumption were only for the time which the bees 

 past in the cellar. The hives and bees were weighed at the 

 moment of collaring, and again weighed when removed, but 

 they had more honey than the quantity mentioned as con- 

 sumed, and if It had been otherwise, some of the bees might 

 have been out of the reach of the scant supply, and their loss 

 would have entailed the loss of the colony. Besides, these 

 colonies have already past through a couple of mouths of fall 

 weather, when put away, which necessitated some food, and 



this amount should be computed as well as the amount which 

 they would consume when taken out of the cellar, between 

 that and the time. of the honey-flow, and this amount would be 

 very much greater than either the fall consumption or even 

 the cellar consumption, for in the spring they need food, not 

 only for the adult bees that consume but little, but mainly for 

 the young brood which requires a very great amount of food to 

 reach the adult state, and this brood-rearing must not be re- 

 strained under penalty of having but a weak colony at the 

 opening of the harvest and a consequent light flow of nectar. 



So, even if we winter bees in the cellar, it is well to have 

 plenty of stores. But I cannot help saying that it Is most 

 advisable, if either the number of bees, or the quantity of 

 honey, is scant, or if both are short, to winter in the cellar, if 

 a good cellar is at hand. But more of this by and by. 



The third question I have in view, and which I consider 

 as third in Importance, Is the quality of the honey. Perhaps 

 this has more weight than many would imagine. The experi- 

 enced apiarist who has seen his bees die by the hundreds of 

 colonies by the foul and filthy disease — diarrhea — is very 

 eager on this point, and dreads above all things the harvesting 

 of fruit-juices, or unripe honey, in late falls. ITruit-juices, 

 grape-juice and apple-juice, principally, are the worst supplies 

 that the bees may gather, and the horticulturist, whose 

 grapes have been suckt dry by the bees of his neighbor, is very 

 much mistaken when he thinks that the apiarist Is getting 

 rich at his expense. It is just the other way, and the dam- 

 aged grapes, or the cider-mill, have caused more loss of bees 

 than almost any other single mishap that bees may encounter. 



So the horticulturist and the apiarist should go hand In 

 hand, for their interests are Identical, and the loss of one is 

 balanced by the loss of the other, both in the fall and in the 

 spring, for it is well known that when the weather is ugly and 

 the bees cannot visit the apple-bloom In May, the prospect of 

 an apple crop is very poor. We are glad to see that, as peo- 

 ple become more enlightened, they become aware of these 

 facts, and the strife that used to exist between these two 

 branches of farming Is fast becoming a thing of the past. No 

 one can appreciate this better than ourselves, for we are 

 grape-growers here, now, on a large scale, and It Is because 

 we found It necessary to convince our neighbors that they 

 were mistaken in imagining the existence of antagonism be- 

 tween fruit-growing and bee-culture, through the Imaginary 

 depredations of the bees. 



But I have deviated from my subject in such a way-that I 

 am now compelled to leave further consideration of the ques- 

 tion of honey for wintering for a later article. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 DR. C. O. MILLBR, BtARBJSGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.! 



Wax-Rendering Arrangement — Wa.\-Press. 



1. For a large apiary of say 200 colonies, what method 

 of rendering cappings into wax would you recommend? 



2. I have used both the Doolittle and Boardman solar ex- 

 tractors. The former Is too small and the latter not alto- 

 gether satisfactory. With the Boardman, after a day's ex- 

 posure to the sun, the honey In the cappings gets almost black. 

 The contents of the extractor connot be removed, on account 

 of the multitude of bees that would get killed, until bees have 

 ceast flying. It Is not convenient for me to take the Board- 

 man into the honey-house. The wax and black refuse are so 

 mixt that it is always necessary to remelt the wax so obtained." 

 Can you recommend a solar extractor that is so constructed 

 that it will in one operation effectually separate wax, honey 

 and refuse? 



3. What is a wax-press, and how made and workt? 



Jamaica. 



Answers. — 1. Probably nothing would suit you better 

 than a large solar extractor. 



2. I don't know of any particular extractor that would 

 exactly meet your wants, but you would do well to try the sort 

 of receptacle used by Rauchfuss Brothers. Instead of there 

 being one single place for the honey and wax to go, the re- 

 ceptacle is divided into apartments so as to make a series of 

 receptacles. Everything goes Into the first receptacle until It 



