820 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



IJiTiiig: Bees a Flight in Winter. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Many seem to think that it is neces- 

 sary to remove the bees f torn the cellar, 

 during the winter, for a Hight, should 

 a warm day occur. When I first be- 

 gan keeping bees I wintered entirely 

 m tlie cellar. 



Believing it to be a good plan to give 

 the bees a chance to void their excre- 

 ment as often as possible, I carried 

 them all out of the cellar about the 

 1st of February, if such a thing was 

 possible, returning them at evening, 

 and again they were carried out about 

 10th of March ; thus giving them two 

 flights. One thing I always noticed, 

 that after returning them to the cellar 

 they never settled down as quiet as 

 they were before. Brood rearing was 

 started and the loss caused by tlie ex- 

 citement, always noticeable when bees 

 are breeding, was greater than was 

 the accumulation of young bees hatch- 

 ing from the brood, hence each colony 

 were really damaged by being set out. 



About this time, I thought I would 

 try the setting out of a part of the bees 

 as before, and leave a part in ; so I 

 placed them in the cellar in the fall in 

 such a manner that those I wished to 

 put out, could be removed witliout 

 disturbing tlie rest. As opportunity 

 presented they were put out, for their 

 winter flight, while the rest were left 

 quiet until about the 1st of May. Up- 

 on setting them out for good, I ascer- 

 tained tliat those which had not been 

 disturbed were much the strongest ; 

 and upon weighing them I found that 

 those which had not been put out had 

 consumed but about one pound of 

 honey a month, while those given two 

 flights had consumed nearly double 

 that amount. 



I remember at about this time a 

 neighbor keeping bees in box hives, 

 invited me over to see his bees, it be- 

 ing about the 1st of February. I found 

 them in rather bad shape, for it had 

 been a cold winter, and the bees out 

 doors could not fly. In looking them 

 over I found a second swarm, whose 

 combs were bright and clean, and 

 seemed to contain a fair colony of bees. 

 A bargain was struck up and 1 brought 

 this colony home with me, over a rough 

 road, nearly two miles. In the even- 

 ing I took them into the cellar, turned 

 the hive bottom side up, and threw an 

 old carpet over them. As I had read 

 that bees should never be disturbed in 

 ■winter, unless just after a flight, 1 

 feared that I should lose them unless 

 a warm day occurred so that I could 

 put them out. As none occurred for 

 a week or two I kept close watch of 

 them, and was surprised to And them 

 even more quiet than those that had 

 been in the cellar all winter. As they 

 continued thus quiet I did not put 

 them out until April 25, and the result 



showed that no other colony in my 

 yard was as good as this one was on 

 May 20. 



Since then, after once placing my 

 bees in tlie cellar, I have left them 

 there till ready to put them out to re- 

 main. 



If we have a cellar with an even 

 temperature, and that pretty warm, 

 (from 45° to 50°) there is but little dif- 

 flculty in keeping bees quiet; but if 

 the temperature is allowed to go from 

 30^' to 50°, as it happens, the bees are 

 apt to become uneasy. The keeping 

 of the bees quiet during the whole 

 winter is the great desideratum in 

 cellar wintering, and if they can be 

 thus kept, no flight is necessary, expe- 

 rience has led me to believe. 



If I find a colony of bees restless, I 

 ventilate the hive until tliey are quiet. 

 The cause of uneasiness is (barring 

 disturbing influences, sucli as mice, 

 etc.) too cold or too warm. If a good 

 colony is uneasy, I try more ventila- 

 tion by raising the hive up at the bot- 

 tom, and if it is still uneasy, I take off 

 the chaff at the top, and roll back the 

 quilt a little, sometimes taking it clear 

 off, so as to have them suspended in 

 mid-air, as it were. If it is a small 

 colony, I close the entrance and wrap 

 them up as warm as possible. 



When everything is just right, they 

 will appear like so many dead bees 

 upon looking at them with alight, but 

 breath on tliem slightly and they will 

 move, and thrust out their stings. 



To know when they are all quiet and 

 just as I wish to have them, 1 go some 

 evening to the cellar, open the doors 

 carefully, shutting them after me, and 

 stand listening in the darkness. If 

 they are as they should be, I will hear 

 just a low quiet humming, with, per- 

 haps, one bee in a minute taking wing 

 and tlying to the bottom of the cellar, 

 if the cellar contains 50 colonies. If, 

 on the contrary, I hear a loud roaring, 

 with three or four bees flying at a time, 

 I know that all is not right, and ven- 

 tilate tlie cellar and hives, until they 

 are as they should be. 



As spring comes on, the humming 

 noise grows a little louder, and more 

 bees fly out; so that allowance must 

 be made for the time of the year. 

 Many try to keep these bees that come 

 out on the cellar bottom, in their liives, 

 by using wire cloth, but my experience 

 is that such are bees about to die with 

 old age, and if they are not allowed to 

 come out, they will die in the hive. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Experience with Cyprian Bees. 



WM. M. ROGERS. 



I have two or three times attempted 

 to write an article on Cyprian bees. 

 I have now concluded that a summary 

 would be useful, and therefore forbear 

 sending the longer article that I at 

 first proposed. 



I have had great faith in the Cypri- 

 ans, and I have proved my faith by 

 handling them almost exclusively, 

 since their introduction into this 

 country. 



After being well pleased with them. 



having rarely lighted a smoker when 

 manipulating the colonies, I was aU at 

 once put squarely to rout by the tierce 

 and vindictive temper of which others 

 spoke so much, and of which I had 

 previously witnessed so little ; even 

 my selected, choicest, gentlest colony, 

 proved as refractory as the worst. 



On a few points I am well satisfied. 

 If all bees were like Cyprians, there 

 would be but few amateur apiarists 

 and all the interests that flourish 

 through the fondness of men for bees, 

 would languish. 



The Cyprian queen is very prolific, 

 but the actual number of bees on hand, 

 except in the hottest weather, is always 

 less than the promise of the preceding 

 brood ; but, in settled warm weather, 

 it is practicable to increase Cyprian 

 bees almost indefinitely. 



Chaff hives are i)eculiarly weU 

 adapted to spring rearing of Cyprian 

 bees, for in early spring the extensive 

 brood requires uniform protcetion 

 from atmospheric changes. The Cy- 

 prians have taught me that chilled 

 brood means short-lived bees. 



I am sure that Cyprians work exten- 

 sively on the second crop of red clover. 

 They are very prolific queen rearers. 

 I counted this year 75 queen-cells, 

 formed under swarming impulse, in 

 one colony. They are certainly good 

 honey-gatherers, but I cannot run an 

 intelligent line of comparison between 

 them and Italians. 



I do not think that their capped 

 honey looks as inviting as that sealed 

 by black bees. 



Last spring my Cyprians dwindled 

 badly, but came up rapidly on the ap- 

 proach of warm weather, and were 

 ready for the harvest that did not 

 come in these parts. 



I shal! return to Italians, unless I 

 can develop a bee of superior qualities 

 on a balanced cross between Italians 

 and Cyprians. 



ShelbyviUe, Ky. 



For the American Bee Journal- 



Wood Separators for Surplus Honey. 



F. C. BENEDICT. 



In reviewing the numbers of the 

 Bee Journal for the year 1882, I 

 came to the article by Mr. C. R. Isham 

 on the above subject, on page 120, No. 

 8. Your closing comments on it leads 

 me to give my experience, and I can 

 endorse all that he says on the subject. 



Allow me to give a few facts that 

 will demonstrate themselves to any 

 apiarist who will give them a fair trial. 

 I hold that wood is the best for sepa- 

 rators, of any substance yet tried. 

 Paper is good, but the bees will gnaw 

 it badly, when not gathering honey 

 rapidly. The expense of wood separa- 

 tors is much less than tin, wood sepa- 

 rators can be furnished at one-third 

 the cost of tin, thereby saving two- 

 thirds in favor of wood, and with one 

 that has machinery they can be made 

 for less. Again, wood, being a non- 

 conductor of heat, absorbs less heat 

 than the tin, making the surplus 

 chamber warmer and more readily 

 entered by the bees when the weather 

 is cool ; and on cool nights during the 



