462 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Essentials in Wintering Bees. 



Some time sirfce we noticed tlie 

 fact that J. B. LaMontague, Esq., of 

 Quebec, had published a book in 

 French, on Bee-Keeping. The fol- 

 lowing is a translation of what he has 

 to say on wintering bees : 



If there be an important subject 

 full of interest to the bee-keeper, it 

 certainly is that of wintering. We 

 have seen whole apiaries, and the 

 best prospects disappear in a single 

 rigorous winter. 



It concerns us then to consider this 

 question attentively, and to adopt 

 some method which may diminish if 

 not to cause wholly to disappear the 

 numerous losses, to which we are sub- 

 ject every year. The bee-keeper who 

 succeeds in wintering must keep none 

 but strong colonies, and a good colony 

 in the fall should havtj at least four 

 frames literally covered with bees. I 

 do not mean that you should destroy 

 weak colonies, for that is a ruinous 

 position as 1 have elsewhere shown. 

 The latter have not enough young 

 bees, and consume relatively more 

 honey than strong colonies. Are also 

 wintered with difficulty, and when 

 they survive are liable to be robbed 

 in the spring. It is well to unite weak 

 colonies in the autumn, if not before 

 done. As to populous colonies which 

 have not sufficient honey (which may 

 happen from drouth), the bee-keeper 

 should, before taking them in, feed 

 them by means of a bee-feeder. 

 Schuch's bee-feeder is a simple little 

 trough in compartments 12 inches 

 long, and is adapted to the opening 

 so as to permit the access of bees from 

 within and exclude them from with- 

 out. You can use waste honey, 

 maple sugar, or syrup made from 

 sugar, but not molasses. Sugar of 

 the country, v/hich is soft, sown and 

 placed in empty frames, will answer 

 the same purpose, but be on your 

 guard, and do not feed them with 

 inferior sugar, such as glucose or corn 

 sugar. 



Each colony ought to have from 25 

 to 30 pounds of sound honey, that is 

 to say, capped over, the combs of 

 which the cells are not closed over in 

 the fall contain unsound honey, un- 

 favorable for wintering— these should 

 be emptied with an extractor, and re- 

 placed by combs tirmly capped over. 

 All the colonies should be taken into 

 the cellar in the month of November, 

 or by the beginning of December, at 

 the latest, if the season be mild, wliich 

 cellar should be dry and perfectly 

 dark ; keep up a temperature from 46° 

 to SO^" Fah. Dry and dark cellars are 

 those in general use in the houses of 

 thefarmeis, and are in general very 

 favorable to the wintering of colonies. 

 It is also necessary to create an air 

 current at the top of the hives by 

 means of openings, or of absorbents, 

 which may draw off the excess of 

 moisture without at the same time, 

 causing a current of air which would 

 prove fatal to the bees. Bees emit 

 during the winter an enormous 

 quantity of watery vapor, which, if it 

 do not find an outlet, penetrates the 



honey, renders it acid, and causes 

 tliat fatal disease, dysentery — 6 or 8 

 inches of straw placed directly upon 

 the comb frames are a sufficient ab- 

 sorbent, or you can obtain the same 

 result with sawdust. Some cry out 

 against the ventilation of hives, re- 

 lying upon the fact that they always 

 winter with success without giv- 

 ing ventilation to their hives. It 

 is possible that they then succeed in a 

 cellar exceedingly dry , and where there 

 is not the least moisture, but such 

 conditions are seldom met with, and 

 we affirm that ventilation is an essen- 

 tial thing to successful wintering. If 

 you have no cellar, you can winter 

 your colonies in a cool and dark room 

 where there is a temperature from 40° 

 to 50° Fah., but you must then give 

 greater ventilation to the hives. You 

 should not confine the bees in their 

 hives by closing the openings by 

 means of wire cloth, unless you win- 

 ter them in the house. One would at 

 first sight be led to believe that bees 

 would be more at ease in a warm, 

 than in a cool place, but the fact is 

 otherwise, and one will lose many 

 more by a high temperature than in 

 a low one. 1 have already had proof 

 of that fact. Thus it is necessary as 

 far as possible to winter your colonies 

 in cellars, combining the conditions 

 before mentioned. It is better to put 

 you hives in winter quarters early 

 than late, in a dry time than in a wet, 

 and when they are placed disturb 

 them the least possible. 



Overstocking a Locality. 



Mr. G. W. Neihardt writes as fol- 

 lows to the Bee- Keepers' Ouide on 

 this subject : 



Much has been written by eminent 

 bee-keepers on the subject of over- 

 stocking any locality with bees, some 

 holding that any place capable of sus- 

 taining a few colonies, is also capable 

 of supplying a large number; others 

 claiming tliat a field is capable of fur- 

 nishing only a sufficiency for a definite 

 and limited number. I am not able 

 definitely to settle this question to my 

 entire satisfaction, yet I must confess 

 tliat my inability to secure such un- 

 precedent yields of honey in " poor " 

 seasons as that secured by Mr. Doo- 

 little and others, forces me to conclude 

 location has much to do with the pro- 

 tits arising from the keeping of bees. 



A locality where only one or two 

 honey-producing plants are the sole 

 reliance for surplus, would certainly 

 be an unsafe one in which to attempt 

 to raise honey as a money-making 

 business. White clover, which is the 

 main reliance in many sections, is 

 liable to be "winter-killed," or the 

 drouth to cut it short, or wet weather 

 to wash the nectar out of it. Fruit 

 bloom is seldom so abundant as to 

 furnish more than an aid to breeding, 

 while the autumn flowers are very un- 

 certain, and likely to be cut off by 

 early frosts. 



Cool weather very frequently pre- 

 vents the storing of much honey in 

 supers from late pasturage. It is, 

 therefore, of the highest importance 



to those desiring to engage in bee- 

 culture for profit, to look well to the 

 honey supply in the place they locate. 

 The more diversified and abundant 

 the honey-producing plants, the better 

 the location. Where, however, several 

 of these are to be definitely depended 

 on, the rest may be supplied by culti- 

 vating such plants as produce honey 

 in abundance. 



It should not be a matter of doubt 

 to apiarists, whether it pays to culti- 

 vate any plant for honey alone. Ex- 

 periments should be made, and that 

 subject settled definitely. If half the 

 time and talent that is now expen- 

 ded inexperimenting with hives, bees, 

 and manipulations of bees, were ex- 

 pended in the production of honey- 

 producing plants, there would be less 

 complaint of dysentery, hard winters 

 and unprofitable seasons. The honey 

 supply should not be made a matter of 

 luck any more than the other matters 

 pertaining to bees, only so far as it 

 should be beyond the bee-keepers' 

 control to furnish it. Any locality al- 

 most could be made a good one. 

 Whether, however, sufficiently so as 

 to make it repay all the cost, experi- 

 ence alone can tell. 



®" The next meeting of the Tus- 

 carawas Valley Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will be held at Newcomers- 

 town, Ohio, on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 

 commencing at 10a. m. All interested 

 are cordially invited to come and 

 bring anything for exhibition that 

 will interest bee-keepers. 



J. A. BucKLEW, Pres. 

 Clarks, Ohio. 

 Herbert Denman, Sec. 



Coshocton, Ohio. 



Bee Pasturage a Necessity . — W e have 

 just issued a new pamphlet giving our 

 views on this important subject, with 

 suggestions what to plant, and when 

 and how. It is illustrated with 26 en- 

 gravings, and will be sent postpaid t» 

 any address for 10 cents. 



1^ The quarterly meeting of the 

 Marshall County Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, will be held at the Court 

 House, in Marshalltown, Iowa, on 

 Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10.30 A. M. Sub- 

 ject for discussion, " Fall and Winter 

 Care." All interested, in this and 

 adjoining counties, are invited, for 

 we hope to have a good meeting, and 

 one of benefit to all. 



J. W. Sanders, Sec. 



Le Grand, Iowa. 



l^" Look not mournfully into the 

 past— it comes not back again ; wisely 

 improve the present, it is thine ; go 

 forth to meet the shadowy future 

 without fear, and with a manly heart. 

 — Longfellow. 



^S" Constitutions and By-Laws for 

 local Associations $2.00 per 100. The 

 name of the Association printed in the 

 blanks for 50 cents extra. 



