238 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. is 



sold; in fact, there was uut very much pro- 

 duced, and people in our city would buy it 

 only in small quantities as a medicine. 

 Handling- only specialties at the time, we 

 made honey one of them. We brought it 

 before our people, and in every possible 

 way impressed upon them the value of hon- 

 ey as a food. The result of this was, so 

 far as our influence reached, that people 

 used, I am safe in saying-, five times as 

 much honey as they do to-day. When it 

 was noticed, by the ordinary g-rocer, that 

 we were selling- so much honey, thev all 

 dabbled into it, and, not wishing to do the 

 advertising for others, we discontinued; 

 and the result is evident all over the city. 

 Common grocers, without any experience, 

 were taken advantage of by some bee-keep- 

 ers or mixers, and were loaded up with 

 poor honey. This, as already shown, had 

 the effect of checking- the demand. People 

 are, as a rule, ver3' ignorant of the real 

 value of honey as a food; and to educate 

 them in this point, and how to put the best 

 quality of honey unadulterated into their 

 hands, is a problem of greater importance 

 to be considered by bee-keepers than the 

 skill of producing more. B3' wise and ju- 

 dicious work in this line I am sure that a 

 market will open up for all the honey that 

 will be produced in our country. 

 Toronto, Canada. 



[M. Moyer & Son are general grocers and 

 provision merchants of their city, and the 

 statements made by the senior member of 

 the firm can be taken with some degree of 

 authority. — Ed.] 



CAUSE OF WEAK COLONIES. 



A Rational Cure for Spring Dwindling. 



BV ARTHUR C. ]MILLP;R. 



Among- the many topics which bob up se- 

 renelj' every now and then is that of the 

 treatment of weak colonies in the spring. It 

 is one of those things which fail to get set- 

 tled; but, after all, could much else have 

 been expected when we consider how the 

 subject has been treated ? 



I am going to try to settle it, for a while 

 at least, by giving the reasons for some op- 

 erations and against others. 



Like many another trouble it ismore easily 

 prevented than cured, and more profitably; 

 for, with but few exceptions, the weakness 

 is due to faulty preparations the previous 

 fall. Such faults, for instance, as poor or 

 failing queens, or queens introduced too 

 late in the season to small colonies or those 

 composed mostly of old bees. Other causes 

 are, too late preparation, late overhauling, 

 and imperfect protection. 



But having the weak colonies in the spring-, 

 what shall be done with them, and ivhy? 

 One of the old rules was, to unite enough 

 such colonies to make a fair-sized one; but 

 such never stay put. They steadily dwin- 

 dle until they are as small as any part was 

 at the beginning-. 



Another rule, but much less often given, 

 is to unite one or more of the weak colonies 

 with a fairly strong- one. This practice is 

 excellent. Here are the whys: 



A colony weak in the spring is composed 

 very largely or entirely of old bees. They 

 must keep warm, gather food, and rear 

 brood. Each day their numbers decrease 

 rapidly, and but few young bees are hatch- 

 ed to take their place. The old bees are 

 enfeebled; they easily succumb to the ad- 

 verse weather conditions, and wear out 

 quickly, the effort to keep warm and rear 

 brood being too much for them to do suc- 

 cessfulh'. Unite several such colonies, and 

 you have not materially changed the condi- 

 tions. It is just as hard for them to feed 

 brood; nearly as much energy is required 

 to keep the necessary heat, and their death- 

 rate is the sum of that of the individual 

 colonies. But put one or more such weak- 

 lings with a good colony. The old bees are 

 at once relieved of all nurse duty, and of 

 playing furnace. They start out from a 

 warm hive, and can put every bit of their 

 waning strength into gathering nectar, the 

 usual work of such bees under normal con- 

 ditions. While they last they are a real 

 aid to the strong colonj^; and when they are 

 gone, young bees, nourished by the nectar 

 they have gathered, are ready to take their 

 places. 



Uniting in the fall is generally done un- 

 der reversed conditions. The bees are al- 

 most always young, or a large part of them 

 are; brood-rearing is decreasing, and field 

 labor is about over, consequently a combi- 

 nation then of several small colonies into 

 one good-sized one is successful if done ear- 

 ly enough. 



In talking about the age of bees in this 

 connection it should be borne in mind that 

 with them age consists of time elapsed plus 

 work done. Find the rvhy, and methods 

 will create themselves. 



Providence, R. I., Feb. 9. 



[Your ideas are sound in theory and 

 practice. — Ed.] 



TENEMENT CHAFF-PACKINQ FOR WINTERING 

 BEES. 



Outdoor Packing in General. 



BV G. C. GREINER. 



We know from 5'ears of experience that 

 we can not winter bees in single- walled 

 hives on their summer stands with anj' de- 

 gree of certainty. This applies to localities 

 where winter conditions are the same as 

 here in Western New York, with an oc- 

 casional zero-blizzard of a week or more at 

 a time. As a choice I should prefer a prop- 

 erly built bee-cellar to winter my bees; 

 but as we can not all be as favorably sit- 

 uated as Mr. Doolittle, whose underground 

 cellar does not vary more than ]z degree 

 from 45° F., no matter how the temperature 

 changes outdoors, we have to do the next 



