1590 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 15 



were filled with bees and the inch-thick 

 combs stood empty. A cluster thus divided 

 by spaces would freeze in a little while dur- 

 ing extreme cold. As simple and as easy as 

 it is to find out this matter, there are still 

 some who do not hesitate to contradict, un- 

 reasonable as it seems, these facts. They 

 even assert that, at the last moment before 

 death occurs, they will crawl into the cells, 

 when it is well known that all animals, when 

 dying from cold or starvation, remain in the 

 position they last occupied. As the combs 

 would give room for twice as many bees as 

 the space contains, these spaces would have 

 to be entirely empty of bees if they had 

 crawled into cells at the last moment. On 

 the other hand, if one examines a starved 

 and chilled colony, not only will the cells be 

 found full of bees but also the spaces between 

 the combs to the extent of the cluster. This 

 is an unmistakable proof that the bees must 

 have taken their position in the combs and 

 in the spaces when all were in full possession 

 of strength. I am not assuming any thing, 

 but I have time and again taken colonies 

 apart during cold weather and found them 

 just in this condition. One may then plain- 

 ly see that there are more bees in the cells 

 than there are in the spaces. 



It is of importance to know this behavior 

 of our bees during cold weather. The rea- 

 son why late-fed bees (with liquid food) usu- 

 ally winter poorly is, therefore, apparent. If 

 the late-fed syrup is not consumed before 

 winter comes, the bees have a cold seat, for 

 they can not crawl into the cells as they 

 would if that honey were not there. The 

 same is true when there is an excess of pollen 

 stored in the brood-nest as is often the case 

 with such colonies that have been queenless 

 long. 



An American (Heddon) advanced the idea 

 that pollen is the cause of diarrhea in bees. 

 This must be a mistake, for bee-bread is 

 strengthening in itself. Not the eating of 

 pollen may have caused the propounder of 

 this theory to come to such a conclusion, but 

 the position that the pollen was in, causing 

 a cold seat and thus the diseased condition 

 of the bees. 



It is a dangerous practice to try to winter 

 a colony with pollen in the brood-nest. The 

 combs must be empty. If necessary they 

 must be removed. 



The next question is, "In what manner 

 shall we feed the bees in mid-winter?" When 

 no more open unsealed honey is at hand in- 

 side of the cluster the bees provide themselves 

 with honey according to the temperature, 

 either by bringing it from distant combs, 

 particularly from the lower edges of combs, 

 or when too cold for that from the sealed 

 honey-cells at the upper edge of the cluster. 

 Some have an idea that there is a gradual 

 working-up of the bees— a sort of rotary 

 movement; but I incline to the belief that 

 the food is passed down by the bees that are 

 at the honey, to the hungry sistei's. The 

 question might be asked, "How much honey 

 may a bee take at a time?" Probably only 

 very little, for its body is always slender and 



short unless its contains an undue amount 

 of fecal matter; and when this is the case it 

 can not possibly take a very large amount of 

 honey. There is not room. 

 Naples, N. Y. 



IMBEDDING WIRES IN FOUNDATION. 



Waxing the Wires with a Brush and 

 Spoon Combined. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



When full sheets of foundation are used in 

 wired frames it is always desirable to put the 

 frames in use soon after the imbedding is 

 done, or the wires are likely to cleave away 

 from the sheet of foundation, and this is es- 

 pecially likely to occur when such frames of 

 foundation are hauled to outyards. 



As the spur wire-imbedder comes so near 

 to cutting the sheet of foundation in two, we 

 have, in the past, found it better to use the 

 old Easterday rocker wire-imbedder to avoid 

 occasional trouble from the sheets breaking 

 or pulling apart where the imbedding had 

 been done. 



Now we find it safe to use the spur imbed- 

 der, and the sheet of foundation will never 

 pull apart at the wires. It is now our prac- 

 tice to wax the wires in place after imbed- 

 ding them into the sheet of foundation. This 



insures that they will stay imbedded, wheth- 

 er used this year or next; aids in preventing 

 sagging along the wires, making that line 

 (usually the weakest) the strongest place on 

 the sheet of foundation. Frames with sheets 

 of foundation so prepared are especially good 

 for hauling to outyards and over bad roads. 



Our older methods of waxing the wires in 

 place were faulty. With a brush the brush 

 would not carry enough wax; with a sharp- 

 nosed tin spoon with a small notch in the end 

 it was difficult to follow the wire and to reg- 

 ulate the flow of wax. During the spring of 

 1906, Mr. H. E. Crowther and myself origi- 

 nated the plan of combining the spoon and 

 brush, as illustrated herewith. 



The sheet of foundation, with wires imbed- 

 ded, should be supported on a slant, then 

 with the combined spoon and brush it is an 

 easy matter to wax the wires in place; easy 

 to follow the wires; easy to regulate the flow 

 of wax, and the spoon easily carries enough 

 wax to finish one or more wires without 



