Vol. XI. 



MAY 1, 1883. 



No. 5. 



Clnbs to different postnfRpes, not less 



TERMS: 31.00 PkRAKNUM, IN ADV.\KCR;1 Z? r, / /T> /l 7 7* O 7l /? /7 VT7 7 ^'7 ? ( CUlbs ., . ^ 



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! J U. S. and Canailas. To all o'lher ooun- 



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NOTES FROM THE: BANNER APIARY. 



No. 43. 

 HOW THE BEES WINTERED. 



A HEAVY TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF SUGAR STORES IN- 

 STEAD OF N.\TURAL,. 



MSI did two years ag-o, so I did last fall; 1. c, T 

 j^^_ prepared bees in different ways for battling 



' with stern Winter's long siege. Some were 



left unprotected upon their summer stands; some 

 were protected with chaff cushions; others were 

 placed in the cel'ar, and still others were buried in a 

 clamp. Granulated sugar was fed to a few of the 

 colonies, and one or two of the sugar-fed colonies 

 were left out of doors, some planed in the cellar, and 

 others buried. One year ago the bees came out all 

 alike, as nearly as 1 could discover. Last winter was 

 not more than half gone before the unprotected col- 

 onies out of doors began dying with dysentery; next 

 followed those protected with chaff cushions out of 

 doors, and then came the colonies in the cellar. Be- 

 fore the winter was gone, only one colony out of 11 

 remained alive out of doors, and that was the one 

 from which the honey had been removed, and sugar 

 given in its place. Of the 19 colonies In the cellar, 7 

 were alive, but all had suffered from dysentery, ex- 

 cept two colonies which had sugar stores; these were 

 in fine condition, scarcely a handful of dead bees, 

 aad every thing dry, sweet, and cleao. In the clamp, 

 all had suffered from dysentery, except the sugar-fed 

 colonies. Some of them had died apparently from 

 dysentery; others had been troubled very much, 



and others only slightly. Out of 33 colonies, 2T were 

 alive; some were weak, and 3 were queenless; and 

 after some uniting there remained 21 good colonies. 

 I could discover no difference in favor of colonies 

 that had been used in queen-rearing, or vice versa. I 

 now havt^ 29 colonies, and the majority of them are 

 in pretty good order. 



Now for just a \\tt\f, theorizing. It could not have 

 been cold nor conttnement that killed the bees in 

 the cellar and iu the clamp, as the temperature and 

 conflnement were the same as they were the pre- 

 vious winter. How shall we account for the bees 

 wintering better in the clamp than in the cellar? 

 The theory has been advanced, that bees buried in a 

 clamp are deprived, to a certain extent, of oxygen; 

 consequently thej' are more dormant, eat less, do 

 not live so " fast." and as a result come out younger 

 and in better condition in the spring. The result of 

 my wintering experiments of last winter helps to 

 confirm this theory. I feel more and more Inclined 

 to think that pure cane sugar is the only sure, thing 

 as a winter food for bees. Heretofore I have fed 

 sugar to a few colonies as an experiment, and hence- 

 forth I shall feed sugar to nearly all of my bees, 

 leaving a few colonies with natural stores as an ex- 

 periment. 



A younger brother has come to work with me this 

 summer. He has bought 20 colonies in Langstroth 

 hives, and they will be run for comb honey; so you 

 see there is at last going to be an opportunity for 

 me to see what there is In comb honey. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich., April 16, 1883. 



