312 



GLEANINGS IN iJ^E CULTURE. 



June 



hold 33 frames, if placed 1 7-16 inches apart from cen- 

 ter to center. Such a hive would not blow over, 

 unless very light, and probably not then. 



Jerome Wiltse. 

 Falls City, Richardson Co., Neb , April, 1883. 



I agree with you pretty nearly, friend W., 

 in all that you have said; but may I suggest 

 that you prefer your other hives to Lang- 

 strotii, because you are accustomed to them V 

 It seems to me that if all your hives were 

 Langstroth, with only one* of some other 

 size, very likely you would find that one, 

 whatever it was, more trouble to handle 

 than the ones you are accustomed to handle 

 day after day. Our chaff hives would fur- 

 nish all the room, I presume, that you 

 would care for; and for getting the requi- 

 site room in the Simplicity hive, I would 

 suggest using them three or four stories 

 high, which we often do. I never heard of 

 the wind blowing them over when three or 

 four stories high, and there would surely be 

 no danger after the bees had got the upper 

 story pretty well filled with lioney, as they 

 are almost sure to do during the honey sea- 

 son. 



some; liESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE. 



SUCCESSFUL WINTERING ON STORES, PARTLY GRAPE 

 SUGAR. 



fiHB season of 1882 was on the whole an unfa- 

 vorable one in this part of the country. There 

 — was no honey to be gathered in May; and 

 white clover in June, and linden in July, yielded 

 about half a crop. After that, little honey was 

 gathered. But as there was enough of honey and 

 pollen to stimulate breeding, and the combs were 

 not filled with honey, they were filled with brood. 

 Thus it happened that, when September came, the 

 hives were crowded with bees, and what honey had 

 been stored in July was nearly used up. Where 

 natural swarming was allowed, the swarms were 

 numerous, and generally large, and the old-style 

 bee-keepers were jubilant. But now every man of 

 them has his finger in his mouth. Their bees nearly 

 all starved to death. I know of only two living col- 

 onies within two miles of this place. But I am more 

 "lucky." It came in this way: When, about the 

 midd^le of September, I found my bees without hon- 

 ej', and not gathering any, I fed them up for winter. 



WHAT SHALL WE FEED FOR WINTERING? 



Grape sugar will not do. It is cheap, but it soon 

 solidifies in the combs, and the bees can not use it 

 without water. Extracted honey will not do. It 

 costs too much; and if it is ripe, and not heated and 

 thinned with water, it will candy in the combs, 

 though it be sealed up, when cold weather comes. 

 Then, unless the bees have a supply of water, they 

 will get dysentei-y, and die. Pure white sugar will 

 do. As granulated sugar can usually be bought by 

 the barrel for something less than 10 cts. per pound, 

 and 8 lbs. of sugar and 5 lbs. of water will make 

 more than a gallon of syrup, it makes a good and 

 cheap food. But any kind of sugar made into syrup, 

 has a tendency to part with the water and return to 

 sugar again, as every one has seen who has tried to 

 use on the table a molasses made from sugar. As 

 others had tried it and succeeded well in wintering, 

 I decided in favor of granulated sugar. But I hap- 



pened to have over from former years a quantity of 

 that much-reviled article, grape sugar, and I did not 

 like to throw it away; and as I knew that 20 or 40 

 per cent of grape sugar, added to the granulated 

 sugar, would keep it from parting with the watery 

 particles, and from granulating again, I decided 

 on using them together. I fed up all ray colonies 

 with this syrup in September. About one-half of 

 it was sealed up by the 1st of November; the rest 

 of it remained liquid. The bees had their last flight 

 the 13th of November. Those wintered on their 

 summer stands did not get another flight until the 

 1st of March, or for 109 days. Those put in the cel- 

 lar were not returned to their standi, and did not 

 have a flight until the 5th of April, nearly 5 months, 

 or m days. Every colony came out strong and 

 healthy, with few dead bees, and no signs of dysen- 

 tery. I give this experience for what it is worth. 



HOW TO FEED — A VERY SIMPLE FEEDER. 



I had on hand several dozen of Mason quart jars. 

 I cut thin cotton cloth into pieces about 5 inches 

 square. After filling the jars I put over each a 

 piece of cloth, and over this I put the gum ring 

 which belongs to the jar. I laid strips of wood, 

 about Yi inch thick, 2 inches apart on the comb- 

 frames, and turned down, on these strips, from one 

 to eight jars of syrup, according to the need of the 

 colony. I put a second story on to cover the jars, 

 and left them for a few days until the syrup was all 

 stored away in the combs. In this way I could give 

 each colony all it needed at one time, and finish up 

 the whole business of feeding for winter in one day. 

 Before feeding, all combs which are not needed in 

 the hive in winter should be removed, and the 

 combs which are left should be properly spaced. Of 

 all the feeders which I have tried I find none so con- 

 venient as the Mason jars with their gum rings. 



HOW TO INTRODUCE QUEENS. 



I have tried nearly all the plans which I have 

 seen recommended, and have found no one as good 

 in my hands as that of immediate introduction with 

 smoke. Friend Hoot, after reading about your suc- 

 cess in turning so many queens into the entrance of 

 the hives late one Saturday night, I tried that plan 

 of letting the queens run into the hive late in the 

 evening. It was generally successful. But oc- 

 casionally it failed. After that, I tried blowing in 

 considerable smoke after the queen, and was uni- 

 formly successful. Last summer I was trying to 

 get first-rate queens into all my colonies, and con- 

 sequently had a good many to introduce. As soon 

 as I removed the queen to be supplanted, I shut up 

 the hive and puffed in at the entrance enough smoke 

 to alarm the whole colony, and make them fill them- 

 selves with honey. I then turned the queen to be 

 introduced in at the entrance, and puffed in enough 

 smoke after her to make it impossible for the bees 

 to smell any thing but smoke. I did not lose one 

 queen introduced in this way. On the other hand, I 

 always found these queens, a day or two afterward, 

 on the combs, and laying as if in their old hive. The 

 only exception was in the case of a colony which had 

 been queenless for some days. But when one queen 

 is taken, and another given at the same time, if the 

 bees are well smoked they never seem to know of 

 the change. When honey is coming in plentifully, 

 this method can be practiced any time in the day; 

 but if there is a scarcity of honey, there is danger of 

 robbing, unless it is done in the evening. When 

 honey is scarce, some robbers will usually follow the 



