THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



15 1 



to be fed, regular feeders are a great con- 

 venience, yet bees may be fed for winter 

 without going to the expense of feeders. Al- 

 most any shallow dish may be used for a 

 feeder. We have used the ordinary, six- 

 quart, tin pans, putting tliem in upper stories 

 and laying pieces of l)urlap upon the sur- 

 face of the syrup, as a float for the bees. 

 We make the syrup about the consistency of 

 honey. For out door wintering, we 

 should wish for twenty pounds of food per 

 colony, and the bees i)rotected at that. For 

 cellar wintering, fifteen pounds per colony 

 have proven sufficient in our experience. 

 These amounts of stores will not usually be 

 needed to carry the bees through the winter, 

 but will be needed, and perhaps more, too, 

 to bring the bees through to the opening of 

 the honey harvest. When the bees have 

 been wintered, however, a man can buy 

 sugar for them with a great deal better 

 "heart" than he can in the fall when he 

 doesn't know for snrc whether they will 

 winter or not. 



Much has been written about "' making the 

 bees pay for themselves ; " not spending 

 more for them than they bring in : etc., and, 

 many times, the plan is a wise one, but, to a 

 man who is in the business as a business, it 

 is folly to decline to furnish his bees with 

 stores for winter, after a season of dearth. 

 However, as we have said before, we don't 

 advise the incurring of debts that may bring 

 a hell on earth to an upright, sensitive man 

 who is unable to pay them. Better brim- 

 stone half the bees in order to feed the other 

 half. It often happens that, after a poor 

 season, colonies are not only lacking in 

 stores, but in population. By uniting, both 

 discrepencies are made good. Kill the poor- 

 est queens. After the bees have been queen- 

 less two or three days, just pick up each 

 queenless colony, at the close of the day, and 

 set it upon a colony having a queen. There 

 will be very little quarreling, or going back 

 to the old stands, and no killing of queens. 

 At least, such has been our experience. In a 

 few days, look over each united colony, tak- 

 ing away all combs not needed for winter. 

 Of course, the combs heaviest with honey 

 will be left. Next, weigh all colonies and 

 see how much feeding each will need. Then 

 weigh the honey that has been removed and 

 find out if there is sufficient to give all colo- 

 nies the needed amount. If there isn't, 

 there must be some more uniting done, or 

 some bees killed, or some sugar bought. 



The feeding may t >e done in upper stories, 

 uncapping the combs and hanging two or 

 three of them at a time in each upper story, 

 when the bees will carry the honey below. 

 The nice, clean combs can then be put away 

 for another season's work. Why, friends, 

 we should actually enjoy this work — unless , 

 it might lie the killing of the bees if it should 

 be necessary. The trouble with many bee- 

 keepers is that they become discouraged, or 

 "lose their heads." If you must retreat, do 

 so in good order. Keep everything up snug 

 and ship-shape. Have your bees go into 

 winter in excellent condition, even if you 

 are compelled to reduce the number of your 

 colonies — well, to one. With only one col- 

 ony and plenty of empty combs, you may. 

 in two or three years, have a good sized api- 

 ary and thousands of pounds of surplus. 

 This is one of the compensating features of 

 our pursuit. Again we repeat, don't allow a 

 colony to go into winter quarters that isn't 

 in first class condition, even if you are com- 

 pelled to kill some bees. Better kill them 

 now and save the honey, and keep the combs 

 clean, than to allow them to eat up the honey 

 and then starve, leaving the combs soiled 

 and stuck full of dead bees. 



We have just opened and read a letter 

 from our friend S. A. Shuck, of Liverpool, 

 111., in which he says: "I have over 1,000 

 pounds of nice, white, comb honey. Have 

 taken .3,600 pounds of extracted honey. 

 There are probably 1,000 pounds yet on the 

 hives, and the bees are still gaining gradu- 

 ally. So mitch for being near the Illinois 

 *-("rpr." This letter starts two trains of 

 thought. First, the great importance of lo- 

 cation. The man who is to make a specialty 

 of bee-keeping ought to look far and wide, 

 if necesary. to secure the best location. He 

 ought to find one with many resources, and, 

 if possible, one that cannot be injured by 

 drouth— one that has an "Illinois river." 

 The second thought is that, possibly, some 

 of the friends, whose bees are short of stores, 

 might yet move the bees to some locality 

 where there would be a prospect of a fall 

 honey flow, and thus secure stores for win- 

 ter. 



Now, friends, let's hear from you. Con- 

 sider this a personal invitation to write. If 

 you have ever found your bees scant of 

 stores in the fall, tell us what you did. if 

 you never have, what would you do if you 

 should? If they are short yiow, what are 

 you going to do about it ? 



