38 



THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW 



side of the super. With the size of super 

 that I use, and with my iiianagenient, 

 there are six rows of sections and seven 

 separators. 



This super is no longer a theory with 

 me, as I used some seventy of them last 

 season, getting them well filled. This 

 arrangement is very cheap and simple and 

 does away with many of the objections 

 to other styles of supers. 



I winter my bees on their summer 

 stands packed in forest leaves. I exam- 

 ined them all January 13, by listening at 

 the entrance, and found them all alive, 

 and the entrances very clean of dead bees. 

 I have got tired of standing on my head 

 to listen, which I have to do when the 

 snow is deep, so I have devised an ear 

 trumpet five feet long, with the ends fun- 

 nel-shaped and bent in opposite directions. 

 An old piece of hose-pipe can be used for 

 the -tube and something funnel-shaped 

 attached to each end. I can stand erect, 

 put one end of the trumpet to the hive 

 entrance, the other end to my ear, and 

 hear very distinctly what the bees are 

 saying inside the hive. 



Gai^T, Ontario, Jan. 14, 1899. 



REMOVING BEES FROM THE CELLAR. 



When to do it; How to do it; and Where to 

 Place Them When Thev are out. 



C. DAVENPORT. 



BEE-KEEPING is said to have a pecu- 

 liar fascination, possessed by few oth- 

 er pursuits; and perhaps at no time of the 

 year is this fascination more manifest to 

 us who reside in the North, and winter 

 our bees in cellars, than at the time when 

 we set them out on their summer stands 

 Especially is this true if they have winter- 

 ed in good condition. 



In this connection it may be said that 

 there is some difiference of opinion among 

 practical bee-keepers as to the best time 



to remove bees from cellars in the spring. 

 Some, probably a large majority, lielieve 

 it is better to wait until soft maples are in 

 bloom; or even later, if the prospects for 

 warm weather are not favorable. Others, 

 among whom are, I believe, men of large 

 experience, think it better to set them out 

 on the first favorable day in March; as- 

 serting that these early flights are bene- 

 ficial in many ways; that they largely pre- 

 vent that dread of all Northern bee-keep- 

 ers^spring dwindling. I have had a 

 large experience in this matter, having 

 for many years set out large numbers of 

 colonies, both early and late, and my 

 opinion is that "the best time" depends 

 upon several conditions. If the bees have 

 wintered well, so that they remain ver}' 

 quiet, almost dormant, in the spring, I be- 

 lieve it is better to wait until settled warm 

 weather before removing them from the 

 cellar. On the other hand, if the condi- 

 tions have been such that early spring 

 finds them very restless and uneasy, and 

 many of them are leaving their hives and 

 dying, my experience has been that the 

 sooner they are set out the better. There 

 is, however, more often, what might be 

 called an intermediate conditon between 

 the two I have described; and, in this 

 case, it is not easy to determine when to 

 remove them; but my candid opinion is 

 that, taking one year with another, in 

 this locality, there is but little material 

 difi'erence whether they are set out in 

 March or in April. Those .set out early 

 consume tnore stores; but, if there is no 

 very severely cold weather '^fter they are 

 set out they will be enough stronger at 

 the beginning of the white honey harvest 

 to nmch more than oiTset the extra stores 

 consumed. On the other hand, if there 

 is very severe weather, especially if it 

 comes after they have been out some time, 

 they may l)e considerably weaker than 

 those left in until later. The weather 

 can not be foretold, however, and, as the 

 chances here are just about even as to 

 whether or not there will be any very 

 cold weather after the first warm days in 

 March, my practice has usually been to 



