THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



59 



mitted to raise another crop of cells, the 

 result will not be nearly so good, thus prov- 

 ing that a colony hopelessly queenless, will 

 work with greater energy than one of like 

 strength still possessed with the swarming 

 impulse. The third period of eight days 

 after re-queening, is when the greatest 

 energy is shown, and is the nearest approach 

 to the energy of natural swarming that I 

 have observed. During this period with the 

 largely increased strength of the old stock, it 

 far surpasses the natural swarm in results. 

 The loose honey occupying the nearly brood- 

 less comb, is rapidly transferred to the sur- 

 plus receptacles, and with honey coming in 

 plentifully from the fields, very satisfactory 

 progress is made. Thus it will be observed 

 that our colonies are increasing in both 

 strength and working energy during our 

 white honey harvest of three or four weeks. 

 This is in conformity to the honey flow, 

 which, with us is usually enough white clover 

 to stimulate swarming, followed by a heavier 

 flow on basswood. The strength and energy 

 of natural swarms may also be compared to 

 an inclined plane, but with them the large 

 end of the wedge comes firgt. This would 

 better fit a heavy flow on clover, followed by 

 a lighter one on basswood. Methods must 

 be adapted to the honey flow, and this 

 method has never been recommended for all 

 localities. It is presented as a reliable non- 

 swarming system, but where a heavy increase 

 is desired some other plan must be adopted. 

 In amount of crop it has notsufl'ered in com- 

 parison with other systems of manipulation 

 in the hands of skillful apiarists near us. 

 Mr. Cushman asks whether removing the 

 queen is more effective than contraction. It 

 is contraction, for the brood removed con- 

 tracts the brood-nest just that much. At first 

 in removing queens I preferred to contract 

 to five frames lO^oxlG inside, but for the last 

 few years I have preferred to. leave six 

 frames. With horizontal contraction I have 

 had no experience. I can see many advan- 

 tages and some disadvantages in this in con- 

 trast to the old way. He inquires whether I 

 would practice this method with fifty colo- 

 nies in a home yard provided I had plenty of 

 time to care for them. I think it peculiarly 

 adapted to these conditions. Not more than 

 one day in the week ought to be spent in 

 caring for this number, and by removing the 

 queens it could be done and not have a 

 swarm in the air. The bee-keeper could also 

 keep the Sabbath as a day of rest and wor- 

 ship. A home yard run in connection .with 

 some other business may be the bee-keeping 

 of the future. Should prices of honey go 

 much lower, bee-keeping at arm's length (in 

 distant apiaries ) will not be profitable. 



Mr. Cushman here cliauges the subject and 

 makes some inquiries about wintering: 1 — 

 Do you find that carting bees from distant 

 apiaries is better than leaving them packed 

 on their stands the year round, where they 

 have pure air at all times, and can fly freely 

 in suitable weather? 2 — In your opinion, 

 what is the reason that extensive bee-keepers 

 in Vermont, follow out-door wintering, while 

 you and Hetherington cart hives back and 

 forth spring and fallV H— Does it not increase 

 the labor to such an extent as to balance any 



saving in stores from cellar wintering? 4 — 

 Can you not, in your climate, safely winter 

 bees in well-made outer cases, in which 

 packing may remain the whole year, provid- 

 ed you were using a top-opening or hanging 

 frame hive? 5 — If you were using a hanging 

 frame hive like the Hoffman, would it make 

 any difference? (> — Do your bees dwindle 

 much when set out in the spring, and do they 

 not then need as nmch protection as is afford- 

 ed by a chaff hive? 



In answer to these questions I will say that 

 the out-door method of wintering has been 

 most thoroughly tried in these high lands 

 south of the Mohawk, and has been aban- 

 doned. Fifteen years ago I knew hardly any 

 bees in this immediate vicinity wintered in- 

 doors; now, I know of none wintered out. 

 Out-door wintering has proven a compara- 

 tive failure with all kinds of wood and straw 

 hives, and with all kinds of packing, includ- 

 ing permanently packed hives. It will do 

 finely for some winters, but unfortunately 

 we cannot pick out these winters in advance. 

 I have known our bees to be confined to the 

 hive for five mouths without a flight. I 

 formerly thought those Vermont bee-keepers 

 knew very much more than we about winter- 

 ing bees out-doors. Since visiting them, I 

 conclude they know only a little more than 

 we on this subject; (I would not have you 

 understand by this that they would not bear 

 acciuaintance well ) ; I now think the differ- 

 ence in climate makes a large part of the 

 difference in results. The winters in Addison 

 Co., Vt., are shoi'ter than ours with more 

 mild days and less cold winds. The Cham- 

 plain Valley is almost a continuation of the 

 Hudson Valley, making a favorable opening 

 for warm soutli winds. The high Adiron- 

 dacks at the west break the force of the pre- 

 vailing northwest wind, therefore the climate 

 is milder than the latitude would indicate. 

 They have some very cold days, but severe 

 cold is not disastrous if not long continued. 

 The mild days, even if not warm enough for 

 bees to fly, are beneficial in giving the bees 

 oijportunity to change honey and position in 

 the hive, etc. The Mohawk Valley runs east 

 and west and it seems to be a great funnel 

 for supplying the central part of New Eng- 

 land with fresh air. The prevailing winter 

 winds are northwest and they are hardly ever 

 idle; severity of cold is not always correctly 

 measured by the thermometer, but is often 

 dependent upon the force of the winds, the 

 amount of moisture in the air, etc. ; so, also, 

 severity of climate is not always dependent 

 upon distance from the equator, but upon 

 elevation and local conditions. We get very 

 little south wind here. Frequently we hear 

 the south wind blow on the hill top a couple 

 of miles south, while with us there is a cold 

 east wind and freezing weather. Four miles 

 south bees are flying and a genuine thaw 

 goes on. We consider a closed-end frame 

 much better for wintering and springing 

 bees than an open-end frame. For moving 

 bees the closed-end is very much better. 

 You can handle them like bricks. The Hoff- 

 man frame is partly closed at the end, which 

 is quite an improvement. I lately saw the 

 Quiuby closed-end frame hung on rabbets, 

 and the owner said after using them for 



