148 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



the kind used and the locality where used; but 

 too little has been used in a hundred instan- 

 ces where too much has been used in one ; 

 I doubt if the latter mistake has ever been 

 inade. 



As it is only by a comparison of opinions, 

 that truth can be reached, I will now criti- 

 cise some of the points in your editorial. 

 You start out with the idea that bees can 

 be well wintered only when they can have 

 frequent tiiyhts. While tliijhts are probabh- 

 an advantage, I years ago came to the con- 

 clusion that they were far from being as val- 

 uable as generally supposed. About lifteen 

 years ago I made some quite extensive ex- 

 periments in flying bees under glass, cover- 

 ing dozens of colonies during three winters, 

 and linally abandoning the plan as not being 

 worth the trouble. Such flights were, I 

 tiiought, a preventive of disease, but not a 

 cure after it was once started. Tlie real 

 reason bees winter better when they have 

 several flights during the winter, is not, I 

 think, so much on account of the flights 

 themselves, as because such winters have a 

 much less amount of severe cold weatlier, 

 and the cold does not succeed in penetrat- 

 ing so far into the packing. If I am right, 

 and my experience in Iowa sustains this 

 view, then all that is necessary to enable 

 bees to pass severe winters as well, or nearly 

 as well, as mild ones, is to pack them with 

 more or better material, and in a more thor- 

 ough manner. Northern Iowa is in about 

 the same latitude as your own home, but it 

 is colder on account oi the more open prai- 

 rie country, and the lack of the protecting 

 circle of great lakes which nearly surround 

 Michigan. 



I have never failed of wintering my bees 

 in excellent condition, except when I failed 

 in giving them one oi more of the " requi- 

 site conditions " already mentioned: espec- 

 ially Nos. 2 and iJ. In that severe winter of 

 'j^O — si^ which so nearly swept the bee-keep- 

 ing industry out of existence in many north- 

 ern localities, my bees were conflned to their 

 hives from ( )ctober 'J8 until March 25 with- 

 out a single flight, yet I lost only six out of 

 11,'"); and I think I never had bees come 

 through in better condition, nor build up 

 faster. 



Some of our ablest bee-keei ers, Prof. Cook 

 and others, have so often made the state- 

 ment that " out-door wintering is unreliable 

 as far north as Iowa and Michigan," that 

 they have come to honestly believe it : while 

 the truth probably is that when the requisite 

 conditions, which are only just becoming 

 known, are comiflied with, it can be relied 

 upon as well as any other. 



Another train of ideas, more theoretical 

 than practical, are those objections to pack- 

 ing on account of its depriving the bees of 

 the warmth of the sun, not only in winter 

 but spring, with results that naturally fol- 

 low. My observation has, led me to regard 

 these as advantages instead of objections. 

 As I have already said, I have learned to dis- 

 count the supposed advantages of winter 

 flights ; and in the spring I prefer tliat the 

 bees should not fly the moment the wcatlior 

 becomes mild enough for them to i>ol<e their 

 noses out of doors. No danger whatever but 



they will fly from protected hives as quickly 

 as it is best they should. I vehemenlly 

 object to the plan of leaving tlie front of the 

 hive without jirotection in spring, to secure 

 the supposed benefits of the sun's direct rays. 

 For those who do cherisli a hi.'ih idea of the 

 value of the sun's direct rays, tlie plan pro- 

 posed by our friend ".Jeems" is unquestion- 

 ably the best, as it will attain the object 

 sought without saci-iflcing the principle of 

 protection : but I don't consider the object 

 worth tlie seeking. 



The iiuestion. •* When shall the packing be 

 removed?" is easily answered. Never re- 

 move it at all, unless the space it occupies is 

 needed : and in no case should it be removed 

 until settled warm weather. The longer I 

 handled protected hives, tlie more reluctant 

 was I to do any removing of packing even 

 wlien obliged to do so to make lutjiii tor 

 surplus. The more the outside temperature 

 can be kept from r.tfectiug the intei'ior of 

 the hive, the better, either winter or summer. 



If you referred to the use of coarse, lum- 

 ber mill sawdust, in saying you found no 

 difference between that and wheat chaff, 

 forest lenves or planer shjiviug-^, then your 

 experience and mine are alike, but other- 

 wise if you referied to line, dry sawdust. If 

 your experiments have heretofore been with 

 only four to five inches of tlie materials you 

 mention, then I don't vvotider you prefer cel- 

 lai' wintering. I should too, in that case. 



The objection against chaff hives, that 

 they are large and clumsy to haiulle, is, of 

 course, true, and they must lie quite objec- 

 tionable with some methods of manage- 

 ment: but it h;is not been so with me, as I 

 rarely handle hi\es during the woiking sea- 

 son. They save instead of make Labor, as 

 they aie always packed exc.qit the inserlion 

 of two or three cushions at 1 tie propi.r time. 

 Did my method of mauageiueut rvipiiie 

 much handling of hives, either the large 

 chaff or the small single-wall hive, I should 

 certainly use some such hive cart as we use 

 in this apiary. With it we can move a col- 

 ony anywhere in the apiary with i:o lifting 

 at all ; and large hives can be moved as read- 

 ily as small ones. Much, lifting of hives du- 

 ring the honey season is work which no one 

 has any business to attempt, imless lliey are 

 much strouger physically than I am. 



Using loose ch;iff on top of the hives is bad 

 management. 1 used to buy old gunny 

 sacks at the stores for ten cents eacli. Tiiese. 

 properly filled and sewed ui), were Inid im 

 top of the hives, allowing us to open ami ex- 

 amine the hives as i-eadih' a-' though not 

 packed. This is an iiupoiiant point .so far 

 as convenience and 1 ibor saving are con- 

 cerned. 



My experience diflers from yours as re- 

 gards early and late i)ackiiig. Widi me, 

 early packing has bemi lietter than late. 

 Early packing chii certninlv' do no harm. 



During the (last three winti rs, my home 

 has been in a land where this winttriiig 

 liroblem loses all its terrors and much of ils 

 interest. Other dilliculties ai-ise that must 

 be met and coiKjuered, as has lieeii practi- 

 cally done with wintering. 



Havana, Cuba, 



Aug. 10, ISSlt, 



