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13a 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



we see the bees are making light col- 

 ored comb at the top of the brood- 

 chamber, 



Mr. Wilcox — In you locality you 

 won't see that before the 15th of June. 

 I put mine on as soon as the middle 

 of May — sometimes a little sooner. 



Winter Hive Cover in Spring. 



"How long s'hould a winter cover re- 

 ,main on the hive in the spring? How 

 late?" 



Mr. Wilcox — It does no harm if you 

 leave it on all summer; it is an ad- 

 vantage in the hottest weather of July 

 or August; a chaff hive preserves a 

 more even temperature. 



Mrs. Holbrook — Is not the individual 

 a good thermometer? When he re- 

 quires covering, is it not a good sign 

 that the bees do? When we need more 

 covering over lus, is it not a pretty 

 good sign that the bees should be kept 

 protected? 



Mr. Wheeler — I have a little exper- 

 ience that cured me of spring protec- 

 tion. 



I never tried it again; it seems to 

 be entirely different from anything I 

 can hear from people who do protect 

 their bees in the spring. I will tell 

 you what it was: 



I had one bee-cellar I filled with 

 bees, and had about 100 hives; I used 

 plenty^ of dry oak leaves and tar- paper. 

 In the spring I took my cellar bees 

 out and they went to breeding; in three 

 weeks time I had a nice lot of young 

 bees hatched. I had heard a good deal 

 about spring protection, so I left those 

 100 hives standing out th^re protect- 

 ed — with tar-papers and leaves on, 

 everything, all right. I didn't touch 

 them until the 20th of May; I thought 

 they must be doing all right; accord- 

 ing to the bee-papers, they were well 

 protected. So I began at one end, pull- 

 ing those out there, and they were in 

 just the same condition they were in 

 the fall; I didn't find a particle of 

 brood in May — not hatched bees — no 

 brood. The 100 hives were all alike. 

 They were all in good healthy condi- 

 tion; they bred afterward, but I was 

 one generation behind time. The first 

 of June came; the honey harvest came 

 on, and there were the first lot of bees 

 just begining to hatch. That cured me 

 of spring protection. 



Mr. Whitney — Did the bees fly any 

 until you opened them? 



Mr. Wheeler — Sure; had a good, big 

 entrance. " 



Mr. Whitney — ^Were there plenty of 

 bees in those hives? 



Mr. Wheeler — Yes. 



Mr. Whitney — You had too much 

 protection. They had bred up and 

 the combs were empty, were they not? 



Mr. Wheeler — Yes. 



Mr. Whitney — I had the same exper- 

 ience myself. I found in about 50 col- 

 onies that I examined not a single cell 

 of brood or pollen in the hives — not 

 one; I looked them all through — but 

 plenty of bees. I was surprised, and 

 wondered what I was going to do to 

 get those bees to work. 



I gave them some artificial pollen 

 and they went to work; they bred up 

 all right, but I made up my mind to 

 this : That I had given them a little too 

 much protection. That they had bred 

 up in February and consumed every 

 bit of pollen 4;hat was in their hives; 

 and the bees were simply waiting for 

 something to turn up, or for the spring 

 to open so they could go to work. You 

 had 3 or 4' inches too many oak leaves. 



Mr. W^heeler — Fruit-trees ' were in 

 blossom; they had plenty of pollen; as 

 soon as I took them out of the leaves 

 they went to work. 



Mr. Stuebing — Do they need protec- 

 tion Tivhen they have lots of honey? 



Mr. Whitney — The bees must have 

 lots of honey, and good honey; then 

 they don't need protection. 



Mr. Wbeeler — One point I made up 

 my mind to: I really believe the Old 

 Sun is a good deal better protection; 

 standing out in the sun they don't need 

 that roof over them; the sun is better 

 than all the protection you can get. 



Maurice Dadant — We had a little ex- 

 perience last winter with protection. 

 We have double-walled hives, and we 

 have always been protecting the bees 

 through the winter, with leaves all 

 round. I gue'^s there was too much 

 duck hunting last fall, and we left one 

 apiary out without any protection; 

 something like 80 co''onies in the yard. 

 We lost 3 out of the 80. In this one that 

 was not protected we lost 23. It seems 

 to us protection was wliat did it. We 

 got them all packed away this year 

 before the first of December. 



Mr. Huffman — I believe I can beat 

 Mr. Dadant. I did the same thing the 

 winter before; I wintered out 30 col- 

 onies without any protection, and they 

 all came through but 2; go last winter 



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