1874 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
55 
How are tho hives prepared and what kind? I.ang- 
stroth If we remember. 
i In preparing for wintering, I aim to have 
empty comb near the center, for the bees to 
cluster in, with their stores at the sides and 
back en'd of the hive. When handling the 
combs in the fall, I generally cut holes in them, 
about one third of the way down from the top, 
for winter passages. I take the honey boards 
off, put on bee quilts, and contract the entran- 
ces to one half inch, or less, but leave them 
otherwise unobstructed. The caps are left off, 
and hives piled up four or five deep, as the legs 
on the sides of them just fit where caps rest, 
when on. I use Langstroth’s Live. 
You of course have tried “ougar diet,” what differ- 
ence do you Und in the appearance of such colonies 
if any ? 
I have some 15 or 18 colonies to which I fed 
sugar syrup. One of them had I think, more 
dead bees on the bottom board than any other 
stock, except those extra strong ones transferr- 
ed from the double width hives. In other res 
pects I could see no difference between those 
wintered on syrup, and those having natural 
stores. Many of them did not have much, if 
any more than a spoonful of dead bees in their 
hives, when taken out of winter quarters. 
They are breeding fast now, the weakest 
having brood in all stages, from eggs to young 
bees hatching out. 
I neglected to state in the proper place, that 
although those extra stocks arc still in good 
condition, they are no better than many oth- 
ers that contained not more than half as many 
bees in the fall. 
We are called to lament the loss of one col- 
ony, since putting them on the summer stand. 
During the cold weather that occurred last 
week, a medium sized stock starved, although 
they had two frames of sealed honey. They 
had clustered at the south side of the hive, 
which stood facing east, and the honey being 
at tlie north side, the cold north wind pre- 
vented their reaching it, and so they perished. 
‘“Twas a sad case,” but one for which winter- 
ing is not responsible. 
Awl-how about the pollen t Your hecs certainly 
hail pollen in the combs as they could not — Halloo ! 
The chair Is empty, 11 — — ’ — *" — 1 
is gone; but we’ll t 
we don't. 
’make him tell next month, sec if 
SlKiAH SYIIU1* VERSUS HONEY, 
FOR WIISTEllI.’V 6, 
FHOM P. H. ELWOOD, STABKV1LI.E, X. V. 
]|N A. B. J. for Dec., Vol. IX, Mr. Quiuby 
Hj writes : 
“ Novice, and other writers, claim that syrup 
of sugar is a preventive, and will save the bees 
from dysentery. I wish there was nothing to 
disprove it. Mr. Elwood, of Herkimer Co., in 
this State, fed several stocks that were desti- 
tute, one year ago, with that alone. They 
were badly affected with that disease, just the 
same as those having their own honey, and ex- 
posed to the cold the same. I fed a colony 
with loaf sugar, that, when exposed as others 
were, was affected the same.” 
Now, without in the least disputing the 
great value of Mr. Q’s articles on wintering, 
we would ask him to reconsider the matter 
alter reading the following. Has he not been 
too hasty in pronouncing sugar stores no better 
lor wintering. 
FRIEND NOVICE Your request for further par- 
ticulars of the sugar fed bees, is at hand. 
At the suggestion of Capt. Hethcrlngton, in the fall 
of ’72. we extracted all the honey from our thirty-live 
colonies and fed each thirty lbs. of sugar syrup, made 
from twenty lbs. of A coffee sugar. A small quantity 
of cream of tartar was added, but this is probably un- 
necessary. As there was a delay in getting sugar 
they were not fed until Oct., and consequently did 
not get all of the syrup sealed. This feature we deem- 
ed unfavorable, but hoping that it might cause no 
trouble, we packed chaff on four sides and tons, and 
left them on summer stands. Result as Mr. Quinby 
stated— “badly affected with dysentery. *’ .Some dy- 
ing, and nearly all weak. The unsealed syrup gath- 
ered considerable moisture, so much iii the first, 
swarms that died, as to bulge out beyond the surface 
of the comb. To vaporize this etftrii quantity of wat- 
er, a large amount of heat would be consumed, more 
probably, than the bees could generate. 
We can throw no light on the statement that our 
sugar fed bees wintered no better than those with 
natural stores, except to say that Mr. Quinby evident- 
ly misunderstood us on this point. We had no bees 
with natural food, and there are none such in our 
field, packed as we have described. Compared with 
natural stores in a well kept cellar, (Quinby & Root's 
for example) honey comes out far ahead. Compared 
with the ordinary cellar within range of our bees, 
sugar was more than four hundred per cent ahead. 
Compared with hives as much in the sun as possible 
(a la Novice, when not in frost proof repository) or 
made the Nuclei of snow banks (a la Prof. Cook, Gal- 
lup, Doolittle and others) sugar came out more than 
10,000 per cent ahead, and you may add as many ci- 
phers as you please, for there was hot a single swarm 
left within the range of our bees. And this in a sec- 
tion where hundreds went into winter quarters. 
Over two thirds of ours were saved, and that with a 
good deal of bad management in the spring, for the 
writer is a novice of but a year’s experience. 
I think (partner out, here, although he may agree) 
that sugar is as good tor wintering as the best honey, 
perhaps better where bees are long confined, as it is a 
more concentrated food. Ifthis beso, Gallup thinks 
the Creator has made a mistake in providing for bees. 
I think that honey is perfectly adapted to the re- 
quirements of bees In latitudes where they are in- 
digenous, but when carried to Siberian winters may 
they not require a more concentrated diet? Does 
Gallup leave his domestic animals to the food provi- 
der by nature for the winter months, or does he sow 
and gather, and thus Improve on the processes of 
nature ? 
I think it better to feed more slowly than you rec- 
ommend; four pounds per day,' for fifteen days even 
where no brood is raised, being better than thirty 
pounds in one day. 
We started the present winter with 194 swarms. 
Put 100 into a modified Hibbard clamp, large enough 
to go Inside and see how they get along, the remain- 
der on summer stands. 
We are wintering 50 swarms on sugar the present 
winter, most of them fed in Sept. Apart out doors, 
those are all alive. Can’t report those inside vet, hav- 
en’t had an extended experience, but so far have 
observed nothing but that harmonizes with the 
Quinby theory, that cold usually kills the bees. 
We are using Quinby’s hive, ’which 1 think is not 
only the best frame hive for out-door wintering, but 
best for in-door also, the best for extracted honey, the 
best for box honey, the best for convenience in ma- 
nipulating, killing as few bees as any, and finally can 
be built, if you are satisfied with a cheap hive, cheap- 
er than the cheapest Simplicity hive. All of which is 
respectfully submitted, especially the last. 
DEPOSITORY OF 
B i. A ilin u a v : A , 
Or Fetters From those w lie have matte Bee 
Cu lture a Failure. 
MR. Gleanings : MY have on!' colon ios left .out 
of our 57, ami almost every day Is cold, an ! to-dav 'tis 
both cold aiul wet. shall we buy .-oil! u, - ? If not. 
what shall wo do ? Despondently, Novice. 
Don’t buy any bees, so loug a. you have a 
dozen left. Summer will come, bye and bye, 
and then you can show us ho'.v hist you can 
buildup. That you cannot winte bees, is 
very evident, and unless you can tdiowns that 
you can summer them, wc shall have to con- 
clude you are no bee-keeper at all. 
