River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-11-02
THE BEE THIS WINTER.
Things to DO In Preparing the Hive
and It's Inmates for the
Cold Weather.
Feeding should be done early.


Whether the bees are to be wintered
in the cellar or on the summer stands,
the first and most important matter
to be looked after is the supply of
stores.
Bees will not so on and rear lot
OF young if the food supply is short;
so in order that colony may go
into winter quarters strong in young
bees. feeding must be done early
enough for brood to be reared and
matured in vigor before the advent OF
cold weather Then. as the nights be-
gin to be chilly and bad weather oc-
casionally prevails, the bees become
quiet, glide into inaction, and COM
pose themselves for their long sleep.
If bees are to winter in the best con,
dition, they must have sealed honey.
or something that will take the place
of it, Immediately above the cluster
and in direct contact with 1t, as long
as the cold weather lasts.
If the honey is we'll ripened before
cold weather sets in, it will keep we'll;
/ if thin, it may candy.
With good strong colony, well win.
tered, the honey should be as good in
spring as it was the previous fall, and
in some cases better.
Give intelligent care as to winter
quarters.
use a wooden blanket or carpet
cover, and on top of it porous and
absorbent material-sawdust, chaff,
cut straw or forest leaves. The
wooden material next the bees conveys
the moisture to the otner side of the
piece of blanket or carpet, where con-
tact with the absorbent material
causes it to pass upward, so render
ing it harmless to the bees.
Bees exhale vapor, and when this
vapor strikes the cold walls Of the
hive it sometimes congeals into frost
there, melting into water, and run
ming Out of the hive as soon as the
weather is warm enough. Sometimes
it merely condenses into water and
runs out of the hive as soon as enough
is collected.
In packing hives for outdoor winter
ing, any good dry, loose material may
be used, such as wheat chaff, forest
leaves, planer shavings or excelsior.
The best packing material is that
which is loose enough to allow air to
penetrate it and carry off the moisture
of the bees. Put over this a good
tight cover to keep the hive perfectly
dry.
According to the opinion OF the
Farm Journal foul brood is highly
contagious disease. The first symp-
toms noticeable in hive are lack
of energy among the bees, dead larvae
of a dark brown color in the cells,
and sunken cappings, some Of which
are perforated. Upon opening some
of the sunken cells, ropy, putrid
mass is found WREN lifted with a
toothpick it appears like soft dough.
When present, great caution is neces-
sary, or it may spread through the
whole apiary. If but few hives are
found TO contain the disease, they
should be burned at once--at night,
so that no bees escape and flee to
other hives.
If the colonies are but slightly in
fected, remove all of the comb and
confine the bees in an empty box,
obliging them to fast for a day or
two. After which they may be re-
leased, giving them a hive with
starters only, and feeding them lib
orally.
The hives may be disinfected by
washing in carbolic acid water. A Sec
ond removal of the bees may be neces-
sary in some cases.
The great risk of spreading the dis
ease, as well as the time and expense
which a cure by drugs or by fasting
involves, makes immediate destruc'
tion the cheapest cure in the end.