Year: 1876

wisssring Bees.


The Weld of honey from buckwheat
this year has been quite good in most
portions of the State, and as little has
been added from the late wild flowers
the hives must be well supplied for the
winter. In sections where fire-wood is
abundant or certain species OF golden
rod are plenty, the hives are filled very
full almost every fall. We suppose, then,
that our hives are fairly supplied with
hsney this fall; yet, TO be sure, each hive
should be examined, and any that may
be deficient supplied by feeding honey
or white sugar syrup. or by giving them
combs full OF sealed honey. While there
are many expensive STYLES OF feeders,
simply q shallow pan set in the cap or
tep story OF the hive will answer every
purpose. A quart or so OF food may be
poured in lust at dusk. and shayings or
cut straw scattered on the surface TO
keep the bees from drowning. In order
TO estimate correctly the quantity OF
honey in hive, it will be necessary to
examine each comb separately, or TO
weigh the whole together and then de-
duct the weight Of the hives as well as
something for the weight of the bees,
combs and pollen. The easiest way |
have found is 10 ascertain by weighing
the amount of honey which 4 comb OF
average thickness will contain, and from
that estimate the amount in each hive.
OF course an allowance must be made
for the weight of the combs, especially
if old, and the pollen they may contain.
A little practice will enable one to judge
quite accurately, by lsimply lifting one
comb after another from the hive, how
much honey it contains. There ought
to be not less than 80 pounds to each
stock that is to be wirtered on the sum
mer stand; for indoor wintering 90
pounds will suffice. Ny experience has
convinced me that, other things being
equal, those stocks that have supera-
bundance of honey are much more apt
to prove the paving stocks during the
next year, than those that have TO be fed
any time after November, or even than
those that have just enough TO carry
them through until spring flowers ap-
pear. Forty or fifty pounds then would
be preferable to thirty In examining
the combs it is well 10 cut one or two
serve as winter passages for the bees;
and if possible, arrange the combs in
such i manner as to leave some empty
cells or such as contain brood near the
center of the hive. The brood soon
matches, and in cold weather The bees
crawl into these empty cells, and being
densely packed between the combs, the
whole mass is enabled to keep up the
necessary heat of the hive. 1t is the
natural disposition Of the bees to store
their honey in this shape, that is, over
and around the brood nest; but during
a good yield of honey late in the season
they ill and seal all the combs to the
bottom. When this occurs the bees,
being separated by the cold sheets of
honey, are liable to perish before empty
cells are obtained. The remedy is to
use the extractor on the central combs,
removing only a portion of the honey
from each. We suppose then that one
ofthe conditions upon which successful
wintering depends is present, namely,
an abundance of honey.


The second point TO be mentioned is
that the hives should be well stocked
with bees. Carefully lift the cover or
turn the hive up some cool morning,
and if the cluster occupies five or six
spaces; call the stock fair. Yet "the
more the msrrier," and safer too.


Our third point is, every hive should
have a good queen, one that has shown
no signs OF failing and is not past her
third season.


Special repository with thick walls
IlhC lllOcC OA al ltE-uOucC al Z OltCil COll-
structed for wintering purposes. Dry
cellars are also devoted to the same pur-
pose. These rooms should be kept dark
and if possible kept at temperature OF
about AZ deg. F. The hives should be
set in as soon as cool weather makes ite
appearance; and before the combs be-
come frosty, the top Of the hive may be
removed and blanket or straw mat laid
on the frames.


II the stocks are populous, and have
good queens and plenty of honey, and
the hives can be properly packed, /
would rather have them remain on their
summer stands. Make a box just the
width and length of the hive and three
inches deep, and set the hive over it,
This will give an air space below the
combs and preclude the possibility OF
the freezing up of the entrance. If the
hives are large, so much the better.
Place the eight or ten combs containing
the winters food near the centre, and
hang on esch side q division board,
made by mailing together pieces Of lath
with an even layer OF straw between
them: place above . cap or top story
several inches deep, lay q quilt or straw
mat ecross the tops of the frames, and
pack chat or cut straw over and around
them very closely. The cover should
not shut very tightly, but admit no wa
ter II suow-drifts cover the hives they
will be much better on.


To sam up, then, the conditions 'or
succassful ont. door wintsring seems 10