Geo. S. Demuth

“ The most common cause of poor colonies in the spring is poverty, directly due to neglect on the part of the beekeeper. A good beekeeper sees to it that at no time when brood is being reared do his bees have less than 15 pounds of stores in the hive, and the full amount of 45 pounds often will all be used, and is always needed if the colonies are to come to full strength on time for the gathering of the full crop. This amount is always augmented by honey from spring flowers, for 45 pounds of honey is not enough to bring a colony to full strength in time for the main honey-flow. ”

“ To prevent drifting, it is best to set the bees out when it is too cold for them to fly, so that as the weather warms, permitting flight, this will take place more naturally. It is also well to reduce the entrances so that as the bees leave the hive their tendency to orient themselves will be greater. It is claimed by some beekeepers that if the cellar is well aired the night before the bees are to be removed, they will be in better condition and will drift less, but it is not clear what difference this can make unless the clusters are made tighter because of lower temperatures. ”

“ The trouble is that in most cellars—those which are too cold in winter—the bees generate heat constantly during the winter and as a result have an accumulation of feces in the intestines, resulting in a condition known as dysentery. For this reason they become excited easily, and beekeepers have thought it necessary to ventilate the cellar at night freely in order to remedy this trouble. The proper method, of course, is to prevent it by keeping the temperature higher during the winter, but if the temperature has fallen too low during the winter ventilation at night seems to help somewhat. ”

“ In case the beekeeper desires to build an apiary house over the bee, cellar, as is done frequently, he must provide a floor for this house at least at ground level, and he can not successfully use the ceiling of the cellar as the floor of the upper house. There is no objection to building a house above the cellar if adequate protection is given the cellar, but it must not be assumed that the house offers any material insulation to the cellar, for in most cases these houses are not heated in the winter. ”

“ It has been claimed by many beekeepers that concrete walls and floor are not desirable, yet if the cellar is properly insulated there is no better material. If the cellar is built in a hillside of sandy soil, wooden sides will be satisfactory and no floor other than the soil need be provided. In such soil the drainage is good and the only function of the side walls is to hold the sides up to prevent caving in. In a moist soil a concrete floor and walls should be built, and the concrete should be waterproof. ”

“ The beekeeper may feel safe in giving the bees all the protection possible at the time that they are taken from the cellar, knowing that it is impossible at this time or any other to insulate the hive too well.
In deciding whether the hives should be packed in the spring the beekeeper should be governed largely by the condition of the bees. If they have wintered well they will be able to stand greater extremes of temperature in the spring without loss, but if they have been wintered in a cold cellar they will be greatly injured by cold weather after they have been set out. ”

“ It is of the greatest importance that every colony have a good queen in order that brood-rearing may continue in the fall and may then again proceed rapidly in the spring. Usually it is best to requeen at least every two years, but if good wintering is practiced the colonies will come out of winter quarters so strong and will build up so rapidly in the spring that the queens will soon wear out, making it safer to requeen every year. ”

“ It is best to choose a part of the cellar where there are no windows and where the outside walls are thoroughly protected to the top, either by a bank of soil or in some other fashion. This will result in a more equable temperature than is possible in a cellar exposed to sudden changes of temperature on the outside walls, for even a stone wall 18 inches thick will allow a considerable amount of heat to escape. In a cellar under a residence there will be abundant ventilation without any special provision being made for this. ”

“ The next great factor to enlist for the betterment of Agriculture and rural life in this Nation is the business man of the town and the city. He has not always been alive to his obligations. He has contented himself, in too many instances, with plans to secure profit in agricultural trade, instead of sympathetically and eagerly planning constructive assistance. ”

“ As was stated earlier in this bulletin, a colony of bees from one season to the next needs three things in abundance—room for the development of the brood, stores of good quality, and protection from wind and cold. In cellar wintering the protection is given by putting the bees in the cellar; the room and stores must be supplied later or the population of the colony will be reduced at the critical time of the honey-flow. If the early sources of honey are abundant, the amount of honey advised will not be consumed. ”

“ If they are so well packed that the heat which they generate is lost slowly, they are able to generate sufficient heat to make the interior of the hive warm enough to allow them to break their cluster as is necessary. In zone 2, however, the bees will be compelled to generate heat sufficient to overcome the more severe cold of that zone, and this calls for the expenditure by the bees of so much more food and vitality that it is more economical to put them in a good cellar during the months of the most severe cold, and cellar wintering is therefore preferable. ”

“ Care should be taken not to jar the hives or to allow light to strike the entrance. Of course, if bees are being wintered in a cellar which has the right temperature, a little disturbance does little or no harm, but there is no reason why bees should be disturbed in winter and the beekeeper should not run any risk of starting brood-rearing. ”

“ In the field of agriculture we have agencies and instrumentalities, fortunately, such as no other government in the world can show. The Department of Agriculture is undoubtedly the greatest practical and scientific agricultural organization in the world. ”

“ If the bees are kept in apiaries of perhaps 100 colonies and if a cellar is built for each apiary, then it is possible to build a cellar of just the right capacity. If a central cellar is built for all the apiaries and the bees in outapiaries are brought into the home apiary for winter, the beekeeper will wish to build the cellar sufficiently large for future expansion of his business, and beekeepers are finding out, that they can keep many more colonies of bees than they formerly thought possible. ”

“ Some beekeepers have advocated removing the colonies toward the end of the winter for a flight on some warm day and then replacing them, on the supposition that the flight would enable the bees to stand a longer period of confinement. It is found, however, that if bees are disturbed, as by carrying them out, they begin brood-rearing almost invariably, and this does more harm than the flight does good. ”

“ To provide good drainage and adequate ventilation for the bee cellar without making any special ventilators, it is desirable to build it in a sandy hillside. If it is possible to choose a place for the cellar where the snow drifts deeply, this will afford a valuable addition to the insulation of the cellar. If the cellar is on level ground, drifting of snow may be increased by the proper building of open fences, such as are used to prevent drifting over railway tracks. ”

“ For the beekeeper's purpose the daily forecasts published in newspapers are scarcely enough; and if no daily weather maps are convenient near by, it will repay the beekeeper well to subscribe for them. They are valuable not only at the time of putting the bees into the cellar but at many other times of the year. ”

“ As in the case of wintering outdoors, it is wasteful to attempt to winter weak colonies. It is difficult to set standards of colony strength at this season, but it is unwise to attempt to winter colonies« 6 » that are not strong enough to have brood sufficient to fill three or four Langstroth frames two months before the first killing frost. If the colonies in the apiary are not of the proper strength, it is wise to unite until the proper strength is reached. Any uniting should be done before the close of brood-rearing. ”

“ From the end of one honey season to the beginning of the next a good colony of bees will need fully 45 pounds of honey. When the bees are wintered in the cellar, it is usual not to have all of this honey in the one hive body in which they are wintered. ”

“ If it is impossible to utilize a sandy hillside, it will be necessary to build walls and a floor for the cellar and to make adequate provision for the drainage of the cellar. The hillside cellar has, the great advantage of having easy drainage. ”

“ The banking legislation of the last two or three years has given the farmers access to the great lendable capital of the country, and it has become the duty both of the men in charge of the Federal Reserve Banking System and of the Farm Loan Banking System to see to it that the farmers obtain the credit, both short term and long term, to which they are entitled not only, but which it is imperatively necessary should be extended to them if the present tasks of the country are to be adequately performed. ”

“ The placing of bees in a cellar is only another way of putting insulation about the hives, the only difference being that in the cellar all of the hives are protected alike and the protection is placed about the apiary instead of around hives in groups or singly. ”

“ The condition of the bees plays a large part in drifting, for if the bees are badly in need of a flight because of dysentery they go at once into the air without properly marking the location of their hive, and therefore are not able to find it when they return. ”

“ If properly constructed and protected, a special cellar or cave for the bees gives the best possible results in wintering, yet few such cellars have been built, for the reason that most beekeepers have omitted some vitally important factors. The usual fault is in having too great a variation in temperature and in giving excessive ventilation, which in turn causes fluctuations in temperature. ”

“ If the temperature is as low as 45° F., a little ventilation will be needed, although most of the bee cellars that have been built have had too much ventilation, and as a result it has been impossible to maintain a correct temperature within them. In cold weather the tendency toward an interchange of air is greatest, and at such times the ventilators may be entirely closed. In mild weather it makes no difference if large ventilators are open, unless this results in too great a rise in temperature. ”

“ There has been a growing feeling, however, that if outdoor wintering is practicable, in most cases it gives better results, and there has been a decided change from cellar wintering to outdoor wintering within the past decade. ”

“ Work in or about the bee cellar while the bees are confined should be done with the least possible disturbance of the bees, for often a little handling or jarring of the hive causes sufficient excitement to increase the temperature of the cluster to the point where brood-rearing begins. ”

“ If the cellar is properly constructed it will need little if any care during the time that the bees are inside. It is only the poor bee cellar which requires constant attention to prevent changes in temperature. ”

“ In the interest of our national development at all times and in the interest of war efficiency just now our agriculture must be well maintained. It should be remembered that the agricultural unit is a small unit. ”

“ When one person carries the bees into the cellar the best method is to stand at the back of the hive and grasp the bottom of the hive with both hands. The hive is then lifted and the cover brought up against the chest firmly, permitting the operator to walk without interference and with a minimum of stooping. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture and other agencies are actively assisting the farmers to locate, safeguard, and secure at cost an adequate supply of sound seed.
The farmers of this country are as efficient as any other farmers in the world. They do not produce more per acre than the farmers in Europe. ”

“ In a cellar which maintains a temperature of 50° F. or more there is little need for ventilation, for the Was then need little oxygen and only a small amount of carbon dioxide is given off. Other things being equal, the colder the cellar, the greater the need of ventilation. If poor stores are in the hives, the bees will need more ventilation « 12 » than will be desirable when good stores are used. In a warm cellar in a sandy hillside no ventilating shaft need be built. ”

“ The greatest objection to wintering bees in cellars is that after they are removed they are exposed to low temperatures. The ideal practice would be to pack the bees after taking them out in much the same way that bees are packed for outdoor wintering, but the work involved makes this impracticable. ”