VOL. XXXIfc.
id
INDIANAPOLIS. IND., AUG.  28, 1897.
NO. 35
Preparing Bees For Winter.
I infer this information is for our farmer friends. The experienced bee-keeper
already has his own pet methods. It
seems to be generally acknowledged that
out-door wintering on the summer stands
requires the least time, money and skill*
and is therefore especially adapted to the
needs of the farmer bee-keeper. We belong to that class and suffer no loss from
wintering:
This is our method: We oommenee
sufficiently early to have our bees paoked
by the first week In Ootober. First, examine your hives and see that your colonies have good queens; should you find
one queenless, unite it with one of your
weaker colonies that has a good qneen.
This may be done by plaoing the former
over, the latter, putting a sheet of heavy
wrapping paper, size of hive, between
the two, cutting a hole just large enough
to allow the passage of a single bee at a
time. They will nnlte slowly, avoiding a
battle in which many valuable bees
might be lost
Now take, from eaoh hive two or more
frames—enough to give room for a ohaff
division board on eaoh side of the frames,
next to the walls of the hive. Weigh an
average frame In order to ascertain the
quantity of stores. If less than twenty-
five pounds, feed honey or a syrup, made
from the: best granulated sugar—one part
water to three of sugar; giving to eaoh
oolohy enough to bring its stores up to
the required standard. We <&se the ordinary box bee-feeder, set on' top of the
frames at sun down. Put on top, across
the frames, sticks, or much-tatter, what
Is known among bee-keepers as Hill's
.Device. Over this placo a cover of some
loose wooven cloth. The common burlap,
whioh may be obtained at any furniture
store, is cheap and satisfactory. Now put
on a cushion a little larger than the hive.
This cushion is made of the same material as the cover, and filled with oat, or
wheat ohaff. Tuok down the edges tbat
there may be no exposed plaoe; put on
the hive cover, observing that it has one
or two air passages, covered over with
fine screen wire, and the work is done-
Leave the entrance open full width.
If your bees are in an exposed plaoe
some kind of wind break at the baok of
the hive will be good. Last winter we
utilized a pile of loose brick, by building
a wall of them against the.back of eaoh
hive as high ss the brood ohamber, and
banking up earth against it. Early in
spring when we -first looked into the
hives we found them so well supplied
with bees and brood that we had nothing
to do but let them take care of themselves,
though our neighbors  lost all their beea*
In writing this article, it is taken for
granted, that the readers of a progressive
paper, like the Indiana Farmer, nse the
movable frame hive. In the language of
the old German apiarist, from whom we
purchased onr first colony, and who gave
us our first instruction in bee-keeping:
"The old box hive is gone with the time
when the farmer raised and fattened his
hogs ln the woods."
Payette Co.   Mabt Mabtin Dubbin.
2d Premium.—The bee, though an inseot, exhales mnoh moistures, as its food
Is of a liquid form and it must have air
winter and summer.
As a rule nature provides a thiok shell
of a tree for her bees; therefore if we put
them in a thin bo* hive we should prepare to shelter them from the winter
oold. There are so many different opinions abont wintering bees that lt is hard
to say which is the best.
They may be placed in a shed facing
the south so the snow will not smother
them ont The weak hives shonld be
united and made strong. Then the
frames must be removed from the cap,
and a cloth put over the Rum. Then fill
the cap with straw and turn it over the
gum again and the straw will absorb a
great portion of the ;moisture that is exhaled by the bees.
All gums should have ventilation at
the top. The hole for ventilation may be
oovered with wire to keep inseots out of
the gum. B. B,
Harri.on Co.
3d. Premium.—
How to prepare bees for winter is rather
a hard question, because people differ so
much in opinion as to the proper method.
The caps or frames, whioh ever is nsed,
should be taken off in winter, and some
old woolen oloths or straw shonld be put
on the tops, and the box put over it. This
will absorb all the moisture from the bees
and will thus prevent therefrom freezing
to death. If they are lacking ln supplies
to carry them through they should be ted.
A few years ago, when I took more care
of my bees, they wintered pretty well,
bnt the last few years I have neglected
attending to them as I should end I lost
a good many. I generally keep a good
many stands, but keeping too many bees
and farming do not go together well. Any
farmer ought to have fonr or five stands
of bees to supply the table with honey,
but farther than that there ls but little
profit for the farmer. A. B. C.
Indiana.
_. BKVIEW.
Did you ever think that, if tho conditions are right, a colony of bees is just as
sure to live as a horse?
Sinoe white olover has come again we
are interested in keeping our bees
alive. What a shower of honey we had
this year, and not bees enough to gather
one drop in ten.
Three conditions are neoessary to safe
wintering of bees: 1. Strong colonies.
2. Plenty of good food.  3. A dry home.
It's common to double np weak oolo-
nies. This ls done best in the honey
month of July." Yon oan do any thing
with them during a good honey flow.—
But after it stops you must smoke well,
and wet with sweetened water, If you
double up without getting lots of them
killed.
I like to have them to go Into winter
with the brood chamber fnll of summer
honey.
So 1 never extraot from the bottom box,
unless early enough for them to fill it
again with July honey.
Honey does not freeze and this property helps it to protect fruit bloom in frosty
nights. A hive full of honey is thns a big
protection to bees. One of the best helps
coming from strong colonies is In their
being able to keep warm enough in oold
weather to move about and secure food.
Many a time do people ask why their
bees died with plenty of stores. It is
often because a oold spell lasted so long
that they exhausted all the honey in
reach of the cluster.
A very strong oolony never gets too
oold to move slowly over the comb. In
the coldest weather if yon have an observatory hive you oan mark the center
of the cluster, and in a half day they will
have moved perceptibly.
The writers say keep bees dry. Experiment shows that to keep them reasonably warm is to keep them dry. They
exhale moisture it is true, but this should
esoape If the oolony is not too cold.
A cellar is a good plaoe to keep them.—
I have often tried it Bnt If proteoted
from wind and exposed to the sun on
warm days a strong colony will do as
well out doors.
The double walled ohaff hldea were
onoe thought a bonanza, bnt it found that
they lie too dormant In them; that ls too
long. Naturally they should fly every
warm, sunny spell all winter, to avoid
dysentery.
Bee keepers now avoid tight bee honses
and chaff hives for tho above reason.—
They like a bee shed closed on the north
and west, bnt open to the sonth and protected by timber, or hills, or buildings
from the winds, so that on warm, bright
days, with snow on the ground even, the
bees will wake up and enjoy a fly.
The best way to feed bees ls to lay old
stiff oombs down on oil oloth, and pour
warm syrup Mblood warm) over them
with a skimmer. It will not enter the
cells if poured on tho comb; lt should be
sprinkled on. When both sides are fnll
hang ln the hive before oold weather
oomes.
The syrup should be just thin enough
to not sugar.
Bees should be fixed for winter right
away, before lt is too oold. I don't often
go through every oolony, but lift the
baok of the hive, and If heavy I fill the
top box with ohaff or sawdust and let
them go.
No. 77, Aug. 28.—Preparing bees for
winter.
No. 78, Sept 4.—Choloe varieties and
planting of flower bulbs for winter
blooming.
No. 79, Sept. 11.—What varieties of potatoes are best with you, what yield do
you expeot this year, and how do you
dig?
No. 80, Sept. — Highway improvement.
How do you make grades and road beds?
How do you manage high hills?
No. 81, Sspt. 24.—What material do you
use to cover the road, and what does it
ccst ready to haul with wagons?
No. 82, Sept. 31.—How does the law on
mowing weeds ln the roads work? Offer
suggestions.
No. 83, Oct. 7.—For children under 13
years (let eaoh child writing state age).
The world drinks 5,456,000,000 gallons of
beer in one year.
1. How many barrels of 31 gallons eaoh
would it require to hold lt.
2. How many kegs of VA gallons eaoh
would hold it?
3. Itis 25,000 miles around the world,
and a beer keg is 16 inohes through, how
many rows of kegs would this make
around the world?
4. If this beer ls worth $1 a keg, how
many loaves of bread would it buy at So
a loaf?
5. Write not more than 100 words on
temperance.
No. 84, Oct. 14.—How do you manage to
make life less burdensome and more happy to the women on the farm?
Premiums of $1, 75o and 50c will be
given to 1st, 2d and 3d best articles eaoh
week. Let copy be as praotical as possible and forward It 10 days before publication to Carmel.
E. H. Collins.
ATTBACTIOHS AT THE STATE FAIB.
The managers of our great annual Exposition are making all possible effort to
give satisfaction to all visitors.
Tuesday, Sept. 14th, will be Children's
and Old Soldiers' day.
Wednesday is Indianapolis day.
Thursday ls Governor's day, when Governor Mount will review the Indiana
National Guard, and there will be speaking and music.
Friday will be Military day, with competitive drills for large oash prices.
The Exhibits ln all classes will be
among the finest ever made on the
grounds.
Four sudden deaths In the State are
chronicled ln the space of one half column of the Dally News, this city, of Saturday last; that of Henry Walker, aged
65, at Oaklandon,of heartdisease; of Mrs.
John V. Albertson, Brey, Morgan county, same ailment; of Mrs. Jacob Donaldson, 60 years, at Martinsville, also of
heartdisease; and that of James Heaven-
ridge, Mt. Meridian, fatally hurt by a
runaway team.
We will send the Fabmeb on trial to
any addresa from now to January 169S
for 25 cents.
Thbee fool-hardy young men undertook to row across Niagara river, at La-
Salle, on Sunday last; their boat upset,
and ln spite of their frantic efforts to
reaoh shore they were swept over the
falls.
A cosirnEHENSiVK work on the useful
fiber plants of all oountries has been prepared by the Office of Fiber Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
and has just been issued from the press,
known as "A Desorlptlve Catalogue of
Useful Fiber Plants of the World," being
Report No. 9, Fiber Investigations series.
Andbee, who started July llth ln a
balloon for the North pole, has sent a
message by one of his pigeons,saying:
"82 degrees passed. Good Journey northward. Andree." Nothing more has been
heard of him and his two companions,
and no doubt they have fallen Into the
Arctio ocean and are drowned.
The wheat gamblers ln the Chioago
grain pit havo had an exciting time during the past week or two. The estimated
gains and losses amount to about $5,000000.
Among the lucky ones are Pillsbury, the
big miller of Minneapolis, Jos. Leiter, the
Chicago "Blind Pool," B. S. Barnes and
nine or ten others. The names of the
losers are not given; they seldom are.
Oub W. F. Barrows, now on a trip to
Washington State,writes us from Seattle
that there ls going to be great suffering
among the Klondyke gold seekers this
winter. Many of those who have gone
wish they were back, and want to sell
their outfits at half what they paid for
them, and yet he says, every one ls going
to the gold fields who oan raise money
enongh to get there.
Thb Yonng People's Christian Union
of the United States held their annual
conference for this year in Tomlinson
Hall, this city, last week. 2374 delegates
were present, representing nearly all the
States and many of the foreign mission
fields. Following was their resolution
on temperance:
"That we stand fast by all the declarations of onr general assembly tonchlng
the saloon and all kindred abodes ot
darkness and habitations of cruelty and
crime, and pledge onrselves to put them
Into practical operation in our private,
social and civil relations.
Wheat, on Saturday, the 21st, reached
$1.00 a bushel atChlcago,the highest point
ln six years. Tho rapid advance has set
the grain gamblers wild, and many farmers are much in the same condition, and
are holding what they have left for $1.25.
They mast not hold too long. The markets are in an excited and abnormal condition, and it is Impossible to predlot
what the prloe of the great staple may
be, or whether lt will go higher or lower,
a day in advance. The cause of the sudden rise on the 20th and 21st, was the orders from France, showing a greater
shortage in that conntry than had been
supposed.
T. C. Lawson, of Princeton, this State,
was drowned while bathing in the surf at
Atlantio City, on Snnday last. It is supposed that he did not know of the powerful "nndertow," and ventured too far, and
was carried beyond the reach of help. • If
this be true the men In charge of the
bathing beach would seem to be criminally liable. It should be made their
duty to notify their customers of the
danger and keep them within safe distance of the shore. At Coney Island, near
New York, men are kept at the bathing
places in row boats to watoh for and rescue exhausted swimmers. It shonld be
the rule at all such resorts.