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This KMn la f llnMd at tha raduction ratio ehacfcad balow / Ca documant aat filmi au taux da rMuetion IndlquA ci-daaaoua. lOx 14x 18x 22x 26x 30x ^1 12x 16x 20x 24x 2tx 32x Th« copy filmed h«r« hM bMO raprotfucMl tiMntM to th» gaMTOMtv of: National Library of Canada L'uamplaira film* f ut raproduit gricd A la 04n4rowt* da: Bibliothaqua nationals du Canada Th« imagM appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia conaidaring tha condition and lagibility at tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming eontraet apaciticauona. Laa imagaa suivantaa ont *ta raproduitas avac la plus grand lOin. compta tanu da la condition at da la nanatd da I'aaamplaira tilma. at •n conf ermita avac laa eenditions du eontrat da filmaga. Onginal eopiaa in priniad papar covara mtm filmod beginning wiih th« front cov«r •nd •nding on tna last paga with * priniwd or illuatratad impraa- sion. or tha bach covar whan appropriata. All oth«r original copiaa mrm tilm»d bagtnntng on tha tirat paga with a printad or iMuatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laai p«s« with a printad or illuatraiod impraaaion. Tha laat racordad frama on aach microficha shall contain tha aymool -♦ '"'••"•"8 "COIJ- TINUEO"). or tha symbol ▼ Imaaning two I. whictiavar appliaa. Maps. Plata., charti. ate. may ba filmad at diffarant reduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba •ntiraly includad in ona aaposura ara filmad Oaginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to rignt and top to bottom, aa many framas as raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Laa aaamplairaa originaux dont la eouvanura tn papiar aat imprimaa sorMt filmas an cemmancant par la pramiar plat at •» tarminant soit par la darniara paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration. soit par la sacond plat, salon la eas. Toua las autras aaampiairas originaua sont filmda an commancant par la pramiOra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraasion ou d'illustration at ^n tarminant par la darniara paga qui comporta una taiia amprainta. Un das symbolaa suivants spparaitra sur la amtnikrm imaga da ehaqua microficha. salon la cas: la symbola — ^ signifia "A SUIVRE". la symbola ▼ aignifia "FIN". Las cartaa. planchas. tablaau«. ate. pauvant atra filmds « daa taux da reduction diffarants. Lorsqua la document est trop grand pour etre reproduit en un soul clicha. il est films a partir da Tangle supOrieur gauche, de gauche a aroite. at de haut an bas. an prenant la nombre d'imegea nacessaira. Las diagrammas suivants iilustrent la mathoda. •woocorr rbowtion tbt chart (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) A '653 Eojl Uoin Slreel (716) 288-5989 - Fo. DOMINION OF C.iNADA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DOMINION EXPERIMENTAL FARMS WINTERING BEES IN CANADA BY F. W. L. SLADEN Dominion Apiatitt BULLETIN No. 43 ISECOND SERIESI Published by direction of Hon. S. F. TOLMIE, Minister of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont OTTAWA Tlir MAS MTIA'ET PRINTER TO THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 1920 P'-^ n TABLE OF CONTENTS. Pace. Introduction 5 Stroni? Colonies' of VounK Bees 6 \Viioli'!(( line Stores in plenty fl ProtPftion from Cold 7 WinterinK Outside 8 Wintering in the Cellar 9 Spring Maiiagenient V2 0009—2 Wintering Bees at the Central Kxperlmental Farm, Ottawa, in 4-i Colony Cases. WINTERING BEES IN CANADA BV r. W. L. Siadcn. Dominion Apiarirt lNTH(M)rtri(>N. Thii' btillotin dUrUiisrs a vital factor in tin- buildiiiK i>p "f th(^ bcvlcpppinif iiidiutry i:i CaiiiiJu — the presprvation of the l>ri>* Juriiiu the wiritiT. There die in C'linada t'Tery winter large niimberji of eolonit* which a little rare and forethmiKht would have •aved. Many more are srrmiisly weukeiied, al^o fur the want of timely and intelliitetit preparation. It is far Ix'tter '.a exereisc this eiirc thiin to find emp» and depleted hives in the sprinir, and make the b<'es that survive !>pend the he-^^t part of the sunuiier fillinft them aKain. The remarkably hijrh yields of ho^iey in many plaees in Canada, and the Kood priee that honey now brinKi^, offer a stronft financial iiidueement to prepare the bees for winter with the most intellitrent care. To put off the preparation of the bees for the winter until cold weather has arrived i« to court disas»er, b<'can-i' exposing the bees to cold early in winter and disturbing them during cold weatlur are injurious. The long and cold winter in many parts of (,'anada is not so hard on the be«^» a» might be imagined, and in some re*ipp<'ts winterinsj is easier than in a mild country like England, or in tiie S4)uthern State*. This ii» Ix-eause the Iwes rest more . >im- pletely during the winter in Canada. Few conditions are more trying to beea than those encountered in the British Isles during February, March and April, when they wear themselves out and die by hundreds in raising a little brood and flying out to visit the e.irly flowers in the chilly changeable weather. The same conditions occur on Vancouver Island. In most patin of Canada, however, the winter rest continue* until some time in April. Then come quickly tii. long warm days; the bee* breed up fast, and the colony becomes strong in a rem.'ii''.;ably short time. We have, however, learned several thin.;t< ui" it wi>iterini{ bees in Canada, tha neglect of any otie of which will bi i ruin and ileatl. 'n the colony. One of the eay, populous colonies, 'Ufxfil' of wholesome ston* old. I'he snces.sful winter- "ints. most important of these requirenu s is etron thi»t i^ consisting mainly i>f young bees; other is w v.hnn'i in the combs; and a third is ade' degretis. - cold, "hey form a com- • 'iv muscular activity itsidc of the cluster warmed themselves. ; irc in the hive falls - Winter should therefore As a result of the consumption of food, waste matt< i Healthy bees discharge this waste matter only during flisi. Canada the winter ie too cold for bees to fly for four, five, or long period makes it of the greatest importance that the bees U the cold that they will not need to consume much food, also tha wholesome and as free as possible from indigestible matter. Ii 5 lect.s in the inte«tine. "It in many parts of " six fwnths. This *■ '1 pr -eted .'om '1 ii. pertei'tly ' T i' small. or the ben hare b«vn pspooed to wvere pold durinK the o«rlT part of the winter, and Mpecially if the {o,>A i* unwholi»ome. thore will be a heavy oonaumption of utore. and a rapid accumulation of f^^. brinffinjr about a condition known a« .ly^entcry, thm how. itself in cxcwmive heat prcnlurtinn and in jjrcat rpntlcwnnw, tnanv of the iiek bee* leaving the hiv- a* noon as the temperature ri«e« a little, but while it is still too low for a f«vour«",Ie fliKhl. co that they die outtide in larRe numbera. Usually the abdomen is distended and the mouth of the hire is soiled with the brown f»ces. In a bad cas.' of dysentery, the colony usually die* before sprinK. or it survives with to few bees, and these no much enfeebled, that it fails to becoire profitable. Since bees wear and a«p in winter just aa surely, though not *o rapidly as in sum- mer, and a maximum population is needed to survive far into the sprinK rn order to raise a larKe quantity of brood then, it is important that the beea poinK into winter should be younit. The«e facta explain why successful winteri'njf d.|Kinhi priiv .ipfllly uix.n the above- nienti ned three cncidition*. which »■»• may repeat: populous coloni.-x coiixi^tinff mainly of younir bees, plenty of whoW.nie -tores in the combs, and ade<4uate protection from the cold. STRONG COLONIES OF YOUNG BEES. By yound bees we mean those that have done little or no field work, but they should have hiui at least one flijrht l>eforc winter. Where there is no late honey flow tliesc bees will U- raiwnl principally in AuRunt and early September. The best way to ifct bce^ raised in larsre numbers n Aujnist and SeirteniWr is to have in the hive a queen raised the same year, this queen to bejrin layiui? not later than the middle or end of .Inly. Thia means that she should be raised in .Tune or early July durintt the honey flow from clover. No better conditions for rearing queens exist than th.»e found i-n Canada during the -lover honey flow. Not onlv will the colony con- taininK this young quei-n raise more and better bees for winter than one containing an old queen, but the youiiir queen will be more prolific and profitable the followinjr reason. It may not. however, be c.rivenient to requeen evsry colony every Year, ami a vigorous year-old queen will make a good colony for winterit.(? if the colony is stronir in July. Colonies that are not strong in the fall should be put together so that ea.-h hive contains enough bees to crowd over at leaet eifht combs of Langstroth size before the weather is cold enough for clustering closely. WirOLESOME STORES IN PLENTY. It is fortunate that, as a rule, the homeys of the north are more wholesome for winteriiiff than those of the south. Clover honey is an excellent winter food for bees. In places around Lake St .lohii. gne.. where the honey stored comes entirely from alsike and white clover, the bees winter well in spite of nearly seven months of confinement in the ce'lar Buck- wheat honey has a.6o been found satisfactory for wintering in the region where this plant gives ncur«c» owinf to the rapid t a pure gugur nyrup miule by Htirring two piirtH by nieaaun of irronulated auirar into one of boilinff water and allowinK It to ••ool. This nyrur aid be given about the middle of September, or in w.utliern Ontario, eiir'y in P ■•■ . Thi<4 will (rive the beeg time to cap over moat of the .^ynip while the w»-ii lower pan, of the middle i-orobs for the winter cluster to occupy before cold weiuhcr. The syrup should be given in feeders placed in the hive*. A l(»-pouud honey pnil with a Tiumber of smiill holes punch.-d in the lid and placed upxide down over the combs makes a good feeder. In mo^t placM the stores left in the hive after the supers have been removed in the full lire from mixed source*, and only fair in quality. The> are also usually deficient in quantity. A good and widespread iirncticc is to feed each colony with syrup enoinfh to bring it to u sufficient wtiiiht. iirivin« in no ciisc less thuii uboiit 15 pcrtrads. The syrup being stored close to tlic 'i^tcr is conaume.l liefore the honey, rnd thus the accumulation of fieces is delayetl. The tpiantity of etores to be left or provided for the winter should be estimated iiU'rnllv. The qiiuutity that a colony consumes varies considerably, and when the storcti are inferior, may be more than twice as much as when they are good. Heavy cor'uniption of stores also results from several other causes. Bees winterin^t outside ■ onMime more store.* than in the cellar. Tho most commoa cause of the death of •olonics in winter i« starvation by the exhaustion of their stores. As a general state- ment, it may l)e said that at least 40 pounds of stores should be left with each colony in onler to last it from the time of feeding in Sti»tember until new honey is collected in the sprinjr. Although the winter consumption may not reach 20 i>ound.s per colony in some colonies, much or all of the 8un>lus will \yc needed for fe«>ding in the spring. Sin<-e the ordinary factory-made single-walled 10-frame Langstroth hive of eu.*tcru white pine, with the combs, pollen, and bees, but without the cover, usually weighs, if dry. between 30 and 40 pounds, such a hive when r. uly for wiiite. should weigli i)etween 70 a-ad 80 pounds. In addition to the stores let i the hive, the bee- keeper will be well advised to set aside combs of honey to be gmu to the colonies in spring. PROTECrriON FROM COLD. There arc two ways of protecting b« s during winter— out of doors in cases filled with packing material, and indoors ir ho cellar. Generally speakinsj, the packing case is preferable in southern Ontario, the A'linapolis Valley, N.S., and British Columbia, in all of which place* the winter is comparatively mild, and the cellar is more satisfactory in the north and on the prairies. But in many places, that is to say in the wide belt where both methods produce about equally good reeults, a more 8 important factor in deciding which plan to adopt is convenience. If the beekeeper lia« a deep and dry cellar and well insulated from changes in temperature, by using it he can save himself the cost of making cases and the labour of packing the bees. If, on the other hand, the apiary— perhaps an out-apiary some distance from the Iw-e- kocper's residence— is well sheltered from wind, and no suitable cellar is available, casoB may be used and the bees, snugly packed away i-a them, will need no attention throughout the winter, -aor indeed until spring is well advanced, by which time tlh-y will be found to be in a more forward condition than those that have been hnniithr out of the cellar and have been placed on their summer stands without protection. WTNTianXG OUTSIDE. In wintering bees outside, it is very necessary to protect the apiary from wind, and if there is not a good windbreak 071 all sides, consisting say of ovorgreens, which are much more satisfactory than buildings, a fairly close board fence about eight feet high should be erected around the apiary. The best and most econon-ical type of wintering case for the bees is one made to take four hives en bloc and usunily back to back. It uses less material per colony than c-ases made to take only one or two hives, and each colony is warmed on two sides by its ncighWirs. The credit for inventing the four-colony case ie by general consent accorded to Jacob Alpaugh, a Canadian. The case shculd be at least large enough to allow for four inches of packing between the hives and t?,p sides and bottom of tlie case, and eight or ten inches «ur- mountcu with an air sp^i.e on top of the hives. Where the regular single-walled ten- frame Lanpstroth hives are u>ed, tlic.-s inches by 41 inches, and about 28 inches high. The sides and floor of the case should be of grooved and tongued boards. The roof should be of thin boards nailed to a strong frame that telescopes over the sides, and it should be covered witii roofing to make it waterproof. It is convenient to make the case collapsible. The sides may be held together by hooks, or they may be held together more firmly by means of a thumb-screw i)liiced near the top and operated from the inside in combination with dowels in the floor to prevent spreading below, the thunib-cscrews a-ad dowels to be held in cleats fixed on the sides. The construction of the flight holes in the case needs particular attention. They should be cut in the sides of the case opposite the . ntrances of the hives but at least a loot apart. In winter, the flight holes should be of the smallest size that p. rm'its the passage of bees without danger of blocking, but in spring, a considerably inrgci- size IS necessary. A satisfactory way to meet these eonditio^is is to cut the hole four or five inclu.s wide by one inch high and to have a close-fitting piece of wood revolving on a screw whu-h will rey will in the case. A less satisfiictnry phin, •idvisrvWe only when the ho^iey flow ends early, is to delay moving the hive.s and piickiiiir thom in the cases until the bees have been eonfined to the hives by chilly weatlior for two or three weeks. In iilacing the hivi-s in the case, the covers mny 1h- removed in order to bring the hives close tofrether, but in a cold region, it is advisable to leave over the combs a board or oilcloth quilt to prevent tlie escape of too uiiich heat and nioieture. Passages for the bees over the combs m:iy be provided by plnciiig sticks under the quilt. In order to prevent the passage between the hive entnnce and flight holes in the cn«j becoming choSxed with dead bt>es in winter it should be at least five-eighths inch deep. • It is not necessary to remove the snow surrounding the cases during the winter, because the bees are not likely to smother even if buried dwply i-n it. In some places, however, it is an advantage to remove the snow toward* the end of March. The bees should not be removed from the cases until spring is well advanced. The extra good protection afforded in spring by the packing, especially during the first few weeks of breeding, is one of the main advantages of outside wintering. It is a good practice to leave the hives in the case until the cases become inconvenient for tiering supers (there is usually room for the first super). This may not be until June. Experiments covering seven years at Ottawa have shown that colonies wi-itered out-side in the four-colony cases begin breeding earlier and average stronger by the end of May than those wintered in the cellar, but that they are more liable to die in the winter, especially if it is a hard winter and if they have not bec^i prep:ire(l in the best manner. On the whole the advantage is slightly in favour of wintering outside. These remarks are based on the us'' of the Langstroth hive, wliicli lias coiiil>s in frames 9i inchc« deep and a space of five-eighths of an inch Iwtwecn tlie bottom bar of the frames and the floor of the hive. Iii wintering outside there is some advan- tage in having the combs somewhat deeper in order to give each section of the cluster a larger available food supply, and in having more space under the combs, especially towards the entrance. These features can l)e provided in the regular Langstroth hive by placing over the brood chamber a shallow super containing; combs of honey, and by slippi'ng a thin wedge between the brood chamber and floor on each side. The additional stores and room supplied in the second chamber are particularly useful for stimulating breeding in spring. It must be remembered, however, that in a cold region it is not so easy for the bees to keep warm in a large hive afi in a small one. WINTERING IN THE CELLAR. In a good bee cellar, the temperature keeps steady between 45° and ."iO'F., the air is fairly dry and not unventilated, and light is excluded. Two of these conditions. 10 the steady temperature and moderate dryneee, are not always easy to obtain and main- tain. To secure them, two important principals in cellar construction should be observed: the cellar should be so low in the grouiid that it ia very little affected by changes in the outside temperature, and the ground should be well drained. In a cold region, however, excellent results may usually be obtained, especially if only a few colonics are to be wintered, by boarding off for the bees a portion of the basement of the beekeeper's reeidence, not near to, nor very far from the furnace, because the furnace and the. warmed rooms above help to supply and maintain the reper chamber. For every volume of honey consumed, the bees give off an amount of moisture that, if condensed, would make an approximately equal volume of ,vater. If the air of the cellar is already laden with moisture, the moisture produced by the bees wall condense in the hive, a condition that if it occurs to ainy great extent and is long continued is liable to do great injury to the bees. Very dry conditions are also unfavourable, esjjecially towards the end of a long winter when more or less dysentery has developed. The stores may lose so much water that the Ikvs are u-inble to remove them from the cells and the colony may die in coiisequeiu-e. This condition occurs most frent!y i.i connection with granu- lated ptores. hut it sometimes takes place with stores that do not granulate, such as buckwheat honey and sugar syrup. Soft candy given to a colony suffering from this troulde will harden, and thus it, too, becomes unavailable for food, and the colony may starve. In Ca-iada. ventilated cellars are liable to become very dry in cold weather because of tlie small amount (vf water contained in the outside air that is drawn in. Air at zero can hold only one-sixth the weight of water that air at 45° can hold. The increase in moisture that occurs in a very dry cellar towards spring, as the outside temperature rises, is benefii'inl to the bees. In a dry cellar, an Ciirth floor may be better than a cement floor. Some cellars are fitted with an air intake from outside entering the cellar at or near the floor in addition to the chimney outlet. Tliere is no question that by this means excellent ventilation may be obtained, and the cellar may be made dry, but 11 these thinB§ are sociired at the cxpent'c of miikinfr the temperature of the ci'llar too cold and chanKcable. The trouble with sufh a system of ventilation is tliat, contrary to the fumaoe, whieh retrulates itself automatically, it acts least when nio*t wanteq«ired. In colil weather when warm, moist nir is needed, cold dry air ie drawn in litronply throuph the smallest openinjr, while in mild weather when cool, dry air is desirable, very litt air will enter throufch the largest oj^ninK, and this is comparatively warm and moist. Therefore the ventilators need to he kept almost closed in cold weather, n^id opened wide in mild weather, and thus they need frequent adjustinf? in reffions where mild weather alternates with cold durine the winter. But in a repion where it stays cold throujih the winter, the ventilators do not need much attention. Indeed, such a region provides us with two ways in which the drausilit may be, in a roujjh measure, automatically reduced n winter and increased in sprins. These are the rcrta, where the temperature changes are very great and sudden, and the ground is dry, gorxl results have been obtained at the Kxperimental Farm at Lethbridge, by wintering in a dug-out. For convenience, we have spoken of the temi)erature and humidity of the bee cellar. The temperature and humidit.v, however, that we need to ci,ii>ider are those of the air in the hive surrounding the bee cluster. This air may be warmed a'nd moist- ened to some extent by reducing the size of the entrani'e of the hive, and by placing a warm impervious cover over the hive. In taking temperatures, it is very necessary to have a reliable thermometer. Cheap thermometers may be quite accurate at :i2°, but may be several degrees in error between i,")*" and 50". which are the principal temperatures that we wish to record accuratelv in the hoe ccU-iir. The temperature near the ceiling of the cellar ie usually several degrees higher than near the floor. If it is desiretl to measure the relative humidity of the Ik'c cellar, a dry and wet bulb thermometer may be waved or revolved briskly in the air and the percentjige of relative humidity may be calculated from tahles based on the differences in the two readings. Al)out 50 per cent relative humidity in the bee cellar is a goo>'> per cent and as high as 80 per ccM may do no harm. It must be ri niembcnKl, howev(>r, that while the relative humidity of the main [art of tli'' cellar may Ik? low, and it may ai.-n be comparatively low inside the hives ii. ■ np: , r tier, the relative humidity in the back corners of a hive in the bottom tier in a iLinip, cool corner of the cellar may be at saturation and water may stand here the whole winter and mould the <'ouil)6 and do considerable barm to the colony. It is the usual practice of Canadian beekeepers to keeji the bee cellar tcmi)erature rather low, at about 42', becau.se it is found that a higlier temperature freciuciitly makes the bees restless, esix>cially towards si>riug. TVis rcstlcssiu-tw, however, as lias been shown, doe.s luit originate from the high tcmiH?rature but from unfavourable con- ditions, of which the most important is unwlioli>somo stores which make the bii-s re-tless in tiu' higher temperature. It is quite possible, by having the l)ees on whole- some etores and bringing them into a suitable cellar before they have been exposed IS to much cold, to keep them quiet ra a oellar temperature ranging from 47° to 62° throughout a kmtr winter, ^nd under such conditioiw they winter very well. The entrances of the hives in the bee cella* should bo left open — wide open in most cellars — and the bees should be disturbed as little as possible. Mice must be kept cut of the bee cellar ; they will do great harm to the bees and combe if allowed. The air of the cellar should be kept clean and eweet, and for this purpose in a cellar crowded with hives, the dead bees should be swept up and removed once or twice during the wint'^r. Beginners are often in doubt as to the best time to bring the bees into the cellar and when to take them out. The best time to take them in is as soon ae poaaible after they had the last good flight that can be expected. In many places, this is early in November. The best dat« to bring them out is usually when the willows come into bloom, that is to say. when the bloesom heads are showing yellow, if the weather is favourable. But on the coast and in other places where a considernble period of chilly weather may still be expected it will be wise to leave them in the cellar n week or two longer. If, however, the bees are very restless and the mouths of the hives are much spotted with dysentery, it may be advisable to bring them out before willow bloom in the early morning of a day that promisee to be sunny and warm i-n order that they may get a good cleaneing flight as early as possible. The best time of day to bring the bees out of the cellar is in the evening or early morning, because an immediate flight is not desirable, and may cause confusion n-id robbing. Laundered articles should not hang out to dry near the apiary after the bees have been brought from the cellar until they have made their cleansing flight. SPRING MAIN AGEME NTT. In many places it is an advantage to protect the colonies that have been brought out of the cellar with packing cases or paper covers, but at Ottawa where the spring warms up quirfdy in average seasons, thi« has not been found to be worth while; however, packed covers are desirable. It is important that the hives fihould be put in a place sheltered from cold winds, and the size of the. entrance should be reduced. The colonies may be examined on a warm day when the bees are flying freely. Those that have not as much ae at least ten or fifteen pounds of stores ehould be given combs of stores to make up the deficiency, and colonies that are without queens or that have drone breeding queens, should be united to weak colonies that contain fertile queens. Very weak colonies may be (saved by placing them over strong colo- nies with a queen excluder between. It is wise to defer this first examination until after a few days of favourable conditions and nectar is coming in freely. In their first flight after the winter, the bees of the different colonies mix copiiderably, especially if wind blows through the apiary, and the large nuniliers of olrange bees in the hive with no nectar coming in, are liable to cause the queens to be attacked, balled, and possibly stung, so I hat one or two of their legs may be paralyzed or they may even be killed, if the colony is opened and examined. Also at a later period the presence of a fertile queen can be more easily and quickly ascertained by noting the presence of capped worker brood, which can be di,*tinguished from drone brood by its flat and not etrongly convex cappings. Some queens do not begin to lay until some days after the colonies have been removed from the cellar. Further, there is a greater ris* of brood getting chilled during early examinations than when the weather is warmer.