Page 66                  WISCONSIN BEEKEEPING                 September,
1932 
 
 
      HONEY-DEW HONEY 
 
   Investigation of a large number 
of samples of early honey showed that 
they have a high percentage of dextrin 
which would indicate honey-dew. The 
early honey is nearly all cloudy, which 
also is some indication of the presence 
of honey-dew, and      our beekeepers 
should  be careful in selecting   the 
stores left in the hives for winter. 
   Honey from the basswood flow and 
also honey from the sweet clover may 
be all right, but there is extreme 
danger that there may be severe losses 
from dysentery this winter, and those 
who can afford to do so will profit 
by feeding each colony of bees ten to 
fifteen pounds of sugar this fall. 
 
   THE TOP ENTRANCE FOR 
            WINTERING 
 
   Quite a few Wisconsin beekeepers 
have adopted the top     entrance for 
wintering, and several have reported 
excellent success. 
   A few days ago, I paid a visit to 
Mr. Wm. Michaelsen's       apiary,  at 
Arkansaw, and he is wintering his 
home apiary and his out apiary with 
a top entrance, and he is very enthus- 
iastic about it. His method of win- 
tering is simple, and the top entrance 
is easy to adjust.  He packs his col- 
onies with the insulation material in- 
side tar paper.  He leaves the bee es- 
cape board   on  top  and   has made 
tunnels four inches wide and 34 of an 
inch deep, with one end closed, which 
fits on top the honey board, giving 
the bees an entrance to the outside. 
For several years, he has not had the 
loss of a single colony except a few 
that have not had sufficient stores. Mr. 
Michaelsen said that the entrance clos- 
ed up with ice during     severe cold 
weather, but opened up again when 
the weather became more mild. 
 
 
   Beekeepers who are interested in the 
top entrance for winter can gain some 
pointers from Mr. Michaelsen on suc- 
cessful wintering of bees, and if you 
are in the vicinity of Durand, drive 
over to Arkansaw, which is only a 
few miles away, and call upon Mr. 
and Mrs. Michaelsen.    They are en- 
thusiastic about beekeeping, and good 
beekeepers.  They   have   a nice ar- 
rangement for    heating their honey, 
and a fine settling tank, made of a 
milk vat, holding about 5,000 pounds 
of honey.    Mr. Michaelsen's equip- 
ment is inexpensive, and does not oc- 
cupy a great deal of space, but it is 
efficient and pleasant to work with. 
                             -Editor 
 
  BEE DISEASE ERADICATION 
 
  On a recent visit to several counties 
in the   state where  American   Foul 
Brood was at one time present in al- 
most every bee yard, it was interesting 
to find quite a number of beekeepers 
who have never had any experience 
with the disease. 
   The   program   for eradication  of 
American Foul Brood carried on in 
Wisconsin must necessarily be efficient 
in order to bring such satisfactory re- 
sults. A recent estimate of the num- 
ber of colonies of bees in Wisconsin is 
given  at 163,000    colonies, whereas 
the estimate for 1915 was about 45,- 
000 colonies. 
   This condition shows a decided im- 
provement in the bee disease situation 
so far as Wisconsin is concerned, and 
regardless of differences of opinion 
which may have arisen between the 
Apiary   Inspection Department, and 
individual beekeepers.   Our Associa- 
tion members should be fully appreci- 
ative  of  the  work    done  by   the 
Inspection Department, but I fear that 
this condition is not likely to continue 
if the   Association  and   its  local 
branches are not fully alive to the 
 
 
Page 66 
 
 
WISCONSIN BEEKEEPING 
 
 
September, 1932