Mar. 10, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



183 



when such a bill of rights is carefully worded, Mr. Hasty 

 thinks we could depend <Ju public sentiment to do the rest. 

 Very good, Mr. Hasty, as far as it goes; and nineteen out 

 of twenty would respect your " bill of rights," indeed would 

 do so in any case. It's the twentieth man that we're after, 

 and when you say to him : " There's the bill of rights ; now 

 respect it or you'll be considered an Ishmaelite and a scamp," 

 he'll coolly say to you: "Consider and be hanged ; I care 

 more for the dollars than I do for what you consider me." It 

 is no great compliment to our legal luminaries to say 

 that among them there is not sufficient ability to frame 

 a law that shall embody that carefully worded bill of 

 rights; and that shall say; "There's the bill of rights; 

 now respect it or suffer the penalty attached." Nothing 

 short of that will reach that twentieth — perhaps I ought to 

 say that hundredth man. 



The hard part is the careful wording of that bill of 

 rights : when you get it worded it's as easy to enforce it 

 upon t'ne twenty by law as it is upon the nineteen by public 

 sentiment. 



Take the case, Mr. Hasty. McHenry Co., 111. 



How I Winter My Bees Outdoors. 



BY A. J. KILGORE. 



I HAVE a cellar that would answer very well for the pur- 

 pose of keeping my bees over winter if it were not for the 

 fact that I have a furnace in it for heating the house, 

 and it is difficult to keep the temperature low enough. In 

 fact, I did not think it a possible thing to do to keep the 

 bees in the cellar and use the furnace at the same time, but 

 I see in Dr. Miller's " Forty Years Among the Bees," he is 

 trying the experiment. I think, however, I would best let 

 the veterans try such projects first, and I will continue for 

 the present to winter on the summer stands, which I have 

 been doing up to the present time, with very fair success 

 in a way that I will try to describe : 



I use principally the Danzenbaker hives, which are the 

 same in outside dimensions so that the outside winter-case 

 that I use wiil suit either style of hive. To make the win- 

 ter-cases, take lumber cut from boxes gotten at the shoe- 

 store and grocery store ; these cost from 5 to 10 cents each, 

 and some I get for taking away. It requires about 3 boxes to 

 make 2 winter-cases. I get from the planing mill corner- 

 pieces II2 inches, outside measure, which cost me about V 

 cents per linear foot ; these I use for the corners to nail the 

 boards to, in order to make the case strong, and to have a 

 finished look. These corner pieces are cut 20 inches long, 

 corresponding to the height of the case. 



The size of the case is 20x24 inches, leaving 2 inches 

 all round for packing, and from 6 to 8 inches for packing on 

 top. I nail the case together, square it, and then put on the 

 bottom and cover. The bottom, of course, extends in from 

 the sides all around only 2 inches, leaving an opening in 

 the center the size of the hive. The top is made with the 

 joints fitted close but without an effort to making it turn 

 the rain ; it is then covered with good tarred paper cut 'i 

 inch larger all around than the wooden cover, leaving no 

 nail-holes to let the rain leak through. The case is now 

 completed, but as you will see, all in one piece. I now rip it 

 in 2 pieces, cutting about 12 inches from the bottom ; small 

 pieces about '2 inch square are nailed on each corner of the 

 bottom part of the case on the side extending '2 to '4 inch 

 above the top of the bottom ; these are to hold the top part 

 in place when on. 



I move the hive forward about ys inch on the bottom- 

 board and place the bottom part of the case over the hive, 

 letting it rest on the bottom-board. I then take a strip of 2- 

 ply tarred paper 18 inches wide, and long enough to go 

 around the inside of the case and lap 6 or 8 inches. This is 

 put in the bottom part of the case as a lining ; this, you 

 will see, will reach up about 8 inches above the top of the 

 hive or honey-board. I use a honey-board 16x20 inches, 

 made by using 2 pieces "sX'.,x20 inches, and nail a board 

 from the old box, cut 16 inches long, jointed up close. I 

 now fill the 2 inches between the hive and the case with fine 

 dry planer-shavings, putting 6 or 8 inches on top of the case, 

 and the job is done. 



It will be noticed now that the bees have as a protection 

 the walls of the case -s inches thick, a lining next of 2-ply 

 tarred paper to keep out all moisture and wind from the out- 

 side, then 2 inches of dry planer-shaving, then the walls of 

 the hive with 6 or 8 inches of dry planer-shavings on top ; 

 then covered by a wooden cover to the case with tar paper 



on top, so it is impossible for moisture from the outside to 

 dampen the packing. I put in this condition in October or 

 first of November, and leave them so until the weather is 

 settled and warm in the spring, say about the middle of 

 April. I then take out the shavings and the tar paper lin- 

 ing, and keep the empty case over the hive during the entire 

 summer ; it is some protection from cool weather and damp, 

 cool nights, and from excessive heat on hot days, and tjy 

 raising the cover a little and blocking it up on the bottom- 

 board it allows room enough for 2 supers. Then I need no 

 hive-covers other than the honey-board and casing cover. 

 I figure the entire cost of each case, when I made it myself : 

 Lumber 15 cents; corner pieces 4 cents; tarred paper 10 

 cents ; total, 29 cents. If painted the cost will be about 10 

 more. 



With a young queen, with colony strong in young bees, 

 and well supplied with good stores and cased as described 

 above, I find my winter loss very small. 



Wood Co., Ohio. 



[ Our Bee-Keepins Sisters j 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson. Marengo, 111. 



Swarming— Introducing' Queens— Feeding- Bees, 

 Ordering Queens, Etc. 



I see Dr. Miller " loves to talk about bees." I just wish 

 he could " lend me an ear " sometimes, for I almost have to 

 resort to talking to myself. My husband says I talk him to 

 death about them, and he " no like " bees. Last summer I 

 had a hearty laugh at his expense. A swarm issued and 

 clustered on a limb just out of reach. I was sick in bed, so 

 my husband was pressed into service (though not at all 

 delighted). He stood upon a barrel and was cautiously 

 sawing on the limb while I watched from the window, 

 when all at once the barrel tipped, which caused him to 

 break the limb, and man, barrel, bees and limb were in 

 one confused heap on the ground. But the man didn't 

 stay there. I could see nothing on him but dust. 



I have been studying " Forty Years Among the Bees " 

 this winter, and I intend to try the " foundation plan " for 

 would-be swarms. (By the way, Dr. Miller is my model, 

 and I wish I knew how to make my little boy grow up just 

 like him.) 



Last fall, when I had some queens to introduce, I had 

 great difficulty in subduing the bees, though I had handled 

 them minus gloves before that. If I'd open a crack large 

 enough for the nozzle of my smoker they would whiz out 

 like pent-up steam. Smoke? They didn't mind that at 

 all ; go down the nozzle riding in a perfect stream of smoke ; 

 boil out at the entrance over the hive — anyway to get to me. 



I make a note of any question that puzzles me, there- 

 fore I am generally ready with quite a string of them. 

 Please answer the following : 



1. After finding nearly every comb contained sealed 

 honey to the bottom (the harvest being ended and brood- 

 rearing about over), I concluded they had not where to stick 

 their heads. The next time I had to molest any of them 

 (now you who know a better way are likely to smile, or even 

 laugh) I took a little extracted honey that wasn't nice for 

 table use anyway, and quickly poured it all on top of the 

 frames, replaced the cover, and waited a little. Well, I 

 didn't even light the smoker. (You know lions are gen- 

 erally fed when they roar.) 



2. What is best to do with a colony occupying 4 or more 

 frames if found queenless early in the spring, if no queen 

 is on hand to give them? (I don't care to reduce my number.) 



3. Would it be safe to order queens from the South in 

 March (I am in latitude of Norfolk, Va.), or can they be ob- 

 tained of Northern breeders as early as that ? If so, from 

 which place would it be best to order ? 



4. 'I wish all of my hives to have two stories next spring, 

 but I haven't extra combs for three. What is the best to 

 do, give a story of foundation, putting it underneath the 

 brood-chamber ? 



5. If I give a new swarm one or two drone-combs, and 

 the rest starters, would thev build all-worker comb from 

 the starters ? Mrs. C. D. Mears. 



1. That was a pretty good way, but why not take the 



