54 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



The most important question at present, 

 to Mr. Krause, is what shall he do now? 

 I think that he is doing- the right thing to 

 put in a stove and raise the temperature, 

 but his success in this line will turn 

 largely upon how well he controls the 

 temperature. I would put in an ordi- 

 nary-sized, hard-coal, base-burning 

 stove, one with a magazine for holding 

 the coal and feeding it down as the coal 

 burns out. By means of the dampers 

 the fire can be kept under control. Hav- 

 ing done this, I would go one step further; 

 I would put in a heat controller. This is 

 an apparatus that will open or close the 

 dampers to the stove, accordingly as tha 

 heat rises or falls. It can be set at any 

 desired temperature, and will hold it 

 there to within two or three degrees. 

 If it is set at 50 degrees, as soon as the 

 mercury gfoes one or two degrees above 

 that point, an electrical connection is 

 formed that touches off the mechanism, 

 and the dampers are closed. As soon 

 as it sinks slightly below 50 degrees, 

 another electrical connection is formed 

 and the dampers fly open. Thus it goes 

 on constantly ; the dampers being opened 

 or closed accordingly as the mercury 

 rises or sinks two or three degrees Such 

 a heat controller costs about $35 00, 

 but what of that, half a dozen colonies of 

 bees saved will pay the cost. 



Let us remember, too, that a dry 

 atmosphere greatly lessens the danger of 

 disaster from a low temperature. Better 

 put a hygrometer in the cellar, and, if 

 the air is too damp, and the temperature 

 low, use unslacked lime freely. It will 

 absorb the moisture and dry out the 

 atmosphere. I have used three barrels 

 of lime this winter in my cellar here at 

 Flint, and may use as much more — I 

 shall if it is needed. 



Bee Keepers' Institutes will be held in 

 New York at the following places: 

 Amsterdam, Feb. 8Lh; Syracuse, Feb. 

 9th; Watertown, Feb. 10th; Rochester, 

 Feb. 11th. There will be three sessions 



each day. The New York State In- 

 spectors will conduct the meetings, and 

 be assisted by local talent. Everyone 

 interested in apiculture is invited to at- 

 tend and take part in the discussion. A 

 special invitation is extended to the ladies. 

 W. D, Wright, Agent. 



Comb Versus Extracted Honey. 



Here at Flint I have 4 1 colonies of 

 bees, wintering in a first-class condition. 

 The colonies were fed last August and 

 September, and reared a lot of young 

 bees who have never done any work to 

 amount to anything. They have never 

 helped to gather a harvest, nor to rear 

 very many bees. That the bees are 

 young- is shown by the fact that, al- 

 though they have been in the cellar more 

 than two months, there is scarcely a 

 dead bee on the cellar bottom. The 

 combs are heavy with honey, and I have 

 nearly 80 full combs of honey in reserve 

 to give them in the spring if they need 

 feeding-. The colonies are populous; and 

 it looks now as though they would begin 

 the coming season in the pink of condi- 

 tion. As this locality will support a 

 larger number of colonies than this, and 

 the work of caring for them will not be 

 much greater if the number is doubled, I 

 shall probably buy as many more in the 

 spring. I wish to make some increase; 

 to just about double the number would 

 suit me, as that is about as many as I 

 would like to put in the cellar that stands 

 near the apiary. The next spring- I 

 would probably ship about 100 colonies 

 to Northern Michigan, keeping the re- 

 mainder here for further operations. Of 

 course, if I only double the number of 

 colonies, it will be an easy matter, in a 

 fair season, to also produce some honey; 

 and the question arises, which shall it be, 

 comb or extracted? 



Of course, my later experiences have 

 been with extracted honey, mainly for 

 the reasons given in an editorial last 

 month, but. years ago, it was the other 

 way — mostly with comb honey. For 



