3DE"VOTEX:> EISICX.TJSI'VEIj"^ 1"0 BEES j^JsTjD i-a:o3srE^" 



No.^I. 



Vol. III. 



NOVEMBER 1, 1875. 



PROTECTION FOR Ol)T-»OOR 



"IVIIVTERIIVCJ. 



^ r jUIKNl) NOVIL'K :— We arc not feeling very well 

 ■rj ' just iion\ wo are a little "out o' scirts."' some- 

 ~t wliat "imlVy,'' our "dander 's riz." I'rudencc 

 would dictate us to keep quiet, to smother our indig- 

 nation, but unless we in some way "give vent to our 

 pent up feelinks" we may be permanently injured by 

 having it strike in. Tlierc is ])erhaps no man in 

 America that we would enjoy a good social "bee chat" 

 with better than with yoin'selt'. and yet here you have 

 been perambulating, shying through this state, almost 

 wilhVn cannon shot of our bee yard and have "passed 

 us l>3' on the other side" without even as much as, 

 "our comidimeuts sir!" To say tliat we are angry 

 would be "putting it"' mild, why. my dear sir, ouV 

 ears fairly tingle witli rage; we are "so mad we are 

 iihnosi ))rbvoked. Perha))s we ought to excuse you 

 in consideration of your liaving two ladies in cliarge, 

 but had we been at" friend Butler's just twenty-four 

 liours sooner we should have monopolized your lime 

 an hour <.r two in spite of the ladies, at ttie exi)ense of 

 a fifty mile trip with you on the R. R. ^Ve will for- 

 give you on one coniUlion, viz. : that you juit one av- 

 erage stock of bees away in winter quarters a la But- 

 ler and note the result. " Slake the box water tight, so 

 'hat no wafer can get in from outside, and large 

 enough to give you a space of three or more inches 

 between hive and box, on all sides, and top of iiive. 

 Arrange the entrance so that il cannot get clogged 

 with dead bees, (old bees will die, no danger of ice) 

 take off top board or cover, put two sticks an inch 

 apUrt across tlie centre of frames for winter ])assage, 

 cover with cloth or mat. (we use old worn out grain 

 .<iacks cut in idoces of suitable sizf) pack the space 

 .«iuig)y with dry wheat chafl" or finely cut straw (saw- 

 dust is not good; and leave them there till fruit blos- 

 soms or longer, next year. On some cold freezing 

 morning next Ai>ril open this hive and notice the 

 difterence between it and those outside. See how 

 warm it i=, liow nicely tlie bees are spread over the 

 tonibs in all parts of the hive while isi those outside, 

 they are ijacked in a snug, compact, winter cluster, 

 'virh more m- less dead bees outside of the cluster, 

 killeil by the (-old. AVe now have (jf> stocks snugly 

 pa(;ked in boxes, all ready for winter, where we shafi 

 leave tlieni. with but little care and no anxiety for the 

 next seven or eight months. We are so well pleased 

 ^vith our success in wintering and tipringing bees in 

 these boxes for three winters past, tliat we bhall con-, 

 tinue it imtil we do meet with disaster. 



Kiicnd Novice, please ])ack one hive away as above 

 described, ?iOw, and give it a fair, imjtartial trial and 

 < liHge, Yours truly, J. II. Townlev. 



Tompkins, Midi., Sept. -^id, '7.5. 



E'EEPARlXfi YOIR BEES FOR IVIIVTER. 



/■rhl^ page 97, Vol, 2, we f?ave ouv ideas of 

 ^Jf) how best we might avoid loss in winter- 

 ing, and from the way in which onv bees win- 

 tered we ha\e no retison to cb.aiige our views. 

 On looking over onr bees to-day, Oct. nth, we 

 almost feel a:-: if we could point out which col- 

 onies would waiter, and whicli Vt'ouUI not. We 

 fee! sure that dampness in .some form or other 

 has much to do witli the recent losses, and we 

 most heartily agree vrith frit'nd Townley, in 

 advising that they be all "fixed," whatever the 

 plan may be, during warm, dry weather. So 



far as we can recollect, our bad losses occur- 

 red when we had housed our bees durinir cold, 

 wet weather; and indeed in the fall of '7o they 

 were housed during a snow storm. We had 

 waited so long that we dared not wait longer, 

 so in they went, making the house damp and 

 chilly, and so it seemed to stay, damp and chil- 

 ly, the whole winter long. P<'/'7k//w, the man 

 ure heaps contributed to keep them dami) dur- 

 ing the entire spring also. Now, last fall we 

 put our bees in the house on the 3rd of Xov., 

 at least 2 weeks earlier than ever before ; they 

 were put away as "dry as a chip," for it was 

 during a very dry time, and the weather was 

 so warm that we feared the consequences, yet 

 they seemed to go into that desirable dormant 

 state at once, and as we were all taken up 

 with the "forcing house" then, they were al- 

 most entirely "neglected (V)" until March 15th, 

 yet strange to say, they seemed almost precise- 

 ly as they were the day they were put away, 

 and they made as tine progress as one could 

 wish, until the April freeze. 



Now then : a hive to winter should be so 

 full of bees that if you turn up the quilt at any 

 corner, say any day that is warm enough for 

 them to be flying sotne, 3'on W'ill find bees all 

 ready to rush out, and every comb should be 

 so well covered that there is no possible 

 chance for mold or dampness. You have per- 

 haps all noticed how quickly a horse will dry 

 otf after having been out in the rain ; if he is 

 warm from being driven he fairly makes the 

 water "steam," as it turns to vapor, well, a 

 fitroiig colony of bees will do the same thing; 

 they will dry out a damp hive, or a set of 

 (lamp, moldy combs, and in fact you may 

 drench them with water, and thej- will very 

 soon be all right again if you give them only 

 half a chance, whereas a small colony could 

 do nothing, but wotild remain damp and cold 

 until they perished. If you find a colony 

 when this reaches you, tliiit has only ii cluster 

 in one side, the combs containing waterj' hon- 

 ey or looking bltte and moldy, as they usually 

 do when such a colony has been fed up in Oct., 

 you may be pretty sure that they will get 

 some disease during the spring or before, and 

 that if you risk them thus you will lose tlie 

 sugar you have fed, lose your time, lose your 

 bees and Queen, am! what is worst of all, lose 

 your ambition and may be, your self-respect. 

 The remedy is to r.nite them uiitU they are dry 

 and "sassy," and able to drive out not only 

 moth millers, ants, au;l all insect enemies, but 

 also dampness and the wiuterin<r malady as 

 well. For directions for wintering, see Nov. 

 number of last year. A colony to be fit to 



