1880 



GLEANINGS IN V,EE CULTURE. 



59 



still, ranges of hills, something like the 

 mountains of California, we should stand 

 a much better chance of securing apple- 

 bloom honey ; and in locating an apiary I 

 think I would consider well the matter of 

 apple-bloom. 



0a^ Que£TON-B@& 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



(Question 100.— a. What is the lowest temperature, 

 Fahrenheit, that you usually experience in winter in 

 your locality? h. How many days is the mercury he- 

 low zero, FahrJ 



a. From 18 to 30°. b. From 20 to 40. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



a. 20 to 30 below zero. b. I do not know. 



Geo. Grimm. 

 a. 20 to 25; b. probably 40 days. Dadant & Son. 



a. 20° below zero. b. Not over 25 on an average, I 

 think. James A. Green. 



Usually about 15° below, occasionally 20° below. 

 b. From eight to ten; some winters more, somi 

 less. P. H. Elwood. 



a. Usually about lti below zero. b. 10 to 20. Occa 

 sionally a winter when the mercury does not go be 

 low zero. H. R. Boardman. 



15 to 18 below zero, ordinarily, but the past fou 

 winters have been severe, the mercury going a 

 low as 28 and 30 below, b. I have kept no record. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 



We have had the mercury 24° below zero during 

 several winters, and five or six years ago the mer- 

 cury was in the twenties below zero for almost two 

 weeks. Chas. F.Muth. 



a. In 1872 and 1885, the coldest was 15° below zero; 

 1873 and 1884, 14° below; 1875, '79, '86. 12° below; 1880, 

 '83, and '87, 10°; in 1874. '77, '78, '80, and '81, 2° below, 

 b. Usually but one day, very seldom more than two 

 or three. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



In this locality, 42 north latitude, we consider 15 

 below zero as extremely cold, although we have 

 had 30 once or twice. We frequently get through 

 the winter with nothing more than zero, or 5 and ii 

 below. James Heddon. 



The lowest is about 18° above 0. As a general 

 rule we don't have more than 20 freezing days in a 

 winter, although I find that our winters are more 

 sensitive than in the North, on account of the con- 

 tinual changes from warm to cold. I have seen the 

 four seasons in 24 hours, and that nearly every win- 

 ter. P. L. VlALLON. 



Seldom more than \u° below zero, and seldom 

 more than two or three days at a time. My an- 

 swers to the general questions are in the main from 

 experiences gained in Central New York, where 

 the mercury often falls to 30 below zero for a week 

 or more at a time, at intervals during four months 

 or more. L. C. Root. 



a. In my old locality in Northern Iowa, the ther- 

 mometer usually goes as low as 33° to 37° some- 

 times during each winter, b. I can not answer this 



question accurately; but one winter the thermome- 

 ter was as low and lower than zero every day dur- 

 ing the entire month of January. I think that my 

 locality was as cold as that of any other contribu- 

 tor to your Query Department, and we made chaff- 

 hive wintering as much a success as did others with 

 their cellars. O. O. Popim.eton. 



My location is Ohio, near the Michigan line. My 

 own weather- records cover eight winters, and show 

 as follows: 

 Winter of 18k<i, i lowest, —10°; below zero 14 days. 

 " 1881, '2 " J- 5°; '• " None. 

 " 1882, '3 " —14 ; ■' "11 days. 

 " i883, '4 " 29 ; " " 11 •« 



" 1884, '5 " -26°; " " 31 " 

 " 1885, '6 " —10°; " " !l " 

 " 1886, '7 '• —17°; " " 8 " 

 " 1887, 's " —10"; " " 7 " 

 E. E. Hasty. 



Dr. Miller gives us below some figures 

 from the Illinois State Weather Service, the 

 observer, Mr. J. W. James, being a neigh- 

 bor of his. 



The average of the lowest temperatures of the 

 past 27 winters is 21° below zero. The lowest 1 have 

 recorded here is 31° below zero, Jan. 5, 1884. The 

 average number of days below zero, in 28 winters 

 past, is 17. Greatest number, 38, winter of '84, '85; 

 least number, 3, winter of '77, '78. 



I have been meteorological observer here since 

 Oct., 1860; meteorological observer to Smithsonian 

 Institution, May, 1869, to Dec, 1873; voluntary ob- 

 server of Signal Service, U. S. A., Jan., 1874, on; 

 observer Illinois State Weather Service, 1877, on. 



The above includes the three winter months, 

 December, January, and February, only. 



John W. James. 



.Dr. Miller adds : 



From the above, I suppose the answer is— a. 21°, 

 b. 17. This certainly is warmer than ordinary ther- 

 mometers make (I've seen it down to 37°), but it 

 ought to be correct. ('. C. Miller. 



My impression is, that Question b was 

 not understood by all who answer. For in- 

 stance, friend Hasty says there were seven 

 days last winter when the thermometer was 

 below zero. Now, I think he means there 

 were seven days when the thermometer was 

 below zero for perhaps half an hour or more. 

 Others have evidently counted the number 

 of days when the thermometer remained be- 

 low zero for fully 24 hours ; and in our local- 

 ity that seldom occurs during any winter. 

 A self -registering thermometer hangs on 

 our porch, and the register stands now 

 where the mercury left it last winter — just a 

 trifle below zero. For a short time, mostly 

 during the night, the mercury was down 

 about zero, but I think not more than about 

 seven times during the winter. During this 

 present winter we have yet had no tempera- 

 ture lower than eight above, and that only 

 once. Now, where these lower tempera- 

 tures are of only transient duration— say an 

 hour or two — bees or any thing else seldom 

 suffers very much ; but where we have a 

 continuous week of weather below zero, es- 

 pecially if accompanied by high winds, then 

 look out for your bees, cellars, greenhouses, 

 cold-frames, etc. We are very much oblig- 

 ed indeed to friend Hasty for his accurate 

 record. We notice that, in the winter of 

 1881 and '82, the lowest temperature was 



