THE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW, 



69 



sious, and stated the facts upon which those 

 conclusions are based. Tliere is much more 

 which might be said in detail, but I must not 

 weary your patience. My conclusions may 

 be wrong, but the facts will remain facts all 

 the same, and if there is any thought sug- 

 gested in this article that will in any way as- 

 sist in getting at a right understanding of 

 the origin, nature and cure of bee paralysis, 

 why then I shall feel that it was a lucky 

 thought. 



East Faknham, Canada. Feb. 16, 'St."). 



1^^ 



^r^4^'^^<^ 



Notes From Foreign Journals. 

 f. l. thompson, 

 l'apiooltore. 

 T^\R. DUBINI, the "Gleaner " and "Stray- 

 J_y Strawer " of U Apicoltore, removes 

 brace-combs in the fall from the sides of his 

 frames, and anoints the rabbets with vase- 

 line. He leaves the brace-combs on the top- 

 bars for the same reason tliat Doolittle does, 

 as an incentive to extend work above, and 

 because by so doing the amount of brood is 

 increased, as the brood nest is not so liable 

 to become clogged with honey in the spring 

 flow. 



His hives are double-walled, with a cush- 

 ion above in winter. With such hives he sees 

 no advantage in "clamp" wintering, hav- 

 ing for years tried both ways by filling with 

 tow the spaces between a portion of the hives 

 in winter with no better results. For cush- 

 ions he has found the best material to be 

 tow. 



Incomplete combs of the super are saved 

 until early spring, when they are uncapped 

 and set over the bees for stimulating, and 

 removed when empty. 



The hives are tilted forward in winter to 

 get rid of condensed moisture. The entran- 

 ces are provided with a grating. He does 

 not believe in contracting the entrance as a 

 defence against rodents, as a small aperture 

 is liable to become obstructed, and he con- 

 siders that the colonies with insufficient air 

 are the ones that consume the most and are 

 least healthy. Winter passages are made 

 with a tin tube in the upper portion of the 

 combs. He has tried some double-story 

 hives for wintering, with favorable results. 



After a trial, he does not approve of the 

 American (meaning Laugstroth-Dadant) 

 frames, owing to their greater dimensions 

 being horizontal. The resulting contour of 



the combs is called generally, in Italy, the 

 "cold" position, in opposition to the 

 " warm," i. e., vertical position of the long- 

 er dimension. The observation of Thibaat, 

 in the Progress Ajjicole, is cited, that in poor 

 seasons the hives with frames in the warm 

 position are always richer in honey than 

 those with frames in the cold position. Dr. 

 Metelli, however, and a number of others, 

 have adopted the American (Dadant) frames 

 for the brood chamber. Dr. Dubini uses 

 the movable cover. Hives with fixed ceilings 

 are used in Italy as well as those with mova- 

 ble tops, and some go so far as to say that 

 both are necessary, for different localities ; 

 and that if the movable top had been in- 

 vented first, the fixed would have come into 

 use also, 



A. von Rauschenfels, the editor, believes 

 in not disturbing bees in winter, and counts 

 the shining in of the sun at the entrance as 

 one disturbing influence. He lays great 

 stress on keeping the entrances constantly 

 shaded in winter, using little hinged boards 

 for the purpose ; but, on the other hand, 

 considers the winter sun of great benefit to 

 the rest of the hive, as it enables the be- 

 numbed outer bees to change their position, 

 even when it does not sensibly enlarge the 

 cluster. 



Dr. Dubini, referring to Dr. Miller's pref- 

 erence for putting the additional chamber 

 under the original one, when necessary to 

 enlarge the hive {Gleanings, p. 052). agrees 

 with him, and adds that by so doing the 

 brood-nest finally becomes established be- 

 low, and the upper combs are fastened to 

 their bottom bars and in fine shape for ex- 

 tracting. His remarks show, however, that 

 he is not thinking of drawn comb in the 

 added chamber; and perhaps Dr. M. was. 



Tesselsky, a Russian, found by exact ex- 

 periments that colonies in single-walled 

 hives consumed nearly IH per cent, more 

 than those in double-walled hives in winter. 



Dr. Dubini suggests uniting the old col- 

 onies, two by two, as swarms leave them, 

 when it is desired to keep all colonies strong 

 and not increase. 



Dr. Metelli makes the assertion that every 

 colony is at bottom the offspring of a colony 

 that swarmed, which in its turn was at one 

 time a swarm, and so on back for countless 

 generations ; hence, he argues that it is use- 

 less to expect to always, and every year, 

 keep down a desire in colonies which every 

 one of their ancestors has felt. But he says 



