2T6 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Another way is t.o Ro to your nurseryman and agree to pay so much a hundred for 

 him to put in a stock of young basswoods in his nursery. It will thou be to his 

 interest to dispose of those trees to be planted as shade-trees. 



I've sometimes wondered what made John F. Gates always so jolly. Perhaps 

 the explanation is on page 216 — he's a Sunday-school man. But you needn't worry 

 about Bro. Clarke, John. Now that he holds only as a kind of possible notion that 

 sting-trowel theory that ho formerly gave out as a fact, he'll not be so spunky if 

 any one touches it. Marengo, 111. 



THAT 'WINTER PROBI^EM AGAIN. 



BY A. G. AMOS. 



In reading Mr. J. E. Pond's article, on page 116, in regard to wintering bees 

 without protection, I thought I would relate a few circumstances which have come 

 under my observations. ' • 



The last two winters I have packed all ray bees in chaff except two hives each 

 winter, and these were 1}4 story 10-frame hives, all very strong in bees and honey, 

 and they also had the supers replaced, filled with chaff after the sections were re- 

 moved in the fall. As a result, these bees either froze or dwindled away in the 

 early spring. While the loss of the colonies that were packed in chaff was quite 

 heavy, yet I am in favor of chaff packing. 



Again, I was called on in the spring to transfer a colony of bees for a friend, as 

 I was informed by him that the colony had thrived and sent out large swarms for 

 the last two years, but they always went to the woods, and were lost. If I were to 

 try to describe the hive they were in, I am afraid I could not do it justice, so I will 

 give a faint idea of it by saying that it was composed of two rims made out of coarse 

 old hemlock boards, each rim about 10 inches high and about 17 inches square, 

 with a board laid on top, and as it was not wide enough, a piece of old oilcloth was 

 laid over it. This constituted the top. And as for ventilation, I am sure they had 

 plenty, for the bees were working out of the top, bottom, and all four sides. The 

 entrance under the edge of the cover was equivalent to a hole Jix5 inches ; yet the 

 bees wintered out-doors, and the only protection they had was a stone-wall on the 

 north side of them ; and I will say that at the time I transferred them they were 

 stronger in bees than any in my own yard. 



What does the above prove? It certainly proves that bees will live and prosper 

 with as little care as any animal ; but to ho profitable they must have care and pro- 

 tection the same as other stock. Delhi, N. Y., Aug. 4. 



^- 



PURE AIR ANO PURE FOOD FOR IJVIN'TER. 



BY C. W. DAYTON. 



Referring to Mr. Theilmann's experience as related on page 438 of the Bee 

 JouRNAi^ for April 5, 1894, I would say that, though bees in a cellar of low tem- 

 perature lowly murmur, it may not necessarily be an indication of contentment. I 

 believe impure air to be the cause of noise. Cold, being a stronger element, makes 

 them quiet, but, none the less, they must keep up warmth. It has been said that to 

 expose a cluster of bees to zero weather the outside bees will move toward the inside 

 of the cluster, and those inside \/ill change to outside. Then, as the temperature 

 rises, this movement decreases until it stops somewhere about 5 5^ or 60^^ above 



