116 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feh. 20. 



was planted out in a large conservatory, and twined itself to 

 a trellis suspended to the roof, and the year in question it 

 flowered excessively, and secreted so much nectar that it 

 dropped from the flowers, soiling everything underneath them; 

 and the same flowers produced nectar till they perished, as 

 nearly as I can recollect it, six or seven days from the time 

 they began to produce nectar. Now this plant was handled 

 the same in every way for four years afterwards, and if I had 

 not seen what I have described I would have said that the 

 flowers were destitute of any organ to hold nectar, let alone 

 produce any. What should cause it is a knotty point, but 

 such is the case with all nectar-producing plants, which all 

 old bee-keepers know. Florence, Nebr. 



Wintering Bees in New Brunswick. 



BY FKANK SHUTE. 



In New Brunswick the bees are usually wintered in the 

 cellar, as the winter is dry and cold, with very few warm 

 spells from Dec. 1 to April 1. 



About Sept. 1 I examine my hives to see that each has a 

 laying queen, and about 25 pounds of sealed stores. If they 

 lack either I supply them with what is required as soon as 

 possible, and generally I make it a point to feed each colony 5 

 or 10 pounds of syrup about this time, so that it will rear 

 plenty of young bees for winter. In a fortnight I take off the 

 covers and place on each hive a porous cover that I use from 

 Sept. 15 to May 1, which may be made as follows : 



On the bottom of a super or frame of wood the same size 

 as the hive, and about 5 inches high, place a sheet of burlap 

 or any coarsely woven goods, for a bottom, and have it held in 

 place by nailing strips of %-\\ic\i stuff all the way around on 

 the bottom edge of this frame, so that if there was no sag in 

 the burlap bottom a Ji-inch bee-space would be left over the 

 combs. The box thus formed is to be filled with packing, and 

 In order to keep the burlap bottom from sagging, nail two 

 strips lengthwise inside of the box about 2 inches each side of 

 middle and up from the burlap about li inch. Then before 

 putting in the packing, the burlap should be fastened to these 

 strips by needle and thread, or by tacks. 



I fill the box thus formed with corkdust, such as grapes 

 are packed in, which I get free from fruit dealers, and which 

 is very light, porous, and warm. Around the hive I sometimes 

 place a winter-case, and the space left between it and the hive 

 I fill with old newspapers folded in the usual way, which I 

 consider is a very clean and convenient form of packing, and 

 which is practically wind-proof. 



Then my bees are all right until the ground freezes, and 

 on some fine day, about Nov. 1, I take the winter case off and 

 carry each hive to the cellar, where I place it on two strips in 

 such a way that one end of the hive is about 2 inches higher 

 than the other, thus forming an entrance 2 inches high, and 

 the whole width of the hive, which allows ample ventilation 

 underneath the cluster. Before placing the hive on the strips 

 I place three or four sheets of paper between them so that 

 when dead bees, etc., drop from the cluster, they may be 

 quietly removed by simply pulling out the sheets of paper as 

 each becomes soiled. I place the back end of the hive higher 

 than the front, as there is usually more honey at the back. 



When in the cellar I remove the hive-cover proper, which, 

 of course, should be placed on top of the porous cover when 

 the bees are out-of-doors, in order to protect them from rain ; 

 but if the packing becomes damp the cover should be raised a 

 little to allow the moisture to escape. 



If mice trouble the bees any while in the cellar, have a 

 screen of wire netting, 3 or 4 meshes to the inch, which may 

 be hooked in place at the entrance. Then if the thermometer 

 registers about 45'^, my bees will be in first-class condition 

 when I put them out in the spring, which usually is about the 

 middle of April. Predericton, N. B. 



A PJe'w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 

 American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 

 subscriber who sends us 15 cents. It is called "The Wood 

 Binder," is patented, and is an entirely new and very simple 

 arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 

 Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 

 Journal as fast as they are received. Why not begin with 

 Jan. 1 to save them ? They are invaluable for reference, and 

 at the low price of the Binder you can afford to get it yearly. 



If any one desires two of the Binders — one for 1895 



and one for 1896 — send 25 cents, and they will be mailed to 



you. 



*-»-*■ 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 125. 



Report of tlic Illinois State Convention Held at 

 Chicago, Jan. 9 and lO, 1§96. 



REPOBTED BY EBNEST R. ROOT. 



(Continued trom page 103.) 

 COMB HONEY PRODUCTION VS. EXTRACTED. 



President — I should like to ask for a show of the hands of 

 those who think they can produce more extracted than comb. 



Quite a number held up their hands. When the reverse 

 of the question was put, no one responded. 



President — Now, I should like toknowio/iiy more extracted 

 can be produced than comb. 



Mr. Baldridge — Bees can go to work younger when we are 

 running for extracted honey. If two-thirds of the combs are 

 capped over, we can extract. In the production of comb 

 honey we have to be particular to have (ill the cells capped. 



President — How many make a practice of using the sec- 

 tions over again ? 



A show of hands indicated that the majority did so. 



President — How many throw them away ? 



No hands were raised. 



UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



President — We will assume that we have taken off our 

 comb honey, and that we have a lot of unfinished sections. 

 Now, what shall we do with them ? 



Mr. Baldridge — Extract, and put in a hive under the 

 brood-chamber, and clean them up, and then level them down. 



Mr. Draper — It does not pay to extract. 



President — What do you do, then ? 



Mr. Draper — What is fit for chunk honey at all, I cut out 

 and sell as such. The rest I use for feeding up in the spring. 



Mr. Baldridge — The extracting of the unfinished sections 

 can be done very rapidly if you have the right kind of extrac- 

 tor. The Cowan answers very nicely for this purpose. 



President — Mr. Draper, why do you feed in preference to 

 extracting ? 



Mr. Draper — Because it is more easily done. 



Mr. Wheeler — It is a good deal of trouble to get the bees 

 to take honey out of the sections. 



Mr. Baldridge — It is no trouble if you scratch the cap- 

 pings of the combs with a knife. The bees will repair the 

 damage, and in so doing take out the honey. 



President — But some bee-keepers would object to going to 

 the trouble of scratching over the surfaces of all their un- 

 finished sections. 



Mr. Draper — If bees won't take the honey out when over 

 the hives, scatter them out-doors amoug the hives. They will 

 be emptied then in short order, I tell you, without "scratch- 

 ing." 



President — My method is to put the unfinished sections in 

 hives stacked up, one story above another. These are what I 

 call "piles." These are made perfectly bee-proof except at 

 the bottom ; and the entrances are contracted so as to let in 

 only one bee at a time. If we don't have a small entrance, 

 the bees will rush in and tear the surface of the combs too 

 much. Mr. B. Taylor, I believe, has his sections scattered 

 all over the yard so the bees can get at the whole business at 

 once. Then he says the bees don't tear the sections. 



Mr. Finch — That is just the point. If you put out only a 

 little honey the bees will pounce on it and tear the comb ; but 

 if you put out a lot, and scatter it, no manipulation will take 

 place. 



President — If you have only a few unfinished sections, use 

 the stacked-up hive and a small entrance; but if you have a 

 lot, use Taylor's method of scattering through the apiary. 



RUNNING AN OUT- APIARY. 



Question. — " What is the best method of running an out- 

 apiary ?" 



Mr. Wheeler — My method for prevention of swarming in 

 out-apiaries is as follows : As a preliminary, let me say, hav- 



