42 



THE AMERICA^^ BEE JOURNAL. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Getting Bees out of Honey-Boxes. 



J. H. ANDRE. 



It u.sed to be a source of great 

 trouble to me to get the bees out of 

 honey-boxes, especially those that 

 ■were used on the old-fashioned box- 

 hives, uutil I hit upon the following : 



Take any ordinary box about 3 feet 

 long and 20 inches wide, and put glass 

 in the bottom ; it need not be all 

 glass, 2 or 3 small panes will do, but 

 it will be better if it extends almost 

 the entire length in the centre of the 

 bottom of the box. Any odd pieces 

 of glass may be used. Sink the glass 

 a little into the bottom of the box, 

 and now nail strips of lath inside on 

 the bottom, edgewise about 4 inches 

 apart and crosswise of the box. Make 

 a neat-fitting cover without hinges, 

 and then put the box up 2 feet high by 

 resting its ends on something, or legs 

 may be put under it. Put the boxes 

 or crates of honey in on the strips of 

 lath, holes downward, when the bees 

 will see the light and crawl down. In 

 an hour or so, lift the cover and they 

 will rush for the hive. Lifting the 

 cover at two or three times will nearly 

 clean the boxes, and robbers cannot 

 get in. 



Lockwood.9 N. Y. 



Prairie Farmer. 



Notes on Wintering Bees. 



MRS. L. HARRISON. 



This very changeable winter, with 

 the mercury playing around from zero 

 to temperate, necessitates care on the 

 part of those who have bees stored in 

 cellars or special repositories. A very 

 high or very low temperature causes 

 them to break cluster, and throws 

 them in a commotion. Ttiis undue 

 excitement is promotive of disease, as 

 the bees gorge themselves with honey 

 and pollen, when they have no oppor- 

 tunity for a cleansing tiiglit. If neces- 

 sary, ventilators have been provided, 

 as they ought to have been, and are 

 opened at night, the temperature will 

 be kept down sufficiently. If opening 

 the ventilators does not quiet them, 

 then recourse must be had to carrying 

 in ice, until the temperature is lowered 

 so mucli that the bees will cluster and 

 hibernate. 



This winter, when I put my bees 

 in the cellar, I promised them as pure 

 air as I would want, if living down 

 there myself. With this end in view, 

 as bees" are continually dying, we 

 spread down on the cellar-bottom in 

 the interstices between the hives, 

 propolized muslin, which had been 

 discarded for honev-boards, being im- 

 pervious to air. This stiff muslin is 

 taken up occasionally, and the dead 

 bees emptied into a pail, aiid carried 

 out to the compost heap, or the muslin 

 is carried out, carefully shaken and 

 then put down again. Dead bees gen- 

 erate dampness, and when many are 

 deposited together, tlie effluvia aris- 

 ing from their decay is disagreeable 

 and deadly. Sometimes the bees are 



thirsty while in the cellar, keeping up 

 an uproar until drink is given them. 

 This can be conveyed to them by 

 means of wet cloths or sponges placed 

 against the entrances of the hives. 



It is best to keep an eye on bees win- 

 tering out of-doors, lest snow or rain 

 gain an entrance through leaky roofs 

 or otherwise. If entrances to hives are 

 large enough to admit mice, they will 

 enter and make sad havoc with both 

 bees and comb. Dead bees and other 

 debris must not be allowed to accumu- 

 late and thus choke up the entrance, 

 but it must be removed with a bent 

 wire or a small twig. If any hives are 

 found containing dead colonies, lift 

 the frames out and shake off the bees ; 

 those that remain sticking in she comb 

 will dry up and do no harin, but if left 

 to decay in the cluster, it will injure 

 the comb. This comb will be valuable 

 for swarms during another season, 

 when the bees will quickly remove the 

 dead without injuring it. Choose a 

 mild day for handling combs, for if 

 they are cold they will break from the 

 frames. 



Peoria, o*Ills. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Langstroth Hives— Season of 1884. 



F. R. MANNING. 



I have an apiary of 31 colonies, and 

 I use several styles of hives, but I like 

 the double-portico Langstroth hive 

 the best, for two reasons: Pirst. in 

 the spring, when the bees rob, the 

 portico protects the colony when they 

 come out to fight the robbers. When 

 there is no portico on the hive, the 

 wind will sweep the bees away and 

 give the robbers a better chance to 

 get in. Second, the double-portico 

 hive has room for 7 two-pound sec- 

 tions more than the one-portico Lang- 

 stroth hive. 



I was running my apiary for comb 

 honey during the last summer, but I 

 think that I will try extracting next 

 summer. I obtained an average of m 

 pounds per colony, spring count, the 

 past season. Soriie of the colonies 

 were very weak, and did not produce 

 much honey. The increase was 29 

 swarms. We had a good crop of 

 white clover, and when that came, 

 my bees were in good condition, and 

 had plenty of honey in the brood- 

 chambers. I wintered them in the 

 cellar last winter, and they are now 

 wintering there again. I "examined 

 them to-day, and found them in good 

 condition with but very few bees on 

 the cellar bottom. 



My bees are nearly all hybrids. I 

 have some blacks, but I am going to 

 dispose of them in the spring and 

 secure ten gond, strong colonies of 

 pure Italian bees. I have now taken 

 the Bee Journal one year, and 

 would not do without it for the price 

 of a colony of bees. I sold some bees 

 last fall, and disposed of all my honey 

 at my house, but did not have half 

 enough to supply the demand ; I got 

 1-5 and 20 cents per pound. The fall 

 crop was short; but my bees gathered 

 a good supply for winter, 



Reynolds,NDllls., Jan. 8, 188-'). 



.'"nr the American Bee Journal. 



Pleurisy-Root as a Honey-Plant. 



.1. R. BAKER. 



Mr. Heddon speaks very highly of 

 pleurisy-root as a honey-plant. Some 

 three or four years ago I became con- 

 vinced of the value of this plant as a 

 honey-producer, and I sent one of the 

 flowers to the Bee Journal to find 

 out its name. Prof. Burrill informed 

 us that it was a member of the Ascle- 

 pias family and is commonly known as 

 pleurisy-root and butterfly-weed. At 

 the same time I sent a specimen of a 

 small, yellow flower which grows so 

 abundant here, and on the same kind 

 of soil that the butterfly- weed flour- 

 ishes, and Prof. Burrill told us that it 

 was wild sensitive-plant. 



The pleurisy-root is very plentiful 

 here ; but I never saw it grow to any 

 amount only on the very light, sandy 

 soil. That it would grow and do well 

 on good rich soil, I am not prepared 

 to deny ; but I am sure that, naturally, 

 it does not seek such. The flower is 

 very handsome, varying in color from 

 orange to rich red. The plant stools 

 out very heavily, and the flowers are 

 freighted with bees constantly. I 

 never knew the little busy fellows to 

 leave this bloom for any other. I am 

 almost certain that this valuable 

 honey-plant must be found almost 

 anywhere wliere there is a light, 

 sandy soil. I shall try and domes- 

 ticate the plant and see how kindly it 

 will take to good ground. 1 shall be 

 pleased to report my success through 

 the Bee Journal. 



Prof. Burrill spoke very highly of 

 both the pleurisy-root and the sensi- 

 tive-plant as honey-producers. I hope 

 all bee-keepers will take pains to re- 

 port all good honey-plants in their 

 immediate vicinity ; and if some one 

 in Texas will send me a specimen of 

 the Texas horse-mint, in its season, I 

 shall esteem it a favor. I wish Prof. 

 Cook would tell us the difference in 

 Texas horse-mint and our wild bur- 

 gamot or monavda Jistulosa. 



Keitlisburg.x) Ills. 



Bees in a Church in England. 



A correspondent writes : " An ex- 

 traordinary discovery has just been 

 made in the i)arish church at Stour- 

 mouth, near Wingham, Kent, a nest 

 of bees being uncovered in the roof of 

 the chancel. Its existence was known 

 to the officials, but no idea seems to 

 have been formed as to its sizn. The 

 "living" has been held for many 

 years by the Rev. Mr. Drake. Some 

 time ago it came to his knowledge 

 that a swarm had settled in the sacred 

 building, but he would never allow 

 their retreat to be disturbed. A few 

 mouths ago, liowever. the Vicar died, 

 and as the church had to undergo gen- 

 eral repair, the bees no longer were 

 allowed to remain in possession of 

 their quarters. They were destroyed 

 by fumigation, and oil the honey being 

 taken, there was found to be nearly 

 224 lbs. of it. It is stated that during 

 hot weather the honey used to drop 

 down on the floor." 



