THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



spent some time with liim to learn 

 practically the management of bees, 

 and through him Mr. C. hoped to re- 

 ceive, some day. Apis dorsata, or at 

 least some specimens of that bee and 

 its combs; but nothing ever came of 

 it. Since then the efforts of both Mr. 

 Jones and Mr. Benton have thrown 

 some light on the subject of the for- 

 eign races of bees. 



Mr. Gary leaves a widow and three 

 children to mourn his loss. 



New York City. 



for the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering Bees in a Vault. 



JOHN TRIMBERGER. 



On page 140 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1884, I explained how I warmed 

 my bee-vault by lire in a wood stove. 

 Now, what was the result V Every 

 time the temperature was raised to 

 50^, the bees would become noisy, 

 and many left their hives to certain 

 death near or on the sometimes red- 

 hot stove. Those near the stove 

 would always leave their hive en masse 

 to cluster on the outside. At one 

 time the Are had burned low, when I 

 fed it again, leaving it to take care of 

 itself. Upon returning in the course 

 of an hour, I found the wood only 

 smoldering, and, therefore, the vault 

 was full of smoke— yes, so full of it 

 that I left the doors open and re- 

 treated to a safe distance. Upon re- 

 entering in a few minutes, I learned 

 to my great consternation that the 

 dense sinolse had driven nearly every 

 bee out of its hive in search of fresh 

 air. A colony was sometimes clus- 

 tered in two or three places on its 

 hive. 



Although a goodly number of these 

 colonies showed signs of diarrhea be- 

 fore the heating process commenced, 

 all except 4 were put out alive on 

 March 22, 1884, the most of them be- 

 ing very populous, but having but 

 little honey. By the middle of May 

 12 had died, and the rest were ex- 

 tremely weak. Having bought some 

 to swell their number to 60 colonies, 

 they increased to 105 by natural 

 swarming, and produced 2,.500 pounds 

 of comb honey and 450 pounds of 

 extracted, white clover being the only 

 surplus yield. 



By the way, the colony which was 

 wintered out-of-doors in the gum with 

 so much upward ventilation, was 

 fozen to death with about 3 pounds of 

 honey left in the hive, the extinct 

 bees hanging in regular clusters be- 

 tween the combs. 



On Nov. 23 I put my bees into the 

 vault and propose never to open the 

 door until I put them out in the 

 spring. The vault is covered with 

 dry earth to a depth of 3 feet, and 

 well ventilated. They are, I think, 

 cellared well. I confess that I am at 

 a loss to know whether my last win- 

 ter's operation was a success or fail- 

 ure, but. nevertheless, I am sure that 

 I will not venture it again, especially 

 after having noticed Mr. Doolittle's 

 disastrous coal-oil-stove experiment. 



Ash ton, 9 Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The TJse of Drone-Traps. 



HENRY ALLEY. 



Several answers in reference to 

 drone-traps were given on page 52. 

 As I have had as much experience in 

 the use of the drone-trap as any one, 

 having used them for 27 years, I can, 

 perhaps, -enlighten the readers on this 

 point. Messrs. Dadant & Son said 

 that drone- traps were " a nuisance at 

 the best." This fact shows clearly 

 that they know nothing about the 

 construction or use of a perfect trap, 

 or they would not have made such a 

 statement. Why will they not " back 

 up " what they have said, by a few 

 facts, as there are thousands of drone- 

 traps used in this country, and by 

 some of our most intelligent apiarists'? 



I think that, with one exception, 

 not one of those who replied to the 

 above query ever had much experi- 

 ence in the use of the drone-trap. 

 One correspondent recommended the 

 Jones' bee-guard as the best thing to 

 use. Let us see how the bee-guard 

 works. If placed at the entrance of 

 a hive containing a strong colony (in 

 which there must be a large number 

 of drones at the season when it is 

 necessary to use a trap), for several 

 hours in the middle of the day, it will 

 soon become clogged with drones 

 which are trying to leave the hive for 

 a flight, and if not closely watched 

 there will be danger of the colony 

 perishing from heat. The bees will 

 be greatly hindered in their work, as 

 the drones will be trying to escape for 

 at least two hours in the busiest part 

 of the day. What is such an arrange- 

 ment worth when compared with a 

 good drone-trap V 



Now, if the trap is used, the drones 

 will pass up into the chamber (or trap) 

 above, out of the way of the workers, 

 and when night comes they can be re- 

 leased or destroyed at the pleasure of 

 the apiarist. When a good drone- 

 trap is used, the bees can pass out 

 and in as readily as thougli no ob- 

 struction were there. Had Messrs. 

 Dadant & Son said the same of the 

 bee-guard, that they did of the trap, 

 many would have agreed with them. 



Let us see what can be done with a 

 perfect drone-trap : Suppose there 

 are 50 colonies of bees in any apiary, 

 and the majority of them are blacks 

 or hybrids, and the Ijalance pure bees 

 of any race ; or, suppose that there is 

 no pure race, but a few of the colonies 

 are superior workers, and possess 

 other desirable qualities, and are, in 

 fact, just the strain of bees which one 

 desires to propagate. Now, perhaps 

 all these latter colonies have swarmed, 

 and there are some tine queen-cells 

 which the apiarist desires to preserve; 

 if so. it can be done easily and with- 

 out trouble by removing the objec- 

 tionable queens, and at the same 

 time inserting a queen-cell in each 

 colony as far as they will go. Then, 

 at the proper time, place a drone-trap 

 on each hive which has a queen-cell 

 inserted in it, as well as at the en- 

 trances of the hives of all the other 

 colonies whose drones are to be des- 



troyed. Every one of the young queens 

 will be fertilized by the desired (hones. 



Wliile virgin queens can pass 

 through the perforated zinc, a laying 

 or fertile queen cannot. The drone- 

 trap can be placed on the hive, and 

 the necessity of destroying drone 

 brood by shaving off their heads or by 

 cutting out the drone comb can be 

 avoided. And it will not be necessary 

 for one to trouble himself about ex- 

 amining the trap, as is recommended 

 wt»en the bee-guard is used, as the 

 former can be placed at the entrance, 

 and need not be troubled only at the 

 pleasure of the apiarist. 



Here is another point which was 

 overlooked : At the proper time the 

 bees know from a natural instinct 

 that drones are needed in the colony. 

 If they have not the ready drone comb 

 for use, they will find room for the 

 queen to deposit drone eggs some- 

 where in the hive. Every small hole 

 or opening in the combs will be uti- 

 lized by the bees for this purpose. If 

 there are any combs which do not 

 quite till the frames at the bottom or 

 sides, the bees will construct drone- 

 cells, and will rear drones in this way. 

 When that will not work to suit them, 

 they will rear them in the caps. When 

 drones are needed, the bees will fol- 

 low their instincts and rear them, and 

 all " cutting and slashing " of combs 

 will not prevent them from doing so. 

 Would it not be a pretty job to go 

 over 100, or even 50 colonies, of bees, 

 and cut out the drone comb and fill 

 the places with comb foundation V ' 



AVhen speaking of " nuisances " in 

 the apiarv, all of the most experi- 

 enced know that complaint has been 

 made against every new implement 

 devised, all tlie races of bees, mova- 

 ble combs, frame hives of all descrip- 

 tions, smokers, and even comb foun- 

 dation— all have had their turn. Well, 

 we can get along without comb foun- 

 dation, the movable-frame hive, smok- 

 ers, and drone-traps, but it would be 

 verv inconvenient. 



Wenham,d Mass. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Handling Bees— Bee-Diarrhea. 



GUSTAV LEOPOLD. 



I have handled bees for 29 years, 

 and I find a good deal of pleasure in 

 it. I can deal with them like flies, 

 picking up handfulsof them with my 

 bare hands. I can take a whole hive 

 full of bees and empty them over my 

 naked body without receiving a sting. 

 When the season for swarming 

 comes, I simply shake the bees into 

 my hat, (if I cannot do this, I scrape 

 them in with my hands), and then 

 carry them to the hive. In this way I 

 have often-times hived from 20 to 35 

 swarms in one hour. 



I have a bee-house made out of 

 matched flooring, 200 feet long, 5 feet 

 high and 3 feet wide, just wide enough 

 to slip in the hives. It has a roof 

 sloping toward the north, and it has 

 doors on the south side hanging on 

 hinges, which I can close at any time 

 when it is necessary, but I have them 

 closed as long as there is snow on the 



