THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



1U7 



able." You may ask, " How do you 

 know that those were the old queens 

 wliich were brought out dead 'i and 

 that those found inside were young 

 ones V" 1 know, because the old ones 

 had their wings clipped, and the 

 wings of tliose which superseded them 

 were good and sound. 



It will be seen by the foregoing 

 tliat I do not admit (as Mr. P. says 1 

 "must") that he lias substantiated 

 liis allegations of imperfect instinct 

 in bees or in Nature. 



Seymour,ot Wis. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Honey Boxes and Comb Foundation. 



J. H. ANDRE. 



Although the science of bee-keep- 

 ing has made rapid strides forward 

 within the last 20 years, there are to- 

 day many who are using the box- 

 hives, and honey-boxes with one or 

 two sides having glass slides. Much 

 fault is found with such boxes In the 

 market, but there are several points 

 in their favor. They may lie carried 

 to market in any ordinary box with- 

 out fear of breaking the combs, and 

 it well sealed up with tliick, gummed 

 paper, the honey will keep through 

 the winter without granulating, and 

 one can afford to sell it for 1 to 2 cents 

 per pound cheaper than the honey in 

 small sections. 



Those using such boxes will find 

 that a neat and convenient one is 

 made in the following manner : Take 

 a nice white, well-seasoned basswood 

 board 5,1^ inches wide and I4 of an inch 

 thick, planed on both sides (if but 8 

 feet long it can be handled to a better 

 advantage). Cut a groove in each 

 edge of one side 3-32 of an inch from 

 the edge and ig of an inch deep, by 

 running each piece over a saw which 

 just comes through the saw-table. 

 Out the pieces to correspond with the 

 size of the glass (glass 4x5 inclies is 

 the best size), and nail 3 pieces to- 

 gether, slip tiie glass into the grooves, 

 nut on the other jjiece and nail it. 

 Now, saw the box into two parts ex- 

 actly in the centre, lengthwise, drive 

 small brads part way in, into one of 

 the halves, one on each side of the 

 inner edges, and then file their ends 

 sharp ; with a sharp knife the liole in 

 the box may be easily cut, one-half in 

 each part. Xow put a piece of comb 

 foundation in eacli half of the box, a 

 trifle the nearest to the centre, and 

 place each half on a table side by side 

 and press them together until the 

 brads are driven in and the halves 

 meet; the bees will wax up all little 

 cracks. When these boxes are Hlled 

 with honey, and you want to use it, 

 you have two nice combs not fastened 

 to the glass at all ; the boxes can be 

 taken apart without drawing a nail, 

 and they may be used for many years. 



If foundation is not used there is 

 no need of cutting the boxes into 

 halves, as the comb is usually put in 

 diagonally, and would be broken in 

 taking them apart. Care should be 

 taken not to nail the box where it is 

 to be sawed in two. The holes in the 

 boxes and hives should not be less 



than one inch in diameter, and if the 

 holes in the tops of the hives are too 

 much Hlled with honey, it should be 

 cut out each time when the boxes are 

 changed. 



I have noticed lately that some bee- 

 keepers, or those writing on the sub- 

 ject, express their opinion that tliick 

 comb foundation had no advantage 

 over thin foundation, only in holding 

 to its place better in the brood-cham- 

 ber on account of its thickness. I^ast 

 season my supply of thin foundation 

 run short and I used some very thick 

 foundation in the honey-boxes having 

 glass sides. I kept strict watch from 

 day to day, and observed that the 

 combs did not change color until the 

 cells were di'awn out half an inch on 

 each side, thus showing that the bees 

 were making almost tlie entire comb 

 out of the foundation. When the 

 combs of honey were cut, but little of 

 the cells showed white, unless they 

 were thick combs. 



I do not claim that it made the 

 honey any better, still there has been 

 no fault found with it, and it gives 

 only one chance for controversy, and 

 that is, will bees make comb faster if 

 furnished the material than they will 

 when building it in the natural way V 

 I am in favor of thick foundation for 

 the brood- chamber, and medium for 

 the boxes. 



Lockwood, 9 N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Wintering the Honey-Bee. 



H. B. SISSON. 



In bee-keeping, as in all other oc- 

 cupations where life is to be cared for, 

 a proper understanding of the great 

 laws that govern animal existence 

 must be considered ere it can be 

 made a success. The wintering of 

 the honey-bee with success, is but a 

 common-sense view and action of 

 these great laws. If our education 

 has been such that we were never per- 

 mitted to study from books the great 

 principles on which animal life de- 

 pend, let us go to Nature and let her 

 be our teacher, and we cannot help 

 but learn from the very lowest grades 

 of Nature, that which will promote 

 life, health and success. 



If we wish the honey-bee to be 

 healthy, able bodied and ready to 

 work, after a long, hard winter, it 

 must have plenty of pure air and a 

 dry bed to sleep in. Take for exam- 

 ple the hog, which is said to be the 

 filthiest of all animals, yet all suc- 

 cessful farmers understand that to 

 have healthy hogs, they must have 

 a good, warm bed and proper shelter. 

 How much more does this little in- 

 sect, the bee, need the best of care ! 

 This is very easily accomplished when 

 proper shelter and correct ventilation 

 is given it. It is no longer a question 

 in my mind, but a well established 

 fact, from 2o years' experience, that 

 the bee can be successfully wintered 

 in.a good cellar. I have 2o0 colonies 

 in my cellar, and when the mercury 

 was 30^ below zero, I could not go 

 into the cellar with a light without 

 their being all in commotion. 



Ottumwa,? Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Reversible Supers— Passage- Ways. 



C. C. MILLER, (200—299). 



I studied for some time upon a plan 

 for reversing supers, but linally con- 

 cluded to try having sections filled 

 out full by putting a" narrow strip of 

 foundation in the bottom of the sec- 

 tion, leaving a quarter of an inch 

 space between this and the main 

 starter. 



CONTINUOUS PASSAGE-WAYS VS. 

 DOUBLE AIB-SI'ACES. 



These are about as different as we 

 are likely to get, unless some one in- 

 vents triple air-spaces. It certainly 

 seems as if the less idle space we can 

 have in a hive, the better for the bees, 

 at least in cool nights when a force or 

 bees is needed to waste their time 

 and heat in keeping warm empty 

 space. Moreover, it seems like a good 

 deal of hindrance to oblige the bees 

 to travel through two or more air- 

 spaces. 



In spite of all this, after trying the 

 double air-spaces pretty thoroughly 

 for two years, with a hundred or more 

 colonies, I am decidedly of the opin- 

 ion that the Ileddon honey-board for 

 best results in obtaining comb honey, 

 is at present, at least in my apiary, 

 indispensable. So far, I have never 

 known a queen to come up through 

 one of these honey-boards. The space 

 between the top-bars of the brood- 

 frames and the honey-board is " more 

 or less hlled with comb, but never iri 

 the space above ; so the supers are 

 quickly and easily lifted off or placed 

 on witli little danger of crushing bees. 



How any one can rapidly handle 

 supers with continuous passages with- 

 out killing many bees is, to me, a 

 mystery. Some " one may ask me 

 whether I have ever tried continuous 

 passage-ways fairly. I have not ; and 

 in general would not condemn any 

 tiling untried ; but it seems to me 

 that a jury of practical bee-keepers 

 who have had experience as to the 

 promptitude with which bees occupy 

 a surface where there is a fair oppor- 

 tunity of their being mashed, would 

 class continuous passage-ways among 

 the things not necesary to be tried. I 

 am aware that at least one man for 

 whose intelligence I have high re- 

 spect, favors them ; but I also know 

 that one of the highest authorities 

 living, the world-renowned Dzierzon, 

 favors movable combs with only a 

 top-bar, so that the combs must be 

 cut loose with a knife each time they 

 are taken out, and drawn out by 

 hooks something like a bureau drawer, 

 which the same jury would be likely 

 to condemn untried. 



now ARE MY BEES WINTERING V 



I am in pretty dense ignorance as to 

 the outcome, and will hardly be able 

 to answer for a couple ot months. 

 They are all in the cellar (that is, in 

 two cellars), and I do not even know 

 how many are alive to-day. I know 

 of one colony that is dead, and there 

 may be others, and it will be nothing 

 strange if a good many more die. The 

 weather has been so cold that a wood 



