230 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



pipe which ran down to the ground. This 

 made plenty of draft, but in the extreme 

 cold weather of December it cooled off tlie 

 cellar too much. One day I came home and 

 found that my wife had put a parlor stove 

 down cellar, and through the rest of the 

 winter 1 built a small fire in it every few 

 days, keeping the thermometer most of the 

 time at about 38% ranging from 33" to 46\ I 

 suppose it would be better to keep steadily 

 at about 44°. Still I should be well satisfied 

 if I could winter always as well. Not the 

 slightest suspicion of mould did I find on a 

 single comb, except in the hive which had 

 the few queenless bees. For the ventilation 

 of each hive I left a space open at the back 

 of each quilt or rather sheet, a space of )^ 

 or }4 ill- The entrances to the hives were 

 left entirely open. 



I don't feel confident that I know why I 

 wintered so successfully, scarcely any bees 

 dying and no spring dwindling, but there 

 are a few points I think I should strive for: 



First.— Avoid all late feeding, or better 

 still, avoid all fall feeding by letting them 

 keep plenty of sealed honey just where 

 they placed it. I feed not a drop of any- 

 thing in the fall. 



Second. — Keep them well aired all winter 

 and at as even a temperature as possible, 

 not going out of the range of 3.5" to 4.5°. 



Third.— Keep them in, till danger from 

 springing is past. 



At present writing, the last of May, they 

 are doing nicely, and 1 have got 2,000 of 

 Novice's sections and 100 lbs of foundation, 

 and will try for a ton of comb honey in 

 these sections, besides working the larger 

 part for extracted honey. 



May 23, 1877. B. Lujtdereb. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Jefferson Co., Ind., B. K. Association. 



The bee-keepers of Jefferson Co., Ind., 

 met at the Court House at Madison, on May 

 19th, and organized a bee-keepers' associa- 

 tion, with Abjah Wright as president; P. 

 R. Vernon, vice-president; H. C. White, 

 treasurer; and A. W. Smith, sec'y. After 

 a few short but interesting addresses, 

 several important subjects were selected, 

 and given to as many members for discus- 

 sion at the next meeting, to be held on June 

 30th. Much interest was manifested on the 

 part of those in attendance. The Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal is growing in favor 

 here. All wish it success. 



Allen W. Smith. Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Cheap Queens. 



That no one may be misled by our com- 

 munication— "Dollar Queens"— in the June 

 number, we will give our plan of operation 

 In queen rearing. 



Having selected the queen we wish to 

 breed from, as all queens are not equally 

 prolific and satisfactory, we commence 

 early in the season to encourage brood rear- 

 ing by feeding, and build up by giving 

 frames of brood from such colonies we wish 

 kept back and retarded in drone rearing. 

 We use the Langstroth, two-story hive, 10 

 frames in lower and 11 in upper story. By 

 keeping a good supply of honey in the hive, 



with a favorable spring, by the middle or 

 last of April they will begin preparations 

 for swarming by constructing numerous 

 queen cells, and the first, warm, sun-shiny 

 day the old queen will leave the hive with a 

 swarm. 



Wishing to have the cells well nursed and 

 cared for, we remove the queen and return 

 the swarm from whence they came. The 

 hive being now "chock full'* of bees, and 

 having the swarming fever, the first queen 

 hatched will invariably come out with a 

 swarm. In the brood chamber, the lower 

 story, to give more room, one of the frames 

 containing no queen cell we remove,leaving 

 only 9. We do this, because by leaving in 

 the whole 10 frame's, the sides and ends of 

 many of the cells are attached to combs on 

 adjoining frames, and in removing the 

 frame, the cells are destroyed. We have 

 frequently had frames to contain upwards 

 of 20 cells, but this is not common. 



By actual inspection of the interior, or by 

 listening for the piping of the j'oung queens 

 before being permitted to emerge from their 

 cells, we break up the colony into nuclei. 

 Being so much trouble to feed, etc., we dis- 

 carded several years since the nuclei hives 

 with small frames, and use the standard 

 Langstroth altogether in nuclei. It saves 

 labor and is economical in other respects. 



We generally form from the broken-up 

 colony 10 nuclei, but if desirable, have bees 

 and cells frequently for twice that number. 

 We leave the old hive on its own stand, and 

 as it will catch nearly all the old bees, the 

 youngest and uncapped larv;^ are left in it, 

 with such cells as we have placed in cages, 

 etc. 



That each nuclei may retain the bees 

 given it, they are removed to the cellar or a 

 dark room for 36 hours, when they are re- 

 moved to the apiary setting in clusters of 4, 

 with their backs together, and fronting N., 

 S., E., and W,, respectively; some 3 ft. off, 

 others are similarlv placed, fronting N.E., 

 S.E., N.W., and S.W. 



We try to avoid all natural swarming at 

 this time. as the young queens are about the 

 time of day natural swarms issue, out on 

 their bridal excursions and frequently join 

 the swarm. 



By the above cause, if any better queens 

 are reared from cells constructed of choice 

 and not of necessity, we have them. If no 

 better, we have pursued the most econo- 

 mical plan all things considered, and our 

 object attained. 



Pretty much the same course is piu'sued 

 in drone rearing. Build up strong colonies 

 and insert frames of drone comb between 

 the brood, and as soon as they are deposited 

 full of eggs, remove them to colonies that do 

 not produce as desirable drones, and give 

 other frames in their stead. 



When the weather is warm and plenty of 

 flowers secreting nectar, even weak colonies 

 will rear drones. 



When everything is favorable we some- 

 times remove the queen, and if on the 9tli 

 day we have a place for all the cells, we re- 

 move all, and like some poultry breeders 

 give franu's of eggs and very young larva? 

 and "put them to setting again." They 

 will then construct more cells, and oftener 

 than otherwise, double their first number. 



Plenty of honey in the hive, plenty of old 

 and young bees, the gathering and storing 

 of honey in abundance, and Avarm weather, 

 are the requisites for successful queen rear- 



