THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



237 



The next winter (1875-6) out of 60 colonies 

 so prepared, I lost none. During the winter 

 just passed I had 70 colonies snugly packed 

 m these boxes; all were alive and to all ap- 

 pearance in tirst-rate condition on Feb. 2U; 

 while out of 70 colonies ( 40 of them in 

 an apiary 3 miles from home) that i have 

 attempted to winter with only partial pro- 

 tection, I lost 9. 



I will give a few reasons in addition to 

 the saving of stocks, why I think wintering 

 bees packed in chaff is preferable to hous- 

 ing them. 



1st. In case of necessity, smaller swarms 

 can be safely wintered. 



2il. The work can be done as soon as the 

 honey season is past, and with small stocks 

 as early as Aug. 



3d. It can be done at odd hours when it 

 Avill not interfere with other business. 



4th. The packing prevents the escape of 

 any scent of honey from the packed hives 

 to attract bees from other coloiiies, hence if 

 all are so packed, robbing is effectually pre- 

 vented in the bee yard. 



.5th. Tlie bees have an opportunity to fly 

 at any time during the winter when the 

 weather will permit, an advantage which 

 we think no one will dispute. 



6th. There is no carrying of lieavy hives 

 filled with honey to and from the bee- 

 house. 



7th. During the cold weather in April and 

 early May, these packed hives will be nmch 

 warmer than those outside. The bees will 

 spread over more surface of comb, a larger 

 amount of brood will be found there, and 

 the colony will increase in size, build up to 

 a full one much faster and sooner than it 

 «ould possibly be made to do (if kept at this 

 time on its summer stand without protec- 

 tion) by any known process whatever, ex- 

 cept it be by the addition to it of bees and 

 brood taken from other hives. This posi- 

 tive assertion I broadly make without fear 

 of successful contradiction. 



8th. After the bees are prepared for win- 

 ter they need no more care till the following 

 May or June, leaving tlie apiarist at liberty 

 to attend to other business, or if he chooses, 

 to be gone from home for 7 months. This 

 of course is only when good stocks with 

 plenty of stores are selected for wintering. 



The cost of these boxes is considered by 

 some who have not used them, an objection 

 to their use. A box can be made of sound, 

 dressed, pine lumber, with a good bottom 

 and tight board roof, large enough for one 

 hive, at a cost of less than $1; 1 think for 

 about 75 or 80c., while the increased profits 

 from the larger swarms when wintered in 

 these boxes will much more than pay their 

 cost the first year. Or dry-goods boxes 

 large euongli for 4 hives each, with good 

 shingle roofs made for them, that will cost, 

 all ready for use, about 30c. a hive. 



J. H. TOWNLEY. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Notes from Louisiana. 



I commenced to take honey on June 12th. 

 The weather changed on Aprtl 11th, and 

 was cold and dry until May 21; hot weather 

 then set in, and we had no rain from April 

 13th till June 9th. During that time bees 

 lost all they had gathered since April 1st. 

 Since June 10th bees have done finely on 

 .tallow tree, swamp gallwood, and swamp 



jessamine. I shall expect plenty from corn 

 during the next 30 days. 



Tell friend Mahin, of Indiana, that I be- 

 lieve I can tell as well whether corn fields 

 give honey here as he can. It hardly looks 

 well^'or him away up there to tell me what 

 my bees are doing at my home here. 



You ask about McConnell of New Or- 

 leans. Well, that is not an easy question to 

 answer. A year and a half ago lie told a 

 friend and me that he knew more about 

 bees than any man in America. After look- 

 ing around a short tim.e I soon discovered 

 that one of us knew very little about them. 

 I soon left. You have all of one side of his 

 great discovery. Now, I don't like to say 

 too much, but one or two things I must say. 

 As regards the time that the empty frame 

 was put in, I doubt not that the bees built 

 the frame full of comb in one night; that 

 the queen filled it with eggs the next day; 

 and that the bees began to hatch on the 22d 

 day. But then comes the point. The 

 combs which he claims built on said nights 

 he also claims were built from or out of the 

 material which he fed them. The combs 

 themselves (I took sample of one) are exact- 

 ly of the same quality and condition as the 

 combs built by scales from the fattened 

 bee's breast, and if melted would produce 

 ordinary wax. Now if he can prove that 

 the bees made the wax from the food and 

 not from scales from the breast, then he has 

 something to boast of, but positive proof 

 only will convince any intelligent bee man. 



I know that from March 14 until Aijril 9, 

 the honey flow or yield was very good in 

 his section as well as mine. I have had 

 two full frames of comb built in one night 

 in this State, and it is not unusual to see a 

 frame of comb built and tilled with honey 

 or eggs in 36 hours, in a good colony. His 

 bees were tlieii in a condition to accomplish 

 just such a thing. Had it been done in a 

 time of scarcity then it would be worthy of 

 serious attention. 



He was ottered 5 cts. per frame for 10,000 

 combs by.Perrine. I ottered the s^nie for 

 5000 more. He now otters to guarantee that 

 he can build them for one cent per frame, 

 yet he has not accepted either of our offers. 

 Now I don't see any mystery about it; 

 knowing the conditions, the results are not 

 unusual. The comb built is of pure wax, 

 but I must have the proof that they build it 

 from anything but wax secretions. 



I have fed bees on a mixture wlien they 

 were not gathering a drop of honey, and had 

 tine comb built. I obtained a part of the 

 plan from Mitchell, as published in Glean- 

 Inqs not long since, but his plan was suc- 

 cessful only when fed just after a good 

 yield of honey. It has been tried by me 

 only once in this State, and it did finely. I 

 will give it a fair trial in Aug. and Sept. 

 While in Pennsylvania, I had 7 frames, 12x 

 12, filled in 13 days. They did not begin to 

 build until the 4tli or 5th day. The food 

 cost 65 cts. ; had I continued longer the cost 

 per comb would have been less. Anything 

 that will fatten bees, will cause them to 

 build comb. Let Mr. McConnell prove that 

 it can be built for one cent per frame, and 

 his fortune is made. 



Mr. Heddon need not fear of over-stock- 

 ing the market with honey this year. Cali- 

 fornia has failed; the South has failed, so 

 the Northwest has to supply all the demand 

 of the continent. W. B. Kush. 



New Orleans, La. 



