percliaiice, a friend curiously ventures near, 

 to watcli our uiovenients, will we not 

 secretly wish him away, and so tVelinir, fail 

 to make the occasion one of pleasant inter- 

 est to him. As no economical woman will 

 allow a dress, fit to be worn in the house, to 

 be thus ruinously used, it follows that the 

 worst, wearable dress we ha\'e will be the 

 one chosen for the ajiiary. To sa>' notliinfi 

 of the love of self-respect we must feel 

 when so attired, it is not policy. A pursuit 

 which necessitates shabby and untidy 

 apparel is one which a retined woman will 

 never engage in, if there is any other alter- 

 native; and such an attire worn by a success- 

 ful apiarist would, at least, be extremely 

 prejudicial to apiculture for women. 



Thus far, we have taken a negative view 

 of the subject, and now come to the ques- 

 tion direct: "What shall we wear?" 



I reply, a dress that can be made short or 

 lonjf at pleasure. This can be done by the 

 rubl)er skirt lifter, so jjenerally worn when 

 trailing dresses were worn on the street; or 

 by some simple device of our own, so con- 

 structed that the dress can be instantly 

 raised or lowered. Those who have no 

 objections to beiiijj; seen in tlie short dress, 

 will, of course, choose it; but as many have, 

 it seems desirable to combine the two, both 

 for convenience and appearance. The 

 style of the dress may be varied to suit the 

 taste of the wearer, but I recommend the 

 "Gabrielle" — made just lonjj; enough to 

 touch the floor, and belted at the waist.— 

 The neck should be cut down in front about 

 one-third the length of the waist, to admit 

 of the veil being tucked in. as it is neither 

 comfortable nor convenient directly under 

 the chin. The under- waist can be made of j 

 tile same, or other material, and fastened at 

 the throat. The sleeves should be iiuite 

 lonsr, to allow free use of the arms, hemmed 

 at the wrist, and rubber tape, or cord, run 

 in; and these to be pulled down over the 

 gauntlets of the rubber gloves. The panta- 

 lets should be similar to those worn in the 

 old "bloomer costume"— straight and full, 

 and like the sleeves, with rubber cord in 

 the hem, and fastened over, not above, the 

 tops of the shoes. The suit should be of 

 washable material, and mixed colors, as a, 

 drop of honey on the dress has the appear- 

 ance of grease, and is very conspicuous on 

 a solid color. 



One width of black tarlatan, % of a 

 yard long will make the best veil, and with 

 rubber cord in the. hem at the top, is adjust- 

 able to any hat. 



One important item f»f a comfortable out- 

 fit, for the warmest days, I had nearly for- 

 gotten to mention; that is, the wet " head 

 cap," precisely such as is worn bv patients 

 at water-cures. Even when working in the 

 shade of trees, it is a relief, and in the sun- 

 shine, to me, it is almost indispensable. — 

 Make it of toweling, of a coarse but snu)oth 

 quality. Cut the top round, and about 4 

 inches in diameter. Take a strip length- 

 wise of the material, 3 or 4 inches wide 

 when double, and just long enough to fit 

 around the head; then sew up and gather 

 the upper edges, and sew to the crown. — 

 The whole being double, no raw edges need 

 be exposed. Wet the head, and then put on 

 the cap after wringing it out of cold water. 

 This will make out-door work easy, even to 

 beginners. Of course, it amounts simply to 

 a wet cloth, but as it fits the head, is iiiore 



convenient, besides covering a larger 

 p(U'tion of it. 



Whether or not the suit I have recom- 

 nu^nded should be trimmed is not a matter 

 of necessity, and may properly be left to 

 the option of the wearer; still, I can hardlv 

 refrain from making a suggestion in regard 

 to it. It is one of the refinements of civili- 

 zation to be always as well and appropri- 

 ately dressed as circumstances will allow; 

 aiul if the dress is trimuit'd, at least aroui (l 

 the neck, and the under-waist worn with 

 ruche, or collar and pin, the suit will not be 

 less comfortable or convenient, and will 

 look far better. 



So dressed, there need be no fear of bees, 

 and we may, without end)arrassment, give 

 a cordial welcome to calleis in the apiary, 

 or in the parlor. Miis. L. B. Bakeu." 



Wintering Bees. 



READ BEFORE THE MICH. CONVENTION. 



Bee-keepers are not agreed upon this sul)- 

 ject. A majority of Michigan bee-keepers 

 ])robably preferthe cellar, and consider it 

 the best, as a winter repository. While 

 friend Townley and others are firmly 

 " wedded to their idol " — chaff. 



I have had no exjierience with chaff; have 

 five colonies in chaff this winter, as my 

 first experiment with chaff. No doubt 

 different nu'thods of wintering may be suc- 

 cessful. For several years, I used, as a 

 winter repository, a house constructed with 

 two walls of sawdust, each 8 inches thick, 

 with an air space of 4 inches between, 

 double doors, etc. Taking care to make it 

 as near frost proof as possible without arti- 

 ficial heat, but 1 lost from 10 to 25 per cent. 

 of my colonies each winter. In a long spell 

 of severe freezing weather, the frost would 

 get through; and yet, when 1 reflect that 

 during those years" there was a cider mill 

 within one-half mile of my apiary, I look 

 with less disfavor upon the' sawdust house. 

 In that, the bees would die inside the hive, 

 and many upou the floor; several quarts 

 each week, and towards spring, the amount 

 increased to such an extent that upon set- 

 ting them out, many colonies would be 

 found so weak that it was impossible to 

 build them up. 1 then gave out door 

 wintering a trial, and the first winter thor- 

 oughly satisfied me of its uncertainty. It 

 resulted in total destruction of my apiary, 

 of about 100 colonies. 



Beginning again. I tried the cellar, and 

 have found that much to be preferred to the 

 sawdust house, having succeeded thus far 

 in wintering in my cellars, with a loss of 

 less than 5 per cent. In the cellar the tem- 

 perature can be coutrollerl. during chaniie- 

 able weather in fall and spring, much better 

 than in a building above the izround; the 

 cool_, stone wall aiding materially in main- 

 taining an equal temperature. Also, frost 

 can be more readily excluded than in a 

 building without artificial heat. My cellar 

 is ventilated by means of a 4 inch pipe, 

 reaching within 8 inches of the bottom, in 

 the center of that part occupied by the bees. 

 and connecting with the stove-pipe, leading 

 from the dining room stove. This ventila- 

 tor is left open most of the time during the 

 winter; and whenever there is a fire in the 

 stove, there is a draft from the bee cellar, 



