catnip, and especially motherwort, seem 

 ever ready to. yield their precious sweets, 

 while most plants are alike sisceptible to 

 moisture or drouth, and at times of these 

 extremes, utterly refuse to yield their 

 usual gifts of the coveted nectar. Some 

 plants, too, like borate, seem not to be favor- 

 ites, and only attract the bees, in numbers, 

 ■when other plants refuse to secrete. The 

 past season we have tried a number of plants 

 from Bohemia, and other parts of Austria 

 and Southeastern Europe, some of which 

 came recommended very highly as honey 

 plants. But, to our surprise, none nave 

 proved successful. Can it be possible that 



Elants become home-sick, or rather, that in 

 eing acclimated their constitutions become 

 so disturbed that they are unable to distill 

 the precious sweets. At least I do not think 

 a single season's results a crucial test, and 

 shall certainly give them a second trial. 



How desirable that careful experiment 

 shall discover to us the law which governs 

 nectar secretion, as also the flowers or 

 plants which are most indifferent to varied 

 conditions of atmosphere, and thus most 

 desirable for bee forage^, 



THE INDUSTRY AND THRIFT OF THE BEES 

 COMMENSURABLE WITH PERSISTENCY OF 

 HONEY SECRETION OK BEE FORAGE. 



f' I have been led by my experience for the 

 past three years, to attach no little impor- 

 tance to this last division of our subject. I 

 have noticed that even our small beds, occu- 

 pying but a few square rods, served the pur- 

 pose of stimulative feeding, thus keeping the 

 bees breeding during the usual interims, not 

 only of storing, but of rapid brood-rearing 

 as well. This continuous breeding keeps 

 the hives crowded with bees, and ready to 

 take the fullest advantage of the brief har- 

 vest, when the honey seems to come in 

 floods. Our experiments here, for three suc- 

 cessive seasons, some years since, as given 

 in the American Bee Journat,, showed 

 conclusively that stimulative feeding, during 

 the periods of summer when the bees were 

 inactive, was very remunerative and desira- 

 ble. 1 now believe that the cheapest and 

 best method to practice this, is to plant a 

 few square rods with well selected lioney- 

 plants. Each bee-keeper, by studying his 

 locality, may soon learn the periods when 

 no nectar is to be expected, and so arrange 

 that a plat of rape, mustard, catnip, mother- 

 wort, mignonette or cleonie, shall open their 

 showy petals, and offer their tempting 

 nectar. In this way even small beds of our 

 most choice honey plants will not only add 

 to the beauty and interest of the apiary 

 grounds, but will also swell the profits of the 

 apiary. This is a cheap and agreeable way 

 to practice stimulative feeding. 



Kegretting that I cannot join in yoursocial 

 greetings, and profit by the ab'e discussions 

 and valuable exchange of opinions, which I 

 am sure will characterize your gathering, I 

 sincerely hope and trust that the harmony 

 and entire freedom from aspersions which 

 shall attend your proceedings, and the great 

 value of your deliberations, will convince 

 even the most skeptical, that association 

 among apiarists, as among all other classes, 

 means i)rogress. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 



389 



A vote of thanks was unanimously passed 

 to Prof. Cook for his very able paper on Bee 

 Pasturage. 



Rational System of Wintering Bees. 



Fellow Bee-Keepers of the National Con- 

 vention : 



How to successfully and profitably winter 

 bees, seems still to be the puzzing problem 

 with many of our apiarists, and as the sea- 

 son is now rapidly approaching when our 

 little, busy pets are housed for a number of 

 months, it becomes us to adopt the best sys- 

 tem possible so as to secure their health aud 

 comfort. 



This subject engaged my attention for a 

 number of years, as year after year a num- 

 ber of colonies were lost, and some apiaries 

 entirely depopulated. 



Other domesticated stock can be wintered 

 without loss, and why cannot bees be win- 

 tered in an economical way with the same 

 degree of safety and certainty ? 



I have wintered in many different ways, 

 but when brought to the severe test of a long 

 and cold winter, all have proven unsatisfac- 

 tory except one, which 1 first connnenced 

 experimenting with in the winter of 1870-71, 

 and perfected in the fall of 1873, and I am 

 now persuaded this is the only correct and 

 rational system, as it secures protecticm 

 against cold, and imperceptibly passes off 

 the moisture exhaled by the bees, and also 

 guards against the sudden changes of tem- 

 perature. Unless these three things are 

 provided for, the bees must suffer. 



Upward ventilation, whilst it passes off 

 moisture, if direct, will also permit all the 

 warmth that is generated by the clustered 

 bees to escape. 



Warmth being absolutely necessary for 

 their existence as well as comfort, hence, if 

 this passes away too rapidly, a much larger 

 consumption of honey ensues to generate an 

 extra supply of warmth. It also causes an 

 unnatural degree of activity of the colony, 

 which is very objectionable in cold weatlier. 

 As the warm air escapes, the bees suffer 

 cold, and from the excessive amount of food 

 consumed, undue activity and exposure to a 

 continually changing temperature, disease 

 and death follow. (By referring to my jour- 

 nal, I find that in the winter of 1872-731 lost 

 all my colonies having direct upward venti- 

 lation, while those properly cared for had no 

 trace of sickness.) 



If no upward ventilation is provided, the 

 moisture exhaled by the bees condenses and 

 forms ice on the walls and top of the hive, 

 making their home very uncomfortabh? in 

 cold weather, and as soon as the weatlier 

 moderates sufficiently, the ice above and at 

 the sides melts, causing wet and dampcombs 

 to say tl;e least. In many cases the water 

 comes in direct contact with the combs oc- 

 cupied by the cluster. When this occurs, 

 and the temperature lowers suddenly— as it 

 often does in mid-winter— the colony is lost. 



It is true, bees can be wintered in a good 

 dark cellar specially prepared to receive 

 them, but not every bee-keeper is thus 

 situated. But look at those bees when taken 

 out in the spring, and how many mouldy 

 combs aud debilitated bees do you find ? 

 After such colonies are placed on the sum- 



