report shows that they have closed the sea- 

 son with 260 colonies, 7,500 lbs. of comb 

 honey, 500 lbs. of extracted lioney, and 150 

 lbs. of wax. 



Now, if the reader will examine the Oct. 

 No. of Journal, for 1877, it will be seen 

 that H. A. Burcli reports this apiary as fol- 

 lows : "From 150 colonies of bees on Jnne 

 1st, 1877, Mr. Oatman has increased his 

 stock to 300." As the Messrs Oatman now 

 report having only 185 colonies in the fall, 

 of 1877, I presume they can satisfactorily 

 explain what became of the balance.* 



To complete the box honey report I hope 

 the Messrs Oatman, will tell us how much 

 of that is honey and how much is wood and 

 glass. As the most of this honey is stored 

 in small boxes having glass on two sides it 

 would not supprise me at all if one-third of 

 its weight is wood and glass. 



I now come to the wax report which is 

 more mysterious than ail the rest. For one 

 I should like to know, if not a secret, how 

 to secure 150 lbs. of wax from the cappings 

 of .500 lbs. of extracted honey. That is one 

 pound of wax to a trifle more than three 

 pounds of honey. In Mexico there is a 

 stingless variety of bees that produces a 

 large amount of wax, but 1 was not aware 

 that we had such a variety in the United 

 States. Gentlemen please explain. 



M. M. Baldbidge. 



St. Charles, 111., Oct. 15, 1878. 



* [In the absence of explanation, we 

 should say that Mr. Burch counted the in- 

 crease of Messrs Oatman, even though they 

 had over 100 colonies. For they sold many 

 colonies, to our knowledge. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journul. 



Bee Pastuage in the South. 



In a late Jouknal some one inquires 

 about the merits of alsike or Swedish white 

 clover as pasturage for stock. I tried it in 

 the same enclosure with red clover, and 

 none of the animals would touch the latter 

 until the last root even of the alsike was 

 devoured. 



I was much pleased with Dr. Brown's 

 article on Bee Pasturage in the South ; but 

 he should have mentioned sourwood in it. 

 The variableness in the yield of honey from 

 any specified source is well known, but 

 not always remembered. Until last year I 

 never saw bees work on white clover, and 

 so I concluded that in this latitude it would 

 not yield honey. This is the first year since 

 I commenced keeping bees that I have been 

 without buckwheat. I had a half bushel or 

 so of seed but could not get it planted. To 

 make up for its absence from the fields, the 

 bees are gathering honey from several varie- 

 ties of plants 1 never saw them visit before. 



The writer on " The Sourwood Tree " did 

 not mention its early blooming. I have 

 seen little bushes of it in bloom when only 

 afootor sohigh. It is indescribably brilliant 

 in the fal I of the year. It has not commenced 

 yet to put on its brightness. 



Anna Saunders. 



Woodville, Miss., Oct. 31, 1878. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering Bees. 



Having been requested to give to the many 

 readers of the Bee Journal, my mode of 

 wintering bees, as practiced In this locality, 

 without loss or moldy combs, I will try to 

 make it so plain " that wayfaring men, 

 though fools, shall not err therein." 



Choose any soil that is a little descending, 

 and not under water in the spring. Plow, 

 with a corn-plow, furrows the width of 

 hives, as long rows as you need. Throw out 

 the earth on both sides, making the ditch or 

 trench 4 or 5 inches deep, except the lower 

 end, which will be nearly on the surface. 



Put any kind of boards in bottom of the 

 trench, then fill the trench with long rye 

 straw. Place it as you would to thatch, 

 commencing at the deep end of the trench. 

 Place 3x4 or 3x3 inch joist on the straw, 

 against the outside of trench. Now place 

 the hives on the joist close together, with 

 caps removed, also the honey-board or can- 

 vas, and place cotton quilts or mats over 

 frames. 



Place long straw on the top, commencing 

 at the lower end, 4 or 5 inches thick, letting 

 the straw project over the end hives 2 feet. 

 Stand straw on the butt-end against the 

 hives, on each side and ends, 4 or 5 inches 

 thick. Now place boards 10 or .13 inches 

 wide slanting against the straw and hives 

 on both sides. To form roof, nail together 

 boards 10 or 12 feet long the width of hives, 

 thus, TV- Bend the straw standing upright 

 over the top of the hives, and this root holds 

 it down and leaves a space over the frames 

 on top tilled with straw, as well as at the 

 bottom of the hives. If row of hives re- 

 quires more than one length of roof, where 

 they come together pull out some of the 

 straw that lies on top of frames, right and 

 left, about 4 inches in diameter. Bind this, 

 then crowd the roofs together as close as the 

 straw will admit. Bind the straw to a cone 

 or to resemble the nozzle of a Bingham 

 smoker. Place short pieces of boards slant- 

 ing at the ends of the hives under the ends 

 of the roof and straw that lies on top of the 

 frames. 



Cover the whole with earth from 3 inches 

 at ridge to 4 or 6 Indies at base. 



Now we have a mound, say 40 feet long, 

 with the straw and boards of the bottom 

 projecting some two feet beyond to carry off 

 any water that may collect, and at top of 

 ridge three perpendicular straw ventilators, 

 and a horizontal one at each end. By the 

 earth being removed from each side to cover 

 the bees, the trench under the bees will be 

 the highest, and to keep it dry plow a fur- 

 row to drain off any water that may collect. 

 Thus they remain quiet, not being dis- 

 turbed or affected by the heat or cold until 

 the maples look red, or they can find pollen; 

 then remove them at night to their summer 

 stands. 



This mode of wintering is no new thing. 

 It has been tried successfully in this locality 

 for a number of years. 



The most of our hives have loose bottoms, 

 so the bees come in contact with the straw 

 under them. 



I formerly wintered in the cellar. If I 

 have choice colonies and want to kill them 



