AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



703 



The reason is very simple. All new 

 swarms of bees have been preparing for 

 a week previous to the time of issuing, 

 for the construction of combs in their 

 new home, and for this reason we often 

 see little bits of wax, from the size of a 

 pinhead, attached in many places to the 

 limb of the tree they have clustered on, 

 if they stay clustered for five minutes or 

 more. This wax being secreted, must 

 be used somewhere or wasted. When 

 hiving in empty hives it is used in build- 

 ing comb down in the brood-chamber, 

 while the bees are drawing out the 

 foundation in the sections ; while, when 

 using combs below as I have given, it is 

 used in filling the sections with beautifui 

 combs, as they have no need for it be- 

 low. 



From the above it will be seen that the 

 reason my correspondent and myself do 

 not agree regarding the use of empty 

 combs is, that we do not manage alike, 

 and I suspect that the different methods 

 of management is what causes the " bee- 

 doctors " to so often disagree. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Wintering ProMem— Ateorljents. 



J. p. SMITH. 



The middle of last September found 

 me with 4:2 colonies of bees. Not car- 

 ing to winter more than about 25 colo- 

 nies, the question arose. What shall I 

 do with the balance ? I decided to ex- 

 amine them and unite where practical, 

 which 1 did until I reduced . them to 25 

 colonies, filling the hives literally full 

 of bees. After smoking them quite 

 thoroughly, they united readily without 

 lighting. 



In uniting 2 colonies, I would find and 

 destroy the poorest queen.' I managed 

 this so that all the queens but two were 

 aatched in 1891. I made a careful 

 estimate of the honey in the newly- 

 arranged hive. If it fell short of 25 

 pounds, I fed sugar syrup until they 

 had from 25 to 30 pounds. This done, 

 I put on Hill's device, or something 

 similar. I left a large-sized passage- 

 way out. I winter them on the summer 

 stands, standing a board leaning against 

 the hive in front of the entrance, to 

 break the force of the wind, and to pre- 

 vent the sun shining into the entrance. 



Now for the result : Every colony 

 came through with an abundance of 

 bees, and plenty of honey, with combs as 

 dry and nice as they were last Fall. 

 One proved to be^ queenless, which I 



united with another colony ; so that 

 now I have 24: strong colonies of bees. 



Drones made their appearance about 

 a week ago. 



In the Fall of 1890, I prepared my 

 bees in the same way, and wintered 

 them without loss. Last year my bees 

 commenced swarming May 20. 



Having been thus successful in winter- 

 ing, by giving upward ventilation 

 through a thick, porous cushion, I shall 

 be very slow in changing to "sealed 

 covers." The only moisture I found in 

 opening the hives this Spring, was a 

 little in the upper part of the cushion, 

 all the rest being dry and warm. By re- 

 moving the cover one sunny day, all 

 this moisture disappeared. 



Is not this a pretty good Winter record 

 for one located on the bleak hills of New 

 Hampshire, in latitude 43^ north ? 



Sunapee, N. H., May 12, 1892. 



Honey-Bees as House-Keepers. 



WM. ANDERSON. 



I have been interested of late in ob- 

 serving the domestic instinct of bees in 

 the matter of cleanliness. On first 

 opening the hives after they have been 

 put out of the cellar in the Spring, one 

 is apt to gain the impression that bees 

 are less particular in the matter of 

 cleanliness than that of industry. 



Especially will this be the case if the 

 colony has not come through the Winter 

 in perfect health. Both the appearance 

 and order of the hive will be anything 

 but attractive, and . an amateur will 

 naturally conclude that the " busy bee " 

 is a "dirty bee." Thatsuch is an asper- 

 sion, may be proven by anyone who will 

 take the trouble to examine carefully 

 the healthy colony later in the season. 

 As unreasonable would it be to charge 

 your wife with slovenly or uncleanly 

 habits, because the carpets and furni- 

 ture in the parlors looked musty and 

 dusty a week before the time of Spring 

 house-cleaning ! 



The fact is, that the instinct of the 

 bee is as keen on the matter of cleanli- 

 ness, as that of the average human 

 house-keeper — perhaps rather more so. 



During the long Winter months the 

 bees have had no cliance to remove the 

 accumulations of fetid matter beyond 

 the immediate confines of the brood-nest. 



If, through neglect or ignorance on 

 the part of the bee-keeper, a colony has 

 not been provided with the conditions 

 necessary to health — as plenty of good 



