AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



833 



always more plentiful than the blacks, 

 or even the hybrids. Only last year I 

 was in a red clover field that is within 

 as easy reach of a neighbor's black bees 

 as it is of our Italians, and while the 

 field was roaring with Italians, I could 

 only occasonally see a black bee. 



The man who admits that black bees 

 sting less than Italians, must have a 

 tough race of Italians, or an extra-gentle 

 race of blacks. It is not their way at 

 Bluflfton, Mo. 



If there is one thing that I dispise 

 above all others about the black bees, it 

 is the fashion of "acting like crazy" 

 when a frame is lifted out of the hive. 

 They will all run to the lower corner, 

 "ball" up, then string out like a bunch 

 of grapes, and then, like the Irishmen 

 in the well, the upper one says, " Hold 

 fast below while I spit on my hands 

 above," and away they tumble. This 

 the advocates of black bees could claim 

 as an advantage in the production of 

 extracted honey (only) while shaking 

 and brushing the bees off the combs was 

 resorted to, but since the advent of im- 

 proved and practical bee-escapes, even 

 this is no longer a merit. 



Regarding Mr. E.'s last paragraph, 

 I would say : Why does he not give the 

 black bees the same careful attention 

 that has been given the Italian bees in 

 breeding, and produce a superior strain ? 

 The fact is, we have seen the "Large 

 Arkansas Brown Bees," and black bees 

 under various other fancy names adver- 

 tised in the periodicals devoted to bee- 

 culture, some years ago, but at present 

 we see nothing more about them. 

 Surely, they have been weighed in the 

 scale, and found wanting. 



Bluflfton, Mo. 



Temperature in Wiiilering Bees. 



THOS. JOHNSON. 



On page 347, I notice Mr. Dayton's 

 experience ou wintering bees, etc. By 

 the description of his cover for the bees 

 to wax down, it was not properly braced, 

 as the dovetailed end is made by differ- 

 ent manufacturers. As the cover be- 

 came warped by the evaporation of the 

 bees, like the Hill device, and as the 

 hives were level, or nearly so, the damp- 

 ness from the bees gathered on the 

 cover, nearly every drop of water fell 

 among the bees, and caused bad results. 



Mr. Dayton says the idea that a 

 healthy colony will keep the inside of 

 the hive warm and dry from their nat- 



ural warmth, is a mistake. All right; 

 but we must drain the moisture that 

 evaporates dififerently than he has done, 

 and not let it drip on the bees. In pre- 

 paring bees for wintering, either on the 

 summer stands, in the cellar, or a bee- 

 cave, the back end of the hive must be 

 raised from 2 to 4 inches higher than 

 the front. This answers a double pur- 

 pose, in draining the water from the 

 bottom, and also if any gathers on the 

 top cover, it will naturally seek the 

 lowest point of level before it drips to 

 the bottom of the hive. 



No two colonies will winter alike in 

 the same repository, because some will 

 be moist on the top cover, and some not; 

 at least such is my experience, and we 

 must prepare for obstacles. 



Speaking of the temperature of the 

 repositories for bees, I would refer the 

 reader to Mr. Doolittle's article, on page 

 788 of the Bee Journal for Dec. 17, 

 1891. I will venture to say that the 

 temperature of his cellar will not vary 

 2^ from the bottom to the roof, unless 

 there is some stir in the cellar. 



For a cheap bee-cave see page 821 

 and 822 of the Bee Journal, for Dec. 

 24, 1891 ; there I described one. In 

 this cave the temperature does not vary 

 any that one can notice from the roof to 

 the bottom, although I have not tried it 

 under the bees' wings. About Dec. 15, 

 1891, it commenced raining, and con- 

 tinued until the water dripped through 

 the earth overhead, and the top of the 

 hives were wet, and water stood about 

 24 hours on the cave floor (which is an 

 unusual thing in Iowa). I became un- 

 easy, and watched the results, and on 

 March 15 the bees were wintering well, 

 seemingly perfectly contented. The 

 thermometer indicated an average of 

 42^, and one time it showed 46^" above 

 zero, and the bees became uneasy. I 

 opened the cave one night and the mer- 

 cury went down to 36°; I closed it the 

 next morning, and the next day it was 

 40°. About Jan. 15 the thermometer 

 registered as low as 38° below zero in 

 the neighborhood, and run it down as 

 low as 38° above zero in the cave ; the 

 diflference between the out-door and 

 cave temperature being 76°. 



I read an article in the Bee Journal 

 about one man's thermometer register- 

 ing 16° below zero in his bee-house. 

 What would be the result with my bees 

 if I should have opened my cave on Jan. 

 1, and let the thermometer register 16°, 

 as he said in his article ? I think I 

 should now be hunting bees to make a 

 start, or else I would be on the retired 

 list. Every experienced writer will ad- 



