38 



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pac^ked upon the legs, the same as bee- 

 bread ? If so, this is contrary to the 

 supposition that I have heretofore had. 

 — Will M. Babnuji. 



1. Propolis is not gathered from 

 flowers, but is obtained by the bees 

 from the resinous buds of trees, etc. — 



P. L. VlALLON. 



I am not aware that bees gather 

 propolis from flowers, but I have seen 

 them gathering it from buds. — A. B. 

 Mason. 



1. They do not gather it from any 

 kind of flowers, but from the leaf-buds 

 of certain kinds of trees, principally 

 from what is popularly called "cotton- 

 wood." 3. Yes.— M. Mahin. 



From the asters, buds of the hickory, 

 from any plant which secretes a resin- 

 ous substance, or from a newly-var- 

 nished buggy. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. I do not know that they get from 

 flowers. 2. I have seen bees gather- 

 ing it from sumac at the axilloj of the 

 leaf-stalks, and from the buds of the 

 balm-of-Gilead. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. In this locality, propolis comes 

 largely from the buds of the balm-of- 

 Gilead and poplar. I think that pro- 

 polis never comes from blossoms. 2. 

 Yes. — G. M. DooLiTTLE. 



1. They do not gather it from 

 flowers at all. It is a resinous giim 

 tliat exudes from various trees. The 

 so-called " balm-of-Gilead" is the great 

 source of propolis in my own locality. 

 —J. E. Pond. 



This is a subject of which I know 

 but little from personal observation. 

 Father Quinby says : " Propolis is 

 doubtless the gum or resinous coating 

 which protects the buds of many kinds 

 of trees." — J. M. Hambaugh. 



I do not think that bees gather pro- 

 polis from flowers at all. I believe 

 that propolis is gathered only from the 

 leaves and boughs of resinous trees, 

 and your statement would seem to con- 

 firm this view. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. It is gathered mostly from the 

 swelling buds of trees and plants. I 

 have never seen it taken from flowers. 

 Hickory furnishes much, also cotton- 

 wood, balm-of-Gilead, sweet gum, etc. 

 2. It is packed much the same as pol- 

 len. It was doubtless the jjropolis that 

 suggested to the ancient bee-folk that 

 bees carried pebbles for ballast. — J. 

 M. Shuck. 



1. I know of no flowers that furnish 

 propolis for the bees. In my locality 

 bees gather propolis from cedar trees, 

 hic};ory, walnut, and other resinous 

 trees. They also collect paint from 

 decaying wood, and even old pitch 

 from wagon hubs, etc. Pure propolis 

 is a " gum" that oozes from the limbs 

 and trunks of certain varieties of 



trees, and is collected by bees. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



1. The leaf -buds of shrubs and trees 

 yield propolis — it does not come from 

 the flowers. 2. Yes. Fruit and other 

 trees supply it, by the exudation of a 

 gummy substance. — The Editor. 



I]IVE§ AND BEES. 



Written for the American Bee Jourtial 



BY D. C. BUCK. 



A bee-man bv the name of Dowell, 



Went to the Tri-State Fair, 



And with bis son he walked around. 



To view the wonders there. 



That newly patented hive, he said, 



Will take the highest prize ; 



But the Langstroth does just as well. 



And better, to my eyes. 



1 know it s what some bee-men call " slow "— 



But I think it is the safest way to go. 



Some bee-men might think it strange. 



But, really, I shouldn't like to change. 



Those Alhino bees do look so white. 



But don't have near so large a girth. 



Nor come up to my Italian bees — 



But 1 know what my bees are worth. 



They're good cell-builders, and good to fly, 



And stronger workers I never saw — 



The Italians are the bees to buy. 



And in them none can find a " flaw." 



Some bee-men, perhaps, mightthink it strange. 



But, really, I shouldn't want to change. 



I heard Uiat Carniolan queen did cost 

 A good live dollars. Now, 

 Said Jacob Dowell, my Italian queen 

 Will beat her laying, anyhow. 

 I'm sure her progeny are the best. 

 And they are marked the yellowest. 

 Some bee-men might think it strange. 

 But, really, I shouldn't want to change. 



As bee-man Dowell and his son 

 Kode homeward from the Fair, 

 He said : I wish my hives and bees 

 Had all of them been there. 

 And if the judges had been wise. 

 We might have taken every prize. 

 Dundee, Mich. 



WINTERING-. 



A ConTcrsatioii about Wintering 

 Bees in tbe Cellar. 



Written for the American BeeJmvmal 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Before me is a postal card which 

 reads as follows : " This being my 

 first experience in wintering bees in 

 the cellar, I am not sure whether ni}- 

 bees are doing as well as thej' should, 

 or not. Will you please tell, through 

 the American Bee Journal, how bees 

 should appear, to be wintering well ?" 



This used to be a point which both- 

 eretl me considerably, when I first be- 

 gan to winter bees in the cellar, and 

 hail it not been for the instructions on 

 this subject, given bj' Mr. E. Gallup, 

 in the American Bee Journal, and 

 elsewhere, I might have made many 

 more mistakes than many beginners 

 now do. 



In the first place, when the hives are 

 placed in the cellar, they should be 

 raised at least two inches from the 

 bottom-board, if possible. As the 

 years go by, I am led to believe more 

 and more, that this was the reason 

 that I did not succeed better in my 

 first eftbrts at wintering bees in the 

 cellar ; for at that time I almost in- 

 variably left them down on the bot- 

 tom-board, as in summer, and often 

 with the entrance nearly closed, for it 

 was thought then that something must 

 be done so as to keep the bees in the 

 hive during their sojourn in the cellar. 

 But to the question, " How do I know 

 when the bees are wintering well ?" 



To best illustrate, I will give a short 

 account of what happened a short time 

 ago : A neighor called to see how the 

 bees were wintering, and to know how 

 I fixed tham and the cellar, for winter- 

 ing those which were put in. I told 

 him that my bees in the cellar were 

 wintering well — in fact, I never had 

 bees appear so nice and quiet as they 

 do this winter in the cellar. After a 

 little more conversation, I asked him if 

 he would like to go into the cellar, to 

 which he answered that he should, 

 very much ; but said, " I suppose that 

 you never go into the cellar from the 

 time the bees are put in, till you take 

 them out, as I see it advised in the 

 papers that it is not best to do so." I 

 told him that I went into the bee-cellar 

 whenever I wished so to do, and I did 

 not consider that I did any harm by so 

 doing. 



I suppose that I am considered a 

 heretic on this question ; but be that as 

 it may, I have every reason to believe 

 that no scientific wintering of bees can 

 be accomplished where no observations 

 are taken. 



As we were going into the cellar, a 

 conversation about like this took place, 

 which I will give, as that will help the 

 reader to understand that which they 

 wish to know better than they other- 

 wise could : " What, have you got 

 three doors to go through to get in ? " 

 Yes, these three doors enclose two 

 dead-air spaces, so that the cellar is 

 kppt at a more even temperature than 

 could possibly be obtained in any other 

 way, and the temperature is the main 

 thing to be looked after in cellar-win- 

 tering. 



Now, before we open the other door, 

 I wish to say that we must be careful 

 not to strike any of the hives, or breathe 

 on the bees, for we should be as care- 

 ful not to disturb them as possible. 



" What is that low murmuring noise 

 which I hear ?" That is the contented 

 hum of the bees in their winter repose, 

 and you can .ilways know that the 

 bees are wintering well, when 50 col- 

 onies make no louder noise than you 

 I now hear. 



