THE ffiMERICSP* BEB JQURrflLE,. 



295 



WINTERING BEES. 



Box-Elder for Hedges — Temper- 

 ature in Winter. 



fTritten for the American Bee Journal 

 BY A. C. TVRBEL. 



Cottonwood and box-elder trees are 

 now furnishing an abundance of pol- 

 len, an<l the bees are once more busy 

 preparing for the honey-flow, instead 

 of robbing their weak ueiglibors, as 

 was the case early last season ; and 

 not that alone, for they robbed every 

 merchant in the city not provided with 

 sereen-doors. Whether or not the 

 above-mentioned trees yield neetar, I 

 am unable to say. never having the 

 heart to kill a bee and examine its 

 honey-sac. 



Box-elder trees being indigenous to 

 this State, they are very hardy, grow 

 quite fast, are valuable for sugar, and 

 furnish the first pollen. No trees with 

 which I am familiar, have such dense 

 foliage, or put forth leaves so early in 

 the season, with the exception of crab- 

 apple trees. 



For hedges, all things considered, 

 there is nothing better than bo.x-elders, 

 as they can be shaped into any form 

 desired, and any amount of hacking at 

 any season of the j'ear, will not injure 

 them in the least. The 3oung shoots 

 are so tender that trimming is accom- 

 plished with very little eflbrt. The 

 hedge in front of our residence is ad- 

 mired by all who view it, Bostonians, 

 who have visited our city, not excepted, 



Early this spring, before the trees 

 blossomed, the bees left on the summer 

 stands brought in flour from the mill 

 every pleasant da}^ 



'Winter Xeniperature for Bees. 



Our bees wintered well, every colony 

 being alive when taken from the cellar. 

 The winter before, one-third died, per- 

 haps owing to improper ventilation. 



My experience is widely at variance 

 with Prof. Cook's ; my bees are quiet at 

 a low temperature, and restless at a 

 high temperature. During tlic warm 

 weather last fall and winter, I found it 

 necessary to throw open both cellar- 

 doors eveiy night, to lower the tem- 

 perature, and to admit pure air. 



Place a number of colonies in a cel- 

 lar, or an air-tight apartment under 

 ground, fl,nd the air soon becomes pois- 

 oned, and the bees die sooner or 

 later in consequence. Tlic readers 

 who liave been in a packed audience 

 in a room imperfectly ventilated, know 

 how it is themselves. 



I find that the bees wintered on the 

 summer stands are in better condition 

 than those kept in the cellar. 



The experimental hive that I used, 

 seems to be well adapted to a chang- 

 able climate. One morning tlie tlier- 

 mometer I'egistered 25° below zero, 

 I phiced my ear against the hive, and 

 could liear a gentle humming, which 

 proves that bees can be wintered in 

 any climate where chaff-hives are suc- 

 cessfully used. 



I put a large sheet of blotting-paper 

 over the brood-frames to alisorb the 

 moisture, and over that a strip of bur- 

 lap, all of which was unnecessary.as the 

 cover was air-tight. I examined the 

 colony to-day, and find plenty of 

 honey, and more brood than is usually 

 found in June — fully ten times as much 

 as in the hives stored in the cellar. 



I have discovered that a newspaper 

 placed over the burlap, when bees are 

 taken from the cellar, is much better 

 than oil-cloth ; for it fits closer to the 

 hive, and no heat can escape if the 

 cover is pressed down firmly. It was 

 all the covering used in a large num- 

 ber of my hives in the cellar, and I 

 have yet to discover any injurious re- 

 sults arising therefrom. 



Preparing Hives tor Winter. 



The simplest and best method that I 

 have yet discovered for cellar-winter- 

 ing of bees, is as follows : 



Remove the bottom-board and cap 

 of the hive, and draw a thick gunny- 

 sack over the hive, put the cover on, 

 and place the hive thus prepared on 

 the shelf, and the work is complete. 

 The advantages are manifold ; liglit is 

 excluded, and dead bees cannot clog the 

 entrance and smother the colony ; they 

 drop in the sack, and not on the cellar 

 floor to be trod upon, neither can they 

 crawl out of the hives, never more to 

 return. 



If it is thought necessary to remove 

 the dead bees, a small slit can be cut 

 where the sack bulges, the bees taken 

 out, and the slit closed with a pin. 



By making use of this method, the 

 hives are at all times well ventilated, 

 and a high temperature can be main- 

 tained when necessary. The sacks can 

 be used for many years, if kept in a 

 dry place when not in use. I hope that 

 bee-keepers will try this plan next win 

 ter and report. 



Flallering Prospects. 



Our prospects for this season are 

 quite flattering. For pasturage I have 

 4 acres of Alsike clover, and 2 acres of 

 melissa in fine condition, from simhIs 

 self-sown last season ; besides, white 

 clover in the city is well advanced. 

 Sweet clover is a failure here. 



Madi.son, Nebr., April 19, 1889. 



HINTS. 



Two <|ucen>i in a Hi%c, SliippinK 

 Bee§, ete. 



Written fur the Prairie Fanner 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



I traveled sixty miles on the railroad 

 recently, and ten miles by carriage. 

 All the way I kept looking for bee- 

 hives, and only saw some at one jilace. I 

 am afraid that Illinois has not bees 

 enough to do the work required of 

 them in fertilizing the flowers, and 

 every year fruit appears to get scarcer. 

 There are very f(^w insects at this sea- 

 son of the year, and bees alone must 

 carry the fertilizing powder from blos- 

 som to blossom to insure the setting of 

 the fruit. Clovers would soon dis- 

 appear from pastures and meadows 

 without their friendly aid. 



Two Queens in a Hive. 



I visited an apiary the other morn- 

 ing, and saw the bees coming in, with 

 their panniers heavily laden with the 

 beautiful pale-yellow pollen. Box- 

 elder, frequently called " ash-leafed 

 maple," is a fruitful source of both 

 honey and pollen, and those planting 

 for timber or shade should not forget it. 



While looking at the bees and ad- 

 miring them, the proprietor remarked : 

 "I bought three queens, of a distin- 

 guished queen-breeder last fall, and 

 lost one while introducing her. I had 

 removed one queen, and supposed that 

 was all, as is generally the case, and 

 introduced the new one, when she 

 was destroyed." Two queens, or 

 mother and daughter sharing maternal 

 honors, are not so rare as may be sup- 

 posed. 



Dr. Allen, while attending the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Convention at Lex- 

 ington, Ky., was presented with a val- 

 uatjle imported queen, which he re- 

 ported lost in a similar manner. So, 

 those introducing new queens should 

 be doubly sure that all old ones are 

 removed, lest they be destroyed in like 

 manner. 



SliippinK Uees. 



Bees can be shipped long distances, 

 if only precautionary measures are 

 taken in order to confine them to the 

 hive. They also need ventilation while 

 in transit. " Our liives are Langstroth 

 with porticoes, and in preparing some 

 colonies for transportation to Nebraska 

 lately, good, strong colonies were 

 cho.sen, in which the frames were 

 securely fastened with propolis or hee- 



glue. 



A couple of thicknesses of old 

 blanket were wrung out lightly of 

 warm water, and spread over the 

 frames, plenty lare enough to reach 



