THE JtMERICllIJM BEE JOURWaiU. 



615 



terior of the hive, than the outsiilo. 

 Everything else being all riglit, I think 

 that yonr plan will prove a success.— 

 J. E. Pond. 



Do not build a house to winter bees 

 in. Bniltl a cave on the Doolittle plan, 

 or winter out-doors in chaft' hives. But 

 is your cellar really too small for 12} 

 colonies ? If in tlie old American hive 

 they would of course take up consid- 

 erable room, but in any modern hive, 

 that will tier up, 124 colonies will not 

 take up much room. — Mahala B. 

 Chaddock. 



I cannot say how such a building 

 would answer for wintering bees 

 further north, but I should think that 

 a 6-inch sawdust wall would hardly 

 keep the temperature above the freez- 

 ing-point in this (Kentucky) more 

 moderate climate, at all times. I 

 should think that a space of 12 inches 

 of sawdust would be much safer. 

 Somehow or other, a house, if just a 

 little too cold, becomes the worst sort 

 of a place to winter bees safely. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



The trouble with such above-ground 

 repositories is that they cannot be kept 

 at an even temperature without con- 

 siderable trouble and expense. Such 

 building.s have generally been a fail- 

 ure — especially where the walls are so 

 thin as you suggest. The walls should 

 be at least double the thickness men- 

 tioned, and even then are not to be 

 recommended. — The Editor. 



ConTention Notices. 



t??~ The Nnrthwestem Bee-Keepers' Society wiU 

 hold itsHnnua!ci>nvention at tlief'onimenial Hotel, 

 corner <tf Lake ami Dearborn Sts.. in t liicasro. Mis.. 

 un Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11th and 18th, 

 at 9 u.m. Arrancement* have been made wilh the 

 Hotel for back room. one befl. two persons, t}.~o per 

 (lay. each : front room fiM") per day for each per- 

 son. This date occurs during the Exposition, when 

 excursion rates on the railroads will be one fare 

 for the round-trip, jrood from Oct. 'O to 14, inclusive. 

 'I'here has been a fair crop of honey in the West, 

 and an cdd-time crowd may he expected at tnis revi- 

 val of the Northwestern from ita "hibernation." 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec, 



jy The annual meetineflnd basket picnic of the 

 Projitessive Bee-Keepers' Association will be held 

 at the residence of Mr. F. E. Dutton. near South 

 Newbury. Genuifa Co,, Ohio, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 

 I8ti9. All interested are invited to attend. 



Miss Db.ma Bennett, s«. 



tST" The International Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will meet In the court-house, at Brantford, Ont., 

 Canada, on December 4, ,*>, and fi, is^i^^i. All bee- 

 keepers are lnvit*-tl to attend, and State and District 

 bee-keeper:*' societies are requested to appoint del- 

 egates to the convention. Full particulars of the 

 meet i UK will be given in due time. Anyone desirous 

 of bcconiiPk' a member, and receiving the last .Annu- 

 al Uep'trt bound, may do so by forwarding fl.iNl ti> 

 the Secretary.— R. K. UOLTEIt.MANN, Sec. liomney, 

 Ont., Canada. 



i^eiif Posters for the A.merican Bee 

 .louKN.Al,, printed In two colors, have just 

 been priiitetl, and will be sfnt free to all 

 who can nse them. They are very hand- 

 some, and will "set off" an e.xhibit at 

 Fairs. It will tpll Bee-Keepers how to 

 subscribe, for "Subscriptions Received 

 liere " is quite prominent at the bottom. 



We will also send sample copies of the 

 Bee JouRN.AL, for use at Fairs, if notified 

 a week or ten days ia advance where to 

 send them. 



STRAW MATS. 



How lo make- and l'«e Tiiciii 

 un llive!i in >Vinlc'r. 



Writtaifor theAtiwricanBeeJounuil 



BY .1. M. SHUCK. 



Bees that are to be wintered out-of- 

 doors, in the latitude of Iowa, need 

 protection. It has been settled that 



Fig. 1— Making the Straw Mats. 



the chafl' hive is not sufficiently porta- 

 ble for use where bee-keeping is car- 

 ried on, on a large scale. 



Some of our most successful api- 

 arists, among whom may be men- 

 tioned Chas. F. Muth and Dadant & 

 Son, have both recommended anil used 

 straio vmls over the brood-nest in win- 

 ter, to slowly pass the moisture of the 

 hive and retain its heat. These mats 

 are similar to those used over hot-bed 

 sash, by gardeners, and are nuite 

 simple and easily made. 



Unbroken rye-straw makes the best 

 mats, but the straw of other grains 

 may be used, ami some of the most 



The Straw Mats on the Hire. 



serviceable mats I ever used were 

 made of prairie-sl<iugh grass. Stretch 

 a set of tarred twines over a frame 

 (see engraving No. 1), and then fasten 

 another set at the top of the frame for 

 binding the bunches of straw in place. 



Now taki' a handful of straw and place 

 it against tlic nails at the top of the 

 frame, and pass the binding twines 

 over the bunch of straw and under the 

 twines stretched across the frame, and 

 eitlicr knot them each time, or carry 

 llicm back to the nails in the heatl- 

 board, and secure them until the next 

 handful of straw is laid in, and so on 

 until the mat is completed. 



When the proper length of mat is 

 readied, secure each end by tying the 

 two sets of twine securely ; then by 

 means of a stift', .straight edge, nailed 

 lightly lo the frame, and a broad, 

 sharp chisel, cut the sides of the mat 

 even and smooth, and to the exact size 

 wanted. 



I make for winter protection, one 

 mat just the size of the top of the hive, 

 and lay some |-inch strips across the 

 tops of the frames, and then lay on this 

 a piece of wire-screen cloth to keep the 

 mice Out, then lay on top of this the 

 mat just described. Then I make two 

 mats just large enough to cover the 

 ends of the hive and ends of the mat 

 on top of the hive, and hang them on 

 top of the hive by twines secured to 

 each, and passing over the mat on top 

 of the hive. 



I then make two mats of proper size 

 to cover the two sides of the hive, and 

 the mats at tlie ends of the hive and 

 on tlie top of the hive, secured in the 

 same manner as the mats at the enil 

 of the liive ; then a good board that 

 does not leak, to cover tlie whole, with 

 a suitable weight to keep it from blow- 

 ing off; and a piece of twine tied 

 around the whole to prevent the mats 

 blowing out and away from the hive, 

 conii)lctes the outfit (juite perfectly. 



I may add that I use a rim equal to 

 half the depth of the' brood-chamber, 

 under the hive — in fact, one-half of an 

 empty brood-nest is devoted to this 

 purpose, and the hive prepared thus, 

 appears as in engraving No. 2. Two 

 sticks laid under the edge of the front 

 mat provides an entrance and exit to 

 the bees. 



Ues Moines, Iowa. 



WOODEN CELLS. 



.\ Ilivt' with Wooden Combs, 

 Said to be a Xon-Swarnier. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY TROK. A. J. COOK. 



I have a colonj' of bees in tlie Aspin- 

 wall wooden-comb hive. They are 

 rapidly storing honey in the wooden 

 cells, and eggs arc laid in the cells by 

 the queen. Mr. Aspinwall says that 

 they breed in these wooden cells as 

 well as in wax comb. 



The wood is coated with a thin 

 layer of wax. Mr. Aspinwall thinks 



