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— doing no injury, and is made only to 

 get at the truth — for which both sides 

 are anxious. 



We cannot help thinking that Prof. 

 Cook was particularly unfortunate in 

 the use of the word "digested.'" — 

 By its use, he certainly cannot mean 

 "food turned into chyme, ready to be 

 converted into blood," as Webster de- 

 tines that word, and as it is generally 

 understood, in its common use ! 



Frequently and presistently is it 

 staled that bees do not "make honey"' 

 — that they simply deposit ia the 

 combs what they gather from the 

 flowers ! That it undergoes a slight 

 chemical change is true — but it is not 

 "digested" in the common acceptation 

 of that word ! 



Will Prof. Cook, or some one else, 

 please suggest some more appropriate 

 word descriptive of immaculately-pure 

 virgin honey ? We do not want to call 

 it digested, under any circumstances, 

 if it can be avoided ! — Ed.] 



BEES IN WINTER. 



Safe mictliod of Wintering- 

 How to Prct>arc tlic Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



Winter is approaching ; even as I 

 write, the wind whistles, and there is 

 a chill in the air suggestive of coming 

 frosts. Now is the time that the aver- 

 age bee-keeper is looking anxiously 

 into the condition of his bees, and he 

 wonders whether they will pass through 

 the winter in safetj'. Beginners are 

 debating how they shall winter their 

 bees. It is my ])urpose, in this article. 



to give some idea of how the bees can 

 be safely and surely wintered. 



I began in 1884 with one swarm, 

 which I captured in the woods. That 

 colony died from the eft'ccls of winter. 

 I procured liecs the following spring, 

 and the next fall I had 5 colonics, 

 which I safely wintered. Since then I 

 have not lost a colony from the eftects 



of winter. Feeling that 1 have found 

 a safe way of wintering bees (I do not 

 as j-et say that I have solved the " win- 

 tering problem "), I desire to present 

 it to the beginners, who, I hope, will 

 accept it with pleasure 



The sketches which accompany this 

 article show very clearly how 1 man- 

 age. The outer case, whicli is about 4- 

 inches larger all around than the hive, 

 and 8 inches higher, is made of clap- 

 boards and scantlings an inch square. 

 The top, or cover, is of boards, and is 

 covered with tarred paper, making it 

 perfectly water-proof. The inside 



Lomjitiulinal Section, Parallel to Side. 



cushions are wide frames covered with 

 burlap and stuffed witli line planer- 

 shavings. The cushions should be of 

 a thickness to make the inner space 

 where the frames are, about inches 

 wide. 



A colony is easily packed away. 

 After the frames and cushions are in 

 place (I suppose it is needless to add 

 that the four frames should be half full 

 of sealed hone3-, and some pollen, if 

 you do not believe in the pollen theory), 

 the case is put over the hive, and tlien 

 planer-shavings are packed under 

 and at the sides to the top of the hive. 

 Now remove the cover, place two 

 sticks across the frames for a bee- 

 passage, and over the whole lay a 

 piece of carpet or burlap ; to fill up the 

 rest of the case, put in a large sack of 

 shavings. Tlie sack should be closed 

 so that the bees can be easily examined 

 witliout spilling shavings. 



*Put the outside cover on, and make 

 the entrance about 2 inches by J of an 

 inch, and the colony is ready to stand 

 ,a severe winter, or a mild one. The 

 bees should be packed when all breed- 

 ing has ceased, and they are ready to 

 quiet down for winter. Here it is 

 about Nov. 1. 



Little care is needed in winter. 

 Snow should be shoveled away from 

 the hives only when there comes a 

 tliaw. I usually clear the entrances 

 whenever I happen to be in the apiary. 



Last winter I was at college, and the 

 bees were let entirely alone, yet they 

 were all right in tlic spring — all the 27 

 colonies. 



I will here say nothing of spring 

 care of bees, as I expect to write later 

 concerning that. All that remains t'> 

 be said here are a few words in sup- 

 port of this method. 



First, it is a safe way of wintering 

 bees. The bees are in a small space, 

 surrounded on three sides by dry shav- 

 ings, whicli carry off all moisture, and 

 retain the heat. They consume very 

 little food — not more than one-lifth as 

 much as an unprotected colony. Thus . 

 they come through the winter in a 

 healthy and strong condition. It mat- 

 ters little whether there be a quart or 

 four qu.arts of bees in the colony, they 

 will winter the same, and breed up 

 nearly as fast in the spring. 



I once wintered a quart of bees with 

 no queen. I gave them two frames 

 only. They came through alive, 

 drones and all. In the spring I gave 

 them a queen, and to-day there is a 

 strong colony in that hive. During 

 that winter, there were 21 days in suc- 

 cession wlien the mercury stood below 

 zero. 



Second, it is a cheap method ; the 

 whole apparatus for one colony need 

 cost but 50 cents, and will last for 

 years. The sides can be simply tacked 



Longitudinal Section, Parallel to End. 



together, and so be easily pulled apart, 

 to be packed away for " next winter." 

 Third, tliere is no more work about 

 it than about cellar-wintering. One 

 man can ])ack 15 hives a day, and un- 

 pack 25. Tlie shavings can be kept in 

 a bin, to be used again. 



Last, but not least, it is the best 

 thing possilile when spring comes. 

 Through it that delicious honey — 

 apple-blossom honey — can be ob- 

 tained. Last season nearly all of my 

 surplus honey was obtained from apple- 

 blossoms. How this can be done will 

 be told in a future article. 



In concluding, I ask the old bee- 

 keepers to try one colony the coming 



