THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



83 



descriptive verse, telling- of vifinding- 

 rivers; pebbly beaches; sunlit, leafy 

 dells; old mills; old red bridges — let 

 me g"ive a list of the poems: Memories 

 of the Wisconsin, The River, The 

 Eagles, The Fish, The Old Home, 

 The Outing, POO-eee, Mirror Lake, 

 The Kansas Emigrants of 1856, To a 

 Babe, The Man Who Laughs, Spring 

 Loves, Echoes of Boyhood, "J. B. S.," 

 Church Service at Mineral Point, The 

 Little Sisters, Death of the Brakeman, 

 The Evening Camp, A Bad Nose, Wis- 

 consin Winter, Against One-Man Rule 

 in Politics, The Country Store, Re- 

 union Greeting, Lines on the Death of 

 my Cousin's Young Daughter, "Hattie 

 B.," Admonition, The Dandelions, 

 The Old Mill, Summer Thoughts, 

 Autumn, A Gloomy Day, The Bridge, 

 A Famous Cow, The Milkmaid, The 

 Auctioneer, Honey Plants, Honey, 

 The Bees, Co-operation, Linden Blos- 

 soms, Epitaph, The Pierced Rock, 

 Bee-Keeper's Song, and the Village of 

 Hanover. 



There is an excellent portrait of the 

 author, and a dozen other illustrations, 

 mostly full-page, illustrative of the 

 verses. The book is printed on heavy. 

 Cameo Plate paper, and bound in a 

 very heav3% tough paper of cream5% 

 wavy make, dashed here and there 

 with little flakes of reddish brown, and 

 the lettering is in gilt with a border 

 of soft brown. There are between 60 

 and 70 pages, and the price is 50 cents. 

 It can be ordered of tlie author, who 

 is now at Bridgeport, Wisconsin, or 

 the orders may be sent to the Review 

 office. I will send the Review one 

 year and the book for only $1.25. 



THE I.ESSON OF THE PAST WINTER. 



Years ago the losses were heavy in 

 the wintering of bees; then came a 

 period of a dozen or more years in 

 which bees wintered well, and I fear 

 that this long period of success lulled 

 many bee-keepers into a fancied se- 



curity, bordering upon carelessness. 

 As a result, the losses in the Northern 

 States, particularly among bees 

 wintered out of doors, have been un- 

 usually heavy. Or course, the winter 

 has been one of unusual severity. In 

 my 50-odd years of life I have no re- 

 membrance of more snow and cold 

 weather. The temperature has been 

 low, and continued so for a long time. 

 To endure such conditions, colonies 

 must be populous, well-protected, and 

 well-supplied with good stores. If out 

 of doors, each colony must be entirely 

 surrounded with several inches of dry 

 sawdust or chaff, and there must be 

 opportunity for the moisture to pass 

 off through the packing overhead, and 

 ventilation above the packing. With 

 such winters as that just passed, I think 

 no protection is equal to that furnished 

 by a good cellar, or special repositorj% 

 beyond the reach of the outside tem- 

 perature. In an open w'nter, with its 

 frequent opportunities for flight, bees 

 out of doors, if well protected, have an 

 advantage over those in a cellar, but, 

 in a severe winter, the reverse is true, 

 while in a warm winter the bees in a 

 good cellar will winter just as well as 

 they will in a cold winter. In cellar- 

 wintering we are master of the condi- 

 tions, we can have them the same every 

 year, while out of doors we have no 

 control of the temperature — of its sever- 

 ity or duration. Bees in the open air 

 are compelled to consume large quanti- 

 ties of honey in keeping up the animal 

 heat, their intestines become overload- 

 ed, and we all know the results. In a 

 warm cellar not more than half as 

 much honey is consumed, hence the 

 ability to withstand a longer period of 

 confinement without injury. There is 

 no need to enlarge on these points, as 

 all well-informed bee-keepers are 

 familiar with them, and the moral is 

 to winter bees in-doors in those lati- 

 tudes where winters are likely to be 

 as severe as the one just past here in 

 the North. 



