14 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



•which, in trying to effect an entrance through 

 a hole too small for him, had become wedged, 

 so that he could neither advance nor return. 

 He was was covered with bees, all seeking an 

 unoccupied spot to deposit a sting. He died a 

 few minutes after I released him. I counted 

 thirty stings left on his tail alone. The bees crawl- 

 ed back into the hive as soon as I removed the 

 mouse. As the morning was damp and cool, 

 no bees flew till neatly noon. I then examined 

 the hive and tound no dead bees, nor any on 

 similar examinations for several days. Dicl the 

 bees which had lost their stings all wait until 

 noon, and then fly out never to return ? Or is 

 it possible they could have survived after so 

 fearful an injury ? 



I wish, through the Journal, to thank Mr. 

 Gallup and many other of your correspondents, 

 for tlieir valuable suggestions and experiences. 

 In the matter of ventilation I do not dispute the 

 accuracy of "Gallup's" system of inside winter- 

 ing strong stocks, with upward ventilation. 

 But that applies to steady cold winters, and 

 not to our changeable climate. Poor Novice's 

 list of reverses would have been less appalling 

 had he left his bees on their summer stands. 



C. D. 



Stanwich, Conn. 



[For the Americau Bee Journal.] 



Results of Wintering. 



[For the American Bee Journal. 



Cheap Unpatented Bee-Feeder. 



Mn. Ebitok: — Seeing a description of a bee- 

 feeder in the Bee Journal, I send you a de- 

 scription of the one I use, and Avhich I like very 

 much. 



Make a box out of half-inch lumber, four 

 inches wide, eight inches long, and two inches 

 deep. Nail it together firmly. Tlien run bees- 

 wax around the corners, to keep it from leaking. 

 Now bore one or two one-inch holes, with a 

 smooth boaring bit, tiirough the bottom at one 

 end. Just back of these boles, or one and a 

 quarter IdcIi from the end, make a partition one 

 inch high, to keep the honey from running 

 down into the hive. Two inches and a half 

 from the other end, make another partition. 

 Let it set up one-eighth ol an inch from the bot- 

 tom, and come one-fourth of an inch above the 

 top of the box. Now make a float to fit the 

 central apartment, to keep the bees from drown- 

 ing. Drive a few brads into the bottom of the 

 box, to keep the float one eighth of an inch 

 from the bottom at all times. Put a glass, five 

 by six inches, over the end into which the bees 

 have access, and the feeder is finished. 



You can now pour honey or sugar syrup into 

 the other end, which, passing under the divi- 

 sion board, raises the float without, disturbing 

 the bees, or attracting rol)bers. There is little 

 or no loss of heat from the hive, and it is very 

 convenient. Anotlier advantage is, there is no 

 IDatent on it. James E. Crane. 



Bridport, Vt., May 7, 1869. 



Meltssus, King of Crete, is said to have been 

 the first who invented and taught the use of 

 bee hives. 



In the May number of the Journal, page 

 212, I notice Novice's account of his reverses. 

 I expected something of the sort, but not that 

 it would go as far as it seems to have done. 

 Those who have read my article on wintering 

 bees, in the December number, page 108, will 

 have seen at the conclusion of it that I was just 

 reducing my stocks to fifteen to feed for winter. 

 I reduced to fourteen and fed as 1 said, and had 

 them all ready for winter by last of November, 

 on the same plan then described. Every stock 

 wintered safely. No further feeding was requir- 

 ed until near March, when I commenced giving 

 them a spoonful a day to each hive, to stimulate 

 breeding, as they were all Aveak as regarded 

 both bees and stores. One stock I found, in 

 April, with a drone-laying queen. I thought 

 the best plan would be to take off her head at 

 once, and unite the bees Avith the next weakest 

 stock, which I did. 



My neighbors all laughed, as usual, at my 

 folly in going to so much trouble as to haul a 

 load of straw to winter bees, &c. But in spring, 

 when they found ihat all my bees were alive, 

 and not a live stand of their own left — some 

 having lost as many as sixty stands, (all they 

 had,) they changed their minds considerably. 

 They say the disease went all around me, but 

 spared my bees ; though I tell them it was no 

 disease at all. I agree with Burbank, Gallup, 

 and a few others, as to what was the cause. I 

 am surprised that Novice thinks it was a dis- 

 ease that killed his bees. In my opinion it was 

 his own imprudence, in delaying so long to 

 place them in the cellar. However he may dif- 

 fer frcm me in opinion, we are now on equal 

 terms and will take a race. He has thiiteea 

 stands, and 1 had thirteen on the 3d of May, 

 when swarming began in my apiary. His 

 aim is to increase his stock ; and that is my 

 aim also at present. I now have thirty-one 

 stands, all natural swarms, and four old stands 

 have not swarmed yet. Every 'one of these 

 swarms came out in May, except the last one, 

 which issued to-day, June 2. The first swarm, 

 which came out May 3, is about to swarm 

 again ; and if the remaining old stands do 

 not send out swarms this week, I shall next 

 week make artificial swarms from them. I pre- 

 fer natural swarms, when they come early 

 enough. The season is first-rate, and several 

 of my stands have their caps about full. 



Does Novice want to know the secret of my 

 success ? Well, tell him that as all, or ninety- 

 five out of every hundred of my neighbors' stands 

 died last winter, I procured all the clean combs 

 I could, and fastened them into frames, and so 

 saved my bees the labor of gathering sixty 

 pounds of honey first to fill the frames, and then 

 forty pounds more for cap honey, provided the 

 season is not then over. Had I reared early 

 queens, my success might have been almost as 

 good again ; but I neglected this, fearing I 

 should weaken my stands. 



I would suggest to Novice to try ten stands 

 on my plan next winter. I will report the re- 



