32 



THE AMBEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



the middle of the duster. At night again, 

 place Ihein back hs before; adjust the division 

 board; and next day they will be ready to go to 

 work again, and you will find the queen can 

 and will dpposite eges wherever there are emp- 

 ty cells. Of course, I mean that this shall be 

 done in common spring weather, and not with 

 the thermometer at 95° in the shade. 



I might enlarge on this subject, but it appears 

 to be i:unecessary. It is one, nevertheless, that 

 is worthy of careful study and practice by 

 every beekeeper in the land, and in deciding 

 what form of liive you will adopt, this matter 

 should be taken into consideration. 



Elisha 'Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



(For the American Bee Journal.] 



How My Bees "Wintered. 



In December last I prepared, in about an 

 hour, twenty-four hives of bees for wintering 

 on their summer stands, in the manner describ- 

 ed on page 109, volume 4, B. J., and will brief- 

 ly report the. result. 



I examined every colony and every comb, 

 April 15 and 16, transferring all to new and 

 clean hives. Two colonies, both strong in the 

 fall, were dead. One, judging from the large 

 amount of bee-bread in the combs, had failed 

 to rear a queen after swarming ; and the other 

 had starved. Both cases the result of want of 

 attention on my part, and not the fault of the 

 system of wintering. Fout weak swarms, 

 having only five or six frames of comb each, 

 came through in fine condition. These had re- 

 ceived especial care, on account of their weak- 

 ness — having been covered with a roll of cotton 

 batting, in addition to the carpet or woolen 

 clothing; and are today, In consequence of a 

 little stimulative feeding and a full supply of 

 combs from the dead colonies, in as forward a 

 condition as any I have. 



I left home on the 16th of April for a month's 

 absence, and on returning. May 16th, found 

 three more colonies dead. An examination 

 showed plainly that they had been robbed. 

 But, again, the four weak colonies had escaped 

 unharmed, and stronger ones had been the vic- 

 tims. Why ? Simply because I had again 

 taken better care of the weak ones, by closing 

 the entrances to their hives so that only one or 

 two bees could pass at once, and had left the 

 others open three or four inches, thinking them 

 strong enough to defend themselves against 

 robbers. Not one of these five colonies would 

 have been lost, if I could have been at home to 

 attend to them at the right time. Five min- 

 utes labor would have saved them all. A fer- 

 tile queen, or a comb of brood from which to 

 raise one, for the first ; one or two frames of 

 honey for the second ; and some small blocks 

 to reduce the entrances of the last three, would 

 have been suflicient. Not a comb of all the 

 three hundred was mouldy or soiled ; and every 

 colony but the one tliat starved (containing 

 that remarkably prolific and beautiful hybrid 

 queen,) had plenty of honey remaining, April 

 16th, to carry them through. 



I My bees flew freely, voiding fneccs January 

 6th and February 9th, and perhaps at other 

 times in my absence from home — an advantage 

 that bees housed in winter quarters could not 

 enjoy. Repeated examinati(ms during the 

 whole winter, showed tlie bees in all the hives 

 lying up on the top of the frames, against the 

 warm woolen covering. On the whole I like 

 the plan well enough to employ iti again next 

 winter. 



My large double glass hive cast a fine swarm 



to-day, leaving a strong colony in tlie old hive ; 



while some of mj'' neighbors' bees, in box hives, 



are on the point of starvation — owing to the 



scarcity of spring forage in this vicinity. How 



' Can this be so ? Answer : / feed my bees 



I when they need food ; they do not, on the 



I ground that " bees ought to support them- 



! selves." I fed twenty-five pounds of sugar 



I made into syrup to twentj'' colonies yesterday, 



i in less than four hours time. How ? Take otf 



! the honey board, lay a frame of empty comb 



I (drone comb is best, though any will answer,) 



on the top of the frames ; pouv on the syrup 



freel^^, a pint at a time ; when the twenty are 



supplied, it will be about time to go round 



again. But the bees are all on the coml)s, and 



! in the way. Never mind, pour it on — it runs 



I otf the bees like water off a duck. 1 got the idea 



from Mr. Langstroth, who says, and I agree 



with him, that "honey comb is the best possible 



bee-feeder." 



R. BlCKFOED. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y., June 12, 1869. 



[For tlie Americau Bee Journal.] 



The Paper Hive and its Inventor. 



As Charles Hastings has introduced " Cox's 

 Paper Hive" to the readers of the Bbe Jour- 

 nal, we choose to add our little knowledge of 

 said hive and its patentee and vender. 



One year ago, tjc last days of March, said E. 

 Cox made his appearance in our town. His 

 purpose in visiting the place, as per his own 

 statement, was not to sell the right to use his 

 hive, or territory under his patent ; but simply 

 to avail himself of the opportunity, means, and 

 talent here afforded to test his "new theory of 

 the fungus growth of the honey comb," treated 

 of by J. M. Marvin, in the April number of the 

 Bee Journal, under the heading ot "a new 

 and curious theory." Yet, after gathering all 

 the looked-for information on this point that he 

 could, he tarried here week after week — the at- 

 tractions of our " romantic place " chain-like 

 bound him, until realizing a few hundred dol- 

 lars on sale of territory, he found it in his 

 heart to bid adieu to our towns many attrac- 

 tions. 



In Cox's own words his hive was destined to 

 perfectly revolutionize beekeeping. So per- 

 fectly adapted was it to the nature and wants 

 of the bee, that, as it became known, no other 

 hive could stand before it, or with it. Of neces- 

 sity it would supersede all other hives. Bees 

 would go on breeding all winter. He put a 



