THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



33 



swarm in it in November of the fall previous, 

 iu the town of Pdpon, where he was then living; 

 and said swarm had gone on breeding all win- 

 ter, and in March, prior to his visiting our 

 town, had thrown off n, swarm of "about" two 

 quarts of bees, snd had left in the liive "al)out" 

 seven quarts. 



The brood chamber of his said hive was just a 

 cubit foot. The hive, too, is moth-proof, made 

 so by two pieces of tin nailed each side of the 

 entrance. Robber-proof also, as the entrance is 

 through the bottom board directly into the 

 bee chamber. Two entrances, one on a 

 side, througli whicli a good swarm of "bees 

 would Avalk in and out up to three hundred per 

 minute. At Rochester, Minnesota, during the 

 season of 18G7. four hundred swarms, in his 

 liive, had averaged seventy-five pounds of sur- 

 plus honejr in boxes. Who, at Eochester, can 

 give us the facts on this point ? 



As to said hive's practical working here- 

 about, out of at least seventy-five swarms put in 

 last seasou, not ten are surviving at this date ; 

 not so large a percentage having failed of all 

 the other hives in the country. Through prom- 

 ise of " great yield of honey and increase of 

 bees," I was induced to let said Cox pick a 

 stock from among lifty, to put in his hive, as an 

 experimental swarm, to be taken charge of by 

 anotlier, for which I was to be insured at least 

 thirty-five pounds of box honey in the fall, witli 

 an additional prime swarm of bees, as my share 

 of the products. Said honey I have not seen, 

 and the stocks of bees have gone the way of all 

 flesh. 



Cox's "movable top bars of a peeuliar shape,'''' 

 and the "thin sharp lance," have had their day 

 with me. The turning from the use of mova- 

 ble comb frames, to the use of bars and lance, 

 is a step backward in bee-culture; and if Hast- 

 ings has not advanced to the use of movable 

 comb frames, ere his present season's experi- 

 ence with Cox's hive, bars, and lance is finish- 

 ed, he will probably rue the day that he ever 

 made acquaintance with them, or their vender 

 either. One claim of Cox for his hive, over- 

 looked, is certainly worth mentioning. It is, 

 that black bees, iu it, will do equally well with, 

 the Italians 1 



Z. C. Fairbanks. 



Appleton, Wis.,- June 12, 1869. 



[For the Americaa Bee Jonrnal.] 



Natural Ventilatien. 



Spanish Broom. (Cytisus albus.) 



By a calculation, which one may justly 

 enough make, en the bees' labors, one may 

 conclude tliat an acre of Spanish broom will 

 yield honey and wax enough for ten good 

 stocks of bees ; for this broom brings a vast 

 qna,ntity of flowers fertile, both in wax 

 and in honey, and continues blooming a 

 long time. And when a stock of bees have 

 flowers to their likiug, of which tliis is one of 

 the chief, and have a large quantity of them, 

 they will fill their hive both with wax and hon- 

 ey, iu five or six weeks, if the weather permit 

 them to go abroad. The common broom is in 

 no way comparable to the Spanish broom, 

 either for its flowers or its witlis. — Bradley. 



In the Bee Journal, volume 4, number 10, 

 page 183, in an article headed " Upward Ventil- 

 ation,,'''' by Mr. Miner, he hits us upward ventil- 

 ation men, and says that we have not the man- 

 liness to admit his theory. 



A number of years ago, when I lived in Can- 

 ada, we had what I call a hard winter. The 

 thermometer, for sixty days in succession was 

 not above 10° below zero, and for eight of 

 those days the mercury was frozen. The fol- 

 lowing spring all the wild bees in hollow trees 

 were found to be di'ad, except those loitJi abun- 

 dant ventilation at the top of the cavity or hollow. 

 And in fact so, likewise, did all the tame bees 

 die, unless they had upward ventilation. I found 

 three hollow trees in the spring, with abun- 

 dance of bottom ventilation, and the bees were 

 all dead. There was plenty of honey, and one 

 of them had over one hundred pounds. I found 

 them by following my own bees to the trees, as ■ 

 they were taking away the honey. I also found 

 one extra good swarm, with the bees all alive. 

 The entrance was at the top of the cavity. The 

 hole ■was round, and about four inches in diam- 

 eter. I lost some swarms in Weeks' Vermont 

 hives, with abundance of downward ventila- 

 tion ; but my box hives and old conical straw 

 hive, with a two-inch hole at the top and the 

 bottoms plastered up tight, wintered in excel- 

 lent condition. A neighbor wintered eight 

 swarms in box hives, with a two-inch hole in 

 the top of each. They set on the top of hem- 

 lock stumps, without any protection whatever ; 

 and were in the best condition in the spring. 



That bees will wiirter in Illinois, without up- 

 ward ventilation, I do not in the least doubt ; 

 and that they will winter with upward ventila- 

 tion is also a positive fact. With upward ven- 

 tilation, and all downward ventilation stopped, 

 there is no circulation of air, only as the bees 

 themselves cause it; and they cause the circula- 

 tion just as they require it, and no more. It is 

 a well known fact, (at least to me), that bees 

 will be just as prosperous in a hollow tree, in 

 summer, with tlie entrance at the top of the 

 cavity, as they will be with the entrance at the 

 ^'ottom ; and this rule holds just as good with 

 the common box hives. But bees frequently go 

 into a hollow tree with both upward and down- 

 ward ventilation. In that case, in a cold win- 

 ter, they invariably perish. If Infinite Good- 

 ness has furnished the bee with a home adapted 

 to its needs, as Mr. Miner saj^s, a great many 

 swarms, according to my experience, are very 

 foolish in making their selection. 



I am well satisfied that bees would succeed in. 

 Illinois, with upward ventilation, or Avith hori- 

 zontal ventilation ; but in Lower Canada, up- 

 ward ventilation in the hollow tree, is the rule 

 for success. 



Here, in this climate, I have found it poor 

 policy to have bees commence breeding earlier 

 than the first of March; and, in some seasons, 

 not before the loth. iSwarms that commence 

 breeding early in February, are no further ad- 



