76 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



patent hives. If I rightly nuderstand it, the 

 principal point covered by patent in the Lang- 

 stroth hive, is space. Take that space and ex- 

 haust the air. and there is nothing left. Conse- 

 quently Mr. Langstroth has either patented air 

 or notldng. If it is air, we must liave that, even 

 if we do have to pay fifty cents a hive for it ! 



But, Mr. Editor, I fear you are getting tired 

 of tills, and besides I have exhausted all my 

 space, and I do. not suppose I can get any more, 

 as Mr. L. has got it all patent ed ! 



J. F. TiLTJNGHAST. 



Factokyville, Pa., Aug. 20, 1869. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Superstitions. 



In October, 1841, my father died. At that 

 time he bad five swarms of bees. At the funer- 

 al, I was told that I must certainly inform the 

 bees that their master was dead, or, which 

 would answer the purpose as well, dress each 

 hive with some of the crape worn by the 

 mourners, or the bees would all desert their 

 hives ; or, if they did not desert, they certainly 

 would never work Mny more. 



At that time I lived at a mill, three and a 

 half miles from bomp. Father was at the mill 

 when he received his death wound. I went 

 home with him. and remained with him until 

 his death. He died in three days after receiving 

 his wound by an accident. I tipped up each 

 hive, and the bees were all there, and as I sup- 

 posed in excellent condition, three days before 

 the funeral. Of course I did not inform the 

 bees or dress ihe hives in mourning, for I never 

 was superstitious, and paid no further attention 

 to what was said on the subject. However, on 

 the third day after the funeral 1 was home, and 

 of course went to look at the bcs, and every i 

 bee was gone — neither a live or a dead one was 

 left ! The condition of the hives was this, I 

 every comb was filled with sealed honey from { 

 top to bottom, scarcely an empty cell being 

 left. Obviously the superstitous ones had the [ 

 advantage of me then, tor at that time I could i 

 not account, on rational grounds, for the deser- 

 tion of tlie bees. But, since, I have had bees 

 desert at different tinif s, in the fall, and go into 

 other hives. When their bives are completely 

 filled with honey, if the bees do not desert 

 them, they will all perish as soon as the weather 

 gets cold enough. 



You need not ask me whether I believe in 

 luck or in any superstitions about bees, for I do 

 not. I believe that everything relating to them 

 can be satisfactorily explained, when well un- 

 derstood. One day, this summer, I made a 

 dozen artificial swarms for different individuals. 

 On the third day after making them, the ther- 

 mometer went up to 110^ F. in the shade, 

 aua two of the said swarms deserted their hives, 

 one of which belonged to Mr. B. C. Whitacre 

 The fir^t time I saw him after the occurrence, 

 he said : "Well, Gallup, you need not tell me 

 there is nothing in luck. I tell you it is just 

 my luck !" Now, friend Whitacre, if you had 



I ventilated your hive properly, or shaded it 



j well, or, if you could not have thus kept them 



j cool enough, sprinkled the outside of the hive 



I with cold water, or c^fivered it with wet cloths 



i during such extreme iTeat, the bees would have 



j staid. Your luck would have been changed 



simply by knowing how to manage. We have 



good seasons and bad seasons for honey, and 



that is all the luck in bee-keeping. Everything 



else consists in knowing how to do the right 



thing, and doing it at the right time. 



The sU|3erstitious folks have all sorts of queer 

 questions to ask, and among them often some as 

 simple and as silly as any you could possibly 

 imagine. Of this kiud was the following put to 

 I me seriously one day : "Do you believe that a 

 1 person can keep bees, or have any luck with 

 I them, Avhen man and wife quarrel or'are at log- 

 gerheads all the time ?" The same person said : 

 I" I should like to keep bees, and have bought 

 j swarms at different times, but never had any 

 luck." I advised liim. of course, to stop quar- 

 reling wiih his wife, try his luck again, and 

 above all all things subscribe for and carefully 

 I read the Bee Journal. 



Osage, Iowa. 



E. Gallup. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees in Canada. 



There seems to be such a diversity of opiniou 

 in regard to wintering bees, that a novice with- 

 out experience might he at a loss which method 

 to adopt. My opinion is that, for all high lati- 

 tudes, or in latitudes where the mercury sinks 

 to 20" below zero, and downwards, a special 

 repository'-, either wholly or partially under 

 ground, is the proper place for them. If those 

 beekeepers who, after repeated fdilures, are 

 still anxious to know how they can winter their 

 bees successfully, will construct a cellar as de- 

 scribed by Mr. J. H. Thomas, in the June num- 

 ber of the Bee Joubkal, they may, as he says, 

 " put in their bees, lock the door, and go about 

 their business." 



Last fall I prepared such a receptacle, only 

 on a smaller scale and without the cement 

 floor — the want of which served partially as a 

 basis for the following experience in rPWAKD 

 ventilation. 



My cellar is six and a half feet bro>id by 

 eighteen and a half feet long, and about seven 

 and a half feet high in the centre ; and 

 being on a hill side, I did not expect to be 

 troubled with water, but to be safe, I dug a 

 drain. 



I put my bees in about the first week in 

 November. First, T placed a row of hives on 

 one side of the cellar, sliding the honey boards 

 about one and a half inches forward, and re- 

 moving the slats which cover the entrances to 

 the honey boxes. The entrances of the hives 

 were also left open. The cellar was ventilated 

 in the roof by a box or tube four inches by six ; 

 and near the ground by the drain four inches by 

 four. I shall give additional ventilation this 



