118 



TEE AMERICAN BEK JOURNAL. 



may be shut or opened at pleasure, in order to 

 control the temperature of the interior a^ much 

 as possible. I have also another four inches 

 square, inside measurement, running under the 

 ground some three rods in, that the air may be 

 warmed somewhat when it comes into the cellar 

 under the floor. I saw in the Journal that the 

 flue should come in at the top ; but it seems to 

 me that such ventilation in some such days as 

 we had last winter, would make the place too 

 warm and the bees uneasy. The sides are lined 

 with boards, and a floor in the bottom, and 

 shelves arranged along the outside of a capacity 

 to accommodate 150 colonies. I have a partition, 

 and double doors. I calculate to give my bees 

 plenty of upward ventilation. 



Now, as for wintering bees out-doors, and sav- 

 ing bees and economizing houcy in this northern 

 climate, I do not believe it can be done without 

 more trouble and expense than it will cost to 

 build a suitable place for wintering. I have 

 tried wintering out-doors ; in dlumps and in 

 trenches. The bees do not keep so well, and the 

 trouble of taking them in or out in a hurry, causes 

 so much confusion and mixing up, that t became 

 disgusted with it. 



If I should wish to increase my stock of bees 

 any more, I would swarm them artificially. But 

 as I have got about as many colonies now as 

 ought to be kept in one place in poor seasons, I 

 should like to learn the best means yet devised 

 to keep them from swarming. 



I wish the Bee Journal came once in two 

 weeks, instead of once in four. 



Albert Potter, 

 Eureka, Wis. 



: queen in the hive, although I repeatedljr searched 

 ; for one. There were no eggs of any kind de- 

 posited ; the bees filled the hive with comb, and 

 ! deposited a good deal of honey. They were 

 j liybrids. 



The same season several of my colonies 



I swarmed without making any jireparationswhat- 



j ever for sucli an event — nof even l)a.ving an egg 



j in an embryo queen cell. In one case, I opened 



the hive nineteen full daj's after the first swarm 



issued (there having been no second swarm) to 



, see whether the young queen had become fertile ; 



! and found, to my surprise, a large number of 



j sealed queen cells, out of several of which queens 



issued while I held the frame in mj' hand. In 



this case tlie bees had not only probably made no 



preparations for swarming at the time the swarm 



' left, but moreover, nineteen days from the egg 



were required to mature every one of the queens 



; they reared — and the number was not less than 



I a dozen. This colony was liealthy and populous. 



The only writer on the natural history of the 



: queen be, who has ever allowed nineteen days to 



j mature a queen from the first laid egg, so far as 



, my reading goes, is Mr. T. F. Bingham. 



I If any of the readers of the Bee Journal have 



I tested the method of introducing queens by the 



use of grated nutmeg, will not they report their 



i success or failure in the Journal? 



j Will Mr. Quiuby please inform us, through the 



i Journal, how he uses strips of tin in connection 



I with the tops and ends of liis comb irames, to 



form the top and sides of the brood chamber? 



I Also, describe his device for causing frames to 



: stand on bottom board ? 



w. c. condit. 

 Columbia Center, Ohio. 



[For the Amei-iean Bee Journal.] 



Concerning Sundry Things. 



[For the Americiin Bee Journ.-il.] 



Entrance Blocks to Langstroth Hives. 



As a rule in natural swarming, if the queen 

 bee cannot fly, so as to unite with the cluster, the 

 swarm will soon return to the hive from which 

 it issued ; but I had a case in the summer of 1868, 

 which was an exception to this rule. M}^ plan of 

 swarming was then to cut the queen's wings and 

 when a natural swarm appeared, catch the queen 

 and cage her till the swarm began to return, then 

 liberate her at the entrance of the hive I wished 

 the swarm to occupy, when all would enter with- 

 out further trouble. The colony alluded to 

 swarmed in a natural way, and clustered clean. 

 The mother was not found, the swarm was hived, 

 but soon returned to the parent stock. The next 

 day it issued again, and clustered <;lean ; queen 

 not found ; swarm hived, and it remained. I 

 was sure the mother could not be with them, but 

 waited a few days to ascertain whether the swarm 

 had not a virgin queen. 1 saw no indications of 

 one being present, but the contrary — most of the 

 comb built being drone comb. There were por- 

 tions, however, composed of worker cells, and 

 there was considerable pollen deposited in the 

 hive. I gave them a sealed queen cell, which 

 was immediately destroyed. This was repeated 

 several times, with the same result. I also lost 

 two fertile queens in my attempts to supi)ly them ; 

 but finally succeeded in inducing them to accept 

 a sealed cell. During all this time I never seen a 



Formerly, whilst using the regular entrance 

 blocks to the Langstroth hive, I often felt the 

 need of doing something that I could not accomp- 

 plish with them. The blocks I now use are about 

 an inch square, and run the whole length of the 

 entrance. I nail narrow cleats of diff'erent thick- 

 ness across each end on two adjoining sides of 

 the block, the cleats being put on flush with the 

 ends. The other two sides of the block are left 

 smooth. The names I gave these blocks will 

 measurably indicate their use. Thus — 



The Common Block 

 is for ordinary use. On one side, No. 1, of this 

 block the cleats are ^ inch thick ; and on side No. 

 i 2, they are the sixteenth of an inch thick. Either 

 I of the cleated sides, laid on the bottom board, 

 with the corresponding smooth side turned 

 ! against the front of the hive, gives a long shallow 

 I entrance for the bees, and ventilates the combs all 

 alike. This block I use all the year round, un- 

 1 less it becomes necessary to give more ventilation, 

 { or remove all blocks of every description. With 

 side No. 2, the drones are shut in or out at pleas- 

 ure ; but when the stocks are strong and the 

 weather warm, it becomes necessary to use 

 The Drone Block. 

 Both sides, No. 1 and No. 2, of this block are 

 provided with cleats three-aixteenths of an inch 



