164 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



the Italians. The past season has convinced many 

 of their superiority over the natives, which gave 

 no surplus, when the Italians, in the same apiary, 

 yielded twenty pounds and upwards, besides end- 

 ing the season witli larger stores tor wintering. 

 This I fiiid to he the case generally througliout 

 my neighborhood, and in many other localities 

 where the season was such as it was here. In 

 fact, the Italians proved their superiority over the 

 natives every season since I had them in my 

 apiary ; and in the past one gave me several 

 swarms and a goodly quantity of surplus honey. 

 The natives, on the contrary, gave me neitlier 

 swarms nor surplus honey- proving almost a 

 total failure as regards profit. As for myself, I 

 keep bees for profit, as many others do. Then 

 why not keep the kind that bring us the great- 

 est income for the same care and labor bestowed, 

 and same capital invested ? This is my motto, 

 and I shall continue to cultivate the Italian bees 

 as decidedly preferable. 



P. J. Severson. 

 Knowersmlle, W. T. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee House. 



Mr. Editor :— As you have adopted the very 

 liberal policy towards the bee fraternity, oflctting 

 every man who has made, or fancies he has 

 made, an improvement in any dei)artment of api- 

 culture, publish a description of it in your jour- 

 nal, I desire to avail myself of your liberality to 

 describe an improvemeiit in Bee Houses, for 

 which Letters Patent No. 96,G08, w^ere issued to 

 mc November, 9th, 1869. 



You and your readers are aware that the best 

 manner of wintering stocks of bees, and also re- 

 serve queens, are two objects to which bee- 

 keepers have of late devoted much attention. I 

 have been studying to solve the same problems. 



The design of my improvement is to furnish a 

 good and cheap means of wintering bees on their 

 summer stands, (and of wintering reserve queens,) 

 without sacrificing the convenience of separate 

 hives, for performing the various operations re- 

 (luired by the most advanced system of apiculture. 

 It consists of a square box with an entrance for 

 bees in each side, to contain four hives of any 

 description in use. I prefer the Langstroth hives, 

 using the shallow forms with two sets of frames 

 to obtain honey in frames ; and the brood chamber 

 ofHenry Alley's " New Style Langstroth Hives," 

 (cut of which appears in the Bee Journal, Vol. 5, 

 page 54,) for obtaining box honey. The bottom 

 is made of two thicknesses of pine flooring wath 

 a space between, filled with any non-conductor 

 of heat. The top is made in the same way, (k)f 

 thinner material, to make it light,) and shaped 

 like the roof of a house. The walls consist of 

 inch boards lined with several thicknessess of 

 roofing paper or anything else that may be pre- 

 ferred. The house is divided horizontally into 

 two sections of about equal depth. The upper 

 section is on hinges, so as to open like a chest. 

 The sea,m between the two sections is made air 

 tight with listing or rubber. Openings tor ven- 

 tilation are provided through the floor and roof. 



Around the inside, about two inches above the 

 floor, is nailed a narrow strip on which rest 

 boards fitting close to the hives and forming a 

 second floor, Avhich may be permanent or re- 

 movable according to convenience. If I used a 

 hive having honey boxes placed on the sides, I 

 would make it removable, otherwise permanent. 

 The object of this is to give free circulation of air 

 around the entrances of the hives but exclude it 

 when desired trom the upper chamber till it has 

 passed through the hives and been warmed by 

 the bees. This upper chamber is the most im- 

 portant feature of the house. When the weather 

 is unsuitable for bees to fly, the lighting boards 

 are made to turn up and close the entrance per- 

 fectly tight and dark. Then the warmth arising 

 from four stocks of bees is combined in the upper 

 chamber and retained by proper adjustment of 

 the ventilators, so that no signs of frost or damp- 

 ness appear in the coldest weather. 



This chamber also furnishes a very coiivenient 

 place for Avintering reserve, queens in nucleus 

 bi'xes. It is better to winter the nucleus stocks 

 if it can be done conveniently, because it saves 

 the trouble and loss of breaking them up in the 

 fall and making them anew in the spring. These 

 boxes may be made with openings in one side, 

 corresponding to the openings in the hives for the 

 honey boxes. When the honey boxes have been 

 removed in the fall, the nucleus boxes can be set 

 in their places, with wire cloth to keep the bees 

 from passing. Thus they will not only have the 

 benefit of the genial warmth of the chamber, to 

 which they each will contribute a share, but they 

 will have a current of warm air direct from the 

 hives. Each house will easily keep in this way 

 sixteen reserve queens, four to a hive ; enough 

 probably lor all practical purposes. But if the 

 boxes are made eight inches long, seven inches 

 wide and nine or ten inches high and set two 

 tiers deep, thirty-two can be accommodated. 



The dimensions of this bee house are forty to 

 forty-two inches square and tw^enty-four to 

 twenty-six inches high, inside measure. It can 

 be furnished, with four hives containing ten 

 frames each complete for $25. This includes 

 a good lock to secure its contents against thieves, 

 the most dangerous foul brood we have to con- 

 tend with in this State. 



D. BURBANK. 



Lexington, Ky., January QtJi, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Query Respecting Drones. 



Are drones capable of fertilizing queens, if 

 raised from an unfertilized queen, or from a qeeen 

 past the power of laying eggs which will hatch 

 into workers ? 



J. L. H. 



January, 1870. 



Experiments made by the Baron of Berlepsch 

 show that drones i)roduced by fertile workers 

 are virile, and it may hence fairly be inferred 

 that those above releried to are so likewise. 

 There may still be a question as to the quality of 

 the progeny. 



