230 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



would store considerable surplus. Of course 

 these hives can be constructed so as to be prop- 

 erly managed by an intelligent and well posted 

 bee-keeper. Then, why not tell us of this ? In 

 the hive I u^e I have had a swarm build their 

 comb, store and seal up fifty pounds of surplus 

 in five da3'S. But the weather was just right, 

 and in the time of basswood blossoming — the 

 greatest honey-producing blossom that I am ac- 

 quainted with. We will suppose that Mr. A. 

 buys one of these non-swarming hives. He puts 

 a swarm into it, and the first season they only 

 partially fill it with comb. They are well win- 

 tered, and have a good prolific queen. The fol- 

 lowing spring thej-- gather honey enough to breed 

 rapidly ; yet not sufficient to induce them to build 

 comb. When the hive becomes populous, and 

 the queen has all the comb occupied, the bees 

 will swarm. On the other hand, let us suppose 

 they filled their hive with combs and honey, but 

 filled it in the fall, when the queen was breeding 

 very little. The following spring they gatlier 

 sufileient honey and pollen to keep up the breed- 

 ing, and do not draw on the last years' store. 

 When the queen has all the cells occupied, they 

 will sv.arm. What really constitutes a non- 

 swarming hive is, to give the queen empty cells 

 as fast as she wants thchi, and the workers full 

 occupation ; and this can all be done in any form 

 of Laugstroth hive I have ever seen. When any 

 one tells you tliat his hive will give hundreds of 

 pounds of surplus honey, whether the season is 

 good or not, simplj' because it is his hive, it looks 

 much like Jonah swallowing a whale — decidedly 

 fishy. E. Gallup. 



Orchard, Iowa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees. 



. Mr. Ebitob :— I wish to say a few words in 

 regard to wintering bees ; having tried various 

 ways. I have buried them, or put them in the 

 ground,' covered with straw and dirt, ventilated, 

 &c. ; but they came out with combs badly 

 moulded ; and mice had got into some of the 

 hives, making hayoc among the bees and combs, 

 so that I lost several colonies. At another time 

 I took my bees to a neighbor's cellar, which was 

 dry and cool, with some frost in the coldest 

 weather. I did not lose a swarm that winter. 

 Last winter I took my bees to another neighbor's 

 cellar, which av as drj% but very warm, with no 

 ventilation worth speaking of. The consequence 

 was that my bees Avorried themselves so much 

 that many of them eat up all their honey, and 

 died, though the colonies were strong and 'heavy 

 in the fall. 



With my little experience I became satisfied 

 that I now knew what was needed. Last sum- 

 mer I built me a new house, and concluded I 

 would put a cellar under the whole of it, so that 

 I might provide a place for my bees entirely 

 separate. I arranged a cellar "under one wing 

 entirely separate from the others, so that I could 

 shut it up so close that no frost could get in, if I 

 chose to keep it out. This cellar, in which 1 have 



my bees, is about fifteen feet square. I have it 

 well ventilated, with one widow on each side — 

 have windows hung on hinges, so that I can raise 

 or lower them, as I choose, to let the air pass 

 through. I keep a thermometer in the cellar, and 

 try to maintain the temperature at about 85° above 

 zero. Some days it will go higher and some days 

 fall lower. When it gets colder I lower the win- 

 dows, and when warmer I raise them. I put wire 

 screening on the outside of the windows to keep 

 out rats and mice, then place straw against the 

 screening to darken the cellar, yet the fresh air is 

 constantly passing through. 



I have examined my bees this spring, now the 

 10th of March, and find them all in good condi- 

 tion except one, from which I took about twenty- 

 five pounds of honey and transferred it from an 

 old hive to a movable comb hive. I supposed 

 they had honey enough left to winter on, but they 

 came up missing. Last fall I put in all those that 

 I thought would winter well, setting them in the 

 back part of the cellar, one over the other, about 

 twenty -five of them about three deep. Then the 

 weaker swarms, which I knew would not winter 

 without feeding, I placed along the side of the 

 cellar. The very heavy ones I set along the 

 middle, leaving a space, so that I could see to all 

 my bees at any time. From the strong heavy 

 swarms I took cards of honey in the frames and 

 inserted them in the lighter or weaker swarms. 

 Thus equalizing them, so that they are all alive 

 yet, so far as I can judge, and the combs appear 

 to be ft-ee from mould. 



I spread straw on the bottom of the cellar, an'd 

 between the hives, to absorb the moisture. I 

 have in it about fifty-five colonies, I left ten 

 colonies out on their summer stands for an ex- 

 periment in out door Avintering,as I supposed them 

 tO'-be strong and good. I found on examining 

 that I have but four colonies left alive, out of the 

 ten. One colony had about sixty pounds of honey 

 in its hive, another twenty, another five, and an- 

 other very little. Therefore I would recommend 

 wintering bees in a good drj'^ cellar, well ven- 

 tilated — where they can be looked after at any 

 time, and fed if needed. 



I would not know how to get along without 

 the Bee Journal. It has been of much.vakfe 

 to me already, and I would advise ever}' one who 

 keeps or intends to keep bees, to take it. I en- 

 close two dollars for my subscription, and two 

 dollars for a new subscriber, to whose address 

 send the Jouknal. 



Decorali. lotoa. Joel Datton. 



Artificial colonies should not be made except 

 when forage is plentiful and bees gather honey 

 freelj', unless the owner is prepared to feed them 



liberally. 



Bees are endowed with an instinct that teaches 

 them to avoid certain plants that might be dan- 

 gerous to them. Thus, they neither frequent 

 the oleander {Nerium Oleander) nor the crown 

 imperial {Fritillaria imperialis), and they also 

 avoid the Raminculacem : on account of' some 

 noxious property ;, and although i\\e Melianthus 

 major drops with honey, it is not sought. — ScJiuck- 

 ard. , ' 



