THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



251 



ing until just before setting them out. I know 

 by actual experience that a pint of bees can be 

 wintered in my hive, in my cellar ; and an extra 

 large swarm can be wintered in the same kind 

 of hive, in the same cellar ; and both winter 

 equally Avell. Now, if a pint of bees can be 

 wintered iif my hive, with the proper ventilation, 

 the reader will readily see that any number of 

 reserve queens can also be Aviiitered witli safety. 

 I have wintered reserve queens, and then, if I 

 did not want them in the spring for queenless 

 colonies, built them up into full and profitable 

 stocks the ensuing summer. 



Novice's plan of ventilating his new bee-bouse 

 is a good one; that is, having the air come into 

 the vacant space under the floor, before admitting 

 it into the room where the bees are. He may 

 not have provided sufficient ventilation in a mild 

 winter, but that he can remedy by opening doors 

 at night. He will be apt to find that a large 

 number of swarms stored in it will require abun- 

 dance of ventilation, especially in mild weather. 

 With thirty-eight swarms in my cellar, I only 

 closed the ventilator two nights, up to January 

 18th. In one of those nights the thermometer 

 was down to 15°, arid in the other to 10", below 

 zero ; and by twelve o'clock the following day 

 the cellar would get quite warm, so that some of 

 the swarms would manifest uneasiness ; but on 

 opening the ventilator, they would soon be all 

 right, though the "thermometer was still at zero. 

 Potatoes are keeping well in a bin under the bees, 

 but turnips and onions in the centre of the cellar 

 are sprouting considerably. 



My first attempts at wintering bees in a cellar 

 were entire failures. I lost ten good swarms, all 

 for the want of requisite knowledge. 



E. Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



[For the American Bee .Tournal] 



Can we Compel or Persuade Bees to build 

 Straight Worker Comb throughout the 

 Hive? 



Mr. Editor : — When Mr. Langstroth in- 

 vented tlie movable comb frames, he laid the 

 foundation for improved bee-keeping. But the 

 frames, of course, were useless unless straight 

 combs could be secured in them. I believe he 

 first used the flat bar, but soon invented the tri- 

 angular guide which has caused so much conten- 

 tion. 



This guide is not reliable. Still, the tendency 

 is to secure a straight beginning in the top of the 

 frame. But, when started right, they are liable 

 to be warped and twisted, so as to make crooked 

 work as they are carried down. To compel the 

 bees to carry them down straight, and all of the 

 same thickness, the Calvin comb guides were in- 

 yented. 



I used these guides three seasons, and will 

 give my experience with them. The first season 

 I used them in one hive, and had the most per- 

 fect work I ever saw. The combs were almost 

 as straight and even as a joiner could plane a 

 board. The second season they were put into 

 three or four hives. The result was a failure. 



I supposed it to be owing to the season being 

 poor, as the bees were frequently interrupted by 

 bad weather. 



The third season I put them into four or 

 five hives, and although the season was a good 

 one, and the hives were filled with comb and 

 honey enough to winter well, the swarms were 

 ruined. Full half the combs were built cross- 

 wise, and of course in small pieces ; and such 

 as were built lengthwise were so crooked, and 

 attached to the guides to such extent that these 

 could not betaken out without cutting the combs 

 and ruining the swarms. I was busy at the time 

 the guides should have been taken out, or the 

 trouble might liave been prevented in part. The 

 guides are now laid away among the things that 

 were. 



The next course adopted by me to get straight 

 combs, and the most reliable of anything I have 

 tried as yet, is to use worker-comb fastened to 

 the under side of the flat top bar with beeswax 

 and rosin. If it is the right kind of comb, and 

 properly put in, it is perfectly reliable in starting 

 straight worker-comb. But how long the bees 

 will continue to build it down straight and not 

 change to drone comb, is uncertain. They need 

 some looking after to keep it straight. This we 

 can do, but can we prevent them from building 

 drone comb ? 



New comb is not as good as old, as it is more 

 brittle, and liable to be injured in putting in. 

 But comb with bee bread in it should be dis- 

 carded. The bees will gnaw it out, and in doing 

 so will frequently spoil the comb. In using old 

 black comb, I prefei", after it is put in, to shave 

 it down to an angle, commencing at the centei 

 and slanting to the edge of the bar. This takes 

 off the old thick end of the cells, and leaves the 

 comb all newly cut. So far as my experience 

 goes, the bees are better satisfied with it, and are 

 less liable to injure it by gnawing it down. Be- 

 sides, in clustering to commence building, they 

 are not so liable to pull it ofl^ if not well fastened 

 on. 



I understand there is a machine invented to 

 stamp guides for worker-comb. Thin strips of 

 wood with one edge dipped in melted beeswax, 

 and the base or bottom of worker-cells stamped 

 on it. It is claimed that this secures worker- 

 comb throughout the hive. I have no doubt the 

 bees may follow the guides awhile, but I think 

 they will change to drone comb whenever*they 

 are so inclined. 



Mr. Langstroth at first placed his frames one 

 and a half inches apart, from centre to centre ; 

 but afterwards put them nearer. I suppose the 

 object in placing them nearer was to induce the 

 bees to build worker-comb. It does not seem to 

 have the desired eff'ect. 



Calvin Rogers. 



Newiaryport, Mass., May 9, 1870. 



Though naturalists, for convenience of ar- 

 rangement do not give pre-eminence among in- 

 sects to the order Hymenoplera, yet are thej^ the 

 most volatile flyers, the most agile runners, the 

 most skilful burrowers, and the most consum- 

 mate architects. — Shuckard. 



