144 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



the heat is apphed a mat and cushion 

 will be kept over the frames. When 

 the temperature is raised the cushion 

 and mat will be removed and a wire 

 cloth honey-board placed on in order to 

 give ventilation to the hive. Water and 

 artificial pollen (wheat flour) will be 

 supplied the bees through the wire at 

 the top of the hive. The room will be 

 kept as dark as possible. 



BEE NOTES, 



Let no colony go into winter quarters 

 with an old queen. Such queens play 

 out early in the spring. 



If your bees are wintered on the 

 summer stands, place them at least 

 from eighteen inches to two feet above 

 the ground. 



Do not contract the entrance to the 

 hive in winter. Let the bees have all 

 the ventilation possible about the bot- 

 tom of the frames. That is where the 

 combs commence to mould very early. 

 A cushion filled with cut hay (say cut 

 to about one or two inches long) is the 

 best protection over the combs in win- 

 ter. Chaff, and other close material 

 do not let the moisture from the bees 

 pass oif as freely and as readily as hay, 

 and the combs are more likely to mould. 



ALL SORTS. 



A beekeeper in Argyle, Wis., con- 

 siders the common black bees the best. 

 He's behind the times. 



The discussion over closed-end- 

 frames has a rest. What will come up 

 next? Now keep busy making hard 

 talk about the Punic and yellow Car- 

 niolan bees. 



If rain can be produced by a great 

 noise, why not send C. J. Robinson 

 skyward? He can create about as 

 much useless noise as anyone. Would'nt 

 there be a down-pour of abuse, slander 

 and misrepresentations though ? 



Someone in the Catiadian Bee Jour- 

 nal gives a method for making foul 

 brood combs safe without melting down. 



Let him tell it, but don't take any stock 

 in what he says or use such combs in 

 your apiary, you will regret it if you do 

 use them, as they are full of disease. 



A LITTLE MIXED. 



We saw in a bee paper an item head- 

 ed : "A good season in New York." 

 The writer goes on and says "•the bees 

 have done nothing here ; a great many 

 beekeepers are becoming discouraged," 

 etc. That don't look much like a good 

 season, does it Bro. Jones ? 



An entliusinstic apiarist, livinji at Kir- 

 ton, mounted on a safety Ijicycle, followed 

 a swarm of bees for two miles on Wed- 

 nesday afternoon, and after safely liiviny; 

 the wanderers, returned lioiiie with the 

 sk^p contaiiiin,i>- the numerous living 

 freight securely fastened to the frame of 

 his machine. — Gleanings. 



When our bees "abscond" they cut 

 across lots. If we had a bicycle we 

 could not catch them. When we can 

 own and ride one the bees will be 

 taught to keep the road as did the bees 

 of our enthusiastic apiarist. 



CHEAP QUEENS. 



Don't those fellows who are adver- 

 tising tested and untested queens at 

 such low figures "give themselves away'' 

 in so doing? It really seems to us 

 that if they reared and shipped first- 

 class queens, they would not be obliged 

 to put prices so low. Rear less queens 

 and better ones, and get a higher price 

 for them is our advice. 



THOSE CELL CUPS. 



Bro. Root has succeeded once more 

 in making bees accept of Doolittle cell- 

 cups. Don't forget how it was done, 

 Bro. Root. There are a good many 

 ups and downs in Medina with the 

 cell-cup business. If Bro. Root really 

 desires to help Doolittle he should not 

 speak of the failures in rearing queens 

 by the cell-cup process. 



