THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



183 



thing, but not a swarm of full bloods. 

 I would like to find the man that 

 would send me a pure Carniolan queen 

 in the spring. Yours truly, 



Horace Wyman. 



Liacohi Centre, Me., JS'ov. 4, 1891. 



[Evidently, friend Wyman, you 

 have had very poor luck with your 

 bees. We do not think it was the 

 fault, however, of the kind of bees you 

 had, but probably there was no honey 

 to be obtained by them in your locali- 

 ty. This was the case in many locali- 

 ties the past season. We do not know 

 that Carniolan bees are any better 

 honey gatherers than the Italians. 

 Each breed have their friends. 



By referring to our advertising pag- 

 es you will find the addresses of a num- 

 ber of reliable breeders of Carniolan 

 queens. We think you can get a 

 pure queen from any of them. We 

 hope that you will not be discouraged 

 with bee-keeping but persevere, and 

 we hope another season to hear a re- 

 port of your success. — Ed.] 



Editor American Bee-Keeper, 

 Dear sir : Mr. A. N. Draper, in his 

 article on " Winteriug Bees," in a re- 

 cent number, gives some excellent ad- 

 vice, and his system is good. Now, we 

 all admit that hives require some kind 

 of packing to secure successful winter- 

 ing. Each bee-keeper has his pet 

 method, and each thinks his way the 

 best. I have given much study to 

 this subject and think for the past 

 three winters have been very success- 

 ful with the following, which I call 



MY METHOD. 



I built a shed of hemlock lumber, 3 

 ft. wide, 12 ft. long, 4f ft. high at front 

 and 3f ft. high at back. I laid two 

 pieces of scantling for the bottom far 

 enough apart to set my hives upon and 

 laid straw between. Now, I set my 

 hiveson these scantling,leaving a space 

 of two or three inches between each 



hive, also between the hives and back 

 of shed. After the first row of hives 

 are in place I fill up the space with 

 forest leaves, dry sawdust or shavings, 

 first putting chaff cushions over the 

 tVames. Between the cushions and 

 frames I put a sheet of matting, the 

 kind that comes around tea chests. 

 This you can get at any grocery. The 

 first tier completed I put another tier 

 on in like manner, and three can be 

 added, or even a fourth, by building 

 the shed higher. The animal heat is 

 confined to the mass, and what is most 

 necessary, an even temperature is re- 

 tained. The front of this shed I board 

 up very lightly, using but few nails, 

 so I can easily remove it when the 

 warm days come. The back of the 

 shed should face the prevailing winds. 

 The entrance of the hive I contract 

 according to the size of the swarm. 

 Small swarms have about one-half in. 

 Large ones a full inch to two inches. 



I have not lost a swarm the past 

 three winters, and my bees were all 

 healthy and in good condition in the 

 spring. The top of each hive is raised 

 I of an inch to give ventilation. 



If any of your readers can give us a 

 better method than the above, let us 

 hear from them. Yours, &c, 



Harry L. D wight. 



Friendship, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1891. 



[We think your method is a good 

 one, but not entirely original. In 

 another column Mrs. Harrison ex- 

 plains her way of wintering which is 

 quite similar, only she has no top 

 ventilation. In this respect your 

 method, although more expensive, is 

 superior. — Ed.] 



It does not pay to extract all the 

 honey and feed sugar syrup for. win- 

 ter stores. 



