THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



59 



inner hive four inches of wheat chaff 

 from beardless wheat, and ou top a 

 box with a cloth bottom, containing a 

 depth of from six to eisht inches of 

 the same. The cover is hinged, and is 

 prevented from passing beyond a right 

 angle with the side of the hive when 

 raised. The cover has a one and one- 

 half inch ventilating hole in each end, 

 near the top, that can be closed at 

 pleasure. The entrance is three-fourths 

 of an inch in depth, and from three to 

 five inches in length, and can be con- 

 tracted, as change in temperature or 

 size of colony ma3' demand. The api- 

 ary should face the south in winter, 

 and the entrance to each hive should be 

 protected from light, and from wind and 

 storm, by a short board leaned against 

 the front. A high tight board fence 

 should protect the apiary from the pre- 

 vailing winds, and where drifts of snow 

 are apt to cover the hives, care should 

 be exercised in clearing the entrances 

 and shovelling the loose snow up about 

 the hives, and thus prevent the snow 

 from stopping the entrances. No better 

 place can be found to winter bees than 

 under a large snow-drift, when the en- 

 trance is clear and is so arranged that 

 mice cannot enter. But there is some- 

 times danger of a succession of sleet 

 and rainstorms, causing crusts to form 

 tliat miglit exclude the air, and cause 

 the bees to smother. We cannot main- 

 tain a temperature, so high and even, 

 on the summer stand, as we can in the 

 cellar, unless it be under the snow- 

 drift. Hence, I rely more upon ab- 

 sorbents, in case of necessity. A 

 two-inch chaff-packed frame, covered 

 witli cloth, and tilling the hive snugly 

 Irom end to end, is phiced in one 

 side of tlie hive after removing two 

 combs. 



If continued low temperature pre- 

 vents the necessary evaporation and 

 causes the exhalations to condense be- 

 fore rising to the upper chaff, tliis 

 chaff-frame absorbs much of it that 

 might otherwise condense on the combs 

 and produce mold. Easy access to 

 every comb in the hive should be pro- 

 vided for the bees, either by passage- 

 ways cut through the combs at each 

 end, or by sticks three-eighths of an 

 inch square, laid on top of the frames 

 in pairs, so arranged tliat the blanket 

 or piece of carpeting cannot obstruct 

 their passage o-ver the frames. Some 

 sticks, so arranged as to form an arch 

 over the tops of the frames and leave 

 a free warm space for the bees to 

 cluster, -would be better than the square 

 sticks. Should a warm sunny day, in 



mid-winter, cause the bees to become 

 uneasy, remove the standing boards 

 from the fronts and allow them to fly, 

 after arranging the alighting boards. 

 If the hives face the south, the bees 

 can fly with safety when the mercury 

 is at flfty in the shade, if there is no 

 wind; but if the bees are quiet, it is 

 better to let them remain so. 



Poor wintering is the cause of 

 'spring dwindling.' We hear men 

 say, in April: 'I think my bees win- 

 tered flnely, for I have not lost a col- 

 ony ;' but how were they when the fruit 

 bloom came? Were they strong and 

 vigorous and able to store a quantity 

 of honey, or were they weak and 

 listless, with barely enough bees to 

 cover the small patch of brood they 

 had? Bees, properly wintered, never 

 have moldy or damp combs ; their hives 

 are dry, and the bees will speck the 

 snow more or less in their first flights 

 in spring. I know this is contrary to 

 the "dry faeces" theory, but I would 

 as soon have my bees afflicted with 

 dysentery as acute constipation. So 

 long as my bees winter well without 

 voiding dry fasces, so long I shall re- 

 frain from attempting to cause such 

 an abnormal condition. Bees very 

 seldom winter well on poor stores, and 

 tjiere is a difference of opinion as to 

 what constitutes poor stores. I care 

 not how much pollen they have, if it 

 is not mixed with the honey, where 

 the bees are obliged to take it invol- 

 untarily. Much honey contains pol- 

 len particles, held in suspension. Such 

 honey is more frequently gathered in 

 seasons of scarcity, fi-om the flowers 

 that yield both honey and pollen. The 

 conformation of these flowers renders 

 it impossible for the bees to extract 

 the nectar, without becoming coverecj 

 with the pollen. . 



This pollen becomes mixed with the 

 honey, much more than it does when 

 bees are gathering honey or pollen 

 separately. I believe this to be the 

 prime cause of honey becoming dele- 

 terious to the bees, and the fact that 

 disastrous winters are more apt to 

 follow a season of scarcity, makes this 

 tlieory the more tenable. Bur it does 

 not follow that all pollen should be 

 eliminated from the hive, to winter 

 with safety. On the contrary, I be- 

 lieve pollen to be as essential, as it is 

 natural, for winter stores, if it is not 

 too old, and if the honey, covering it, 

 is wholesome. 



By feeding sugar syrup for winter 

 stores, we can remove the possibility of 

 any injurious eflects from pollen, our 



