136 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



has no control over this seminal sac, although," 

 &c., &c. And then, instead of beginning the 

 next sentence by saying: And yet Mr. H. does 

 believe^ the negative "not" is interpolated be- 

 tween does and believe. Let him correct his 

 misstatement in the next number; and please 

 do tell him that, 



"When I am writing oi freshly blown roses. 

 He never may make it of freshly blownnoses.'''' 

 Minor mistakes are ot no consequence. 

 Very trulj' yours, F. Varko. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



On Wintering Bees in the Open Air. 



Mr. Editor: — Intelligent apiarians are aware 

 that most bee-keepers in cold climates, who 

 winter their bees in the open air, are not satis- 

 fied with their success in any style of hive yet 

 devised. While the hives are kept tightly 

 closed at the top, moisture condenses or freezes 

 upon their interior surfaces, and often ui3on the 

 combs themselves. In this way many colonies 

 contract disease, or perish entirely. (See p. 

 340 of my work on the Hive and Honey Bee._) 

 If the honey-boards of movable comb hives are 

 removed and the tops of the frames covered 

 with corn cobs, straw mats, old woolen gar- 

 ments, or any non-conducting, or (in common 

 phrase J "warm" materials, it is easy to keep 

 the bees dry without too much escape of heat. 



There is, however, one source of trouble 

 which seems to have escaped the notice of most 

 observers. tVhile the weather is moderately 

 warm, the bees do not get into a very compact 

 mass, but as soon as frosty nights come, they 

 instinctively contract their cluster, so as to as- 

 sume as compact a form as possible; even crowd- 

 ing into all the empty cells within the cluster. 

 Now it would seem easy to provide in movable 

 comb hives, all the conditions which are essen- 

 tial to their successful wintering, if the colonies 

 have sufficient bees and honey. A proper num- 

 ber of the central combs, which have the least 

 honey and are most suitable for early breeding, 

 should remain in place as best adapted to the 

 winter quarters of the bees. If necessary, some 

 of the fuller combs should be brought nearer to 

 the center, so that in long continued cold, the 

 colony ma}' not perish for want of provisions 

 easily accessible. When no winter passages 

 are made through the combs, the bees in the 

 outside combs when they feel chilly, retreat 

 from the colder surfaces of the comb to the cen- 

 ter, and if there are not enough of them to keep 

 up the proper temperature, they soon die. 

 Should the weather become sufficiently warm, 

 the bees will remove them from the hive, and 

 on the return of another "cold snap," the same 

 process will be repeated until by frequent losses, 

 the hive often becomes too much depopulated 

 to survive ihe winter, or too weak on the open- 

 ing of spring. 



The making of winter passages will not al- 

 ways prevent these disasters. It is true that 

 the bees becoming sensible of tbe increasing 

 cold contract their cluster, and that driven away 



from the outer surfaces of the combs, they con 

 tract centrally; and it would seem almost cer- 

 tain that those in the outer combs, when they 

 find themselves unable to keep warm, would, 

 in contracting strike the winter passage, so as 

 to get one comb nearer to the center; and if too 

 cold there, would pass still one comb nearer to 

 the center of the hive. The colony by con- 

 tracting or expanding centrally, according to 

 the state of the weather, would thus be always 

 in the best condition for wintering comfortably. 

 This theory is admirable enough, but unfortu- 

 nately in practice, it often fails. 



The sudden change from moderate to very 

 cold weather, seems to deprive the bees of the 

 admirable wisdom they so often exhibit in adapt- 

 ing themselves to other emergencies. They are 

 often as foolish as human beings, who, when 

 almost frozen, insist upon lying down to take 

 their ease. They contract centrally to be sure; 

 but the two outside clusters often fail to strike 

 the winter passage, and huddling together mis- 

 erably perish. 



Making the walls of the hive double, or lining 

 them with warm materials, will not prevent 

 such disasters; but will often aggravate them 

 by tempting the chilly bees to hug up against 

 these comfortable substances until they are too 

 far gone to join the central cluster, even if they 

 knew how to reach it. 



How can we best prevent such losses? I sub- 

 mit the question to your readers, and may, iu 

 your next number, give the results of considera- 

 ble experimenting upon this important subject. 

 L. L. Langstroth. 



Oxford, Butler Co., O., December, 1867. 



[For the American Bee Journal. ] 



Chickory as a Bee Plant. 



As there have been several jjlants recom- 

 mended in the Bee Journal, as furnishing 

 pasturage for bees, I would name another — 

 '■'■Chickory " It is biennial or perhaps peren- 

 nial, as pieces of the root will grow. The pre- 

 pared root is used, especially by the Germans, 

 as a substitute for coffee. It flowers from early 

 in Jul}' till frost, yielding both honey and pol- 

 len. There are not many flowers on which I 

 have seen bees work so industriously, except 

 the raspberry. I would recommend it to Mr. 

 Salisbury, and others, who wish to grow plants 

 for bee feed. The seed can be obtained of R. 

 K Bliss & Son, 41 Park Row, and 151 Nassau 

 street, New York, at twenty cents per package, 

 and doubtless from other seedsmen also. 



Canfield, Ohio. J. Winfield. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal ] 



Novice wants to know how to get "Giantess" 

 down safely from that big tree? 



Very easily. Place at the root of the ti'ee an 

 empty hive, contaiuiug a small quantity of 



's "Bee Charm." 



Excelsior. 



P. S. — Use double the above quantity of the 

 infallible "Bee Charm" if you wish to have the 

 bees carry down the combs and honey, and de- 

 posit them nicely in the hive. 



