THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



225 



dition. The cobs were quite damp; there were 

 more dead bees than I had cxpocLcd to find ; 

 aud there was apparantly a areater consumption 

 oi'sloros than in hives kept in a cellar. Anoth- 

 er ^v as found in a similar condition; but a third, 

 owini; I think to an accident that occurred to 

 two of the combs a tew days before they were 

 put up, and the unfortunate course they had 

 taken, were in a bad condition ; the larger part 

 of the bees were dead, and this too with ])lenty 

 of stores in the hive. I ovei hauled the combs, 

 and discovering that the cpieen was still alive, 

 determined to see if with careful nursing, thej' 

 would recuperate. I set them out on warm 

 days and indoors at night, till on going to the 

 hive one day towards night, for the purpose of 

 carrying them in, I found no bees in the hive, 

 except a few young ones, which were crawling 

 about in a dis^consolate mood. There Avas 

 some brood and plenty of stores, but the swarm 

 had gone, being I suppose dissatisfied with my 

 nursing. Some t^ree or four days after, during 

 which time the nights h;id been cold and frosty, 

 my st>n accidentally discovered about sunset a 

 cluster of bees about the size of a large coiree 

 cup, in a little twig of dry leaves lying on the 

 ground under on old shed in the calf pasture. 

 He called my attention to them as a curiosity, 

 and I immediately surmised that they must be 

 my dec. imping swarm. Taking a nucleus box 

 with stores, I put them in. They seemed joy- 

 ful enougti at first, but on being set in a wood 

 shed they soon were all out, crawling and buz- 

 zing as tliongh they did not feel quite satisfied. 

 The next morning, they were quietly clustered 

 among the tombs. I set them out and am still 

 watching to sec if they will recuperate, though 

 I feel quite sure they will not. 



lu the February number of the current vol- 

 ume of the Bee Jouun.\l, if I mistake not, 

 there is a communication from the Rev. L. L. 

 Langstroth, in relation to a matter that should 

 receive the attention of bee keepers which its 

 importance I'.emands — namely, the loss of bees 

 by expansion and contraction of the cluster 

 among the combs, during changes that occur in 

 the weather. As I mistrust that Mr. L., to 

 wliom we are so much indebted for the intro- 

 duction of movable combs in this country, has 

 a plan of obviating the difficulty, perhaps I 

 should sliow proper respect by waiting till he 

 promulgates his remedy. But as he has invited 

 discussion on the subject, I venture a few sug- 

 gestion.s, not only to the attention of Mr. L., 

 but also to the criticism of all the sharp and 

 knowing ones ; promising not to be offended 

 Avith whatever comnumts they may honestly 

 make, with a view to remedying the evil. 



My plan is simply this : to take out the side 

 combs and leave so few through the middle of 

 the hive ttiat the cluster will always extend be- 

 yond them. Have your swarms populous, and 

 your hive so constructed that you can place 

 some well filled combs directly over the cluster; 

 and in the surrounding space place some mate- 

 rial that will absorb the moisture from the breath 

 of the bees. Then, with suitable protection on 

 the outside, your bees are safe. 



S. L. RiCnAKDSON. 



Wkbsteb City, Iowa. April 13, 18G8. 



[For the American Bee Journal ] 



Experiments in Wintering Bees. 



Mn. Editou: — On the 12th of November, 

 18G7, I weighed twenty-four hives of my bees; 

 nine of which 1 buried on the same day, in the 

 manner described by Ciiarles Uadant, in the 

 Bee Journal for that month, page 91. On 

 the Sllth of November, I put the other fifteen 

 hives into my celler, under my hou.se, where I 

 kept vegetables, «fcc., for family use. 



March 18lh, 18G8, I removed them all to their 

 summer stands. It being a pleasant day, the 

 bees improved the time in open air exercise. 

 On the morning of the 15th, alter cleaning the 

 bottom boards of dead bees aud all filth, I again 

 carefully weighed th( m. 



The weight given below is that of the bees, 

 combs, and stores, in each hive, at the time in- 

 dicated. 



When my hives are ready for the reception 

 of the bees they are all weighed, and the weight 

 marked on the hive. This I find very conve- 

 nient sometimes in my operations with them. 



The stocks marked 1 are Italians ; those 

 marked II are half breeds ; and those marked 

 B are black bees. 



In Cellar. 



No. of 

 Hive. 



(Nov. ll.iMar. 14.1 Loss. 

 lbs. oz. libs. oz. lbs. oz. 



H. 1 53 8 37 12 14 13 



2.. 

 3.. 

 4.. 

 5.. 

 6.. 

 7.. 



B. 

 B. 

 B. 

 B. 

 B. 

 B. 

 B. 8... 

 H. 9.. 

 I. 10.. 

 B. 11. 

 B. 13. 

 H. 13. 

 B. 14. 

 B. 15. 



. 4 31. 



. 30. 



. 4 86. 



. 4 30. 



. 27. 



. 4 37 



.12 29 12 12 



14. 

 8 12. 

 810. 

 8 IG. 

 8 15. 

 4 12. 



. 4 

 . 8 

 .12 

 .13 

 . 8 

 . 



. 22. 

 . 4 33. 

 . 4 39. 

 . 23. 

 . 4 37. 

 . 17. 

 .12 30. 



12. 

 Oi 7. 

 013. 

 8i 9. 

 6. 

 4 G. 

 13. 



. 

 . 4 

 . 4 

 . 8 

 . 4 

 .12 

 .12 



Total 177.... 4 



Average per hive 11.... 13 



Buried. 



No. of 

 Hive. 



Nov. 13. 1 Mar. 14.1 Loss. 



I I 



lbs. oz. 'lbs. oz. lbs. oz. 



B. 1 42 12 35. 



B. 2.. 



B. 3.. 



B. 4.. 



H. 5.. 



B. 6.. 



B. 7.. 



B. 8.. 



B. 9.. 



8 37. 



'47 



45 8 34 



'48 12 39 8 



!42 12 3G 4 



147 13 38 8 



'41 8 33 4 



'30 8 21 4 



28 433 4 



13 9. 



8 11. 



8! 9. 



6 



9 



9 



9 



G 



.12 

 . 

 . 4 

 . 8 

 . 4 

 . 4 

 4 

 



Total 77. 



Avei-age per hive 8., 



. 8 

 .10 



