vious year. Cellar should be dry, dark and 

 quiet. Uses a straw-lined hive and mats on 

 top. 



Mr. Brown, of Waverly, has tried all 

 ways and finds it difficult to succeed every 

 winter with any one way. Thinks carrying 

 lights in cellar does not damage bees. Uses 

 all kinds of hives— tall, long, short, and 

 wide. Can see no difference in wintering. 

 Thinks best to put bees in cellar early, set- 

 ting the hives quite slanting. No upper 

 ventilation. L»ou't advise giving bees win- 

 ter flights. 



Mr. Lashbrook, of Waverly, said that he 

 sometimes failed in same plan that was suc- 

 cessful at other times. Attributes this to 

 the different conditions of bees. Advises 

 putting in cellar and keeping water in cellar. 

 Thinks it absorbs the moisture. 



Mr. Tracy, of Pearl Rock, wintered 24 

 colonies. Weighed them 1st of Nov. last, 

 and those put in cellar then consumed dur- 

 ing the winter 9 lbs. of honey. Some put in 

 cellar the last of November consumed 13 

 lbs. of honey. Others put in cellar 1st of 

 January consumed from that time 9 lbs. of 

 honey. 



Mr. Sturdevant, of Waverly, puts bees in 

 cellar early in Nov. and ventilates freely 

 from above. Has good success. 



Mr. Collins, of Waverly, uses American 

 and Langstroth hives. Winters in cellar. 

 Gives plenty of upward ventilation, often 

 taking off honey board and boxes. Prefers 

 the Langstroth hive. 



Mr. West, of Plainfield, winters in cellar. 

 Has, when bees became uneasy, put wire 

 cloth over entrance, but does not like the 

 plan. Does not believe in fastening the 

 bees in hive, or in much upward vintilation. 



Mr. Findley, of Waverly, has had good 

 success in wintering bees in cellar. Gives 

 plenty of upward ventilation. 



Of the different kinds of bees M. E. Scho- 

 field said he preferred the Italian to the 

 black bee. Are more peaceable and better 

 workers, though they dwindle more in spring 

 than the black for the reason that they are 

 more anxious to get out when the weather 

 is not suitable. With his management can 

 see no difference between black and Italian 

 bees about working in honey boxes. 



Mr. Bowen prefers the Italian to black 

 bees. Italians store more surplus honey. 



Mr. Lashbrook prefers the hybrid toeither 

 for honey. The nearer pure Italian the 

 more peaceable the bee. Prefers the Italian 

 to the black bee. 



Mr. Tracy has kept no pure Italian bees, 

 but has some hybrids, and found during the 



East season that the black bees have done 

 est, storing more honey in boxes. 

 Mr. West prefers the Italian bees. 

 Mr. Lashbrook does not like the general 

 use of the honey extractor and would only 

 use it as a tool in the apiary. 



Mr. Bowen agrees with Mr. Lashbrook in 

 the use of the extractor. 

 Meeting adjourned. 



Thos. Lashbrook, Chairman. 

 John Bird, Sec. pro tern. 



IIEiP Never undertake to keep many bees 

 until you have become familiar with their 

 nature and habits. 



N. E. Wisconsin Convention. 



[The full report is published in a pamphlet; 

 by request, we give the following condensed 

 report.— Ed.] 



On September 3d, 1878, the meeting was 

 called to order at De Pere, Wis. After 

 reading the constitution and hearing the 

 Secretary's report, new members were 

 admitted. 



After the President's address, which was 

 listened to with interest, the following 

 paper by Edwin France, of Platteville, was 

 read, on 



WINTERING. 



I have always wintered out of doors. I 

 first used the Metcalf hive, 12x12 inches, 8 

 frames, 17 inches high ; but after repeated 

 losses in winter I came to the conclusion it 

 was too small, and not sufficiently protected 

 for winter. I then made a hive 28 inches 

 square; put in a stationary partition one 

 way, thus making a hive 28x31% inches, 21 

 inches high, with movable ends. Tiiat 

 gives room for as many frames as a colony 

 of bees can use. To winter, set the frames 

 in the center— usually 10 frames ; put in 

 movable partition boards, and fill in at each 

 end with straw, also overhead with straw or 

 chaff. See Bee Journal, June No., page 

 184. I think I have a good chaff hive. 



I am satisfied that a tall hive is much bet- 

 ter to winter in out of doors, as the honey 

 will be mostly over the bees, and the 

 warmth of the bees will allow them to fol- 

 low it up as they use it ; when, if they were 

 in shallow hives, they would often eat their 

 way up to the top, and then starve with 

 plenty of honey all around them, in frosty 

 combs, that they could not use until the 

 weather got warmer, enough so to remove 

 the frost, and by that time the bees are dead. 

 But, for comb honey, if you winter in-doors, 

 a shallow hive, I think, would be best. 



SWAJiMING. 



I am a strong advocate of division, or 

 artificial swarming. Usually about the time 

 white clover comes into bloom— from June 

 lto 10. Take some of the strongest colo- 

 nies, and find the queen ; if her wings are 

 not clipped, clip them, then put her in a 

 cage. Next, take 2 good brood combs (some- 

 times I take 1 and sometimes 3, but usually 

 2), and with the combs, about a quart of 

 bees ; put the combs and bees in an empty 

 hive, anywhere in the yard ; then put in the 

 old hive as many empty frames as I took 

 combs out, and liberate the queen in the old 

 hive. To another colony I do as before, 

 putting the combs I take out with the others 

 in the new hive. I then work the third 

 colony in the same way, and by this time we 

 have 6 or more combs and bees in the new 

 one. Put the comb snug between the mova- 

 ble partition boards, and give them no 

 empty frame to build comb in until their 

 queen is hatched, for if they build any, it 

 will be drone comb. If there is too much 

 honey, extract it, and that will give them 

 work to do. Go over the whole apiary in 

 the same way, and make as many new colo- 

 nies as necessary, using the extractor if 

 there is much honey ; but I hardly ever use 



