them came to life and flew to the win- 

 dow, but I very much doubt if I had 

 left them out another night whether 

 any of them would have revived. 

 Huntsville, Ala. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How I make Shipping Crates. 



BY W. PIERCE. 



Instead of the usual method of screw- 

 ing the top on the crate, I have made 

 my covers an inch longer than the 

 crate and nailed firmly at each end to 

 the edge of a piece one-half inch thick 

 and two inches wide, or, as wide as the 

 upper side piece, with which it will thus 

 correspond. 



This will prevent the cover being 

 split, and, if properly clone, will fit 

 nicely, keeping its place well when not 

 fastened. To fasten, put a single screw 

 through the middle of each of the end 

 pieces, reaching well into the end of 

 the crate. This will hold the cover 

 firmly in place and at the same time 

 form the best of handles, without saw- 

 ing them in the end of the crate. The 

 advantage of having but two screws to 

 remove to open the crate, will be found 

 a great convenience. 



The best way I have found of putting 

 the top together to be certain of' a per- 

 fect fit, is to first screw the cleats to 

 the upper edge of the ends of the 

 crate, flush with the top, then rest them 

 on two blocks placed just far enough 

 apart to permit the body of the crate to 

 slip between them and high enough that 

 the bottom may not touch the bench or 

 plank to which the blocks are fastened. 

 The cover may then be nailed to the 

 cleats and the screws removed prepara- 

 tory to packing. 

 Garrettsville, Ohio. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Method of Wintering Bees. 



BY J. F. BLAISDELL. 



I have 50 colonies of bees. I have 

 kept bees for 12 years and after trying 

 various ways, I have succeeded in not 

 losing a colony by wintering for the 

 last 5 years, except 2 that starved, 

 through neglect. My method is to 

 carry them into the cellar when the 

 weather becomes cold ; about the time 

 that the snow comes to stay. For the 

 last 3 years this occurred about the last 

 of December. I think the later they 

 remain out in the fall, if not too cold, 

 the better. When I put them in I 

 raise them up and put an inch strip of 



wood under each side of the hive, to 

 let all the bees that die in winter drop 

 clear off the comb, so as not to mar it ; 

 then take the cap off, to give a free 

 circulation of air through the hive, and 

 I have no mouldy combs. I clear the 

 dead bees from under the hive tw r o or 

 three times, during the winter season. 

 The comb will not be mouldy, and the 

 bees keep healthy in damp cellars. I 

 have an open well in my cellar and give 

 no ventilation except what it gets by 

 the cellar door when we go down. The 

 themometer ranging from 42° to 45°, 

 which I think is about right for this 

 country. As the weather gets warm in 

 the spring I put another strip of wood 

 under the front and back, and put the 

 cap on, to keep them in, if they get 

 uneasy. 

 Fort Fairfield, Maine, Jan. 6, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Grape Sugar as Pood for Bees. 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



The manufacture of glucose is of 

 recent introduction in this country, 

 while I see, in the Maison Mustique, that 

 as early as 1830. glucose was extensively 

 manufactured with potato starch in 

 France. This kind of glucose is to-day 

 considered the best, and sells here higher 

 than corn starch glucose. 



Of course, such a cheap sugared mat- 

 ter, in a country like France, where the 

 duties on sugar are very high, could not 

 pass unnoticed by French bee-keepers, 

 as a cheap food for bees. But the re- 

 ports were not always encouraging, on 

 account of the impurities, such as sul- 

 phate of lime, sulphuric acid, or lime, 

 contained in glucose. Some bee-keep- 

 ers praise this food, while others com- 

 plain of having killed their bees with it. 

 Of course the difference came as much 

 from the difference in the purity of the 

 product as from the circumstances in 

 which it was used. 



Impure glucose, used as food in spring, 

 will do very little noticeable harm, if 

 we except the influence that it can have 

 on the strength and the health of the 

 young bees who were reared on such 

 stuff. But in winter, while the bees are 

 unable for weeks to void their faeces, 

 such feed may destroy whole colonies of 

 them. Such result is not to be feared 

 in France so much as in this cold cli- 

 mate. Never, in France, have I seen 

 bees unable to go out of their hives for 

 3 weeks at a time in winter. Yet French 

 bee-keepers seem to be reluctant to use 

 glucose. Mr. Hamet. publisher of the 

 French bee-paper, L^ Apiculteur , in his 

 Cours cT Apiculture, advises bee-keepers 



