using a piece about thirty inches long, one 

 end of which is bent over three inches at 

 right angles and hammered about three- 

 eighths of an inch wide. If after long con- 

 finement to the hive I discover signs of 

 dysentery, 1 place a small piece of sponge 

 saturated with Bromo Chloralum in the 

 entrance and treat any soiling about 

 entrance or bottom-board with a solution of 

 same. As snow falls it is packed around 

 the hives, shoveling from between rows, this 

 generally leaves the ground free from snow 

 in front of the hives when warm enough for 

 the bees to fly. When such an opportunity 

 is afforded after long confinement, the pro- 

 tectors are removed from the entrance, also 

 covers removed at times to allow the sun's 

 rays directly on brood-chamber, thus length- 

 ening time of flight. I have also placed litter 

 of straw in front of hives. The more quiet 

 bees are kept, after going into winter quar- 

 ters, the smaller will be the consumption of 

 honey and loss of bees ; so that excepting 

 these occasional purifying flights, they are 

 not disturbed, care being taken never to jar 

 the hives when working around them. 



4th. As soon as the bees fly freely in 

 spring the hives should be examined and 

 all queenless colonies united with weak 

 one, combs exchanged between those having 

 an abundance of stores, and those needing 

 them, colonies that have suffered from 

 dysentery, the combs and bees are trans- 

 ferred to a clean hive giving them a comb 

 of sealed brood from a healthy colony, at 

 same time, if much reduced in numbers. 

 This soon affords healthy bees, and may be 

 the means of saving them. The hive from 

 which the bees have been removed is scraped 

 and treated to a solution of Bromo Chlora- 

 lum. 



In Western New Vork the bees went into 

 winter quarters about the 1st of December, 

 and were confined to the hive until the 9th 

 of March. In al 1 our experience in wintering 

 bees, we never suffered so small a loss as 

 during that time. They had good flights on 

 the 9th and 10th of March, the hives being 

 unusually populous. It became cold on the 

 11th, continuing so as to keep the bees con- 

 fined to the hives another month. Had they 

 been afforded flights at intervals of a week 

 or 10 days succeeding their flights on the 

 9th and 10th of March, or had' they been 

 confined to the hive without any flight from 

 1st of December up to the 10th of April, my 

 opinion is, there would not have been such 

 a heavy loss of bees. I do not remember of 

 more than two colonies being affected be- 

 fore the flight in March. A week afterwards 

 the bees showed great uneasiness, and in 

 ten days they were soiling the entrance, 

 their power of retention was weakened, and 

 with distended abdomens they sallied out 

 only to perish in the chilly air. This state of 

 things continued until the 10th of April, 

 when good flights were afforded. But how 

 changed the condition of the bees since 

 their March flights ; comparatively few had 

 increased in numbers, the majority having 

 weakened and a number dead. 



In conclusion I would say that with my ex- 

 perience in wintering bees on their summer 

 stands, I am more successful when the fol- 

 lowing conditions are obtained from prepara- 

 tion or favorable conditions of temperature : 



1. A prolific queen and an abundance of 

 bees hatching in August and September. 



2. Passage ways through the combs for 

 the bees, and empty cells on central combs 

 for the cluster. 



3. Properly packed around and over the 

 brood chamber with ventillation at ends of 

 cap and protection at entrance of hive. 



4. That with the exception of an occa- 

 sional purifying flight the bees are kept as 

 quiet as possible. 



5. That after months of confinement to 

 the hive, the bees should have several 

 flights at intervals of a few days, in order to 

 preserve a healthy condition of the feces, 

 thereby insuring the apiarist against los.s by 

 disease. J. E. Moore. 



Byron,- N. Y. 



J. E. Hunter, Iowa, after four years' 

 experience, is satisfied that cellar- win- 

 tering is the only safe plan. 



James Heddon, Michigan, is satisfied 

 it makes no difference whether the 

 combs are rilled with honey or empty ; 

 he would rather have old bees than 

 young ones to winter over ; he believed 

 that the death of bees in the spring 

 was almost wholly due to a disease 

 called bee cholera. He had very little 

 confidence in partial experiments. He 

 had once fed 16 colonies of bees through 

 winter on sugar and would believe that 

 this had been very beneficial to them, 

 but that he happened to have 17 other 

 colonies in the same cellar which had 

 received no sugar, and they came 

 through equally well. He related sev- 

 eral other instances in which conflict- 

 ing results had been reached under the 

 same method. He thought poisonous 

 honey was the cause of bee cholera. 



A. A. Winslow, Wisconsin, had met 

 with much better success by packing 

 with chaff for winter, and leaving on 

 the summer stands. 



E. D. Godfrey, Iowa, has wintered 

 on summer stands for ten years, and 

 has not lost a colony. His plan is to 

 drive stakes around and within six or 

 eight inches, then fill in with hay or 

 straw, and cover over to keep rain out. 



A. J. King, New York, thought win- 

 tering on the summer stands was fast 

 becoming the most popular method, 

 as much labor was involved in carrying 

 bees in and out of doors, and that the 

 jarring incident thereto was calculated 

 to worry and alarm them. 



Mr. Cheney, of Michigan, decidedly 

 preferred a good dry cellar. He thought 

 an insurance agent who would take 

 risks on bees in Michigan, either in or 

 out of doors, could do a good business. 

 He would pay 50 cents a colony for 

 packing and insuring on summer 

 stands. 



J. Lee Anderson, Illinois, wintered 

 130 colonies in the house, and lost only 

 1 . His neighbors lost largely out doors. 



