For the American Bee Journal. 



My Plan for Wintering Bees. 



DR. J. W. GREENE. 



I do not know that I have anything 

 new on the subject ; still, my mite of 

 experience may add. something to the 

 sum total— that we all need. During 

 the years 1877 and 1878, I gave my 

 assistant a per cent, of the honey and 

 increase of my apiary for his services. 

 Late last fall after " equalizing " the 

 colonies, we divided by lot, so that the 

 division was as impartial as it could 

 possible be. When winter set in I 

 packed my share in prairie hay against 

 the east side of a tight, high, board 

 fence, and he " let his alone " on their 

 summer stands. Nearly all of his be- 

 came more or less diseased and but a 

 single one of mine. He lost 11 out of 

 25 during the winter and spring, while 

 I lost but 1 out of 37. 



Bear in mind, now, these bees were 

 all the same kind, in the same kind of 

 hives, in the same condition, and in the 

 same apiary. The hives were all of 

 the modified Langstroth pattern, with 

 frames only 8 inches deep. The man- 

 ner of preparation and packing was 

 simple. I first made winter passages 

 by running a bayonet-shaped hickory 

 stick through the hive, comb, bees and 

 all from one side to the other, quickly 

 and easily done. Then I took a 2x4 

 scantling and set it on edge against the 

 fence ; then took another one and laid 

 it down flatwise 18 inches in front of 

 the first one. Then tramped prairie 

 hay down tightly between them ; then 

 set my hives close together on this hay 

 and these scantling ; then packed hay 

 between the hives, and between the 

 fence and the hives as tightly as I could 

 with a blunt end of a heavy hand-spike ; 

 then packed a second tier on the first, 

 placing the bottom-board of the second 

 tier directly on the thin honey board of 

 the first tier. I packed them in this 

 way three tiers deep, as tightly in hay 

 as it could be done, leaving the full 

 front of every hive exposed. The bees 

 were allowed' no ventilation at all, ex- 

 cepting the main lower front entrance, 

 and in some cases only one third of that. 

 They had no mats nor quilts about 

 them, and not a bit of upward venti- 

 lation. I have tried every plan of win- 

 tering that I have heard of, and this has 

 at least in one instance, beat all the 

 rest, decidedly. 



I forgot to state that after packing 

 the bees I covered the whole so as to 

 keep hay and hives dry. I shall winter 

 again on the same plan this year. I 

 also successfully wintered a number of 



weak nucleus colonies, of three and 

 four frames each, in one room of my 

 dental office. 



This has been the poorest season in 

 the last twelve, in this part of the 

 country, for bees; and yet we have 

 abundant crops of fruit, grain and veg- 

 etables of all kinds. It is a mystery. 



Chillicothe, Mo., Oct. 4, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Items from Mississippi. 



OSCAR F. BLEDSOE. 



I have been keeping a few colonies of 

 bees for several years past, so as by 

 practical experience in connection with 

 reading, to learn bee-culture and also 

 to demonstrate to myself whether or 

 not in this locality bee-culture can be 

 made pecuniarily profitable. I am en- 

 couraged to believe from the facts in 

 my own case, that the latter point can 

 be demonstrated in the affirmative. I 

 commenced the present season with 1 

 colony of Italians (obtained last year as 

 a nucleus) and 11 colonies of blacks ; 

 25 in all. In addition to a quantity of 

 brood to make nuclei and one large 

 natural swarm, the original Italian 

 colony, has given something over 100 

 lbs. of comb honey. 



I think it may be safely asserted that 

 a good colony of Italian bees, except in 

 a year of total failure, yield from 50 to 

 200 lbs. of honey, besides enough to 

 winter on. Of course they should be in 

 a good hive, and be properly managed. 

 The Italians being virtually moth proof, 

 the only draw back to successful bee- 

 culture here is removed. A swarm put 

 in a good hive is a fixture. There is no 

 necessity for removal or labored pre- 

 paration for winter. Only occasional 

 attention is needed, except in time of 

 swarming and harvest. 



The main point is of course the honey 

 resources, which are abundant. Pollen 

 is gathered every month except Nov. 

 and Dec. There are a succession of 

 flowers commencing with willow and 

 red-bud, followed by fruit blooms, 

 clover, poplar, and many others. There 

 are two plants that excel all others in 

 this locality and I will mention them 

 particularly. The first is what is called 

 by some the swamp woodbine. It grows 

 in rich bottoms, covers all small growth 

 in its reach and often climbs to the top 

 of the tall gums, throwing out its 

 graceful festoons of white flowers from 

 the outer branches. It blooms during 

 July— the yield being most abundant 

 about the middle of the month. There 

 are great quantities of it within bee 



