48 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL- 



[August, 



New Bedford, Mass,, July 7.— Bees are doing 

 well at present, and are fjatherin"; honey rapidly from 

 white clover. After I get through M'ith my summer's 

 experiments with foulbrood I will give yon the results. 

 As I have had no new cases, I am getting short of 

 material. — E. P. Abbe. 



Elizabethtown, Pa., July 10.— Bees have done 

 very well here this season having stored large quanti- 

 ties of " surplus" from white clover and locust. — A. 

 Ebt. 



Lima, Ohio, July 12.— The spring lias been rather 

 unfavorable for bees. It commenced early, and dur- 

 ing fruit blossoms (which were abundant) ought to 

 have yielded well. But repeated frosts through April 

 and May destroyed all the saccharine matter the blos- 

 soms contained; and even with moderate feeding the 

 bees were not disposed to brood-raising. The conse- 

 quence was they were in no better (if in as good) 

 condition on the fust of June than on the first of 

 April. Up to this time, there has been little natural 

 swarming, especially among the black bees. The 

 weather is now unfavorable, being entirely too wet. 

 — S. Sanfokd. 



Ctnthiana, Kt., July 13. — Bees have not done 

 well here this year, on account of late frost cutting 

 otr all the locust bloom. Very few swarms, and but 

 little or no box honey. — H. Nesbit. 



East Liverpool, Ohio, July 13. — Bees have not 

 done very well here this summer, either in surplus 

 honey or in swarms. I have only heard of four 

 swarms in this vicinity. — A. J. Fisher. 



Cincinnati Ohio, July 14. — The honey season 

 around Cincinnati is poor, and makes queen-raising 

 very tedious. — A. Gray. 



The Bee-keepers. 



Meeting op the Central Illinois Association at 

 Lexington, 



Lexington, 111., July 13th. — The Central Illinois 

 Bee-keepers' Association met, according to previous 

 appointment, at Lexington, July 13th, in A. B. David- 

 son's hall. The meeting was called to order by the 

 President, S. C. Ware. D. J. Poor was appointed 

 Secretary ^jj'o tcm. J. L. Peabody, S. B. Ledgerwood, 

 W. G. Anderson, and W. Reynolds, were appointed 

 to present subjects for the afternoon discussion. 



Then followed a familiar discussion till the Com- 

 mittee reported the following: 



1. The natural and artificial swarming of bees ; 

 when and how it should be done, 



3. The use of the honey extractor, and the best 

 method of managing bees to obtain the greatest 

 amount of honey. 



3. The use of empty combs. 



4. Queen raising. 



5. The Italian and black bees. 



6. Bee pasturage. 



The Association then adjourned to meet at half- 

 past 1 o'clock p. M. 



At that time the meeting was resumed, and the dis- 

 cussion continued by S. C. Ware, J. L. Peabody, 

 Jacob Hefner, W. G, Anderson, W, Reynolds, J. V. 

 Brooks, and others. The meeting was largely at- 

 tended and enthusiastic, and a very decided impres- 

 sion made in favor of the Italian bees. 



Fourteen new members were secured. The speakers 

 being men of careful observation and extensive expe- 

 rience in bee culture, it was a meeting of great profit 

 to all present. 



Adjourned to meet during the week of our county 

 fair. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Winter Eepository. 



Now that winter is over, it seems proper for 

 us to review and note our successes and failures, 

 for future reference. 



First. — We find the American Bee Journal 

 what every bee-keeper should have, to be suc- 

 cessful, and especially beginners. 



Second. — It will not do to undertake, in this ■} 

 nortliern climate, to winter bees on tlieir sum- * 

 mer stands, with a hope of profit, This brings 

 us to the point — AVhat is the best way to con- 

 struct a repository that will not be as variable in 

 temperature as the wind blows in its changes? 

 We will give our plan, which we think is an im- 

 provement in ventilation ; and this may lead to 

 further explanation through the columns of the 

 Jouinal. 



Our plan is as follows : We dig into a side 

 hill a space thirteen by fourteen feet and seven 

 feet high, with an ante-room or entry in front, 

 four feet by ten — wherein we claim an improve- 

 ment. Between this ante-room and the bee-room 

 double doors are placed in a four-inch wall filled 

 in with sawdust. Joists and floor, with sawdust 

 over the whole. Rafters and roof covered with 

 dirt, and the sides banked up with dirt. The 

 ante-room in front is closed by a door set in a 

 four-inch wall filled in with sawdust. 



We ventilate by placing an eight-inch square 

 flue horizontally, leading into this ante-room at 

 bottom in front. Within this ante-room is 

 placed an eight-inch square flue vertically, near 

 the bee-room. The upper end is open near the 

 ceiling of the ante-room, and the lower end com- 

 municates with a covered trench, whicli runs 

 lengthwise under the bee-room. This covered 

 trench has inch holes eighteen inches apart, along 

 its length, to distribute the air equally in the 

 bee-room. Two four-inch square flues are placed 

 in the roof, one at each end, for the escape of air. 

 Also, a four-inch flue is placed in the roof of the 

 ante-room. All the flues have valves or slides at 

 their inner open ends, for the purpose of regulat- 

 ing the supply of air. 



The mode of ventilating is as follows : Fresh 

 air is admitted through the front flue into the 

 anteroom, which becomes a sort of reservoir for 

 it, equalizing its temperature as it ascends to the 

 ceiling, whence it descends through the vertical 

 flue into the covered trench, is distributed in the 

 bee-room, and passes out at the flues in the roof. 



We have wintered twenty colonies in this re- 

 pository, they remaining quiet as lambs without 

 any further care, with the tliermometer standing 

 at 35° above zero, without a variation of more 

 than one or two degrees, whilst outside it has 

 stood all the way from 24° beloic to bQ" above zero. 



Being only a beginner, we have written this to 

 learn, from more experienced bee-keepers, how 

 near we come to being riglit, 



Mmnesota. Lesage. 



We delayed inserting this article several months, 

 to have an illustration accompanying it engraved, 

 but failed to get it executed satisfactorily, and think 

 the plan will be sufficiently understood from the de- 

 scription. — Ed, / 



