210 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[March, 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Non-Flying Pertilization. 



Mu. Editor :— On page 177 present volume A- 

 B. Journal, W. R. King gives his mode of fertil- 

 ization in confinement, and says make the house 

 eight feet high, board floor and planked up two 

 feet high all round. 



I %vish to ask Mr. King why he boards up 

 the sides two feet? Would it not be as good 

 only, six feet high and cloth from bottom to top, 

 so that two widths yard wide cotton will do. 

 "Why the board floor ? Would not a smooth dirt 

 or sawdust floor do as well and cost less ? Also, 

 why does he put the dark calico over the top? 

 Would not the whole room be better of cotton ? 

 If the bright sun rays would attract the bees to 

 the top w^ould it not do to place it under tlie 

 shade of some thick shady tree. Again, why 

 place the old combs on a shelf filled with sweet- 

 ened waters? He says there is to be no bees let 

 fly in this house except the queen and drones ; 

 were queen and drones ever known to take food 

 away from home? Mr. King please tell us 

 through the Journal — next number — as we want 

 to be getting ready in time. 



H. Np:sBrT. 



Ci/nthiana, Harrison Co., Ky. Feb. 15, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Temporary Bee Eoom. 



Our cellar is a very wet one naturally ; in fact 

 there are two springs in its bottom, from 

 which water rises most of the time during the 

 year. Hence, at first thought one would con- 

 sider this a rather unfavorable place to rig up 

 for a winter depository for bees. But we had 

 the bottom covered four inches thick, with small 

 stones, and then cemented on top of this so that 

 we have a nice dry bottom now — the water 

 passing off to the drain between the rocks, 

 which afford complete drainage. It was not 

 convenient to have a room partitioned off per- 

 manently in our cellar, as it would be very 

 much in the way during summer ; so we have 

 made one temporarily, as follows : We put down 

 scantling, one inch by three, on the cement, 

 where we wanted our partition, and on this we 

 set our posts (joists 2x2), and nailed them to 

 the sleepers above ; then "too nailed" tliem to 

 the scantling at the bottom, leaving space for 

 door at one side. On these posts we nailed 

 pieces of 1x8 scantling, one piece at the bottom 

 the whole length, and 2 feet 9 inches above we 

 nailed another piece of the same, and so on to 

 the top. We then jnit on heavy untarred 

 sheathing paper, three feet wide, tacking it to 

 the pieces of scantling at each edge, just enough 

 to keep it from falling. When all was on, we 

 went over it and tacked on laths lenghtwise 

 where each two sheets met, which holds it firmly 

 in place. The door to close the entrance, is a 

 scantling frame covered with the paper, like the 

 walls. A wooden tube lets in air from outdoors, 

 while an eight inch funnel (made by bending a 



piece of the same sheathing paper up, and 

 securing it in place by driving small tacks 

 through the jjaper into a narrow strip of wood 

 along the inside,) passes from the bee-room up 

 into the room above, and connects with the flue 

 of a chimney. Shelves are arranged in the 

 inside, on wliich our bees are passing the winter 

 in perfect quiet, and enjoying a clear, dry and 

 wholesome atmosphere. A man will take the 

 whole thing down in two hours in the Spring, 

 and pack it away for another winter. 



Cost of the Stuuctukes. 



20 yards of paper 75 cents. 



50 feet joist and scantling.. 75 " 

 1 dav's work of man 1 50 



Levant, Me., Dec, 1871. 



$3 00 

 G. W. P. Jerrard. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Answer to A. Grimm's Puzzle. 



Sometime last August I removed a fertile 

 queen from a nucleus for the purpose of rearing 

 another from a cell which 1 had ready to insert. 

 Next day I opened this nucleus to insert a cell, 

 and found the bees all quiet. I had not then 

 time to ascertain the cause of this quietness, but 

 inserted the cell. Two days after I opened the 

 nucleus again to see whether this cell had hatched. 

 The cell was destroyed, and the bees were all 

 quiet. I then made an examination, and on the 

 second frame found a well known queen with 

 defective wings laying jnofusely. I knew at 

 once where this queen came from. Four feet 

 directly in the rear of this nucleus stood another, 

 with a defective wing queen that could not fly. 

 As slie was a fine and large one I hated to kill 

 her, and while thus hesitating Mr. W. R. King 

 visited my apiary. I showed him this queen, 

 and told him my intention to kill her. He, how- 

 ever, advised me not to do it, but to pile saw 

 dust around that nucleus, or spread a cloth 

 around if I had not the saw dust. I did the 

 latter, and missing the queen from the nucleus 

 I immediately inserted a cell in it, thinking that 

 she was lost. But I was glad to find her again 

 and fertilized. 



I had a few daj^s previously received some drones 

 from Mr, Nesbit, and distributed them among 

 these nuclei. This queen must doubtless have 

 met the drones on the ground, for I pitched her 

 up in the air to show a company of visitors that 

 she could not fly. I have her now in a full stand, 

 and saw her last week all right. The queen I 

 took out of that nucleus was sent off. 



R. M. Argo. 



Lowell, Ky., Jan. 9, 1872. 



The Michigan farmer, who, in addition to his 

 profits from produce, made this season, three 

 thousand dollars by the sale of his honey, has 

 derived as much income from mere beemg as 

 from actual doing. 



