1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



253 



considerable quantities of it, and in many locali- 

 ties there was considerable late thin honey stored, 

 and again in many cases, the bees were left on 

 tlieir summer stands, improperly prepared for 

 winter, and the winter set in extra cold and 

 early. The hives were filled with frost in every 

 part (except in the cluster of bees), caused by 

 the breath of the bees, and the first moderate 

 weather melts and moistens up the hive, and also 

 the honey to a certain extent. 



Now, in reply to the note on pao;e 313, we 

 never tried emptying their honey, only suggested 

 the plan. Our suggestions to correspondents 

 are : If the cholera, or bee disease, as you call 

 it, is caused by the insect honey stored in the 

 hive, the remedy is to watch the sources from 

 which your bees are gathering their supply and 

 extract all this insect honey, and feed eitlier 

 good honey for winter, or sugar syrup. If caused 

 by thin watery lioney, extract all and evaporate 

 by heat and feed it back again. I hold that 10 

 lbs. of good thick honey is better than 30 lbs. 

 of thin, watery stuff; or, in other words, 10 lbs. 

 of good lioney, of the proper density, will go 

 further towards wintering a swarm of bees than 

 30 lbs. of thin, watery honey. We have actu- 

 ally wintered swarms on the summer stands in 

 an open bee shed and in an old-fashioned straw 

 hive, when we lived in Lower Canada, where 

 they were confined to the hive by the weather 

 from the 1st of October until the 20th day of 

 April (nearly 7 months), and at times during the 

 winter the mercury was 40" below zero. Don't 

 tell us that bees freeze to death in cold weather, 

 when they are in a proper condition, for we shall 

 doubt your word after our experience, even worse 

 than Novice doubted ours. On their first flight, 

 the bees did not even sjjeck the snow one parti- 

 cle. We have wintered on the summer stands 

 in Wisconsin, with just as good results in the 

 Dirtch hive. Those bees were wintered on good 

 honey. We had no extractors in those days. 

 Honey gatliered in good weather, from white 

 clover in June, or from basswood in July, is 

 good enou,^h for bees to winter on provided it is 

 stored by a good strong stock, with plenty of 

 rrursing bees or evaporators. For in such a stock 

 it is evaporated sufficiently before being sealed 

 up. The reader will recollect, that with our 

 first season's operations with the Hrusclika, we 

 stated that we had two stocks of black bees, 

 and their honey was tliin and watery, while 

 honey gathered from the same source and at the 

 same time by the Italians, was extra thick ; we 

 hastily and erroneously came to the conclusion 

 that the difference in the breed of bees caused 

 that difference, but another season's operations 

 has convinced us that it is or was the condition 

 that the stock was in at tlie time of gathering the 

 honey. For illustration, take a large stock of 

 all old bees (a stock that has been queenless for 

 quite a while, and that has but very few rrursing 

 bees aird iro brood), and they will gather Iroirey 

 rapidly in a flush time, birt their honey will be 

 thin arrd watery, or imperfectly evaporated. We 

 occasioirally have cool, wet seasons, and none of 

 the horrey that is stored is of good qrrality for 

 wintering purposes. I think it was Mr. Marvin, 

 of St. Charles, 111., that suggested, or had actu- 



ally tried the experiment of extracting as fast as 

 gathered, and evaporated by heat. At all events, 

 this experiment should be tried, as it would in- 

 increase the yield of lioney per stock wonderfully 

 in time of basswood bloom. In an article on 

 wiirtering bees on their summer stand, we will 

 give our views on preventing the accumulation 

 of frost in the hive. 



Elisha Gallup. 

 Orchard, Iowa. 



[For the American Bee Joiii-aal.] 



The " New Ilea, " Bee Hive. 



Mr. Gallup, intlie Journal for March, page 308, 

 in an article on his "Twin Hive," says: "Mr. 

 D. L. Adair has worked his sections in this 

 manner for years, if we rightly understand him." 

 With some little diiference in details, I have, 

 and it gives me pleasure to confirm most of the 

 conclusions that friend Gallup has arrived at, but 

 I think I have got the thing a little more perfect 

 thair he has. I, as long as two years ago, re- 

 moved all cross-partitions in the hive, and now 

 have one continuous chamber from 3 to 4 feet 

 long, having discovered that they destroyed the 

 unity of the colony, and that the queen would 

 confine herself to fewer sheets of comb, and at 

 the same time, and be more prolific when she 

 could have it all compactly together. Her brood 

 nest is made to occupy the middle of the cham- 

 ber-, while the ends are filled out with pure solid 

 honey. The centre board or division, I find to 

 be a positive injury, besides which, as Mr. Gal- 

 lup uses it, it is covered by xilbert Kelsey's 

 patent, which I used ten years ago, and dis- 

 carded oir account of this very division board. 

 The hive is simpler without the division, arrd 

 will be found to work better. Without going 

 into details, I will just say that this arrangement 

 of hive proves with me to be more perfectly 

 adapted to the instincts and wants of the bee 

 than any I have seen. It is the only reliable 

 plan for controlling swarming. It renders the 

 mel-extractor useless for securing the greatest 

 profit, as nearly as much honey can be secured 

 in the conrb as can be obtained by the honey 

 machine, and will sell for three times as much 

 per pound. By the use of the continuous cham- 

 ber, and the unity of the colony thereby secured, 

 I find I can secuie three times as much honey as 

 by any arrangement that requires the surplirs 

 to be deposited in boxes separated from the 

 brood nest. I have in press a small book, in- 

 tended to explain the theory on which the 

 " New Idea Hive " is based. 



D. L. Adair. 



Hawesmlle, Ky. 



We learrr from several prominent beekeepers 

 that if our suggestions in the last No. aboirt 

 using the Hrusclika^ to empty thin honey, iir 

 the Fall, could have been made last September, 

 many colonies which have died of dysentery 

 might have been saved. L. L. L. 



