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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



J^May, 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



Will some of the friends of the science of Api- 

 culture and the Bee Journal, have the kindness 

 to respond to the following through the Jour- 

 nal? 



Our bees, 60 colonies, were put into our win- 

 tering house, nice and dry, about the middle of 

 November, about two weeks earlier than usual, 

 on account of the severity of the weather. 



Oiir wintering house is constructed as follows : 

 It is 28 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 14 feet high, 

 outside measure ; having two walls of solid 

 straw 8 inches thick, and one wall of saw dust 8 

 inches thick between them, on all sides, and top 

 and bottom ; a hall across south end 6 feet wide, 

 made by a 4 inch partition of saw dust, sealed on 

 both sides with boards ; a board partition 

 through the bee room, lengthwise, dividing it 

 into two rooms, 6 feet wide, and 20 feet long, 

 10^ feet high, inside measure, two ventilators, 

 cue 4 by 3 inches, reaching from floor out at 

 roof, one 6 by 6 inches, reaching from ceiling 

 overhead of bee room out at roof, 4 shelves, 

 making room for 60 hives, or, if put on both 

 sides, 1311 hives in each room. On these shelves 

 we placed our 60 colonies, in double hives, that 

 is double case, leaving summer entrances open 

 about 1 inch long, | inch high, caps off", and 

 honey boards on, but ajar at one end about from 

 ^ to ^ inch, according to strength of colony. 

 Then a bit of thick rag carpeting over the honey 

 board. The temperature of the house has 

 ranged from 25 to 40 degrees, most of the 

 time stood quite evenly at 36 degrees. Our 

 March was so terrible cold, stormy, windy, 

 snowy and rough, also the first week in April, 

 that we could not remove the bees from their 

 winter quarters until April 5th. At this time 

 only 14 colonies were living, the balance having 

 mostly died, apparently with dysentery ; some 

 5 or 6 perished from want of stores, and, per- 

 haps twice as many more from some cause un- 

 known, as they did not show dysentery. The 

 colonies that survived were all among the weak- 

 est colonies put in in the fall ; which had been 

 divided and fed with coftee sugar syrup in the 

 fall, some 3 of the strongest colonies showed 

 dampness about mid-winter, and we gave more 

 vent. 



Now the question is, did these bees require 

 more vent, or were they too cold? to us it would 

 seem the former. What is the true principle 

 when dampness eff'ects a colony, should they 

 have more vent, or should they be kept warmer? 

 In the warmest summer weather our bees do not 

 suffer from dampness, though all upward vent 

 be stoitped. 



The long confinement was bad for them, but, 

 we have kept bees confined five months with 

 perfect success in a warm, dry cellar. 



We once bought a third swarm, very strong in 

 numbers, but liaving the hive not more than 

 cue-fourth full of comb, and not more than five 

 pounds of honey; we set it in our bee house, aper- 

 lectly dark one, covered it with an old carpet, set 

 a quart basin of honey in the hive close up to 

 the bees ; we sup[)lied this as often as it became 



emptied. During the winter this colony filled 

 its hive with comb, and doubled or thribbled its 

 numbers, and did not lose a single handful of 

 bees. It was confined to the hive over 4^ months, 

 swarmed in early May, and gave us 25 lbs. of 

 box honey from apple blossoms in May. This 

 was in the eastern part ot Columbia Co., New 

 York, just on the Massachusetts line. 



Giles B. Aveky. 

 Albany Co., N. T. 



[For the American Bee Joiunal.] 



Communication. 



"Why don't they stop that pesky Bee Jour- 

 nal ? Here it comes the second year, and I 

 haven't got a single new idea, have you?" 



"Well, I think I have." 



"What is it?" 



" Well, you see, I am making the glass honey 

 boxes described by Mr. Woroen, and I consider 

 that article alone worth the price of one year's 

 subscription." 



" Well, I declare, they are nice, but wliere do 

 you find the article?" 



'• In No. — , Vol. — , one of the papers you 

 have been taking, and no better, perhaps, than 

 most of the others you have taken." 



The above is the substance of a conversation 

 with one of your subscribers more than a year 

 ago, reminding me of something I read when a 

 boy, about casting pearls before swine. 



The last season here was tiie worst I ever 

 knew for bees. In my home apiary of 145 stocks 

 of bees, I did not have a single swarm, and got 

 but 1,659 lbs. of honey. I have succeeded in 

 wintering most of them, losing but one out of 

 145 ; all except 7 were wintered on their sum- 

 mer stands. 



I use the Langstroth hive, with frames IH by 

 9j inches in the clear, running from front to 

 rear-, loose bottoms, and one end to open about 

 f the distance from the top, and movable par- 

 titions. 



For surplus honey I use glass boxes of various 

 forms and sizes, and also frames S| by 5j inches 

 in the clear, 1| inches wide, made of two pieces 

 without nails, the top \ inch thick ; the piece 

 forming the sides and bottom ^ inch thick, and 

 cut nearly through with a V in two places for 

 the bottom corners where they are benr. at right 

 angles, and fastened to the top by gluing them 

 in a groove. A frame this size weighs 2 ounces, 

 and contains 2^ to 3 lbs. of honey, and is the 

 most salable form I have ever found. 



I know not whether the proceedings of the 

 annual meeting of the Beekeeper's Association 

 of Central Illinois have been sent to you for 

 publication, if not, I would say that the pesky 

 i Bee Journal was commended above all others. 

 j Enclosed tind the needful for my own and two 

 new subscribers. 



Yours truly, 



Bloomington, March 1, 1872. 



J. L. WOLCOTT. 



