8 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



to apply it to the honey-bee. Both of the means 

 through which he attempts to show that natural 

 selection acts in saving skilful builders — the 

 saving of honey in making cells of the best pat- 

 tern, and the necessity of the honey so saved, for 

 winter use — are here wanting ; and yet the wasps 

 are as skilful mathematicians as though the ex- 

 istence of the species depended upon an angle of 

 the cell. 



The plain truth is, we have bees and wasps 

 building in many different ways. Each method 

 is connected with a peculiar structure and a 

 whole train of instincts." 



[For Wagner's American Bee Journal.] 



Successful Destruction. 



As I have achieved a remarkable success in 

 reducing the number of my swarms from about 

 fifty to two in a single season, I will give as 

 nearly as I can the means by which it was ac- 

 complished. In the spring of 1870, I had eight 

 rather weak swarms, which I increased that 

 season to twenty-five, making the last swarm the 

 last of August. Of course they were weak, and 

 were reduced to sixteen by death. With these 

 sixteen I commenced the spring of 1871, de- 

 termined not to continue making swarms so 

 late that they would not have time-to strengthen 

 up for winter. So I stopped multiplying about 

 five weeks earlier than the pravious year, mak- 

 ing eighteen swarms in July, closing up the 21st. 

 These of course could strengthen upon buck- 

 wheat and fall flowers. But the drought dried 

 up the sources, and no honey was obtained after 

 about July 12th. Within about fifty rods of 

 the apiary was an extensive cider mill, where 

 the bees perished in large numbers and where 

 they obtained what is considered by some a 

 fertile source of dysentery, cider. 



So I had about fifty swarms, all weak except 

 one which had combs running crosswise, and 

 consequently had no frames taken out. For 

 some reason, I hardly know now whether through 

 stupidity, want of time or carelessness, I did not 

 feed them till quite late. In this condition, 

 weak in bees and stores, with cider and honey 

 unsealed, they were left on their summer stands 

 until December 10th, when after a couple of 

 weeks of very severe weather, thermometer as 

 low as 10 degrees below zero, they were put in 

 the cellar. For fear the treatment already re- 

 ceived would not be sufficient to demolish them, 

 the majority of them were left piled up in the 

 cellar without any ventilation. February 11th, 

 I took out five which flew a very little and I put 

 them back again. February 2M was a little 

 warmer and I took them all out finding twenty- 

 three alive. They flew somewhat and I left 

 them out. Soon after a cold storm came on 

 them with snow a foot deep, and by the 1st 

 of April three were left, one with frames run- 

 ning crosswise apparently in good condition, 

 and two very weak, which I have to-day com- 

 menced to unite, finding it too slow work to 

 build up. 



Now, I think this is a case of successful de- 



struction, still if I had to do it over again, I am 

 not sure but I could do better. I think I could 

 kill the other three. 



For the benefit of any one who has not had 

 experience, I will give the following points to be 

 kept in view: 



Divide your hives constantly to their utmost 

 limit, so as to keep all weak, all the time, keep 

 them weak in stores as well as bees, and if you 

 feed at all let it be very late in the season. 



Let them stay on their summer stands until 

 winter has fairly commenced, then take them in 

 whilst they are frozen and bring them out again 

 in time to have two or three weeks of winter 

 weather. 



If you can think of some other stupid thing 

 to do, such as moving them about after they 

 commence to fly, setting honey near the hives 

 to induce robbing, &c, it will be an addition to 

 the above. It will be some help toward fulfil- 

 ling these conditions, if you have so much else 

 to do that you can seldom see your bees. 



C. C. MlLLEtt. 



Marengo, Ills. 



[For Wagner's American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees. 



Last fall we fed our bees with sugar-syrup 

 until each hive had about ten pounds supply, 

 and put them in our cellar bee-room December 

 1st, scarcely doubting that they would take 

 their annual nap and wake up in the spring as 

 usual, but a recent examination disclosed the 

 melancholy fact of eight stocks having starved 

 to death, a greater loss than we have experienced 

 for five years, and, of course, we felt correspond- 

 ingly gloomy about itj and perhaps we might as 

 well confess not a little mortified, too. Our bees 

 consumed so little honey in the winter of 1 870-71, 

 that we felt confident that ten pounds was all they 

 needed, and that the twenty -five pound theory 

 was all right for out-door wintering, but for a 

 repository ventilated like ours it was an unneces- 

 sary waste of honey. Well our heterodoxy in 

 this case cost us about $115, and with all due 

 humility we confess our blunder, and faithfully 

 promise never to knowingly undertake to winter 

 a full stock of bees on less than twenty pounds 

 of stores. 



As to the comparative merits of sugar-syrup 

 and honey, we are satisfied that there is little 

 choice between them for indoor wintering, when 

 the syrup is given freely and in season for cap- 

 ping. During the last four years we have 

 wintered several stocks on syrup alone with the 

 best results. 



Hereafter we shall adopt the suggestion of 

 Rev. E. L. Brigrg, and winter in November 1st, 

 as we are confident it will save honey, prevent 

 mouldy combs and consequent loss of bees. We 

 find much dampness and mould in all of the 

 hives that wintered with frost in them, while 

 those that were dry are now in the best possible 

 condition. In our latitude there are but few days 

 after November 1st warm enough for bees to fly, 

 while the nights are all cold and frosty, causing 



