1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



that. No increase to mention. Sold about three 

 thousand five hundred pounds honey. 



Spring of 1872, lost three and sold three. Have 

 now seventy-one, so that we have increased about 

 thirteen, and taken about thirty five hundred 

 pounds of honey as last year, and they have 

 nearly enough now to winter, if permitted to 

 have their natural stores. 



We afterwards found our queen worker in the 

 hive ; she destroyed the cell we introduced, but 

 had long ceased laying, and so we were obliged 

 to " skeese " her after all, which we shall do in 

 future with such, " earlier in life." 



The queen we mentioned sometime ago as lay- 

 ing so few eggs during the three years we kept 

 her, and that she had been replaced by what Mr. 

 Price would call a natural queen cell, we prom- 

 ised to report. Well, her royal descendant was 

 just about as good as her mother, and no better, 

 so there is one experiment to show that qualities 

 are inherited. 



Mr. Thomas Pierson, Ghent, Ohio ,asks, "at 

 what time do you reduce from two 1 *aonc-story 

 hive? Do you give all the brood to the bees? 

 Where do you keep your combs? and -do you 

 smoke them with brimstone ? If honey in the 

 combs, do you extract it ? How about preserv- 

 ing them, or keeping them from ants, if honey 

 is not extracted ?" 



We answer all by saying, that we leave combs 

 above until about November 1st, and then re- 

 move them, taking as much drone comb as we 

 can, and have no trouble in getting all brood in 

 below. We put the combs and honey, if there 

 be but little, into hives, shutting them up close, 

 and have no trouble in keeping them safe until 

 May, without further "attention. Our new hive 

 is admirable for this, as it is perfectly tight, and 

 can be piled up in a solid shape, taking but little 

 room when the covers and bottoms are all left 

 off, except one on top and bottom of the whole 

 pile. 



As we like to mention everything new in bee- 

 culture that is good, we must say that Gray & 

 Winder's queen cages have given us much satis- 

 faction. We also find their wax extractor very 

 convenient. 



In our last, we perhaps made rather too hard 

 a criticism on Adair's Progressive Bee-culture, 

 and think it due him to say, there is much that 

 is good in it ; yet we should call it Z7?i-progres- 

 sive Bee-culture, on the whole, and it is so 

 much an advertisement for a patent hive, that it 

 seems it should be furnished gratuitously, as 

 should all books, in our opinion, that are written 

 in the interest of any patented article. Are we 

 queer or peculiar in our ideas ? Mr. Adair's 

 articles on Transactions of N. A. Beekeepers' So- 

 ciety, we think much more valuable than Pro- 

 gressive Bee-culture. 



Mr. Adair has given us many things that are 

 valuable, and we hope to hear from him often. 



We suppose it is well understood, that the 

 simple hive we have described, is as much a 

 Langstroth hive as the usual form, and that it 

 cannot be used by those possessing no right, 

 without infringement. 



Mr. L. cautioned us some time ago about 

 recommending such a brief Torm of a hive until 



we had more fully tested them. And we can 

 only add, as we said elsewhere, that after using 

 over a dozen this summer, in every contingency, 

 we challenge the beekeepers of the world to tell 

 us what necessary operation in bee-culture, the 

 simple hive just described does not admit of. 



Some one asks about knives. We prefer a very 

 thin, sharp blade, and never use hot water. The 

 point is first slid under the £aps, and they are 

 then sliced from the under side, so as to leave 

 the cap in an entire sheet, in its original place, 

 until it comes off all at once. If the knife is 

 very thin and sharp, the sheet of caps does not 

 stick to it at all. 



Mr. Quinby has recently sent us a knife with 

 a curved point, for uneven combs, but we should 

 prefer to use the straight blade, and slice down 

 the crooked combs until the caps were built 

 nearly level. 



Of course, we have the blade bent at the han- 

 dle, but so thin that a little pressure springs it 

 'straight whenever we wish to reach down into a 

 hive to loosen attachments, etc. 



To the many kind friends who have written 

 us, that we are unable to answer other than 

 here, we tender our sincere and kindest thanks. 

 We have endeavored to make this article answer 

 as many of your questions as possible, and we 

 would suggest that many, very many of our cor- 

 respondents could write if they would, much for 

 the Journal that would be of both value and in- 

 terest. We know our editor would be pleased 

 to hear from you all, and it may be, that after 

 this, he will be pleased to hear a little less from 

 your old friend 



Novice. 



[Translated from the Bienenzeitung.] 



The Theory of Wintering. 



It is well known that each living organism, if 

 it will exist in a healthy condition, must live in 

 a known temperature. The narrower these 

 limits are drawn, the less developed and self- 

 sustaining will be the life of the organism, or in 

 other words, the smaller will be the centre of the 

 nervous system. 



While man, whose nervous system stands 

 highest in devolpment, and who has the most 

 fully developed brain of all the creatures of the 

 earth, is not only able to live in all degrees of 

 latitude, but also able to endure a variation of 

 temperature of 105° R. ; while most insects being 

 brainless, and especially bees, can hardly endure 

 a variation of 40° R, as they die from cold at 6° 

 R , and from heat at 46° R, 



Thus the first winter that would pass over our 

 Temperate Zone would destroy almost all the 

 insects, had not providence provided for their 

 preservation. There are four methods of pres- 

 ervation : 1st. In the egg; 2d. In the larva, to 

 which belong all those insects requiring two or 

 more years for their development ; £d. In the 

 chrysalis ; 4th. The developed insect. The 

 most of those belonging to this latter class pass 

 the winter in a state of torpidity. 



To this latter class belong the bees, and it is 

 well known that these, in order that their de- 



