74 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



gest that a building made frost-proof for winter- 

 ing, is, on many accounts, to be preferred to a 

 cellar, and as it can be located in the middle of 

 the apiary, is much more convenient. 



Many will remember the cases mentioned in 

 Mr. Langstroth's book, and elsewhere, of colo- 

 nies being wintered on four or five pounds of 

 sugar candy ; as this sugar candy is nothing more 

 than sugar in a state of great purity, it is nothing 

 so very strange after all. In fact it has been 

 recommended that this candy be made into 

 syrup, and we believe a quart was recommended 

 as sufficient. 



We, at one time, thought that cakes or bars of 

 A coffee sugar, laid on the frames under the 

 quilt, would be an easy way of preparing colonies 

 lor winter ; but in that case sufficient water might 

 not always be at hand, so that we think that, all 

 tilings considered, the syrup sealed up in the 

 combs the safest. 



Box honey, in our locality, has been a com- 

 plete failure, and in fact, is often so in seasons 

 that are not unfavorable. 



Even the Bay State hive failed to give a pound 

 of honey this present year or last, and no swarms. 

 It is owned by a friend who thinks that he might 

 have obtained a fair profit had he used the 

 extractor, as he did witli his other colonies, over 

 one hundred and fifty, and he is a very successful 

 beekeeper, fortius was one of more than average 

 strength. 



In answer to one query as to why he did not 

 use the extractor on it this season, he replied, 

 that it was that such large frames were so very 

 difficult to remove. We mention this because we 

 fear that the hive has been more lauded in these 

 pages than it deserves. 



It is not a fact that when large yields of box 

 honey have been secured, still larger would have 

 been received had the extractor been used ; per- 

 haps not seven times as much in all cases, as wo 

 have sometimes stated it, but enough more to 

 much more than make up the difference in 

 price. 



Mr. Chapman, on page 61, did not understand 

 us evidently. We meant to make our query 

 this : Has any one had cases of bee disease when 

 bees were able to fly daily? When confined to 

 the hive by cold weather in March and April, in 

 some cases, we have seen the same effect from it. 

 In regard to bee veils, we threw ours away 

 last spring, and have not used one since, and 

 must say we really believe we have been stung 

 less than when they were used, and we could 

 not now be induced to bother with them ; yet 

 stay ! if we were again obliged to use closed-top 

 American frames, a veil might be needed even by 



NoViCE. 



[For iho American Bee Journal.] 



How Gallup's bees wintered on their summer 

 stands. 



My large hives, I informed the reader, had a 

 chamber 8 inches high for winter purposes. I 

 renewed the honey boards and substituted a piece 

 of course bed ticking, and in two cases a piece 



of old thick bed quilt. This was placed directly 

 on the frames. 1 then filled the chamber full of 

 dry chaff, pressing it down. Dry saw dust is an 

 excellent material for this purpose. I nearly 

 closed the lower entrance, and left the inch hole 

 open. This hole is well up under the cover of 

 the portico and shaded by it. The object of 

 this hole, is in case the lower entrance becomes 

 covered with snow, the bees cannot smother, 

 and is what is called horizontal Ventilation. 

 Two hives I fixed hi this manner ; after putting 

 on the cloth or quilt, I made a frame just to tit 

 inside of the chamber, and nailed on it a course 

 cloth. After placing this on the chamber, crowd 

 down the frame and fasten it there. Now fill 

 your chamber with the dry material, and if at 

 any time you wish to examine the bees, lift off 

 the roof, and then by lifting off the chamber all 

 packing conies off with it. Now roll up the quilt 

 next to the bees and make your examination, re- 

 place all and your packing will be undisturbed. 

 Now the object of this dry material is not to 

 absorb the moisture from the bees, but to allow 

 this moisture to pass off instantly and surely, 

 and yet not allow the animal heat to pass off too 

 rapidly, or allow a current of air to pass up 

 through the cluster of bees. To explain this 

 more fully, suppose we make a tight box 8 feet 

 square, and fill it with dry material, and place it 

 over a strong stock of bees, in such a manner 

 that all the moisture from the bees passes directly 

 into this box, and there being no escape for the 

 moisture, it must be absorbed and retained by 

 this absorbing material. 



What would be the consequence in a long, 

 severe and steady cold winter. This whole box 

 of material would be one saturated mass of wet 

 and mould, and your bees would be in the same 

 condition. They would have the dysentery, 

 without a doubt, but place four inches of dry 

 sawdust over the bees and allow upward ventila- 

 tion above this saw dust, and all remains per- 

 fectly dry at all times and in all weathers. Both 

 the saw dust, and the comb, and the bees below 

 the sawdust, will stand any amount of cold, pro- 

 vided they are kept dry in the above manner. 

 To farther test this, suppose we lay a board fiat 

 on this saw dust for one night, when the ther- 

 mometer is 2 i degrees below zero. In the morning 

 we have perhaps an inch thick of frost on the 

 underside of this board. Now the sun conies 

 up, the weather moderates, and this frost melts 

 and runs down through the saw dust among the 

 bees. This is all wrong. Now remove the 

 board and with the inch holes in the ends o! the 

 roof (covered by wire cloth), our saw dust is 

 perfectly dry at all times and in all weather, and 

 so are the bees. No person could ask for bees 

 to come through in a better condition. Mine 

 wintered as above in my own hives during the 

 past winter. 1 have double-cased the ends of 

 all my large hives made this summer, and by 

 taking out the outside combs and substituting 

 frames tilled with straw or old clothes. A strong 

 swarm will winter without the consumption 

 of any more honey, than they would in a cellar 

 or special repository. 



All hives should be shaded from the warm, 

 sun shining directly on the entrance in winter 



