73 



TEIE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



two posts, which should be about 3 meters above 

 ground. To the top of these posts I nail fast a 

 piece of stout scantling, and then attach to this 

 the rafters, one end of which rests upon the 

 ground, and upon these are nailed the slats, the 

 whole having the appearance of a tent. Through 

 the top a small wooden chimney is placed for 

 ventilation. 



As the ground upon which the bee-house is 

 placed is very loose, it is n t easy to construct 

 the ventilating chamber suggested by Pastor 

 Scholz. I, therefore, leave this and the drain en- 

 tirely away, and instead thereof place at the end 

 of the bee-house a small air canal made of three 

 boards, two standing on their ends and the 

 third laid on top of them. When there is a se- 

 vere frost, I stop this canal with hay ; but in 

 mild weather it rem dns open. To prevent the 

 entrance of light into the chamber through this 

 air canal, I place a broad board in such a man- 

 ner before it, that it in no wise interferes wi;h 

 the draft. I then place upon this frame a layer 

 of reeds or straw, 3 meters thick, leaving one 

 end open for an entrance. This thatch usually 

 unites at the top. but is usually too thin at the 

 summit. This deficiency must be made up by 

 placing upon the ridge some cast away flax 

 stems, or potatoe stalks, which are readily ob- 

 tained in the fall. The house is then covered with 

 ground to the depth of about one half meter. 

 Care must be taken not to overload the frame 

 with ground. Should any of the cross pieces 

 show a tendency to give way, they must be 

 strengthened by supports. As the earth used 

 for the covering will be taken from the sides of 

 the bee-house, the small ditch caused by its re- 

 moval must be made to slant from the sides, so 

 as to prevent the earth from slipping from the 

 sides of the house. Thus built, the bee house is 

 ready for use. I reject altogether the layer of 

 dead leaves recommended by Pastor Scholz, 

 owing to their liability to take fire. 



Mice are apt in the fall to seek to make these 

 bee-houses their winter quarters Care must be 

 taken that they do not establish themselves in 

 it. For this purpose I place in the air chamber 

 a trap, where the mice are readily caught. My 

 bees have never suffered any from the attacks of 

 mice. The bees are placed in the house in this 

 manner : The small sizrd hives are placed at the 

 side, while the higher ones are placed in the cen- 

 tre where there is more room They are packed 

 in closely aside of each other and on top. When 

 all the stands have been safely placed in the 

 house, the entrances of the hives, which in 

 removal were closed, are again opened, and the 

 entrance of the bee house will be closed with 

 slats, covered with thatching and earth, just as 

 the other four sides. 



When 1 read of the v rious experiments as- 

 piring apiarians have made to successfully win- 

 ter their bees, I inwardly rejoice. I have had no 

 desire to try any other method. * * Should 

 I be successful in leading my brother bee-keep- 

 ers to adopt a safe" method of wintering their 

 bees, I shall have been richly rewarded. 



J. Ki.emke. 

 3/aurhe, February 0, 1873. 

 * Meter — A French measure, 39.37 inches. 



[For the America* Bee Journal.] 



THE THEORY OF WINTERING. 



Extract from Butler, 1634. A. D. 



At Scorpio, dress your hives for winter ; cloome 

 them close, mending all brakes and faults about 

 them ; and where the hackels be worn, set new 

 in their stead, that they may keep the hives dry 

 and warm. 



After autumn the sun is drawing near the 

 winter tropic, with a short and low course above 

 our horizon, there follow three still months, 

 (Sagittarius, Capricor?ius, and Aquarius), in 

 which, as the plants lie still in the earth, wait- 

 ing the sun's return to revive them, so do the 

 bees lie still in the hives, passing this fruitless 

 time in sleep and slumber. Yet so, that if there 

 happen a mild and warm hour, they presently 

 perceiving it, awake out of their swivet and hie 

 them out of doors with all alacrity, that they may 

 take the fresh air, recreate themselves, drink, 

 exercise their wings, carry out their dead, and 

 other noisomeness, and lighten their little bellies 

 which are oftimesso stuffed when the weather suf- 

 fereth them not to go abroad, that they can hold 

 no more, so loth are they to defile their nests. 

 And having thus refreshed themselves, at their 

 return they take their repast and then betake 

 themselves again to their rest. But many such 

 days, specially in time of scarcity, are dangerous, 

 as causing them to spend much of their store, 

 which in still frosts they would spare. 



The first foul a'td cold weather after mid-Sag- 

 gitar, shut the wickets close to save the bees 

 from the titmouse, and from the cold, as well 

 within the hive as without. For as the frost and 

 snow and cold winds, yea, and the ordinary dis- 

 position of the air, do chill many of them whom 

 the flattering sunshine enticeth abroad, so the 

 greaUfrosts, striking through the door, do freeze 

 the nethermost in the hive to death, so that by 

 little and little many stalls, in some winters, 

 have been thereby wholly destroyed, the which, 

 by keeping them warm, might have been pre- 

 served. But when you shut them in, be sure the 

 hives are always sure and close ; but the bees, 

 when they awake, will strive by all m ans to 

 come forth, though they never find the way in 

 again. But further experience of later times 

 hath taught, that bees are best preserved in 

 winter by a general restraint from the open air, 

 that they may pass this time of no gain in sleep 

 and slumber, with little waste. 



RESTRAINT IS EITHER SINGLE Oil DOUBLE. 



Double restraint is the shutting up of the bees 

 in the hive and of the hive in the house. Single 

 restraint is the shutting of them in the hive 

 abroad as they stand In both which are to be 

 observed the circumstances of the manner, the 

 time, and the place. 



For the manner of the double restraint, either 

 they must be carried in with the stool as they 

 stand, or be set upon a board or plank, closely 

 doomed, the hackle put off, and the door barred, 

 having not so much as a breathing place, with a 



