184 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Feb. 



gloomy aspect of things, and they tell us of suc- 

 cess and large yields of honey. I also will give 

 you an item. We live in a prairie country with- 

 out any grove within available distance, and that 

 of a poor kind for honey. Almost all the land is 

 cultivated in corn, and white clover is only just 

 beginning to spread in the streets, lanes, and the 

 small pieces of land which are kept for pasture. 

 So our location cannot be considered good for bee 

 culture, yet my bees have more than doubled them- 

 selves in number and have a good supply for win- 

 ter. I tried one stand by making it into a two- 

 story hive. The size of the hive and frame the 

 same in both upper and lower stories. When I 

 took off the upper hive it contained about eighty 

 pounds of honey. This top hive was put on late in 

 the season, and after I had taken out two frames 

 of brood to form nuclei to raise queens. This 

 experiment is satisfactory. I intend to adopt this 

 plan more generally and test it more thoroughly 

 next season. 



I have a bone to pick with Novice. He has gone 

 to work and made a hive so much like the one I 

 use that T shall not apply for a patent. But on the 

 whole there is not much harm done, for I never 

 intended to apply for one; there are too many 

 already. 



And now, Mr. Editor, and bee-keepers in gen- 

 eral, I will take time by the fore top in another 

 matter. I see by the Journal that some one has 

 taken out a patent for a compound to smoke or 

 stupify bees. I will give you one that I have been 

 using for two seasons, with good success. Take 

 one-half ounce of pure saltpetre and put it into a 

 pint of water, let it stand on the stove until it is all 

 dissolved ; then take cotton rags sufficient to 

 absorb all the liquid, squeeze out to prevent drip- 

 ping, then dry the cloth and it is fit for use. A 

 piece four or five inches square put into a smoker, 

 or rolled up so that you can blow the smoke into 

 the hive, will be sufficient for one hive, and it may 

 be, the first time you use it, you may think, too 

 much. But if you find many, or nearly all the 

 bees, laid on the bottom board, there will be no 

 harm done. They will soon come to when they get 

 the fresh air This is always ready for use. and 

 can be carried with you anywhere. 



The theory that queens only mate with the drone 

 once isn't always correct. I have raised many 

 queens the past season. One day as I stood by a 

 nucleus, I saw a fine young queen come out, and in 

 a short time return and enter. I saw evident 

 signs that she had mated with the drone. The 

 next day I saw her come out again and return as 

 before, showing the same signs as on the previous 

 day. In three days she was laying, and I can dis- 

 cover no difference in her progeny. They are as 

 good now, and no better, that I can discover, than 

 the first she produced. [This is by no means con- 

 clusive disproof of the theory in question. — En. A. 

 B. J.] 



The best method of wintering bees seems to be 

 as far from being settled as ever. The old proverb, 

 " In the multitude of counsellors there is safety," 

 may be correct, if you only knew whose counsel to 

 follow. But among the various opinions of writers 

 on this subject the begianer gets confused, and has 

 to follow his own judgment in the case. There is 



certainly variety enough to satisfy a reasonable 

 person, out of which to choose. We have indoor 

 and outdoor wintering in all supposable varieties, 

 and under all supposable circumstances, and still 

 are not satisfied. 



I will give a plan which I have followed for two 

 winters, with good results. I cut a hole in the 

 bottom board four by six inches, and cover it with 

 wire cloth, so that no bee can get out. Tack it on 

 the inside of the hive. Fasten the top and bottom 

 boards on firmly, so that no bee can get out, then 

 take the hive into your winter depository and turn 

 the hive bottom up where you wish it to stand. If 

 some of the uncapped honey should run out of the 

 cells no great matter, the bees will soon attend to 

 it, and put it where they want it for winter. But 

 if you adopt Novice's plan, and have your top and 

 bottom boards both alike, without any projections, 

 you need not turn the hive bottom up, but only put 

 the bottom board on the top, then you will have all 

 the ventilation you need. If you think this too 

 much, a piece of thin cloth can be laid over the 

 vent hole to check the escape of the heat. Will 

 Novice, or some one else, try this, and report 

 results. I find this to be a good plan for summer 

 ventilation, as the hive can be set close down to 

 the bottom board, leaving the entrance only large 

 enough for the bees to pass in and out freely. It 

 prevents robbers and millers from entering the 

 hive, as the bees will guard the small entrance 

 against all these intruders. John Luccock. 



Chmoa, McLean Co., III., Nov. 14, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.) 



Travel in Italy, 



On a nice morning in the latter part of August, 

 I left the train of the Milan and Alexandria rail- 

 road at Calcabbabio, in company with Sartori. We 

 had left Milan two hours before. When passing at 

 Villa Maggiore I admired the exterior of its church, 

 representing on a small scale the celebrated cathe- 

 dral known under the name of Dome of Milan 

 (Duomo di Milano). Sartori informed me that the 

 monks who possessed Villa Maggiore, before they 

 were deprived of it by the king galcmt-uomo, had 

 accumulated in the church treasures of painting 

 that were envied even by royal museums. I 

 regretted that, being on a business trip, I could not 

 have the pleasure of tarrying to look at these 

 marvels. 



The nice little city of Pavia afterwards showed 

 us its walls and fortifications, together with a 

 manoeuvre field in which soldiers were seen parad- 

 ing. A little further, on the Po, a company of 

 soldiers were building a boat-bridge, while another 

 company were taking off a similar bridge that had 

 been built on the previous day. The river is 

 divided in several branches near Pavia. Across 

 one of these I noticed a railroad iron bridge. I 

 remarked that I had seen a similar bridge near 

 Pittsburg. ;t You are not mistaken," said Sartori, 

 " this bridge was manufactured in America; they 

 call it, the American bridge." 



From Milan to Pavia the meadows and corn fields 

 were intermixed with rice fields. Beyond the Po, 

 the land being more hilly, the rice fields disappear 

 and vineyards are to be seen. 



