88 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 

 Straw Movable Comb Hive. 



In the Bee Journal for June 1S63, page 235, 

 Mr. J. Davis suggests a minute description of 

 the various kinds of hives iu use, with illustra- 

 tions. This would be instructive and useful. 

 As regards myself, I use a straw hive wi'.h suit- 

 able modifications to adapt it to the employment 

 of movable frames. Mr. Langstroth, on page 831 

 of his work on the "Hive and Honey Bee," 

 says : — "Straw hives have been used for ages, 

 and are warm in winter and cool in summer. 

 The difficulty of making them take and retain 

 the proper shape for improved bee-keeping, is 

 an insuperable objection to their use." Of the 

 many board hives annually patented, the bee- 

 keeper who practices artificial swarming, will 

 find in the Langstroth hive all he needs. The 

 comb frames supply all that is requisite for ra- 

 tional bee-culture. I have made many experi- 

 ments with comb frames, broader or narrower, 

 but am best pleased with a width of 1^ inch, 

 as Mr. Langstroth directs for the upper bar. 



Straw hives are unquestionably to be preferred 

 to others ; that is, if arranged for movable 

 combs. I am very far from desiring to claim 

 that I have the best hive in the world, as some 

 inventors seem inclined to do ; because I have 

 not yet actually tried every kind, nor even seen 

 them. My hive is made of straw, is square in 

 shape, and presents all the requisites demanded 

 in Langstroth' s work on bees. It is patented 

 and yet free, because I am a zealous friend of 

 bee-culture William Henchen. 



Bloomington Ferry, Minn. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees. 



I keep my bees in a deep dry cellar, where it 

 never freezes. It is a part of the house cellar, 

 partitioned off by itself ; and has one ventilator 

 from the top, extending outside. I carry the 

 hiv< s in during the first part of December, and 

 pack them about four inches apart, and some- 

 times two or three tiers deep The entrances 

 are left open, and the room kept dark and quiet. 

 A small trap is kept set, to catch the mice. 



In the fall of 1866, I carried in thirty-eight 

 swarms. The next spring was quite late, and 

 they were not removed until the 8th and 9th 

 days of April, win n they were all lively and 

 smart, except one swarm, which had starved a 

 few days before. 



In 1867, I carried in fifty-three swarms. One 

 of them had no queen, and less than a quart of 

 bees. These pei ished in a short time, leaving 

 the honey for my own use. The others all came 

 through iu extra fiue condition-, and were remo- 

 ved i.bout the 25th of March. 



I giV'S a little upward ventilation, when pos- 

 sible ; and always deem it essential to keep the 

 hives open. J. L. Hubbard. 



"Walpole, N. H. _' 



The sounds emitted by bees, are not produced, 

 as Gundelach states, by the attrition of the ab- 

 dominal segments on each other ; but by a for- 

 cible discharge of air through the spiracles of 

 the tracheae. 



Edgefield Junction, Tenn. 



I want the Journal continued, unci would 

 like to receive the first and second numbers of 

 volume third. I would not miss having the 

 Journal for five times its cost. I have Quin- 

 by, Langstroth, and other old works of this 

 country's production, and would take Huber, 

 or any other work of much interest on the 

 propagation and culture of the bee. I reside so 

 far from any taking much interest in the bees, 

 that I feel the want of all reliable information 

 possible. 



The queen from Italy, through Mr. Grimm 

 last fall, is doing finely, her progeny differing 

 from the queens from Mr. Langstroth and 

 others by having more or larger of the white 

 streaks on the after part of the abdomen. 



I have now seventy-four stocks in Langstroth 

 hives, and think all except four have purely im- 

 pregnated Italian queens, and those four are 

 hybrids. I can raise queens from two to three 

 weeks sooner here, than it can be done north 

 of Kentucky. I had young queens and drones 

 flying on the 10th of April , and have no black 

 bees nearer than one-and-a-half miles. All my 

 tested queens of this season are producing pure 

 workers One colony had sealed queen cells 

 on the 3d of April. I have found three young 

 queens in one stock at the same time ; and an 

 old and a young queen in each of two other 

 colonics. 



I have a young queen hatched May 20, wings 

 and all seemingly perfect, but she is not fertile. 

 Will she be likely to mate after so long a time ? 



T. B. Hamlin. 



June 22, 18G8. 



E3^"Young queens have been known to be- 

 come fertilized after much longer delay. 



CT 



Barnstable, Mass. 



I wintered fifteen stocks last winter, on their 

 summer stands. Most of them were in good 

 condition in the spring. Some of them are 

 pure Italians; the remainder more or less mixed. 



Early in March, one morning after a warm day, 

 I discovered on the platform, close in the rear 

 of one of my hives, a cluster of dead bees about 

 the size of a teacup ; and, on separating them, 

 found in the centre a well marked perfect Ital- 

 ian queen. I am unable to tell which hive 

 they came from, or what caused them to take 

 an outside berth so early in the season, when 

 the nights were po frosty. The colony in the 

 hive behind which they were found, has sent 

 out two swarms within two weeks. 



Having never before seen or read of such an 

 occurrence, I thought I would mention it. 



C. CONANT. 



Carthage, Ind. 

 Inclosed please find two dollars, for which 

 send me the fourth volume of the American 

 Bee Journal. I cannot afford to do without 

 it. I ga-ned more than enough honey from 

 one suggestion in the Journal than would 

 pay for it for ten years. 

 My bees are doing well. 



P. W. McFactbidge. 



