THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



39 



[For the American Bee Journal. } 



Bees not Dormant in Winter. 



During the past winter I made frequent exam- 

 inations of a strong colony of bees, kept in a 

 Langstioth glass hive In the morning of cold 

 days, they could Le seen concentrated in the 

 lour spaces between the five most central combs. 

 By two o'clock of the same day, provided the 

 sun shone brightly, the hive would become so 

 warmed up that the bees would be found con- 

 sidcrablv scattered t rough the hive some on 

 the outside combs, some in the openings of the 

 honey board, and many even clustering between 

 the ends of the frames and the glass in the back 

 part of the hive, which stood towards the s utn, 

 and was consequently the warmest part of the 

 hive. At night they would retreat to the cen- 

 tral spaces again. This I saw repeatedly with 

 undeviating regularity — even on the coldest 

 days, provided the sun shone out steadily and 

 brightly all day. The object of this 'separation 

 of the bees from the main cluster is, not simply 

 to enj y the temporary warmth produced by > he 

 sun, but to bring from their store houses, the adja- 

 cent combs, a fresh supply of food, which is 

 again deposited in the emptied cells in the cen- 

 tral part of the hive. The main cluster does 

 not change its place for the purpose of reaching 

 a new supply of food ; but the new supply is 

 brought by individual bees, to the cluster from 

 the surrounding combs. On opening a hive 

 late in the fall, you will find the old brood-cells 

 in the central part of the hive, completely filled 

 with honey, but not sealed over ; and this sup- 

 ply is replenished daily, during the winter, 

 whenever the warmth of the sun invades the 

 hive sufficiently to allow individual bees to 

 leave the cluster. Hence, I infer that bees, 

 kept on their summer stands, should have their 

 hives exposed to the sunshine, in order to warm 

 them up daily, and give the bees an atmosphere 

 in which they can leave the cluster without 

 danger of freezing. 



A few years ago I wished to be especially 

 kind to a weak stock that I w r as anxious to win- 

 ter ; and for the purpose of protecting it from 

 the cold, I covered the hive very carefully with 

 an abundance of straw, with boards weighted 

 with stones balanced over it so that it could not 

 be blown away. The bees died, having plenty 

 of honey remaining in the hive, but it was out 

 of their reach. The heat of the sun could not 

 penetrate the two feet of straw, to warm up the 

 hive ; the bees were too cold to move, and they 

 perished where they stood. 



Last fall I resolved to build a house for win- 

 teriug bees, bince then, I have been favored 

 with an inspection of Mr. Langstroth's new 

 plan lor wintering bees, and am so well satisfied 

 that it is better than any house, that I have 

 given up the idea of building, and shall winter 

 my bees on their summer stands. 



1 think I shall try an experiment this v inter 

 for darkening the entrance, without closing it ; 

 iu order, if possible, to prevent the loss of bees 

 that tiy out wnen it is too cold, or when there 

 is snow on the ground, and are lost. It could 

 be brought about in this way. On one edge of 



a board, as long as the portico of a Langstroth 

 hive is wide, and half au inch wider than the 

 portico is deep, nail on a thin strip of wood hah' 

 an inch wider than the thickness of the board; 

 rest this boaid, with the strip turned down, on 

 two small strips of wood ^ or f inches thick, 

 placed one in each end of the portico. You then 

 have a covered entrance the whole width of the 

 portico, and the strip over the edge of the 

 boad falls a little lower than the< nt ranee, and 

 prevents the admission of light, and also keeps 

 out the wind. R. Bickford. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y. 



Bees as a Miliiary Force. 

 "On the same occasion the Pacha's son and 

 sixty officers of the rank of Aga, were made 

 prisoners by a truly rustic mode of assault. 

 The Turks had shut themselves up in a church. 

 Inio this by night, the Suliotes throw a number 

 of hives full of bees, whose insufferable stings 

 soon brought the Moslems into the proper sur- 

 rendering mood." — Note on page 270, vol. 22, 

 of De Quincy's writings. Ticknor and Fields' 

 edition, Boston, 1859. 



Alexandria, Ind. 



I look upon the American Bee Journal as 

 being worthy of the patronage of every bee- 

 keeper, as it contains much valuable informa- 

 tion not found in any other work on bee culture. 

 Works on the subject treat of it as a science 

 lr.ore particularly, and could not reasonably 

 be expected to give the experience of a large 

 number of practical bee-keepers, of which we 

 find so much in the Journal. This, together 

 with the careful study of bee-keeping as a 

 science, will elevate that branch of industry to 

 the high position which it so much merits. 



Godfrey Bohrer. 



Lewisburg, West Va. 



We have had but very few swarms here, this 

 season. Not more than one colon}' in ten has 

 cast a swarm. I have divided all of mine that 

 would bear it. Some that I had in common 

 box hives I transferred to frame hives, and di- 

 vided them at the time of transferring. I gave 

 one hive about two-thirds of the brood, and 

 kept this one in a dark cool place for three days. 

 To the other I gave the queen, and placed it on 

 the old stand. 



During the month of May, the weather was 

 very sevrre on the bees, quite cold and wet. 

 Considerable brood perished, even in the best 

 of colonies, I think from cold. 



The Bee Journal continues to improve iu 

 interest and usefulness. 



T. L. Sydenstricker. 



According to the statements of the dealers 

 there, the annual consumption of honey in the 

 city of Paris exceeds 1,00U,000 cvvt. There are 

 about twenty commercial houses engaged in 

 the trade— their transactions embracing both 

 domestic and foreign products. 



