THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



115 



of four inches between, filled with tan. Venti- 

 lators are so arranged as to be controlled from 

 the outside, without entering the room. 



ISor. 27, 1861, bees were weighed and housed 

 for the winter. March 9, 1862, they were 

 carried out and placed on tbeir summer stands. 

 March 12, weighed again. Average loss, per 

 swarm, in 105 days, 10 1-10 lbs. ; greatest loss, 15 

 lbs.; least loss, 6 lbs.; average daily loss, per 

 6warrn, 1 1-2 oz. April 12, weighed again. 

 Average loss, per swarm, in 31 days, 4 lbs. 13 

 oa.; average daily consumption, per swarm, 

 2 1-2 oz. 



Dec. 2, 1863, weighed and carried in bees. 

 March 5, carried them out. Weighed again 

 March 11. Average loss, 10 lbs. 3 oz. in 99 

 days ; greatest loss. 16 lbs. ; least loss, 8 lbs. ; 

 average daily loss, about 1 3-4 oz. Weighed 

 again April 9. Average loss in 29 days, 4 lbs.; 

 average daily loss, about 2 1-4 oz. Previous to 

 the last weighing they were fed freely with rye 

 meal, and carried in perhaps one pound per 

 swarm, which would make the loss 5 lbs. in- 

 stead of 4 lbs. 



In this locality bees do not usually carry in 

 even pollen until about the middle of April. 

 Nothing is added to their weight except what 

 is given them. The amount consumed during 

 the winter months is mostly honey, as not much 

 breeding takes place, but alter being carried out 

 early in March, they begin to breed rapidly; and 

 of course draw largely upon bee-bread. 



About the 20th of February, 1867, I weighed 

 three swarms, which had been housed from 

 early in December. They had become only about 

 three pounds lighter, each. They were young 

 swarms, aud rather below medium. 



C. Rodgees. 



West Newbury, Mass., Nov. 7, 1868. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Italian Tees. No. 3. 



Stock to be bred from should be not only 

 three yellow banded ; but the bands should be 

 wide, with little or no margin of black on the 

 first band ; the other two bands should be very 

 narrow, or half of the body yellow. The drones 

 should be one-half or more yellow, not as dark 

 as those imported from Germany. Queens 

 should be entirely yellow, or at most only one- 

 half brown, not black. All queens should be 

 discarded that produce black queens, even 

 when the queen and her worker progeny look 

 to be pure— no matter if they .are imported, as 

 such stock will not take favor with the majority 

 of American or German bee-keepers. Well 

 bred queens should produce no black queens ; 

 and no queen should be used that has not more 

 than one-half her body yellow, and the rest of 

 the body brown or bronze. Queens and drones 

 vary in color, (Langstroth and others). Now 

 if that is so, use the ones of the right shade to 

 breed from. Make the necessary crosses by 

 breeding out and out ; and, if necessary, in and 

 in breeding may be resorted to on special occa- 

 sions. 



J. M. Marvin. 

 St. Charles, III. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Packing Bee Hives. 



For five years I have used hives essentially 

 like the Langstroth standard hive in form, but 

 made of three thicknesses of boards, so sepa- 

 rated as to form two independent dead air spaces 

 on each of the four sides and one at the bottom. 



The top part, or spare honey chamber, is 

 composed of a cover like the Langstroth cap, 

 fitting loosely over a rim of the same form, but 

 sufficiently small to allow the outside cap to 

 pass over it. 



This arrangement, while it does net take 

 much more lumber than the Langstroth hive 

 when made to accommodate two sets of frames, 

 admits of the cover being raised to admit two 

 sets of boxes or frames ; while by removing the 

 lid entirely, the top of the hive may be packed 

 to the depth of the main rim with chaff, 

 shavings, old coats, carpets, or other poor con- 

 ductors of heat, for the protection of the bees, 

 with very little trouble or expense. 



I have tried various things, with or without 

 the honey-board, and have not been able to dis- 

 cover any difference, except in expense and 

 convenience. I now use fine shavings, or 

 chaff, without removing the honey-board, as it 

 costs neither money nor labor worth mentioning. 



Mr. Langstroth says, " every particle of 

 dampness escapes through the carpets, &c," and 

 that above six thicknesses he has placed a 

 board, and the upper side would be coated with 

 frost or drops of moisture and the carpets dry. 

 Is it possible that dampness could pass through 

 six thicknesses of carpet and a board, and yet 

 the carpets remain dry ? No one would sup- 

 pose the honey boards on my hive would allow 

 dampness to pass through, when there are no 

 holes in them at all, and they are covered seven 

 inches deep with shavigns packed snugly upon 

 them. Yet in very cold weather the top of the 

 shavings is often damp and frosted, while there 

 is no dampness or frost on either side of the 

 honey-board. In fact, they are so far from 

 being damp as to shrink materially after the 

 packing is put on. 



When I made the hive above described, it was 

 in obedience to the fact that cold surfaces, when 

 brought in contact with warm air, at once be- 

 come covered with dampness or frost. To avoid 

 the cold surfaces was to prevent dampness in bee- 

 hives, as effectually in icinter asm summer. The 

 facts have fully sustained the correctness of the 

 premises and their application in my triangular 

 hive ; and the improved Langstroth hive has 

 sustained the correctness of the reasoning which 

 led to their production. 



I have wintered on their summer stands from 

 thirty to eighty stocks of bees in Gowanda, (N. 

 Y.,) for five yeais. I have used no other hives 

 than the one described and the triangular hive. 

 I have opened them after the coldest nights and 

 shown the combs and bees to my bee-keeping 

 friends many times; and while I have never 

 found frost except at the entrance, I have never 

 been able to find dampnoss on the combs or 

 honey-boards, even after daysof extremestcold 



