TI1E AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229 



success licrc this winter. But still, if a man 

 had his bees in good winter quart eis, he would 

 be saved a good many ague fits of fears about 

 them, when for snaps of a week or fortnight the 

 thermometer shows from 10° 10 20° below zero, 

 with a tornado" to match — holding out a fair 

 prospect of a score or two of empty hives 



On looking through my yard to-day, I found 

 my bees flying briskly at all the hives, but one. 

 I am trying a new plan with my movable frame 

 hives (eighty-three in number) this winter, by 

 placing them in two rows, back to back, and 

 filling ihem with shavings; then setting two rows 

 again on top of the first, and filling in again; 

 and then two rows more on top of those — mak- 

 ing them three tiers high, and putting a tem- 

 porary roof over the whole. I see they are all 

 alive yet, though quite a number of them were 

 rather weak, in consequence of being divided 

 in September (in order to raise queens) and 

 were not united again, as they should have 

 been. 



My non-movable comb hives (ninety-one in 

 number) remain on their summer stands, and 

 nil but one appear to be in good condition. I 

 think from their actions they are breeding con- 

 siderably. They seem quite anxious for water, 

 and arc taking it as fast as it melts from a small 

 pile of snow, about the size of a peck measure, 

 on the south roof of the barn, but which is now 

 about used up, and I have thrown up some 

 more. The whole of the wet portion of the 

 roof is black with bees, and they do not let a 

 drop of the water escape, but work clear up to 

 the snow. I find by an occasional young bee 

 thrown out of the hive, that some of them are 

 hatching. 



The usual quantity of bees are being wintered 

 in this region. The last season, though quite 

 poor for honey, produced swarms enough to 

 supply the previous winter's loss. I hear noth- 

 ing of "that bee disease" in this section. That 

 is a puzzler. It takes me entirely "off my 

 pins." I see no explanation that seems ade- 

 quate to solve the problem. The most rational 

 conclusion of all the irrational conclusions, is 

 the irrational conclusion that the scarcity of 

 forage induced the bees to forage on some poi- 

 sonous plant. 



[ intended to send this two days ago, but de- 

 layed doing so, thinking that I would to-day go 

 in the country and see how my apiary there 

 (six miles distant) has wintered. I have not 

 seen it for several weeks; but the weather 

 clouded up on Saturday^ and yesterday morn- 

 ing was as chilly and disagreeable as Saturday 

 had been pleasant. The wind was north, and 

 the mercury stood at 22° to 24° all day. This 

 morning it was raining, with the lower current 

 of air northwest and the upper current south- 

 east; and it has been about "which and t'other" 

 all day, alternating between snow and raiu. But 

 the southeaster has rather got the better of it, and 

 raised the thermometer to 38°. Between the 

 two, however, they have cheated me out of my 

 country visit, so that I will trouble you no more 

 at present. 



Wm. M. Stratton. 

 West Troy, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1869. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees on Tlieir Summer 

 Stands. 



Mr. Editor :— Having to use my cellar to 

 store a large crop of potatoes, I concluded to 

 winter a part of my colonies on their summer 

 stands. I moved them gradually in the fall, un- 

 til I had them in a row running north and 

 south, with about twelve inches space between 

 the hives, which were set upon scantling, some 

 four inches from the ground. On the approach 

 «f cold weather I drove in stakes three feet 

 long in front and rear of the hives, and about 

 eighteen inches from them, to which I nailed 

 some old fencing plank — thus makeng a rough 

 box, twenty feet long by four feet wide, three 

 feet high in front and two in rear. The caps 

 were removed, and the honey-board raised all 

 round the thickness of a four-penny nail. All 

 the holes in the honey boards were closed, so 

 that the ventilation was at the sides, front, and 

 rear, instead of at the top immediately over the 

 bees. 



After arranging aboard over the entrance of 

 the hives, to prevent the straw from falling 

 down in front of them, the space in front 

 and rear, and between the hives as well as 

 over them, was packed with perfectly dry wheat 

 straw; and over that a roof of boards, making 

 all secure from rain and frost. 



I examined the hives about the 10th of March 

 and found them in fine condition. They had a 

 good supply of sealed brood, and had not con- 

 sumed more than half of their winter stores. 

 The straw packing preserved an equal tempera- 

 ture; and it was only on a few warm days dur- 

 ing the winter that the bees from these hives 

 ventured out, and when they did so the air was 

 so warm that none of them became so chilled 

 that they could not regain their hives. 



The greatest objection to this plan is, that the 

 hives must be set close together (to save the 

 expense of a large shelter), and the bees do not 

 readily locate the position of their respective 

 hives, the entrance to all being just alike. And 

 as they do locate themselves before the weather 

 is permanently warm enough to remove the 

 shelter, the hives must be gradually removed to 

 where they stood in the fall, as I do not like to 

 have them less than three feet apart. This 

 might be more easily done, by arranging the 

 hives in two rows, removing every alternate hive 

 to the front or the rear, the distance required 

 between the rows, as bees readily accommodate 

 themselves to a change of position in the line of 

 their flight. 



I have wintered in the cellar a few stocks, 

 which I bought about the first of January. 

 They are in common box hives, and were set 

 immediately on the south floor of the cellar, 

 with an opening in the top, one inch by seven. 

 They have wintered in a fine condition, and 

 have been set out only about two weeks. 



By the way, these hives were moved twenty 

 miles in a common two horse wagon without 

 springs of any kind, and over a rough, frozen 

 road. They were simply turned bottom up, and 



