9 ? 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



purposes. To remedy this, add combs of brood 

 ready to hatch. You can cripple your colony 

 by depriving it of honey, pollen, and water; 

 thus causing the queen to cease laying. The 

 remedy is, to supply these in an artificial man- 

 ner, when the natural production fails. Again, 

 it may be crippled by an uupropitious season, 

 as that of 18(58. The honey and pollen may, in 

 great measure, be cut off for months; as trom 

 the middle of July last until the cb se of the 

 honey season. If two months constitute the length 

 of the worker's life, during this season of the 

 year, then all can see that if brood raising is cut 

 off, in great measure for two months and a half, 

 in the after part of the season, destruction cer- 

 tainly awaits them as the chilly days and nights 

 approach ; although they may have honey 

 enough in store to winter them, if there were 

 bees enough to generate the requisite amount of 

 animal heat to keep them from chilling to death. 

 When this last remnant of the stock is dead, 

 how many do you find ? One or two pints is all 

 that can usually be found in or about the hive. 

 Pretty conclusive evidence this, that these arc 

 the remains of a stock that has been crippled 

 either wantonly or through neglect, or, it may 

 be, from ignorance. Well, I ask again, what is 

 the remedy ? Harbinson, Gallup, and all the 

 noted beekeepers answer, feed during this scar- 

 city of honey and pollen to keep the queen breed- 

 ing, so that the stock is replenished by living bees 

 faster than they die. Whilst in quest of the 

 nectar and pollen, or doubling stocks until there 

 are bees enough, will you apply the remedies in 

 future, and save your bees from a similar fate 

 of 1868 ? 



Jewell Davis. 

 Charleston, Ills. 



[For t lie American Bee Journal ] 



Results of Wintering. 



Mr. Editor . — Last fall I sent you a descrip- 

 tion of a house in which I winter my bees. It 

 appeared in the Bee Journal for October, 

 186S. Mr. Gallup thought it would have been 

 better if the sides were 10 or 12 instead of G 

 inches thick. I will not contradict him in his 

 theory. He is generally pretty much correct 

 in what he says. I was glad to see him settle 

 the Professor's business. I can sympathise a lit- 

 tle with the Professor — to the amount of fifteen 

 dollars and fifty cents, which I sent to him two 

 years ngo, but which hesafs he never received. 

 I received from him in return, last summer, 

 three Italian (?) queens, with one stripe just 

 behind their wings; it was between a red and a 

 yellow color. I thought they might be some of 

 those dark colored queens, which good author- 

 ity says are sometimes found among the pure 

 breed. But, behold, their offspring was one 

 half black and the other half one-striped. They 

 never were worth the Express charges. 



But, to come to the result of wintering my 

 bees in the house above alluded to. About the 

 middle of November I carried into the house 

 132 colonics of bees, and arranged them in four 

 rows; two in the centre and one on each side, 



on shelves four deep; which left about two feet 

 of a gangway between each two rows— which 

 aided very well to examine them during the 

 winter. 



My hives weighed from 45 to 75 lbs. each. 

 The empty hives, Avith comb and frames, will 

 weigh from 32 to 36 lbs each. This will leave 

 from 12 to 35 lbs. of honey in each hive carried 

 in. The temperature in the coldest weather 

 this winter was never below 40° F., and when 

 it rose to 45° the bees appeared restless; which 

 I could soon remedy by opening the ventilating 

 tubes. I took them out the last week in March, 

 weighed and examined them. They were all 

 healthy; no mould on the combs, and very few 

 dead bees on the bottom board. They weighed 

 from six to eight pounds less, each, than when 

 they were put in. Those nearest the ground 

 had lost most weight, and those on the top the 

 least; but none consumed more than nine pounds 

 of honey. 



One of my neighbors wintered his bees in a 

 house similar to mine, but lost one half of his 

 bees, and they consumed double the amount of 

 honey compared with mine. But while my 

 house was full, his was not half full of bees. 

 Besides, he built his house late last fall. I built 

 mine two years ago. The sawdust should be 

 quite dry; or the house should be built in sum- 

 mer, so that it could dry thoroughly before bee3 

 are put in. My house was warmer this winter 

 than last winter, which proves the above theory. 

 I believe bees winter better outside, than if put 

 into a cold room. They will consume not any 

 more honey, besides getting the benefit of a 

 warm sunny day, which we -have occasionally 

 during winter. My bees are now fly insr briskly. 

 They have carried in about 200 lbs. of rye flour, 

 and about five gallons of syrup. They like 

 maple syrup best (and so do I,). To-day I no- 

 ticed them bringing in pollen. I do not know 

 where they get it; but they now refuse the 

 flour. 



Enclosed find two dollars for the Journal, 

 wishing it all the success it deserves. I could 

 not do without it. I would say to every man 

 that has a few colonies of bees, subscribe for the 

 Bee Journal. Get some hive with the mov- 

 able comb, no difference whose patent — only 

 this, if you winter out doors they ought to be 

 high; but if you winter them as you ought to in 

 tins climate, in some dark, warm, dry place, 

 the "shallow things" have many advantages 

 over the others. Also, get some reliable book 

 on the nature and habits of the honey bee. 

 The Beekeepers' Guide Book, byE. Kretchmer, 

 of Red Oak Junction, Iowa, contains much 

 practical information, and so do many others. 

 Improve the breed of bees, likewise by sending 

 to some reliable man for Italian queens, but be 

 careful of Professors. Attend to your bees as 

 you would to anything else that you intend to 

 derive benefit from, and you will have luck. 



P. Lattner. 



Lattner's, Duuuque Co., Iowa, 

 April 12, 1869. 



Where bees are, flowers must abound. 



