1S70.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



35 



buzzing sound came, but saw no swarm issuing, 

 tbougli the sound increased. In a moment after 

 I saw a swarm leaving the top of a large apple- 

 tree. Now for my glass, thought I ; no use of 

 your trying to go away, for I will stop you with 

 the looking-glass. So I ran before them with my 

 piece of glass, and flashed and flashed ; l)ut they 

 went higher and faster. When they had gone 

 about three hundred yards they seemed to be 

 oftended at the flashing glass, rose above the 

 tall forest trees, and soon left me in the distance, 

 to consider how foolish I was to believe enough 

 of the looking-glass theory even to try it. I was 

 rather a skeptic before, but now with me the 

 looking-glass theory is entirely played out- I 

 guess if Mr. Ignoramus will question his neigh- 

 bor closely, he will tell him about the time the 

 bees turned back to the bush, scattered, circled, 

 and seemed to be confused, they perhaps Avere, 

 for their cjueen was probably as nigh tired out 

 flying as he was running, and alighted on the 

 bush. After the bees had gone on a hundred 

 yards or more, they discovered her absence, and 

 retiirned, to find her on the bush, and stopped 

 there also to rest awhile. Had he sat down by 

 the bush and rested also until next morning, it 

 is more than likely they would have started 

 again, an 1 went on regardless of his glass. Or 

 will Ignoramus say there is more virtue in a 

 whole glass, than in a piece of one "? My piece 

 of glass was four by five inclies square. 



I once knew of a swarm to turn back some two 

 hundred yards and settle on the top of a tall oak 

 that stood in a deep hollow they had just 

 crossed — icithmt the aid of a glass. The man 

 following them said he hallooed and made so 

 much noise that they went to the top of the tall 

 tree to get rid of his noise ! 



H. Nesbit. 



CynthiaiKi, Ky., June 23, 1870. 



[For the ."Vmerican Bee Journal.] 



On Winterinsr Bees. 



Mr. Editor : — Your correspondent. Novice 

 No. 2, inquires as to tlie best mode of wintering- 

 bees ; giving his own experiments, at the same 

 time. Having tried almost all the methods re- 

 commended by the writers of the day, I have 

 adopted one of my own contriving ; and have 

 found the following mode, in my opinion, the 

 best, and to be, so far, entirely satisfactory in its 

 result. 



My cellai', under my kitchen, was prepared by 

 passing a tin pipe 1^ inches in diameter (see 

 diagram) from near the bottom of the cellar iip 

 through the floor into my cooking stove pipe ; 

 so that when there was a tire in the stove, there 

 was a constant draft of air from the bottom of 

 the cellar discharging into the stove pipe and otf 

 througli the chimney. The cellar was not a dry 

 one, and was also somewhat damp from recent 

 build, not having yet become dry in the walls. 

 Into this cellar I i)ut my bees on tlie loth of No- 

 vember, leaving the entrances of the hives open, 

 and also slightly opening the tops of eacli hive, 

 but not giving more, on an average, than an 

 inch square of space for upward ventilation. In 



the Langstroth hive I simjily slipped a. sixpenny 

 nail under the two corners of the honey board in 

 front. The hives were set three deep in a row 

 around the sides of the cellar. Here they re- 

 mained until the 17th of February The sun 

 was shining brightly ; the air was still ; and the 

 thermometer at 50 ' at ten a m. I set them all 

 out upon their old stands, and let tliem have a 

 day of jollification ; which they improved with a 

 hearty good will.— After they had quieted down 

 tliat evening they were all returned to the cellar, 

 where they remained till the bees in the neigh- 

 borhood began to gather pollen plentifully, 

 (which was on March 30th,) when they were 

 again set out, to remain for the season, on the 

 same stands they had occupied severally in 

 February. 



The resu't w^as, 1st, there was not a particle 

 of mouldy comb ; 2d, not more than half a tea- 

 cupful of bees dead in any one hive during the 

 entire winter ; od, the hives appeared to be 

 nearly as heavy as in the fall, when they were 

 put in ; 4th, each colony was exceedingly strong 

 in numbers, and young brood was abundant. 



The philosophy of my success I think to be 

 this : 1st, The air in my cellar was changed 

 almost entirely, if not quite, every day, liy means 

 of the draft in the ventilating tube ; 2d, the 

 coldest air, bring on the floor of the cellar, was 

 that which was drawn out ; 3d, the carbonic 

 acid gas exhaled from tlie lungs and body of the 

 bees, is heavier than common air, and of coui'se 

 sinks to the bottom of the cellar, where it would 

 remain in a strata of poisoned air all the winter, 

 no matter how many tubes, as ventilators, were 

 fixed in the wall at the ceiling or top of the 

 cellar. The warmer air, and the purest indeed, 

 would pass out at these holes at top. and the 

 cold and poisoned air wou.d remain on the floor. 

 The supply of air was from the store-room above, 

 sliglitly warmed, and of course always dry ; and 

 was drawn into the cellar to supply the vacuum 

 caused by the draft in the tin pipe. 



Foul air and the retention of the fwc-'s are 

 probably the great causes of dysentery during the 

 winter. Avoid these, and bees will pass the 

 winter in as healthy a state as in summer. If 

 the cellar is of a temi)erature as low as 32 ', the 

 bees will consume large quantities of food, and, 

 having no chance to fly out, will retain their 

 fieces too long; and dysentery will compel them 

 to daub the frames and hive with their excre- 

 tions. Being in a freezing tenaperatuie, thou- 

 sands will ijerish, not being able to find their way 

 back to the cluster. On the other liand, the 

 temperature should not be too high. If it is, the 

 bees will become uneasy, and more honey will 

 be consumed ; and being confined too long, 

 under such circumstances, might become dis- 

 eased. About 40 ' to 45 ' would be my standard. 

 If the air is supplied as above, it will not vary 

 much from tliis point. 



In special depositories, built above ground, 

 bees do not generally suffer so much from poi- 

 soned ail", as the're are usually ventilators near 

 the ground, through which the carbonic acid gas 

 flows out. But here the great danger is from 

 being too irregular in temperature, sometimes 

 being so low as 22'', and at others so high as 60', 

 as reported by one correspondent. This will be 



