86 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[August, 



modified mucli by the number of colonies win- 

 tered in one room. Throngli the months of 

 December, Jannary, and February, let the tem- 

 perature be kept as near 45° as possible. After 

 tliis let the temperature run up to ^lO", and keep 

 it this high to promote early breeding. When 

 set out stop all the crevices but the entrance and 

 the bees will be in the best possible condition for 

 early swarming and an abundant harvest of 

 surplus honey. 



E. L. Briggs. 



Mount ricumrd, Ilcniy C-'., Iowa. 



Accompnning the above was an illustrative 

 diagram, showing the arrangement for venti- 

 lation, somewhat as below. 



A The kitchen. 



D The cellar. 



B The stove. 



C The stove-pipe. 



E The ventilating tube. 



F Air passage in kitchen floor. 



G Damper. 



It will be seen by this dingram that the tin 

 tube is entirely out of the way ; and that the 

 draft can be shut off at any time by a damper 

 in the tube. The air being let in at F, is 

 gradually diffused, and sinks to the floor of the 

 cellar and is drawn through the tube, until the 

 whole is changed. 



A cellar ventilated in this way will remain as 

 pure and free from any bad smell as any room 

 in the house. 



In districts where buckwheat is extensively 

 cultivated, bees will sometimes swarm when it 

 comes into blossom ; and the '4iives therefore 

 need watching or examining at that period. 



[For tbe American Bee Journal.] 



How bees secure pollen to their thighs ! 



A correspondent in a recent number of the 

 Bee Journal gives the manner in which bees 

 lemove pollen from 'their thighs and deposit it 

 in their cells. I never knew until this season, 

 how they collected it and secured it to their 

 thighs, and as others may not have observed the 

 process, I will record it. 



In feeding ^ome flour this spring, my attention 

 was attracted by the large number of bees hover- 

 ing on wings, just over it and a few inches above 

 it, almost stationary, now and then aligl ting for 

 an instant ; while some would merely touch the 

 flour, and rise again, without stopping. Upon 

 close examination I saw that their feet were 

 going in as rapid motion as their wings, and 

 that they were engaged in securing the flour to 

 their thighs. They take up the flour or pollen 

 with the'ir fore feet, rise on wing, and with a 

 rapid motion of all their legs, convey it and 

 secure it to the receptacle on their hind legs, 

 while flying. In gathering pollen from flowers, 

 they collect all they can with their mouth and 

 fore feet, and while passing to anotlier flower 

 and hovering over it for an instant, convey it to 

 their baskets and secure it there. The peculiar 

 noise or humming made while securing tlie pol- 

 len, we do not hear when gathering honey alone. 



Mathematicians tell us of the great wisdom 

 and ingenuity manifested in the construction of 

 the cells of the honey combs, so as to use the 

 greatest economy in space with the greatest 

 possible strength, and now we see in this wonder- 

 ful insect the wise provision of the great Creator 

 for the economy of time. No time is lost by 

 having to stop within the flower to secure the 

 golden-colored treasure, but it is secured on wing 

 while passing in search of more. 



T. Smith. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Thomas Hive. 



Buckwheat swarms have been known to issue 

 some years as late as the middle of September. 



Mr. Editor :— We should like to have our say 

 about which we think the best liive — its advan- 

 tages and disadvantages. Taking everything 

 into consideration, we regard the Thomas hive 

 as the best of any we have seen. 



The advantages are : — 



1st. It is of the best shape to secure the 

 greatest amount of heat for wintering bees, and 

 for rearing brood in the spring. 



2d. The combs can be removed, examined, and 

 placed back, inside of five minutes ; and with the 

 least jarring or disturbing of any hive we ever 

 opened ; there being no empty space between 

 the ends of the fi-ames for the bees to fill with 

 wax. 



3d. It is so constructed that in moving the 

 hive or combs, the frames are always in their 

 proper place. 



4th. It may be opened and closed without 

 crushing a bee. 



5th. It can be made with side doors a foot or 

 more square, and back door ten inches square. 



