IGO 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Jan, 



about eight (8) swarms from one hundred (100) 

 stocks. I am sorry to say that Mr. B. is not at 

 all communicative on this subject. Still I think 

 I gleaned enough from him to guess his system 

 of preventing increase, when desirable, which, 

 with your permission, I will communicate to the 

 Journal at some future time. 



I like the Gallup-Langstroth hive the best. I 

 should, however, prefer a tight bottom to a 

 movable one,3where careless bee-keepers are so 

 close by, and millers as plentiful as around my 

 apiary. 



Now, Mr. Editoi-, to conclude, I have a ques- 

 tion of some importance to ask any subscriber 

 that can answer it. I am talking of making my 

 future home in Colorado. What of that country 

 for bees and bee-culture '? Can bees be kept there 

 at all? I am informed the mercury stands at 

 about 30" to 32'" in winter, and not above 75'' or 

 80" F. during summer. Have you any subscribers 

 in that locality, or one similar in temperature, 

 &c. ? If so, I would like to hear from them, and 

 have their ojjinion as to honey production there. 

 A friend tells me that wild flowers are abundant, 

 esi)ecially wild sunflowers ; and no doubt white 

 clover and other honey-producing plants, will 

 also liave a footing there as the country becomes 

 older. But the question is, will the bees secrete 

 honey enough in that climate to make bee-cul- 

 ture remunerative ? 



James Heddon. 



Doioagiae, Mich. Dec. 12, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees. 



Mr. Editor: — I notice many articles in the 

 Journal about wintering bees. Mr. J. H. 

 Thomas gives my views exactly. Several years 

 ago, I built a house in accordance with Mr. 

 Quinby's plan, as given in the Mysteries of Bee- 

 keeping, page 339. It was all that could be de- 

 sired in steady, cold winter weather. But, after 

 two or three years' trial, I found that it was too 

 troublesome in warm spells of weather, such as 

 occur in January or February ; as the bees would 

 get \\\) such a heat in the house, that nearly 

 every winter I was compelled to set them out on 

 their summer stands for a day or two, and re- 

 turn them again to the house ; though they win- 

 tered well, with but little loss. 



But the plan I like best, and have followed 

 more or less for the past ten years, is as follows : 

 Set some posts, eight feet long, firmly two feet 

 in the ground — then nail on boards and make a 

 pen, large or small, according to the number of 

 your stocks. A pen, twelve feet square by six 

 feet high, will hold thirty stocks. As soon as it 

 is time to move the bees into winter quarters, I 

 put straw on the ground, six inches thick. On 

 this I set the hives, placing them about two feet 

 from the boards. Then take short chaffy straw 

 or very fine hay, and stufi" in between the hives 

 and the boards, as tight and solid as possible, all 

 around the pen, except at the door. Raise the 

 back of the hive two inches higher tlian the front. 

 Elevate the hives from the bottom board {^ of 



an inch all round, and open the holes in the 

 honey-board at each end of the hive, leaving 

 those in the centre closed. This is supposing 

 that your hives will take six 6-inch boxes on top, 

 holes for centre boxes closed. Ventilation should 

 be given in proportion to size of colony, as a very 

 large stock will require more ventilation than a 

 small one. Now, as soon as all the bees are 

 moved in the house, and the stuffing is done all 

 around, except at the door, nail on a couple of 

 strips, eight or ten inches above the to2J of the 

 hives — the hives being set two deep, or one tier 

 on top of the other. Now lay on some poles 

 reaching across and resting on the strips above 

 the hives. Then fill up with straw, rounded at 

 top like a haystack ; and thatch with a small load 

 of cornfodder, to keep all di-y. Put up some 

 boards at the door, and stuff" well with straw; 

 and protect with cornfodder, so as to keep the 

 straw dry. This done, my word for it you will 

 find your bees dry, without mouldy combs ; and 

 they will not become uneasy as they do in a tight 

 house. I can build this institution in half a day, 

 put the bees into it, and, as Mr. Thomas says, 

 go about my business, ~ expecting to take out 

 just as many stocks, all in good order, as I put 

 in. I have wintered, year after year, from 

 twenty-five to thirty stocks, without a single loss. 

 But it must be remembered that I am dealing 

 with good, strong colonics, both in bees and 

 honey. 



Joseph Butler. 

 Jackson, Mich. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



A Mystery Unsolved ! 



We find the following from C. T. Smith on 

 page 118 of the Bee Journal : 



"I have a few of the two-story hives made by 

 the National Bce-IIive Company, at St. Charles, 

 Illinois, and I cannot get a frame into the top 

 story in any other way than perpendicular, as 

 the top bar of the frame is longer than the 

 inside of the. hive." 



AVe have read the above over and over again, 

 and still we cannot understand what friend 

 Smith is driving at. We endeavor to make 

 each story of our hives precisely the same length. 

 In general we succeed to a hair's breadth, but 

 there must be some mistake in the hives sent to 

 Mr. Smith. But how it should happen is a 

 mystery, as the material for our hives is all cut 

 by machinery, and with the mimitest accuracy. 

 When both stories are of the same length, why 

 should not a frame taken out of the lower story 

 fit into the upper one ? the rabbeting in both 

 stories, on which the frames are suspended 

 being also the same. " The top bar of tlie frame 

 is longer than the inside of the hive.^^ We don't 

 doubt that in the least!" All suspended frames 

 are in the same fix. But that is no reason why 

 they must be put into the hive in a "perpen- 

 dicular" manner. 



But we must give iip the problem, until we 

 have an explanation from Mr. Smith. Meantime 

 please rest assured, friend Smith, that we can 

 help you out of any difficulty respecting the 



