1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



ture, yet both hatclied out perfect queens. 

 INIany wiil place the food for the young queens, 

 so that they will besmear themselves with honey, 

 which is sure death for them. Many, too, will 

 handle the cells so as to destroy the sealed queen 

 therein ; but that is not my fault. I do not in- 

 tend to take out a patent on the hollow reed or 

 milkweed. So if any one shall see fit to experi- 

 ment witli it, I certainly have no objections. 

 If Mr. Wellhuysen and myself succeeded with it, 

 1 do not see why others cannot do the same, with 

 the requisite knowledge for success. In the 

 hollow milkweed we placed the honey at the 

 lower end. The queen in that case never be- 

 smeared herself, as the slot or ventilation was 

 above the food. Now it appears to me that any 

 one ought to succeed with a patented Queen 

 Nursery, if myself and friend could succeed with 

 a common unpatented milkweed. I have just 

 returned from the National Convention at In- 

 dianapolis, and heard several bee-keepers say 

 that they had tried the Nursery, and in their 

 opinion it was one of the greatest inventions of 

 the age. But they did not say who gave the 

 Doctor the information that enabled him to get 

 up tiie invention ; neither did I. 



Elisha Gallup. 

 Orchard, Iowa, Dec. 30, 1870. 



[For the Aiiiericau Bee Journal.] 



Winter Management. 



Mk. Editor : — Much has already been said on 

 the winter management of bees, yet, I think, 

 bee-keepers are apt to forget that to have their 

 bees come out strong and healthy in the spring, 

 and be in a proper condition to swarm early and 

 store surplus honey, they sliould be protected 

 in some way from the weather, from December 

 to April. 



Now I cannot fully agree with Brother Bick- 

 ford, in the November number, page 107, where 

 he says that "bees must be put where the sun 

 can warm them up occasionally," except lohen 

 you iciKh them to fly and discharge (heir faeces, then 

 give them the benefit of the sun, when the tem- 

 perature is 47" or higlier, in the shade. My ex- 

 perience is that, if you want your bees to con- 

 sume double the quantity of stores they need ; 

 if you want to run the risk of their having the 

 dysentery and feel the sudden changes, give 

 them the full benefit of the sun every warm day, 

 and you will be pretty sure to bring about those 

 results. The important point of successful win- 

 tering is not so much the state of the tempera- 

 ture, — that is, if it does not go above 35", — as it 

 is to have tlie temperature even; and with the 

 mercury at from zero to 10" above in the night, 

 and a warm sun on the hive in the daytime, it is 

 impossible to winter successfully. 



1 have experimented on those points and found 

 that when my bees do not get a ray of sun from 

 the first of .January to the last of March, they 

 come out best and consume only a small quantity 

 of stores, and are the first to swarm in the 

 spring. 



L;ist winter I made a rough box, without top 

 or bottom, set it on over the hive, filled in around 



the hive with cheap hay or shavings, leaving the 

 summer passage oi^eu an inch. The box was an 

 inch higher than the hive, after the cap was re- 

 moved, and a board was laid on the top, to keep 

 out rain, snow, and mice. The frame hives with 

 boxes on the sides, I fix up as follows : Remove 

 the boxes ; close the holes on the honey board ; fill 

 in with shavings ; remove two frames and set the 

 others apart so as to give bees more room to 

 cluster in the centre ; lay strips over the frames, 

 and over them some woollen cloths to absorb 

 the moisture. I find the bees like that arrange- 

 ment very much, and make i^assages through 

 each comb near the centre. 



Before adopting the aljove method of winter- 

 ing my bees, I was informed by some of the best 

 bee-keepers in the country that it was not neces- 

 sary for bees to have the sun except when we 

 wish to have them fly. On the sti'ength of these 

 statements, I have winteied in that way with 

 excellent results. On the first trial I did not see 

 a bee from the first of January till the last of 

 March. I would listen at the entrance, but not 

 a sound was heard ; all was still through the 

 long, cold winter months. At last there came a 

 warm day, and I was bound to know the result. 

 I removed the outer protection, so that they 

 could feel the rays of the sun, and such a glorious 

 fly as they had ! And, to my surprise, there 

 were not twenty dead bees to a hive. 



Another point on which I wish to say a word. 

 These protections are not only good through 

 the winter, but they are excellent through the 

 months of April and May. It is often the case 

 that we have fine warm weather early, and the 

 queen breeds rapidly and occupies a number of 

 frames. Then comes a sudden change, and if 

 the hive has no protection, there are not bees 

 enough to keep up the proper temperature, and 

 the brood gets chilled. Such is my experience 

 in these matters. A. Gkeen. 



Amenburg, Mass., Dec. 24, 1870. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



Suggestions and Comments. 



Mr. Editor : — I wish the bee-keeping fra- 

 ternity of the Southern and Middle States could 

 be induced to write a monthly communication 

 for your Journal, of their care and management, 

 as well as their success in bee-keeping. The ex- 

 perience of our Northern and Western brethren 

 does not correspond with ours ; and their man- 

 agement would not altogether suit our cUmate ; 

 but they write, interchange opinions, and are 

 thereby benefited. Just what we need in the 

 South. If you. Southern readers of the Journal, 

 know anything woi'th telling, tell it. If you 

 have discovered any new light don't "put it 

 under a bushel," for fear some one will be as wise 

 as you are, but out with it. If you have invented 

 anything new and valuable (except a bee-hive — 

 we have plenty of them), get a patent for it. 

 Our jjeople are now afflicted with enough difi"er- 

 ent hives to fill out one decade. 



Some thoughts, in looking over the December 

 and January numbers, have suggested themselves 

 to my mind, and I write them. 



