clown, but he overlooked the additional 

 support which the obliqe upper and 

 under sides of the octagon afford, thus 

 counteracting the supposed danger. 



In all the apiaries of the district, box 

 honey has been a failure. I took a few 

 pounds from a rectangular plaster hive 

 which was not allowed to swarm, and 

 whose population consequently could 

 be counted by myriads. Mr. Patterson, 

 however, who was nearer the heather, 

 took from his new hive 16 lbs. in boxes 

 and 5 lbs. from the combs, leaving a 

 large supply for winter use. The other 

 12 hives were a complete blank. This 

 is all that can be said for the present. 

 But he anticipates another advantage. 

 The bees are clustering lower down on 

 the comb than he ever saw them, and 

 he fully expects from the arrangement 

 of the stores all round the swarm that 

 there will be no need for the bees re- 

 moving from comb to comb all the whi- 

 ther through, thus saving serious risk, 

 as every bee-master knows to his cost, 

 the scarcity of supply necessitating trie 

 removal, and paralysis from cold fre- 

 quently occurring in consequence. 



Blair Athol, Scotland, Dec. 10, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Wintering of Bees, Etc. 



EZRA HEALD. 



Bees did very well here early in the 

 season, and. I think mine also did very 

 well in the latter part of it. In the 

 spring of 1879 I had 10 colonies; in- 

 creased mostly by natural swarming to 

 25. They are in good condition for 

 winter, with 2 or 3 exceptions. I can- 

 not now give the exact number of 

 pounds of comb or extracted honey 

 that I obtained, but I am well satisfied 

 with the yield. 



As so many have given their plans of 

 wintering bees, I will here also give 

 mine, with which I have been very suc- 

 cessful for the past 6 years. 



I either put a quilt on the top of the 

 frames (removing the honey-board) or 

 pack the tops with something that will 

 absorb the moisture, then put them in 

 a row, close together, the fronts of the 

 hives facing the east ; then I put a 

 board about 10 inches wide in front of 

 the hives, to keep the covering that is 

 put over them from clogging the en- 

 trance. I then cover the whole hives 

 with wild grass or something that will 

 turn off the water ; I make it 2 or 3 feet 

 deep in the front, on the back and on 

 the top of the hives. I never had a 

 single colony smother in that way and 

 shall practice it as long as I keep bees. 



I adopt the words of R. L. Mead, on 

 page 49, of the last number of the Bee 

 Journal. 



I was glad to see a word from an old 

 friend, A. B. Mason, as he used to be 

 the Secretary of the Iowa Central Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, but with all our 

 efforts the Society died a natural death. 



I cannot afford to be without the 

 Journal. I use the Langstroth hive. 



West Branch, Iowa, Jan. 5, 1880. 



From N. Y. Tribune. 



Description of the Bee-Moth. 



PROF. C. V. RILEY. 



This insect (Gallerea cereana, Fabr.) 

 belongs to the Lepidopterous family 

 Tineida?, very troublesome and des- 

 tructive in the hives of the honey bee. 

 The perfect form is a winged moth of a 

 dusky gray color measuring from % to 

 % of an inch in length from the head to 

 the tip of the closed wings, the wings 

 expanding from one inch and one-tenth 

 to one inch and four-tenths. The 

 female is larger than the male. There 



are two broods yearly. The moths of 

 the first brood appear late in April or 

 early in May ; those of the second are 

 most abundant in August; but they 

 may be found during the greater part of 

 the summer, as others come to perfec- 

 tion between and after the above periods. 

 They remain quiet during the day, un- 

 less disturbed, on the sides or in the 

 crevices of the hive, and in the evening, 

 when the bees are at rest, hover around 

 the hive till they find the door, then 

 enter and lay their eggs. 



Those that are prevented in any way 

 from reaching the interior, lay their 

 eggs on the outside of the hive or on the 

 stand, whence the worms as soon as 

 hatched, creep easily in through the 

 cracks, or gnaw a passage under the 

 edges. These worms, at first no thicker 

 than a thread, have 16 legs and soft, 

 tender bodies, yellowish-white in color, 

 with a few sparsely scattered brown 

 dots, from each which grows a short 

 hair. The heads are brown, and there 

 are two brown spots on the top of the 

 first ring. They begin to spin directly 

 they are hatched, each one making for 

 itself a tough silken tube wherein it 

 can turn or move backward or forward 



