with their stands in rows, by moving 

 those of the first row into the vacant 

 spaces of the second ; the same with the 

 third, fourth, and so on, leaving a space 

 between the hives of about 20 inches. 

 The 4 inches of space under the hives, 

 and the ground around, was covered 

 with sawdust. I packed the bees, 

 about the middle of November. The 

 weather was warm but rain threatened, 

 so that I could not take time to put all 

 of the division boards in place, so I had 

 to content myself by placing them 

 against the outside of the hives, so that 

 the top bar came close under the cleat 

 supporting the second story. These 

 consolidated rows were boxed, leaving 

 about 12 inches of space in front and 

 rear, and packed with chaff and straw 

 to the top of the hives. Over the hives 

 a chaff cushion 22x30 inches, 6 inches 

 thick, was placed, projecting each way 

 and resting on the surrounding chaff. 

 On the cushions were placed the covers 

 of the second stories to guard against 

 leaky roofs, as well as for storage. 

 Over these were placed shed roofs, hav- 

 ing first filled every vacant space with 

 straw. The entrances were contracted 

 to % inch, and straw packed around 

 leaving an opening through which the 

 bees may pass at will. A movable 

 board was placed in front of the 

 entrances to exclude the light and snow. 



We had a few days of cold weather 

 during the first week of November, so 

 that the thermometer indicated zero, or 

 below, two successive mornings. The 

 weather soon changed so that it was 

 quite warm, with no frost in the ground 

 when I packed my bees. A few bees on 

 the outside combs were frozen to death, 

 yet I think they were all quite strong 

 colonies and well supplied with honey. 



I placed my observation hive with 

 another, in the cellar, and I may here- 

 after tell you how they have wintered. 



Augusta, Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Observations about Hives, &c. 



HIKAM ROOP. 



We often hear the remark that if we 

 could have July and August weather all 

 the while, bees would not have dysen- 

 tery. If bees are put in proper shape 

 they will generate sufficient heat to keep 

 up a July or August temperature, in 

 the coldest weather, and in our opinion 

 be able to evaporate impurities from 

 their stores, though some few of the 

 frames in use do not admit of putting 

 bees in proper shape for winter ; Nature 

 designed the honey-bees to go into a 

 dormant state on the approach of cold 



weather, like nearly all the insect 

 creation, and remain in this condition 

 for several months, without injury to 

 themselves. Thus we see that long 

 confinement to the hive has nothing to 

 do with the mortality among bees. 

 Some say that many years ago, bees 

 gathered honey from honey-dew, and 

 then they did not have dysentery. If 

 some scientist will tell us what kind of 

 Aphis produced honey-dew, many years 

 ago and what kind now do so, we shall 

 all be able to answer that question. 



Bees in a perfectly healthy condition 

 discharge their feces in the hive, but in 

 a dry state, and it is generally mistook 

 for uncappings, the watery particles of 

 their food being thrown off in a vapor, 

 provided that the colony is in a proper 

 condition to expel such moisture. 

 Some hives are suitable for a home for 

 the honey-bee, but the majority of them 

 are not. The hive that contains room 

 enough in the breeding appartment for 

 20 to 30 lbs. of honey in excess of that 

 space which a queen will occupy with 

 brood, is, at least, unprofitable for comb 

 honey, not to enumerate any of its 

 other disadvantages. 



Some years ago I visited several apia- 

 rists in one of the Northern States, one 

 of whom used a hive with 1200 cubic 

 inches inside the frames ; he had sold 

 4,500 lbs. of comb honey and 2,000 lbs. of 

 extracted, from 55 colonies, while his 

 neighbors had no honey to sell and were 

 complaining of a poor season. They 

 used a hive with 2,000 cubic inches, and 

 thought it made but little difference 

 what hive they used, provided it had 

 movable frames of some sort. 



During the summer of 1878 I ran 200 

 colonies for comb honey ; in August of 

 that year there was honey-dew, worked 

 upon by about two-thirds of my colonies 

 for about 10 days; the balance not 

 seeming to notice it. We watched them 

 closely but were unable to discover that 

 they ever got a taste of it ; I was also 

 very particular to mark the location of 

 these colonies, when put into winter 

 quarters, and found on examination in 

 the spring that none of them were 

 troubled with dysentery or spring 

 dwindling, while, ail the others had both 

 badly, though they were nearly all 

 strong in numbers when placed on the 

 summer stands. We are satisfied, by 

 experiments made, that had these 

 affected colonies been in hives suitable 

 or even fit to winter bees in, they could 

 all have been saved. 



Although we never deal in patent 

 hives, we are sorry that most of our 

 leading apiarists discourage any further 

 improvement in hives. That this is 

 wrong there is no doubt ; the hope of 



