sufficient width to take in a row of hives 

 on each side and two rows standing 

 back to back in the middle, giving a 

 passage-way on each side. The stud- 

 ding should be sufficiently high to take 

 in two or more decks of hives. I prefer 

 the Hicks hive to any other, as they 

 open like a book, exposing both sides 

 of the comb, enabling one to see at any 

 time how the family inside gets along. 



About-i or 5 half-inch auger holes, top 

 and bottom through the outside walls, 

 and between each stud, will ventilate 

 the air chamber sufficiently during warm 

 weather; all may be stopped up during 

 the winter. Our wall in the entire cel- 

 lar is surrounded with double air- 

 chamber. Milk and butter will keep 

 cool in such a cellar without ice, and the 

 air is so dry, in summer and winter, 

 that the cream all rises ; for storing 

 vegetables, there should be a 4 inch 

 brick wall partition. Tons of vegetables 

 for stock maybe kept and be always 

 accessible. Such a cellar will never 

 freeze. The doors and windows should 

 be of double sashes. Over the upper 

 floor, it may be finished off for lodging 

 or store-rooms. Ventilate the cellar, 

 between the studding, top and bottom. 



Dennison, Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Plan of Wintering Bees. 



CHARGES KELLER. 



I use the Langstroth hive 16^x23 

 inches outside, containing 8 brood 

 frames and 2 division boards. The 

 latter I put up close to the brood frames, 

 which are covered with ducking. On 

 this I use a quilt, made of thin muslin 

 with cotton batting tilled in to make it 

 one inch thick. The sides I pack with 

 chaff; the ends are made double with 

 J 2 inch air-spaces. 



The cap is 6 inches deep, and has a 

 square hole of 1 inch at each end 

 covered w r ith wire cloth, for ventilation. 

 Above the quilt I fill in with leaves, all 

 but about an inch at the top. No frost 

 ever gets into the hives when prepared 

 in this way. 



If the bees have a plenty of honey 

 they will winter successfully every 

 time. I have used it successfully for 

 4 years. 



I commenced in the spring of 1876 

 with 4 colonies; increased to 22, by 

 artificial swarming, and did not. lose a 

 colony in the following winter. In 1877 

 I increased to 43 and again wintered 

 without loss. In 1878, I increased to 

 78, and 6 nuclei, 3 of the latter starved, 

 as I had moved 6 miles from the apiary 



I could not be with them in the spring. 

 One colony became queen less, one was 

 robbed, and one smothered. My loss 

 therefore in 4 years being but 6 colonies 

 and that was my own fault. I now 

 have 102 colonies in my care, all in good 

 condition. They are breeding now, and 

 prospects are bright for a better honey 

 season than the last. 

 Gibson's Station, Ind., Feb. 4, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Theory versus Practice. 



A. E. WENZEL. 



The various articles in the valuable 

 Bee Journal from time to time, from 

 the pens of specialists in the science of 

 bee-keeping, I always read with much 

 interest, as I am looking for more light ; 

 but frequently some production shows 

 ignorance of facts upon its face, in- 

 dicating that the author has but little 

 knowledge of the subject on which he 

 is writing. We know well that editors 

 do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the sentiments or ideas advanced by 

 correspondents, in the best organs of any 

 special industry. Some of these fre- 

 quently strike a novice as very learned, 

 but to the older heads, who have been 

 " through the mill," they are calcula- 

 ted only to produce a smile. 



Those persons of one idea, for in- 

 stance, who figure all to get a honey- 

 rack into place upon a hive, think it the 

 ultima thule, and would laud that fact 

 with circus-bill demonstrations of 

 weighty adjectives, giving color to that 

 preponderating idea, with more than 

 Pythagorean glory, of the discovery, 

 concerning which he wildly exclaims, 

 " Eureka !" 



Experience has taught us that with- 

 out ingenuity to adapt the circumstances 

 of one branch of our industry with an- 

 other, that some would-be apiarists, by 

 their advice (mostly through interested 

 motives), have frequently brought con- 

 sternation upon their unsophisticated 

 brethren. But the AMERICAN Bee 

 Journal is striking sledge-hammer 

 blows at the foibles, as one of the " va- 

 rieties which make up the spice," while 

 plodding along " allee samee.'" 



The above is written partly as an 

 apology for trespassing upon the editor's 

 valuable time, by sending him last 

 month, for perusal, a missive which he 

 returned, originally sent me by a party 

 explaining the points of a hive which I 

 would not give the pleasure of recogni- 

 tion, because it was positively vulgar in 

 its self- laudation. 



Callicoon, N. Y., Feb. 8, 1880. 



