AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



315 





^P~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Cold Weather for the Bees. 



A "norther" reached here on Feb. 15th; 

 the -wind was brisk, and this morning we 

 find the snow 4 inches deep, with a bright 

 sunshine. We hope it will not injure the 

 bees much. I wonder if Mrs. Atchley did 

 not see snow about the 12th or 13th. The 

 mercury here was about 15 degrees above 

 zero this morning. R. A. Shultz. 



Cosby, Tenn.. Feb. 16. 



Rearing- Good Queen-Bees. 



On page 212, Friend Michael makes some 

 good points about rearing queens, but isn't 

 he a little forgetful when he speaks about a 

 larva three days old being unfit to make a 

 queen ? Is it not generally stated that tho 

 food of worker larvfe for the first three 

 days is the same as royal jelly ? The inter- 

 esting table given on page 205, if it does not 

 show it exactly the same, shows not much 

 difference, the advantage in albumen, as 

 Herr Reepen abserves, being in favor of 

 the worker larvae. Only after the fourth 

 day does the worker larva get an in- 

 ferior diet, so according to that, a young 

 queen emerging not less than 10 days after 

 the bees commence to give it full attention 

 as a queen, ought to be all right, providing 

 all other conditions are favorable. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Experimenting on Wintering Bees. 



I have just examined my bees with refer- 

 ence to how they have wintered. I winter 

 them on the summer stands, and this sea- 

 son I have experimented a little so as to 

 ascertain if possible the best method of 

 wintering. I packed all of my weak colo- 

 nies with a chaff division-board on each 

 side, with a cushion over the brood-nest, 

 and of these I have lost nine. Some of the 

 stronger colonies I put up with a division- 

 board in the north side of the hives, with a 

 cushion on top of the frames ; others I put 

 up without any division-boards, but with 

 cushions on top of the frames. Of the last 

 two classes, about an equal in number, have 

 not wintered well. 



By my experiments, 1 have learned some 

 very important lessons. One is, that it 

 makes iiu difference how large a colony of 



bees you have to winter, it is best to put 

 chaff division-boards on both sides of it. 

 And another is. if you have but one divi- 

 sion-board to the hive, it is best to put that 

 on the south and not on the north side of 

 the hive. The reason of the last is appar- 

 ent. In the winter the bees will cluster to 

 the warm or south side of the hive, and if 

 your hive is thin — say % of an inch, and 

 you have no division-board — the bees freeze 

 more or less every cold spell, until by 

 spring they are greatly depleted, if not en- 

 tirely destroyed. 



My hives face the east, and in cold or 

 cool weather I always know where to find 

 the bees ; they are on the south side, and as 

 close to the wall as they can get ; and to 

 keep them from freezing, they should be 

 kept away by a division-board, or by some 

 other means. H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., Feb. 10. 



He Likes the "Bee Journal," Etc. 



I must say that I do like the American 

 Bee Journal ; and as I read of the differ- 

 ent bee-keepers, and especially the lady 

 bee-keepers — what they have done and are 

 doing, the thermometer seems to rise to 

 almost 100 degrees. I would like to meet 

 with all in convention sometime, and speak 

 face to face, and have a good shake of the 

 hands. W. S. Walton. 



Scarboro Junction, Ont. 



Had a Good Honey-Flow, Etc. 



Last winter and the spring following 

 were hard ones on bees in this part of Wis- 

 consin, many losing all. Mine kept dwind- 

 ling until in May, when I had 7 colonies left 

 out of IS, 4 of which were fair ones. I in- 

 creased them to 31 colonies again, with 

 plenty of natural stores, and took about 600 

 pounds of extracted honey. We had a 

 splendid honey-flow here from white 

 clover. Basswood was a failure. Bees 

 seem to be wintering nicely so far, in the 

 cellar. Louis George. 



Oakwood, Wis., Feb. 15. 



The " Admitter" Part Explained. 



I see from your notice of my bee-escape 

 on page 168, that you do not understand 

 what I mean by the "admitter." In my 

 hive, which is adapted to local and migra- 

 tory use, are two trap doors, one on either 

 side, which has two holes in each, two 

 being for the transmitter, and the others 

 for the admitter and the escape. When 

 preparing to move, the glass end of the 

 device is In the hive, and the bees from the 

 field come to the hive and can go in and 

 none come out. 



When used as an escape the glass is out- 

 side. It is sometimes used in conjunction 

 with a piece of perforated zinc as a drone- 

 excluder, and is also a great time and labor 

 saving invention when used as an escape- 

 hoard, being very fast and effective. 



It is with this little device and transmit- 

 ter that 1 can draw bees from any kind of 



