AMERICAN BEK JOURNAL. 



37T 



Arrang^ement for Wintering, Etc. 



My bees enjoyed a good flight to-day, the 

 thermometer registering 50 degrees in the 

 shade. I have 39 colonies in all, packed in 

 chaflf hives of my own make. The outside 

 case is made of 1-inch boards, und is 8 

 inches higher than the hive; the space I 

 filled with wheat chaff. The sides, ends, 

 and bottom is 2-inch space, to be filled with 

 with chaff. This makes a good winter hive. 

 I have wintered bees in these hives the past 

 three years, and have not lost a colony. 



Last year was a poor one for honey. 

 There was no basswood and no white 

 clover. I got 1,430 pounds of golden-rod 

 honey, most of it being comb honey in one- 

 pound sections. Otto Banker. 



Golden Gate, Minn., March 3. 



Fine Weather— Getting Pollen. 



We have had very fine weather the last 

 two weeks, and bees are getting pollen 

 from crocus, which has blossomed fully 

 three weeks earlier than usual. 



I winter my five colonies of bees on the 

 summer stands, with a wooden fence to the 

 northeast and west, leaving the south open, 

 and covering top with hot-bed sash, while 

 around the hives I pile leaves. The hives 1 

 fix by putting on a super, inside of which 

 at the bottom is a straw mat about one 

 inch thick, over that a cork cushion three 

 inches thick, and I leave the entrance wide 

 open. In this way I have never lost a col- 

 ony — in fact, my bees to-day are flying 

 almost as strong as in summer. 



Arthur A. Briggs. 



Newton, Mass., March 13. 



Wintering of Bees — Adulteration. 



After selling my 50 colonies of bees in the 

 fall of 1892, the next spring I bought 11 

 more colonies, and from them I have sold 

 300 pounds of comb honey in sections, say- 

 ing nothing about what we have used. 

 They increased to 18, and all had a good 

 flight before this snow-storm. Being away 

 from home at the time of the storm, there 

 was ice on the front of the hives, which I 

 cut away. My bees are in double-walled 

 hives and winter cases, with good cushions 

 on top made of basswood shavings and 

 clover chaff, with a little frame made 8x10 

 inches, put over the cluster of bees on top 

 of the brood-frames, and the cushion on 

 top of that. I have never lost any colonies 

 in that way, unless they became queenless 

 or died of starvation. I have seen them 

 clustered under this small frame over the 

 brood-frames, and that gives them access 

 to the honey at the top of the brood-frames. 

 This is my plan for wintering bees, although 

 bees have wintered in all conditions one 

 could think of. 



I see in the Bee Journal for Feb. 15th, 

 that Mr. Heddon thinks if we can't put 

 down adulteration, the best thing we can 

 do is to let it alone. The same argument 

 would hold with any kind of fraud. Any- 

 thing adulterated or mixed is a fraud or 



deception for the money. Look at the 

 adulteration in sugars already ! 



Now, Mr. York, I don't know as 1 have 

 any right to interfere with the subject of 

 adulteration, yet we could say the same of 

 horse stealing or train robbery — any kind 

 of crime that is committed — if we can't put 

 it down, the best thing to do is to let it 

 alone ! Law don't stop crime, it only holds 

 it in check. You may catch one culprit, 

 you may check him, and he may never try 

 it again; but another steps in, perhaps 

 more shrewd than the first or the second. 

 To hold a thing in check, is to fight it to 

 the death. If we don't do this, adultera- 

 tion will grow to such an extent that the 

 market will be ruined. I have been asked 

 the question, if I did not believe that the 

 large honey-producers fed sugar syrup to 

 get such big yields of honey ! But when a 

 man says let's let adulteration alone, that 

 looks a little suspicious, as if he would 

 favor adulteration. Ira Adamson. 



Winchester, Ind., Feb. 26. 



Honey Thick as Maple Wax. 



I expect to make bee-keeping my busi- 

 ness. We are about 75 miles from the 

 coast, in the San Bernardino valley, at an 

 elevation of 1,700 feet above the sea level. 

 The honey stored at this distance from the 

 coast is much thicker than that 10 or 20 

 miles from the seashore. It is equal to the 

 best maple wax, in body and flavor, and is 

 not strong to the throat. W. S. Winn. 



Messina, Calif. 



Bees in Splendid Condition. 



The weather here is delightful. Bees win- 

 tered out-doors are in splendid condition, 

 and are gathering their first pollen from 

 soft maple blossoms to-day. 



My experience in wintering bees in this 

 locality convinces me that with plenty of 

 stores, young queen, and young bees, 

 coupled with plenty of good absorbent 

 material over the cluster, and the inclina- 

 tkiit. forward of the hive say 4 or 5 inches, 

 bees may be very satisfactorily wintered 

 on the summer stands, in single-walled 

 hives. C. O. Coknelius. 



Ashland, Nebr., March 9. 



The Shallow Hive Preferred. 



Having used such hives for two years, 

 with the greatest satisfaction, I can say 

 that I wish for nothing better for comb or 

 extracted honey. So well pleased am I 

 that no more single-tier hives will be used, 

 as I think that honey can be produced for 

 one-fourth less than in other hives. To- 

 wards the close of the honey harvest, last 

 year, the bees filled the upper tier of frames 

 with honey, and nothing could be nicer for 

 extracting. Besides, the honey-knife reach- 

 es across the frame, and obviates the neces- 

 sity of wiring the frames, and one can 

 have honey or brood for any use in the 

 apiary. Also, for small swarms or nuclei, 



