AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



hives, and that he has tried everything 

 given in the Bee Joubnal, and it did 

 not destroy them. I never try to de- 

 stroy them ; I simply keep them away 

 from my bee-hives by taking a good 

 bunch of tansy, and mash or bruise it by 

 rubbing it on the outside of the hives 

 and the inside of the cover, and scatter 

 some of it on the cloth over the bees. 

 Be sure to try it the coming summer, 

 and report in the Bee Journal. 

 Pioneer, Ohio. 



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_ 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. 



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Gathering Pollen. 



Many colonies of my bees are ventilat- 

 ing, denoting strength. Considerable 

 pollen is gathered now. The weather 

 permitting, I expect early swarms. 



M. H. Mendleson. 



Ventura, Calif., Jan. 2, 1893. 



Reminded of the Winter of 1880-81. 



The weather for the past few days are 

 reminders of the winter of 1880-81 — 

 20 to 22-^ below zero. That winter the 

 loss of bees was great, and if the winter 

 continues for any length of time as it 

 has been, I fear there will be a serious 

 loss this winter. But we will hope for 

 the best. H. H. Brown. 



Light Street, Pa., Jan. 17, 1893. 



Winter Packing:-Cases — Top-Bars. 



In Mr. Green's article on page 22, he 

 says there are pronounced advantages in 

 making a packing-case large enough to 

 hold several colonies, and that his new 

 packing-cases hold four. Now if they 

 held eight, having two entrances at each 

 side and each end, there would be still 

 greater advantage, as there would be 

 more economy of heat, and only a trifle 

 over one-half more labor, packing ma- 



terial, and lumber required. The roof 

 could be made of half-inch cedar or pine 

 lumber, 10 or 12 inches wide, and 

 nailed to three hardwood rafters for 

 each side of the roof, one inch square, 

 with 2)4 inch wire nails well clinched. 

 The two sides of the roof may be hinged 

 at' the ridge with three strap hinges, 

 one at the center, and the other two 

 near the ends, just over the rafters, and 

 nailed on with three-inch wire nails in- 

 stead of screws. 



There is another point I should like to 

 make in regard to making a bee-space 

 at the ends of top-bars, which can be 

 done by rabbetting out %-inch instead 

 of %, and having the sheet-iron rest 

 raised )^-inch above the shoulder, thus 

 leaving a bee-space of half an inch all 

 around the projecting end of the top- 

 bar, and so avoiding all propolization 

 during the use of the hive. 



R. F. Whiteside. 



Little Britain, Ont., Jan. 13, 1893. 



The Season of 1892— Wintering. 



I put 73 colonies of bees into the cel- 

 lar in the fall af 1891. They were light 

 in stores, but all wintered well except 2 

 colonies. I put them out on April 5, 

 1892. It was fine weather, but in a 

 few days it turned cold and windy, and 

 it rained, and rained, and the east wind 

 blew ice cold for 31 days. I could not 

 look at-my bees all of this time, as it 

 was so cold and windy, and when the 

 first warm day came, that was on Sun- 

 day, they commenced swarming out 

 about 9 o'clock in the morning. I had 

 fed all of these colonies well, and they 

 all had plenty to eat ; all had brood and 

 good queens. I put some of them back 

 six times into the one hive, and the first 

 thing I would know they would be out 

 on the wing. So they swarmed out 

 until I had 36 colonies left out of 73. 

 I then gave the 36 the very best of 

 care, and got 1,200 pounds of comb 

 honey, all nice and white. I now have 

 58 colonies. 



My neighbor had 11 colonies, and he 

 came to me and wanted to know if I 

 would help him kill his bees, and take 

 my extractor and extract the honey. I 

 told him I thought it was wicked to kill 

 the bees that way. I offered to buy his 

 bees, and he paid all right, he would 

 sleep over it. They were in Root's ten- 

 frame hives. I weighed some of them, 

 and they weighed from 66 to 70 pounds 

 each. I got them for .$3.00 per colony, 

 and I let my neighbor have 2 colonies 

 out of the 111 bought. The one I bought 



