AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



567 



satisfactory. I filled one apartment of 

 my cellar, last fall, with 80 colonies, 

 prepared as follows : 



Each colony was left in 2 stories of 

 my shallow hive ; 2 combs were taken 

 from each hive, leaving the bees on 16 

 combs, 6xl3j^ inches. These combs 

 were spread to fill the 10-frame hive, 

 and the bee-space between each set of 

 frames, made a central passage to all 

 parts of the hive. They were covered 

 by spreading a square of cotton-sheeting 

 over each hive. On top of this I put a 

 shallow box, 3 inches deep, the bottom 

 of cotton cloth nailed on ; the boxes are 

 large enough for the cloth to rest on the 

 edges of the hive top, and are always sure 

 to be tight. These boxes were filled 

 level full with dry, fine sawdust. 



The temperature of the cellar was 

 uniformly very near 42°, and, as to re- 

 sults, these bees have remained quieter ; 

 there have less bees flown out on the 

 cellar bottom than I ever knew in my 

 experience of 40 years. The colonies are 

 all alive to-day, and so quiet that I can 

 only hear a very slight murmur. 



I prepared some 50 hives by putting 

 some thin strips, one-thirtieth of an inch 

 thick under the board covers. These 

 bees have wintered fairly, but »ot equal 

 to those first named, as many more bees 

 flew from the hives to the cellar floor. 



I have made some inquiry, and find 

 that the bees of neighbors in this part 

 of the country have wintered poorly ; 

 those with sealed covers being dead, as 

 a rule, where wintered in out-door pack- 

 ing, and all dead where unprotected. 



PLEASED WITH THE HOUSE-APIAKY. 



My new house-apiary is just now fin- 

 ished. It is a beauty, of which I feel 

 proud. I find I can accommodate 46 

 colonies in the 8x16 feet building, with- 

 out crowding. I had expected to fill it 

 with bees about March 1st, but the very 

 severe weather prevented. I will fill it 

 now when the weather has moderated 

 sufiSciently, with bees from the colonies 

 that have wintered so nicely, and shall 

 expect to be able to make a good report 

 for house-apiaries this Columbian year. 



I have demonstrated in the past un- 

 usually hard winter that bees will win- 

 ter perfectly in house-apiaries, if prop- 

 erly prepared, as hives in my little, im- 

 perfect house came through with bottom- 

 boards as clean as in summer. 



THE COMB-LEVELER — A NEW THING. 



I send you one of my new machines 

 for preparing sections filled with empty 

 comb for use again. It will be seen by 

 reading Oleanings for March 1st, page 



207, how such veterans as Manum have 

 despaired of producing salable honey by 

 using these sections of comb againi and 

 have resolved, as many others have 

 done, to melt the combs for wax, and 

 burn the sections. 



Now, I regard such empty combs as 

 nearly equal in value to completed sec- 

 tions of honey, to use as "baits " to get 

 the bees into the supers early in the 

 honey-flow, and to be filled rapidly in a 

 short flow in poor years. All my finished 

 honey for the last two seasons was of 

 this kind, and by the use of this little, 

 cheap machine, the honey was equal in 

 appearance to combs built on new foun- 

 dation. 



'■"S---.- .-.,,,_. GtMEft AUVJEW. 



I'l'MP FLUE '. 



VIEW 



e^£■CT)ON^^ 



aoTror->/*^"' 



B. Taylor's Comb-Leveler. 



In using the comb-leveler, take a small 

 box with the front left out, to set the 

 lamp in, and cut a circular hole in the 

 top, 714 inches in diameter, to set the 

 pan in. The box should be high enough 

 so the lamp chimney will go within % or 

 14 inch of the tin cone in the round hole 

 in the bottom of the pan. A block can 

 be put under the lamp to make it just 

 right. 



Put a little water in the bottom of the 

 pan for the melted wax to run into, and 

 light the lamp. By turning the wick up 

 or down, the right heat can be secured. 

 The heated plate should be hot enough 

 to melt the comb in the section quickly, 

 but not to burn the wax. 



Now take a section with comb, and 



