' 694 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



a law radically different from that gov- 

 erning the reproduction of insects with- 

 out a first comx)lete fertilization, proves 

 that parthenogenesis cannot be properly 

 applied to the reproduction of both of 

 the distinct species of insects. 



If " what is meant by parthenogene- 

 sis now-a-days," as per Mr. Reepen, de- 

 fined by Mr. Cowan, was not made legiti- 

 mate until his rendering, then it is easy 

 to explain the misapplication of the 

 term as used in the " Dzierzon Theory." 

 The Germans jumped to the conclusion 

 that because drone-bees, as it appeared 

 to them, are procreated without a first 

 fertilization, the term — parthenogenesis 

 — applied equally propter to both distinct 

 species. So now-a-days there are disci- 

 ples of the old school parthenogenesists, 

 and if Mr. Reepen is correct, there is 

 at least one disciple of the new advent. 



Richford, N. Y. 



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Do not write anything' for publication 



on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Rolling in the Honey. 



Bees came out of winter quarters here in 

 fine condition, and are now rolling in the 

 honey from white clover. 



T. J. Henderson. 



Poplar Bluff, Mo., May 18, 1893. 



Hard Winter and. Backward Spring. 



Bees did not winter very well in this 

 locality. It was a hard winter, over four 

 months without a flight. To make it still 

 worse, we have had a very backward 

 spring. Israel Overuolt. 



South Cayuga, Ont., May 13, 1893. 



Six Months in the Cellar. 



This is the 3rd of May, and our bees are 

 not all taken from the cellar yet. I put my 

 bees into the cellar about Nov. lOtb, and 

 none of them have been out since, and 

 there has not been a suitable day to put 

 them out for the last three weeks. This 

 makes about six months' confinement. 



Mauston, Wis. Frank McNay. 



Good Record for a Hard Winter. 



I have added another winter's experience 

 with absorbents and sealed covers. My bees 

 were packed last fall on the summer stands, 

 with an outer case over each hive, packed 

 with dry planer shavings, with a pine board 

 % of an inch thick, covered with a dry 

 cushion, on part of them. The balance 

 were covered with a thick, porous cushion, 

 as described on page 402. 



I have just completed my '' spring exami- 

 nation," removing every frame from every 

 hive, and noting carefully the condition of 

 each colony. A careful comparison of the 

 results showed but little difference, with a 

 sliglit balance in favor of absorbents. 



I packed 26 colonies last fall, and have 

 the same 26 colonies now, with a laying 

 queen in each one of the hives. Isn't this a 

 pretty good record for such a long, cold 

 winter as the last, in latitude of 433^ de- 

 grees ? Not so with all my neighbors' bees ; 

 some sustained a loss of 67 per cent. It pays 

 to pack bees well in the fall. 



J. P. Smith. 



Sunapee, N. H., May 1, 1893. 



Bees in Good Condition. 



My bees are in good condition this spring. 

 I have a way of wintering bees on the sum- 

 mer stands that I never have seen de- 

 scribed. I put the hives on four bricks, put 

 old boards or bricks up close around the 

 hive, dig a trench around, and bank the 

 earth up around the hive, sloping it so as to 

 run the water off. I fill in 6 inches of chaff 

 over the brood-chamber. I have followed 

 this practice for several years, and have 

 not lost a colony yet. W. H. Soule. 



St. Joseph, Mo., May 3, 1893. 



Conditions for Successful Wintering. 



I think I have hit upon the right plan for 

 successful wintering bees in my locality. 

 In the fall of 1891 I put 4 light colonies of 

 bees into the cellar under the house. I had 

 given them young Italian queens in Sep- 

 tember, and as they had very little honey, 

 I fed them about 15 pounds of granulated 

 sugar made into syrup, per colony. 



My cellar was infested with rats, so I 

 drove stakes in the floor — which is sandy — 

 so that they stood 2 feet high ; on the top 

 of these I inverted some old tin pans, and 

 then laid two 2x4's, 16 inches apart, and I 

 nailed them fast. I placed the hives across 

 them, removed the oil-cloth above the 

 frames, and raised the hives an inch from 

 the bottom-boards, by putting blocks under 

 the corners. 



The bees came out in the spring in fine 

 condition, and no spring dwindling. I fed 

 them a little to stimulate brood-rearing, 

 and increased to 15 good, strong colonies 

 (all natural swarms but two), and they 

 gave me over 200 pounds of nice comb 

 honey in one-pound sections. 



When I put them into the cellar on Nov. 

 15, 1892, three of them were light in stores, 

 and I put on ).<-story supers, and laid some 

 partly -filled sections on the frames. One 



