THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



two hundred and fifty-six. In a field that 

 will sustain but about thirty swarms, they 

 must most of tliem perish the third winter. 

 In a field that would sustain sixty swarms 

 only, they must perish the fourtli winter ; 

 .and some of them have been fed the tliird 

 winter or have jierished then. 



Suppose that, instead of thirty small 

 swarmiuiX hives, we plaee eight or ten 

 swarms in hives of about twenty-five hun- 

 dred cubic inches in a breeding and winter- 

 ing apartment, with surphis honey boxes to 

 contain one hundred pounds of surplus 

 honey in intimate connection with the 

 breeding apa.rtment ; if eft'celively shaded 

 from the sun, they will average in a good 

 season one hundred pounds each. 



If they are screened from the heat of the 

 eun, and in a cool place, there will vei*y 

 few, if any, swarms issue from them. If 

 the season is an unfavorable one, they will 

 find honey enough to fill their wintering 

 apartments, and furnish some surplus. 

 There is no danger of starvation. There is 

 room for thirty colonies with little surplus ; 

 there is surely, then, room for ten colonies 

 and some surplus in a poor season. 



The investment in bees in such hives has 

 ^something of permanency. The keeper 

 need have no fear of loss from starving. 

 He need not have any anxiety about his 

 bees running out. If his stock is kept 

 Avithin the capacity of his field, if his sur- 

 plus boxes are placed on in season, and his 

 bees duly shaded, he has but little trouble 

 or care about them but to remove the sur- 

 plus boxes when filled, and supply the 

 •empty ones when needed, and secure his 

 surplus honey. 



It is necessary to observe tke.se few 

 things : 



1. Limit the number of your colonies to 

 the capacity of your field. Better to fall 

 short of than to exceed the number that 

 will have full employment in gathering the 

 honey. 



3. Give ample room in the breeding and 

 wintering apartment — two thousand five 

 hundred inches at least. Then if you have 

 not too many bees in your field, it will be 

 unnecessary to feed them, with the ample 

 room for stores ; and it is simply the ques- 

 tion whether you will have the honey in 

 your field with little trouble and care, or 

 will you live in constant care and perplexi- 

 ty, get at most not one-lenth of your honey, 

 and have your bees almost all perish in 

 •every three, four or five years. 



Jaspek Hazex. 



Woodstock, Vermont. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



"Our Contributors." 



Waldridge, a German writer, says he saw 

 forty large bee-hives filled with honey, to 

 the amount of seventy pounds each, in two 

 ■weeks, by being placed near a large field of 

 huck-wheat in flower. 



I find the American Bee Jouknat. in- 

 variably both interesting and instructive. 

 Often re-reading many articles whicii have 

 appeared in tlie last eight montlis I feel like 

 thanking ail the correspondents, both old 

 and new, for contriliuting to make us such 

 a readable paper. 



AVhile I deeply regret that Mr. Langstroth 

 has been unable of late to contribute any- 

 thing to the pages of the Jouhnai. from his 

 rich store of knowledge and experience, I 

 am pleased that Mr. (Juinby again favors 

 us with occasional articles. Although this 

 is an age of progn^ss and new ideas, we 

 cannot well dispense with the safe counsel 

 and instruction of these two veteran bee 

 masters. Mr. Quinby gave us a noble and 

 dignified article on one of the knotty ques- 

 tions of the day, and while I must dissent 

 from the conclusion he arrives at, in regard 

 to a warm house being the only safe way 

 to winter bees, I admire the spirit and style 

 in which his ideas are given. 



Mr. Chas. F. Muth tells us of the success- 

 ful wintering of bees on their summer stand 

 by himself and some of his neighboring 

 bee-keepers, and thinks that it can be made 

 uniformly successful. Will not those who 

 adopt this plan of wintering, give us more 

 particulars. I know that there is quite a 

 difference in wintering in the vicinity of 

 Cincinnati and colder locations, though 

 that vicinity was noi exempt from the bee 

 disease. But I don't intend to discuss this 

 subject here, I merely wish to call out "Our 

 Contributors." 



We have not heard lately from Mr. Bick- 

 ford who used to practice successful winter- 

 ing out doors, in a colder climate than Cin- 

 cinnati, and who gave some very interesting 

 articles on several subjects. I know that 

 the readers of the Jouunal would be pleased 

 to hear from him again. 



Let not "Novice" be discouraged in the 

 good work he is doing, even if patent hive 

 men and others who are trying to humbug 

 the bee-keeping community, do fly into a 

 passion and use discourteous language be- 

 cause their tricks are exposed. 



And "Gallup" — how could we do with- 

 out his practical, strong, common-sense 

 articles ; deducted from his close observa- 

 tions and reasonings. Though an old hand 

 at the " bee business" he is far from being 

 an " old fogy "and don't intend to be a 

 whit behind any new ideas and progress in 

 his favorite occupation. 



Thanks to friend Adair for his many 

 excellent contributions. I hope that he will 

 continue to give us the results of his scien- 

 tific and theoretical investigations, and the 

 practical working of his " new ideas." 



There are many other names I might 



