THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



133 



the first to die were some of those fed ou 

 all sugar syrup, and before the 1st of May 

 every cue fed with sugar, was dead. 



I do uot wisli to be understood as saying 

 that tliose fed with sugar sutlVrcd particu- 

 larly worse than those not fed at all — for 

 the mortality was very great among all — 

 but that it "had no effect in preventing 

 disease, nor has it in any other cases that 

 came under my observation. It may uot 

 be out of place to say that my bees 

 were wintered on their summer stands, in 

 movable-frame, double-cased hives, and 

 nicely quilted on top. I went carefully 

 through my apiary and placed (after feed- 

 ing was done) empty combs in the centre 

 of the hives, and the honey or sugar each 

 side of them. 



The great mortality of bees for the past 

 two winters is a fruitful subject for discus- 

 sion ; as yet, but little light has been 

 thrown upon the matter, although I have 

 full faith that it may and will be finally 

 understood. 



I will not attempt at this time to give 

 any theory of my own upon the most 

 vexed question, but may at some future 

 time give some facts of my own experience 

 bearing upon the subject. N. M. C. 



Ellington. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Experience in Bee-Keeping. 



I have kept bees, more or less, for the 

 past four years. During this time my ex- 

 perience has been of a varied character. 

 Tlirough the summer season my bees have 

 done well, and amply rewarded me for 

 my labor and trouble. But my high hopes 

 and bright anticipations were destined to 

 be blasted by the loss iu wintering. 



In the winter of 1870, seven swarms came 

 through all right on summer st;iuds. I 

 bought two in the spring of 1871 ; took four 

 on shares, increased, and commenced the 

 winter with twenty-three swarms on sum- 

 mer stands. Tliey all died, and the spring 

 of '72 found me without a bee, — but not 

 discouraged. I concluded to stick to the 

 old motto, "If you don't at first succeed, 

 try, try again," and "what other folks can 

 do, why with patience may not I ? " 



In July I again ventured to invest, and 

 bought four young swarms, also one 

 swarm of Italians. As they were late colo- 

 nies, they did increase, and I again attemp- 

 ted to winter these five swarms ou summer 

 stands, with but light protection. I was 

 again doomed to disappointment and loss. 

 The spring of '73 found my bees all dead, 

 witii plenty of honey in their hives, which 

 showed they were not starved to death. I 

 now made up my mind not to try out-door 

 wintering again. I was determined not to 

 give up if it took my " bottom dollar." In 



April I bought ten colonies of hybrids, six 

 of which died before the first of May. 

 Then, besides, one colony of i>ure Italians, 

 bought of E. Gallup, in June, proved to be 

 very prolific, I Italianized and increased 

 artificially to nineteen swarms. Took from 

 them 300 lbs. honey, twenty-five of which 

 were comb honey, and the remainder "ex- 

 tracted." Did not get my extractor till 

 late in the season. Sold both comb and 

 extracted honey for 25 cts. per ft., and 

 could have sold 1,000 lbs. more if I had had 

 it. The extracted was taken in preference to 

 comb. I prepared my bees for winter, 

 by taking the covers off and raising the 

 honey-boards, to give ventilation, and set- 

 ting them in the cellar, about two feet from 

 the ground. All except two had an abund- 

 ance of natural food. The temperature 

 ranged from 32 to 40 degs., usually 35 deg. 

 They are iu fine condition, except two, 

 which we have fed on candy. 



E. A. Sheldon. 

 Independence, Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Grallup's Ne"w Idea Hive and its 

 Advantages. 



Some one has asked for a description of 

 the New Idea Hive, as I use it. For an ex- 

 periment, I have used my standard frame. 

 But if I was going to commence anew, I 

 sliould make the frame wider, for reasons 

 which I will not now attempt to give. I 

 make the hive four feet long (inside meas- 

 ure) twelve inches deep, and fourteen 

 inches wide. This hive holds thirty-two 

 worker combs. I double case the sides, 

 leaving one-fourth inch dead air space be- 

 tween outer and inner case. The object of 

 double walls is, if bees cluster against the 

 wall, it is warm; while if they cluster 

 against a single wall in extreme cold 

 weather, the consequence is chilled bees and 

 dysentery. I use three honey boards, or 

 the Bickf ord quilt will answer, just as any 

 one fancies. I use a four-inch chamber, 

 spread cloth over the frames for winter, and 

 fill in witli two or three inches of sawdust. 

 Now place the roof over all, make winter 

 passages through the centre of all the 

 combs, but the two front ones, close the 

 rear entrance and you are ready for winter. 



I make entrances in each end just alike 

 nearly aci'oss the end at the bottom, and 

 regulate with entrance blocks ; and a little 

 above the centre I have an inch hole in each 

 end. With a full stock, and in hot weath- 

 er, both ends are open. The inch hole in 

 summer, while the bees are gathering honey 

 rapidly, allows the moisture to pass off 

 which is evaporated; and we never have a 

 puddle of water for the bees to pass through 

 early in the morning; and in winter, provid- 

 ing the hive gets buried in snow, the bees 



