200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



If the traps will not catch Millers, they 

 will sometimes catch queens, so buy one 

 by all means of the first pedlar that comes 

 along. H. P. Gallup. 



Medina, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How One Man Got Rid of his Drones. 



Mrs. Tupper : — Your valuable favor of 

 the 8th inst., to hand. The bees reached 

 their home on the evening of the 23rd, in 

 apparent good condition. The next day I 

 noticed some dead ones at the entrance, 

 ■which I removed frequently during the 

 day with a small wire. Prompted by curi- 

 osity and with the hope of relieving the 

 labor of the bees in bringing their dead to 

 the door, I opened the hive in the evening, 

 lifted all the frames out, brushed out and 

 gave the box a good clensing, returned the 

 frames and be^s without offending a single 

 bee so far as I knew. I think about half 

 the colony were dead —say one pint. 



From book information, I concluded 

 there was a surplus of drones in the colony. 

 How to get rid of them was the question. 

 Drone catchers were patented and what 

 could I do. The laborers were working 

 finely but the surplus of gentlemen of ele- 

 gant leisure was annoying. With a small 

 bit of paste-board, with a notch one-eighth 

 by three inches long placed over the en- 

 trance, settled the question speedily. The 

 laborers could enter but the drones could 

 not. A little squeeze on the head settled 

 the business for them, and to all appear- 

 ances the colony is doing well. Several of 

 my neighbors want bees and the Journal, 

 but are a little demoralized by the delay of 

 our jailroad up the Platte, and think they 

 must wait another year. 



D. Hausbaugh, 



South Platte, Colorado. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering Observations. 



It has been some time since I have felt 

 like writing to the Bee Journal but now 

 that my bees have done well, I am encour- 

 aged to take up the pen again and give my 

 experience and observations that they may 

 possibly be of benefit to brother bee-keep- 

 ers. Trusting that the wintering question 

 will receive the fullest discussion before an- 

 other winter comes down upon us with its 

 uncertainties and disastrous results. 



I put twenty-six swarms in the cellar 

 November 21st, all except two supplied 

 with natural stores, and nearly all strong 

 swarms. Now, as Mr. Quinby, on page 

 106, desires to compare notes in relation to 

 temperature, here are a few facts gleaned 

 from personal observation. The portion 



of the cellar in which the bees were stored 

 was near an outside door, and though bank- 

 ed with straw, during our severest cold the 

 temperature fell two degrees below the 

 freezing point. A few days after, the tem- 

 perature arose to 40 ° , and two swarms, 

 one of them upon which all early honey 

 had been extracted leaving fall honey ex- 

 clusively, showed signs of dysentery. The 

 latter swarm was very large and vigorous, 

 occupying a three-foot hive with Adair size 

 of frame. We had several of these cold 

 snaps and every time the temperature arose 

 dysentery was developed more and more 

 virulent in the large swarms. Until being 

 set upon their summer stand the remainder 

 smeared their combs and themselves in a 

 fearful manner and froze up solid. Now, 

 was it the honey or the cold, or a little of 

 both that accomplished the ruin of this 

 swarm ? All of the rest wintered well 

 whether fed on syrup or natural stores. 



On the 10th of March they were set upon 

 their summer stands. A careful examina- 

 tion showed no sealed broods except in a 

 very few hives. The queens had apparant- 

 ly just commenced to lay. In two days af- 

 ter setting them out the weather changed 

 and a cold spell intervened. Upon the next 

 warm day an examination showed no seal- 

 ed brood but the queens had just com- 

 menced to lay, the first eggs of the ten days 

 previous being destroyed. Three times we 

 made these examinations through the 

 months of March and April with like re- 

 sults, no brood rearing and all the while a 

 constant dimunition of old bees, and event- 

 ually the swarming out fever left me, by 

 the middle of May, with only six swarms 

 out of twenty-six, and only two of these 

 were strong. These had sealed brood 

 when set upon their summer stands. 



With the temperature of the cellar at 40 ° 

 or 45 ° the bees were very quiet — about 

 45 ° would be my " standard." 



During the past winter bees wintered 

 upon their summer stands and were in better 

 condition than those that were housed. I 

 have also observed that during the past 

 three severe winters, bees wintered in a 

 neighboring village where the hives were 

 entirely surrounded by buildings, and came 

 through in the very best condition. 



Now having lost heavily and observed 

 closely, let us see if there was not a remedy, 

 if it had been applied in time. Fine food 

 and an even temperature of 45 ° would 

 have banished dyscutary. They would not 

 have dwindled down in the spring if each 

 swarm had been examined and not set out 

 until each had capped brood. This could 

 have been obtained by feeding syrup and 

 supplying pollen. And here let me suggest 

 the experiment of feeding rye meal late in 

 the fall. Will bees work upon it at that 

 time? If they would, a supply might be 



