206 



THE AMEIUCAJN HKK JOURNAL. 



for a flight which entirely cured the dysen- 

 tery of which I liad discovered symptoms. 

 I feed them warm sugar and syrup. 



On the 6th of January they were again 

 packed for an 18-niile trip on a sleigh over 

 a rough road, and they were again placed 

 in a cellar. On the 11th of February, they 

 had another flight. I lost but half of one 

 swarm which was caused by a frame get- 

 ting loose and chrushing them. Who will 

 say bees cannot be moved in winter ? I 

 would risk a swarm 200 miles on an ex- 

 press train, if packed so as to let the heat 

 out at the top of the hive — not in front, for 

 then the heat remains iu the hive, and the 

 second day the bees are sick. Flat bottom 

 hives are useless iu this cold climate — too 

 damp. I make my own, and use no pat- 

 ents. 



From 3 swarms bought last May, I have 

 increased to 7, and 4 nuclei, and while 

 basswood was in bloom I could have used 

 the extractor every three days, but I was at 

 home only Sundays and got but half the 

 crop. From one second artificial swarm I 

 took 34 gallons of white clover honey. 

 Kow, the swarms average 60 lbs. per hive. 

 I have sold a few queens. I am partly 

 satisfied with Grimm's sending pure Ital- 

 ians but the queens 3 out of 3 were old. I 

 have raised 15 young queens, and will put 

 them in place of old ones. The bees have 

 cost me ^15 per hive on the stand. I Avill 

 sell as good for $12, in frame hives. 



I have handled bees 18 years, 12 of 

 which have used frames. 



This morning I opened a nuclei to search 

 for a queen which I knew was 9 days old. 

 I saM' a drone just letting loose from her, 

 and before my surprise was over, two bees 

 took hold of a small white string hanging 

 from the abdomen of the queen. These 

 drones were laid in the nuclei, by a fertile 

 w^orker, which I killed last Sunday. 



I can give many interesting facts relating 

 to queens, but have not time now. 



John II. Ghunther. 



Therese, Dodge Co., Wis. 



For the Aniericiin Bee .Journal. 



Wintering and Springing Bees. 



Winter is coming on and bee keepers in 

 diftereut parts of the country are beginning 

 to feel anxious about tlie pets. The ques- 

 tion of all absorbing interest at this time is 

 how shall we Aviuter our bees without fear 

 of a repetition of disheartening experiences 

 of the past three winters and springs. 



Now there are half a dozen men in our 

 immediate ncisihboriiood who keej) from 20 

 to 80 swarms each, and have had no loss 

 the past four years, neitlu'r have they had 

 any trouble witli swarming out or dwindl- 

 ing down in sjiring, though the two last 

 springs have been unusually cold, back- 



ward and unfavorable. All wintered on sum- 

 mer stands and on natural stores and none 

 have any fear of disease or extensive losses 

 in the future. All these parties prepare 

 their swarms for winter upon the same 

 general principles, but vary somewhat in 

 their methods. We will state these varia- 

 tions and give our views upon them. 



One plan is to remove two frames from 

 the hive and put a partition board on each 

 side of the remaining frames and bees, lay 

 a blanket over the frames (after putting 

 some sticks across to keep the blanket up 

 sufficiently to give the bees a passage 

 over tlie frames) put the cap on and pack 

 it full of drj^ leaves. 



It is my opinion that strong stocks thus 

 closely packed find themselves so comfort- 

 able and warm that they keep on the move, 

 and consequently consume much more 

 food than they would if they had more 

 space, more air to keep them cooler and 

 more dormant. 



Another ])lan is to leave all the frames 

 in, put blanket on as before and a straw mat 

 over this, with a stick an inch thick across 

 the mat at each end and place the cover ou 

 the sticks. This last plan I think is a little 

 on the other extreme as sudden and severe 

 changes of temperature would have too di- 

 rect a bearing upon the bees, rendering 

 them less dormant, and again consuming 

 more food than is desirable. 



My own plan is the medium, thus : put 

 the straw mat over the frames the same as 

 a honey board, then put the cap on and 

 put a coft'ee sack or auy kind of a cloth 

 that will let the moisture from below pass 

 through readily, on over, the mat. Tack 

 bits of leather on the edge, of the cap to 

 keep cover raised i of an inch, put the cov- 

 er on, and a stone on top to keep it there, 

 and they are ready for Jack Frost or any 

 thing that may come. 



Our 38 stocks wintered in this way last 

 winter and they certainly did not consume 

 more than 120 fts. of food each from the 

 time they quit gathering in the fall till they 

 commenced again in the spring, a period of 

 over six months, and a large force of brood 

 reared in the time. 



The most experienced apiarians in Eu- 

 rope and America decide that straw is the 

 best material to keep bees healthy in win- 

 ter that has ever been used for a hive. 

 Quinby, in his excellent Mysteries of Bee- 

 keeping, advises the wintering of bees iu 

 straw hives and changing them back to 

 wooden ones in tlie sirring. This material, 

 being a more jierfect non-conductor of heat 

 than any otlier, and at the same time a 

 good condiuitor of moisture serves the pur- 

 pose of keejiing the interior of the hive dry 

 and sweet with the least jiossihle expendit- 

 ure of animal heat. Now by placing a 

 well made straw mat (like the sample you 

 have j\lr. Editor) over the entire top of the 



