THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229- 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Visit to Mr. T: G. McGaw, Mon- 

 mouth, 111. 



And a pleasant visit it was too, and to be 

 placed on record in the book of memory 

 to be recalled in after days with other re- 

 collections of our bees and bee men. I 

 found Mr. McGaw's bee-yard by enquiring 

 diligently, and found the bee man at his 

 post with a bee veil tied on top of his hat 

 in readiness for use if the war should be 

 carried too close home, though he said he 

 had but little use for it. 1 told my name 

 and in a few minutes we were like old 

 friends, talking of course about bees, hives, 

 extractors, journals, and last but not least, 

 the bee-keepers themselves. 



He is a well posted bee keeper in the 

 broadest sense of the term, liaving taken 

 his first start in bees back in Oxford, Ohio, 

 near Kev. L. L. Langstroth, where he got 

 his first Italian queen for a single stock of 

 blacks, the said queen turning out to be a 

 hybrid. There, for the first time, I saw 

 Will. R. King's hive, the Triumpii, Gal'up's 

 and Novice's frames, with Novice's metal 

 corners which are a good thing but costing 

 a little too much to be used in a large 

 apiary where cheapness is the main idea, 

 that is 4 cents per frame. 



Mr. McGaw has about 65 stocks I think, 

 besides some he has on hand keeping for 

 others, mostly in Langstroth hives. And 

 by the way, he spoke about one thing in 

 regard to getting up a "standard " frame. 

 Why can't they who are getting this new 

 frame into use, or trying to, take tlie Ijang- 

 stroth hive as a beginning. Just cut olf 

 the frame and run it tlie other way of the 

 hive, a frame easier to handle, extractors 

 could all be made to correspond with it, etc. 

 See how easily the standard frame ques- 

 tion could be settled if you but listen to 

 our way of doing it. In the afternoon a 

 slight shower drove us into the house and 

 there we continued our talk of the same old 

 subject. 



I listened with interest to the account of 

 his transactions with other bee men, those 

 he had been to see, had sold queens to, 

 bought queens of, etc. I think that if I 

 were a patent bee hive man I'd give Mr. 

 McGaw a wide berth, for he seems to have 

 no mercy for humbugs, especially in the 

 bee business. After the shower was over 

 "we went out to the bees again, where we 

 spent the time in looking into and through 

 the hives, which were crowded with honey, 

 bees and brood, and some with nice box 

 honey on top ; inspectiug the workers from 

 imported mothers, etc. Was shown a 

 frame he had put up for fertilizing queens 

 in confinement, and he feels as though it 

 would do him good if he could give the 

 man a good licking who said queens could 



be fertilized in confinement. Another one 

 of the pet theories laid on the shelf. I did 

 not have the honor (?) of being stung by 

 any of Mr. McGaw 's bees, though several 

 came around us in a threatening maimer 

 and one I had to whack with a shingle to 

 teach him respect to strangers. 



I did not get the figures of his honey for 

 this season, but think from what he said it 

 has been pretty good. I brought a^vay, as 

 a souvenir, one of his excellent queen ship- 

 ping cages, sent by mail, 1 cent postage. 



Our bees are working hard yet, buck- 

 wheat most gone, but white clover re-com- 

 mencing and bees working on it good, 

 and heartsease by the acre in our corn- 

 fields. Have had two big rains clear otf 

 with but a slight touch of frost, but are in 

 hopes that we shall have a good honey 

 time yet. W. M. Kellogg. 



Knox Co., III. 



F<ir tlie American lice Journal, 



Observations on Wintering. 



Last fall I dug a cave, or outdoor cellar, 

 10x14 feet, and (5 deep. Through the cen- 

 ter was set a row of posts, and on these,, 

 and the dirt sides, rested a roof composed 

 of poles, brush, haj'-, and dirt. This roof 

 was about two feet thick, and two ventila- 

 tors 4x6 inches were inserted in it, one of 

 which reached to the floor of the cave. The 

 doorway was large, with loose inner and 

 outer doors, the intervening space filled 

 with hay. In this cave thirty stands of 

 bees were wintered from the 23d and 24th 

 of November to the 2()th t)nd22d of March. 

 During the winter the temperature in the 

 cave varied from 34 to 40 degrees. Once a 

 week we went into the cave to see that all 

 was right, generally raising some or all the 

 hives to examine them. Five times, at in- 

 tervals of about two weeks, fire was built 

 in the cave, and the temperature raised to 

 50 or 60 degrees for a short time. Twenty- 

 six stocks were in the Quiuby hive, covered 

 with cotton cloth, well gummed down 

 with propolis, and with rather tight, flat 

 roofs. To these stocks no ventilation up- 

 ward was given until .January 18th, when 

 considerable upward ventilation was given, 

 as much moisture had collected. Plenty of 

 ventilation was given the four box hives at 

 all times. Following Burch's suggestions, 

 some hives were raised, on boxes, twelve 

 inches from the shelf, some four inches, 

 and some were set flat on the shelves. 



Now for results. No signs of disease 

 appeared in any hive, but all were bright 

 when set out. All wintered on honey 

 gathered in August and September, and 

 consumed from ten to fifteen pounds per 

 hive. Out cf thirty hives nearly three 

 quarts of bees died, but this lo.ss was quite 

 unevenly distributed. The box hives lost 



