80 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



are tlie wannest liives in winter of any kind 

 of hive I have tried, either made of wood or 

 straw. The tlierinonieter in the liives (oh- 

 servations of wiiicli luive heen taken for a 

 niindier of years, three times each day all 

 ttie year round) indicate a mean tempera- 

 ture of about 4 degrees in December and 

 .ianuary, and 4}4 degrees in February, high- 

 er than the mean temperature inside iny 

 other woods or straw hives. 



The bees do tbe best in these glass hives 

 ill winter and sninmer of any liivt^ 1 have 

 ever tried, and I have never lost a stock in 

 any of them yet, and fewer bees die during 

 tbe winter than hi any of my other hives. 

 The great success of these glass hives is 

 caused by being made with several layers of 

 s^lass, with a space of confined air between 

 each, as confined air is the best iicm-conduc- 

 tor of heat of anything we know; and the 

 season I adopted this plan was that I noticed 

 the bees (in some hives with a glass side my 

 father got made in ISOtt) always went the far- 

 fcliest from the glass side in winter. 



In 1844 a gentleman went to Russia, and 

 when he i-eturned he told me. that it was so 

 cold there in winter, that in their cotton fac- 

 tories they put double windows, otherwise 

 tltey could not spin their cotton yarn. I 

 Haid to myself this is what my hives want, 

 itnd I tried them with two "glasses, which 

 was a great impi-oveinent. but 1 afterwards 

 increased them to four, as I then got three 

 .spaces of confined air instead of one, and 

 the result has been most satisfactory. 



A great many bee-keepers have tried in this 

 country to keep bees over winter in unicomb 

 liives made of thick wood, and also of glass 

 and they have been placed in green-houses 

 and all other situations where the tempera- 

 ture is kept uniform, but I have not heard of 

 a single stock that did not die before spring, 

 or so many of the bees died that they did no 

 g')od afterwards. 



It seems to be essential for bees to cluster 

 together to survive the winter, and in the 

 uuicomb-hive they cannot, as both sides of 

 the combs are exposed to an outer sur- 

 t.ice. 



In November I remove the glass cover of 

 my Observatory hives, and tie one or two 

 tolds of blanket over the top of the hive, and 

 never have any dampness in the hives, the 

 outside combs being as free from mould as 

 the centre ones. 1 leave the blankets on 

 <itiring spring, but in February 1 put the 

 glass covers on the blankets and make all 

 tight and warm to encourage breeding, and 

 ti) further stimulate the bees and ijueen I 

 give each hive about half a ])ound ot sugar 

 Kyrup each week, taken, down through just 

 the number of holes under the bottle, so that 

 the half pound just lasts them a week. 



WlI.l.IAM CAUR. 



Xewton Heath Apiary, near Manchester, 

 i'iugiand, Feb. 12th, IK")." 



Vol- the Ainorican IJce Jouin il. 



Eccentric. 



Tiie March number of the "old reliable" 

 i i at hand in good season once more, re- 

 Minding us of the "long ago" when it used 

 t..) {)ut in an ai)pearaiice witli the advent of 

 each month so regularly that we could have 

 f'»retold it without one of "Josh Billings' 

 Almanax." We trust that it may continue 

 t'> come with equal promptness and regular- 



ity, as long as bee culture shall engage the 

 attention of the American people. 



We notice several items in our article this 

 month that are not as we intended to have 

 thein ; but as they are of minor importance 

 it may not be worth while to correct them, 

 especially as we might endanger our nom, 

 de plwnehy the attempt. However, we siiall 

 endeavor to prevent any errors creeping in 

 the manuscript hereafter. 



The article on "Wintering Bees" by our 

 talented editor, while good in many res- 

 pects, is, it seems to us, a little partial. In 

 speaking of the various means devised to 

 avoid the bad effects of cold and confine- 

 ment, he does not even allude to flying bees 

 under glass, or in other words, Mr. Bid- 

 well's "hot-bed method." Why? Is it be- 

 cause that proof is lacking as regards its 

 utility? Or is it— well, something else? 

 We a'ri^ aware that this method has not been 

 entirely successful as practiced by many ; 

 still, we think it more than likely the 

 result of non-compliance with the requi- 

 site conditions. Mr. Bidwell's reputation 

 for truth and veracity are, we think, above 

 question. 



'J'he recent action of our bee conventions 

 seems to puzzle our friend Dadant. We 

 were surprised at what was said at Pitts- 

 burgh by several parties in regard to this 

 (piestion. Though those statements have 

 been considerably modified, it still leaves 

 an impression of the doubtful propriety of 

 eontinuing these importations. The main 

 point in the whole matter is simply this : if 

 Italian bees possess qualities which make 

 them desirable, and these qualities are only 

 fully developed in their native clime, why, 

 we must continue to import. The idea ad- 

 vanced by Mr. Bingham, that we endanger 

 the health of our own apiaries by procuring 

 these queens is, we must think, a little too 

 far fetched, since Mr. Dadant first tests 

 them in his own apiary. On the whole, the 

 moderate price at which JNIr. I>. now sells 

 imported (pieens, ami the obvious advantage 

 of having stock in its original x)in"ity is, we 

 think, an ample inducement to patronize 

 Mr. Dadant. At any rate we shall do so the 

 coining season. 



There is one topic which, though of vital 

 importance to those engaged in bee-culture, 

 has received but very little attention as yet, 

 ami tliat is, what are we to do with our 

 honey in the near future ? Though our 

 bees have died by the wholesale during the 

 past few winters, and drought has curtailed 

 the secretion of nectar, honey is a drug in 

 most markets, even now. Wlien honey by 

 the thousand tons shall be put on our mar- 

 kets from California, as it seems inevitably 

 to be done, and that at no distant day, it will 

 be no easy task to convert our honey into 

 money. Of course, the demand will in- 

 crease with the supply ; still it seems to us 

 that honey must " come down " in price 

 until it reaches the " bottom," After all, it 

 may be preferable to sell at a lower figure, 

 provided we can do so at a ready cash sale. 



At this date (March (ith,— we give it to 

 please friend Argo) reports are coming in 

 "thick and fast" of the great loss of bees. 

 Since many were left out on their summer 

 stands we cannot conceive of other than 

 disastrous results in view of the fearful 

 protracted cold and bitter winds of tiie 

 present winter. With the mercury ranging 

 from 30 to 40 (leg. below zero and alniosl 

 continual high winds, it would be surprising 



