THE AMERICAI^ BEE JOURNAL. 



21 



For The American Bee Journal. 



Wintering. 



In writing upon this well-worn subject, 

 we do not propose to repeat old theories, 

 or tell the same stories that others have 

 told. We wish merely to give the results 

 of our observations in apiaries within a 

 radius of twelve miles from our own. 



In the fall of 1874, a neighboring bee- 

 keeper had 150 swarms of bees in Clark's 

 pRtent box hive. This apiarist was one of 

 the procrastinating kincl, and though he 

 was going lo put his bees in a winter 

 repository, the winter was allowed to pass 

 before he was read}'. INIeantime the long 

 continued cold weather, an exposure to 

 the fierce north wind, and no upward ven- 

 tilation, killed 140 swarms of his bees. 

 In all the hives we examined, there was a 

 large space of moisture and rotten comb, 

 just under the honey board, the latter was 

 nailed on tight. 



Another apiarist put 20 swarms on the 

 south side of a tight board fence, putting 

 a quantity of straw and corn-stalks around 

 the hives, leaving the fronts exposed to 

 the sun ; they came out spring poor, and 

 many of them dwindled awaj"^ before flow- 

 ers came. Still another put his bees in 

 the cellar, they came out in good condi- 

 tion in April, but the month proving^ very 

 cold with frequent snow storms proved too 

 much for 2-1 swarms, and only six were 

 left to greet the blooming of flowers. 

 These bees were in large hives that could 

 not be readily moved in and out of the 

 cellar during cold storms, this was evi- 

 dently the cause of loss, for a neighboring 

 bee-keeper carried his bees carefully in 

 and out of the cellar at least a dozen 

 times, and they all came out strong, and 

 stored an unusual amount of honey. It 

 requires a considerable lugging, and per- 

 haps something of a back-ache, but in this 

 instance it paid for the extra trouble. 



Another acquaintance of ours winters 

 his bees about 20 swarms in a 7x9 room, 

 directly in the rear of his kitchen, and 

 there is only a common partition with a 

 sliding door. The kitchen stove is located 

 near this partition and the pipe passes 

 directly through the room; no record was 

 kept of its temperature, but it must have 

 .been quite warm at times, as all the cook- 

 ing and other household work was done 

 with the stove. This room has proved 

 successful for three years, and every sea- 

 son his bees make- an unusual amount of 

 honey, one swarm making over one hun- 

 dred pounds of box-honey and casting a 

 swarm. He uses the common box-hive. 

 Another bee-keeper having eight 

 swarms, commenced wintering them in 

 the cellar, this j)roving too damp, they 

 were moved up stairs into a dark room, 

 this also not proving satisfactory, thej' 

 were moved out doors, and set against the 

 west end of the house, and these swarms, 



in spite of these frequent removals, came 

 out in good condition, except one hive. 



I could give you further examples of 

 successful wintering and of disastrous 

 failures, but from the foregoing examples, 

 I think, your readers can absorb a few 

 hints that may be of aid to them in 

 wintering. 



First of all lessons, learn to be prompt 

 in your dealings with bees; oftentimes 

 they will admit of no excuses from duty.. 



Bees in winter quarters need but little 

 waiting upon, but when the necessary aid 

 is required the apiarist should be on hand, 

 ready for any emergency. 



Our bees are in a cellar, ventilated with 

 a pipe from our sitting room coal stove, a 

 strong draft is pouring up this pipe 

 continually. We make it a point to visit 

 our bees every day, to see if every thing 

 is all right. Our outside door is lined 

 with a thick mat of straw, during mild 

 weather the inner door is opened, and air 

 can circulate through this thick mat. 

 The cellar keeps at a uniform temperature 

 of 45 ^ . Scientific. 



Dec. 13th, 1875. 



m ■ m 



For The American Bee Journal. 



Foreign Notes. 



Does the queen bee lay worker eggs or 

 drone eggs at will, or does she simply do 

 so mechanically, and without any study? 

 This is the question which is now being 

 solved by the Society of Bee Culture, of 

 La Oirondei 



A discussion took place last season be- 

 tween Messrs. P. Brun and Ch. Dadant on 

 one side, and Mr. E. Drory on the other, 

 in the columns of the journal Le Rucher, 

 an excellent little bee monthly magazine 

 published in the city of Bordeaux by the 

 last named gentleman. 



Mr. Drory holds that the queen bee, 

 when depositing her eggs, has a full 

 knowledge of what she is doing, and that 

 she lays drone eggs or worker eggs at 

 will. Therefore, according to this able 

 bee-keeper, the queen bee does not begin 

 to lay drone eggs until she feels that the 

 colony is becoming strong enough tO' 

 swarm, and then she hunts up the drone 

 cells and lays in them. Mr. Drory holds 

 that if a queen is furnished only with 

 worker cells, she will, at a given time,, 

 lay drone eggs in these worker cells, so as 

 to provide the colony with drones. On 

 the other hand, he says that a queen in a 

 hive with nothing but drone comb will 

 lay worker eggs in these drone combs. 



Messrs. P. Brun and Ch. Dadant hold 

 that the queen does not know whether she 

 lays drone or worker eggs, ^ut that she 

 has more pleasure in laying worker eggs- 

 than drone eggs, and that she will only 

 lay drone eggs when she has no longer 

 any worker cells within reach. They 

 hold that if -ft. queen is placed in a hive 



