164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I overhauled 25 hives, extracting what 

 honey I thought they could spare and 

 still leave them plenty, and would have 

 done the same thing with the remaining 

 15, but they began to do some robbing, 

 and I thought best to stop operations. 



November 25, I went out again, but 

 my wife had got the start of me, and had 

 all the bees in the cellar except two 

 swarms which were so strong and cross 

 that they were left. These two, I helped 

 Mr. P. put in the cellar; and, after loos- 

 ening up one corner of each quilt, they 

 were left for their winter nap. 



Dec. 6, My wife gave them an airing by 

 opening the inside cellar door and build- 

 ing good fires in the kitchen and in one 

 room over the cellar. A chimney running 

 from the ground up through the house has 

 a stove-pipe hole opening into the cellar, 

 and in this hole is put a stove-pipe open- 

 ing on the cellar bottom. This is left open 

 through the entire winter. 



The winter being so very mild, I felt 

 quite uneasy for fear the bees would be 

 too warm, and I should find a good share 

 of them dead, on the cellar bottom. 



February 12, my wife went out and 

 gave them an airing and reported them 

 quiet. 



April 10, she took up her summer 

 quarters on the' farm (if 25 acres can be 

 called a farm) and reported the bees some- 

 what uneasy, and the cellar and house 

 damp. The weather being too cool to set 

 out the bees she set to work drying out the 

 house, and airing the cellar; and they 

 quieted down. 



April 17, I went out on the evening train 

 fervently wishing it might be a good day 

 for bees to fly on the morrow. My wish was 

 gratified, and in the forenoon the bees 

 were carried out by Mr. P. and D., the 

 latter being Mrs. L.'s assistant farmer for 

 the present summer. Five of them were 

 dead. One of these had been allowed to 

 fall, on being taken in the cellar, and all 

 the combs were broken down. Not a drop 

 of honey was left. There must have been 

 plenty of honey in the combs when taken 

 in the cellar, or they would not all have 

 broken out of the frames. Did their being 

 down on the bottom of the hive make 

 them eat so much more honey? One other 

 seemed to be out of honey, and I am 

 sorry to say one ©f them had been given 

 scarcely any ventilation and was quite 

 wet and mouldy. A sixth was queeuless 

 with a mere handful of bees, and these I 

 gave to another hive. 



This left me with 34 hives wintered, and 

 with the exception of two, tliey appeared 

 to be in pretty fair condition, t'here being 

 bees in four or five of the spaces between 

 the combs, and in some of tlieiu as many 

 as six spaces had bees in. This seemed to 

 be doing pretty well considering that they 

 had been imprisoned from November 24th 

 to April 18th, nearly five months. The 



two weak ones were very weak, but if I 

 could be there to nurse them, I think they 

 could be made to pull through the spring. 

 As it is, the matter is somewhat prob- 

 lematical. To help them, I put in a di- 

 vision board and covered them up as 

 warm as I could. B. Lxindereb. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Bees Working in Rye Meal. 



As the season is near at hand for feed- 

 ing bees rye meal as a substitute for pollen, 

 it may be of interest to know how they 

 manage to make the fine, dry particles 

 adhere, so as to remain in their bread 

 baskets, being on the wing most of the 

 time while working upon it. Pollen is 

 obtained from the flowers to the best ad- 

 vantage while the atmosphere is moist, so 

 the bee imitates nature by supplying the 

 required moisture so as to make the fine, 

 dusty particles adhere to each other so 

 they can handle it. By observing bees 

 while at work on rye flour, the process 

 they resort to is readily seen ; they will be 

 continually running out their tongues 

 and wiping down upon it with their fore 

 feet, and keep up a sort of chafing motion 

 with all of their legs. By tasting of it 

 after they have worked it, it has a sweet- 

 ish taste. The probability is, they use 

 honey to a certain extent to dampen or 

 moisten themselves for the purpose above 

 stated. This may seem like a small mat- 

 ter to some, but all such matters are felt 

 in the aggregate, and it goes to show that 

 the honey-bee is not ashamed to spit on 

 his hands and take hold of hard work. 



Ono, Wis. 



M. S. Snow. 



Bee-Keeper's Association. 



The Henry County, Ohio, Bee-Keeper's 

 Association met at Napoleon, Ohio, April 

 22, 1876. 



The object of the meeting being stated 

 by D. Kepler, Capt. W. F. Williams was 

 appointed Pi-esideut, pro tern., and S. L. 

 Curtis, Secretary, pro tern. 



On motion the following Constitution 

 was read, adopted by sections, and then 

 adopted as a whole: 



CONSTITUTION. 



Article 1. This Association shall be 

 known as the Henry Countj' Bee-Keepers' 

 Society. 



Art. 2. Its object shall be the promotion 

 and encouragement of bee-culture in 

 Northwestern Ohio. 



Art. 3. Any Bee- Keeper in Northwestern 

 Ohio may become a member bj' a vote of 

 two-thir(ls of tlie members present, and 

 paying a fee of fifty cents and signing the 

 Constitution. 



Art. 4. The officers shall consist of a 



