THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



289 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



My Report for the Season. 



Mr. Editou:— Now that the honey liar- 

 vest is eiuleil for another year, it seems 

 eminently proper that we state what has 

 been the oonilitions with each other anil 

 what the results. 



My "35 stocks came out of winter quarters 

 strong— never have lost any in wintering or 

 springing. 1 have always prepareil my 

 hives tor winter by stiilling dry leaves or 

 line cut straw around tlie sides and on the 

 tops of the frames, liaving lirst i)hu'ed a 

 woolen cloth on the toi». ahil contracting 

 boards at tlie sides; placed them in the cel- 

 lar some warm day. about the 2()tli of Nov., 

 and taken them out somewhere from the 

 10th to the 20tli of March. This year I have 

 made rye straw mats — straw unthrashed, 

 nice, straight and unbroken — have not only 

 put them on top of the frames, but also at 

 the ends or sides, using them instead of 

 contracting boards and shutting them in 

 nice and warm. Shall use cut straw and 

 leaves as before. 



My hives when placed in the cellar are 

 heavy with honey, and 1 cannot conceive a 

 state of things, either as regards man, beast 

 or insect, wherein they may have too much 

 of a good thing, the surroundings being ail 

 right. I do not wish to discuss this matter 

 now, and would simply say that when I use 

 the extractor with box honey, it is the last 

 of spring or lirst of summer, never in the 

 fall. 



The season here for honey has been short, 

 but tolerably good while it lasted, closing 

 with the white clover, excepting, perhaps, 

 10 to 15 days of blue vervain. The latter 

 not yielding honey as last year, tliough 

 there was abundance of it growing here. It 

 has been warm and wet, a bad year for the 

 swarming fever, yet I have only increased 

 my stocks to 38— three increases. Yet they 

 bothered me exceedingly and gave me such 

 an experience as I never had before. What 

 that experience was, it would be a waste of 

 time to tell. Almost every one who has 

 had bees, thinks he has some singular ex- 

 periences; and in all candor, let nie say, I 

 think it very likely; tell the biggest yarn on 

 swarming, and if I don't endorse it, I can 

 tell one that I would not have believed one 

 year ago, and the best, or worst, of it is, it 

 would be true. I know what the trouble 

 was now, and I thought what the trouble 

 was then, and the only difference between 

 now and then is: I've thought what the 

 trouble is now and know what the trouble 

 was then — I hadn't a non-swarming hive. 



In closing, let me say that the results of 

 the year has been 2,50() &s. of nice box 

 honey. R. II. Mellen. 



Amboy, Ills., Oct. 15, 1876. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Black Bees— Wintering. 



I have had black bees, Italians and 

 hybrids, and at this time only have the com- 

 mon native black bee. Some may wish to 

 know my reasons for discarding the Italians 

 and hybrids, and I will give them. First, 

 the native black bee will stand cold weather 

 better, work better in boxes, start brood 

 earlier in the Spring or later part of Winter 

 and are just as easy to handle without get- 



ting stung, and protect themselves against 

 moth with proper attention, as well as any 

 imported stock and they have always given 

 me more box honey tlian the Italians or 

 hybrids. 



I always bury my bees on three sides with 

 straw and diit and give an oi)en front for 

 flight in the Fall, Winter, or Sj)ring. I set 

 my hives on wide boards, two inches from 

 the ground, in a row with an east front; 

 about six inches apart; fill in between the 

 hives with hay or straw and niace on the 

 west side, hay one foot thick, and then 

 cover with wide boards to keep dry, and my 

 bees come out all right in the Spring. I also 

 have a wide loose board set up in front of 

 the hive for a wind-break, and whenever it 

 snows I brush away the snow with a broom. 

 I also use woolen cloths on the top of frames 

 and pack the cap or top of hive full of dry 

 hay in order to give upward ventilation and 

 to absorb all moisture accruing from the 

 breath of the bees. W. N. W. 



Wayne Co., Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Successfully Winter Bees. 



That is a problem quite difficult to solve, 

 and one, too, that has puzzled the best 

 apiarists of this country for years. Opinions 

 and theories as to the causes, and the means 

 of prevention, were plenty enough and 

 seemingly plausible, but when put into 

 practice they would not invariably work as 

 expected. Bees would die when surrounded 

 by the most favorable conditions, apparent- 

 ly, and bees would prosper and come out all 

 right in the spring under what appeared to 

 be extremely unfavorable conditions. The 

 question is not settled yet, but a majority of 

 bee-keepers, after trying all methods, have 

 decided that cellar wintering is the best. 



But all does not depend upon the place of 

 wintering. Much depends upon the condi- 

 tion of colonies at the connnencement of 

 winter. They must be populous— full of 

 young bees— which condition can always be 

 secured by commencing in time. They 

 must have honey enough to winter on— not 

 less than twenty pounds to the hive. The 

 honey must be pure and sweet. If it has 

 soured in the cells, as it frequently does, 

 substitute sweet honey, or white sugar 

 syrup. There must be empty space in the 

 central combs for the bees to cluster in. 

 This can be secured by removing a frame 

 and putting the rest farther apart. Winter 

 passages through the combs are a great con- 

 venience for the bees, as it saves them from 

 traveling up over the frames. 



Before nutting into winter quarters, lay 

 small sticks on the top of the frames, and 

 on these lay a piece of carpet or quilt. This 

 will make a passage for the bees over the 

 frames, under the (luilt. The quilt will pre- 

 serve the heat, but allow the moisture to 

 pass off. Having all these conditions filled, 

 wait for a fine day in November, when the 

 bees fly freely, and then put them in the 

 cellar. Put them where they are to stay, 

 contract the entrances, keep the cellar per- 

 fectly dark, and on no account disturb the 

 bees till soring. If the cellar is dry, dark, 

 quiet, and properly ventilated, you have 

 done all you can, and must wait tor the re- 

 sult in the spring. J. H. W. Pkyner. 



Butler Co., O, 



