NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JAir. 



For the Aew England Farmer. 

 ■WINTERING BEES. 



For the benefit of those readers of the Farmer 

 •who may not be acquainted with my method of 

 wintering bees, I Avill give a few directions. First, 

 be sure that you start with none but first-rate 

 stock. With most bee-keepers, success in winter 

 depends alone on this point, as they often neg- 

 lect their bees from fall till spring, and therefore 

 they derive no benefit from any care that they 

 might bestow. The requisites of a good stock 

 are, first, a f:frorig family ; second, sufficient stores ; 

 third, freedom from disease of the brood. Ex- 

 amine the hives on the first really cool mornings. 

 The best stocks Avill show bees in nearly all the 

 spaces between the combs ; very weak ones, only 

 between two or three. The best families cannot 

 be readily frozen to death, but weak ones may, 

 and often are. Strong stocks are often smother- 

 ed by an injudicious endeavor to protect them 

 from the cold. In fact, such can hardly be lost in 

 any other way. 



To winter bees in the open air, choose a place 

 where the sun can strike the hive, at least part 

 of the day. Ventilate, by raising the hive just 

 enough to let the bees pass, but not the mice. 

 There should also be a hole in the side of the 

 hive, to guard any chance of its getting closed 

 around the bottom. There should also be sever- 

 al holes through the top of the hive, and an emp- 

 ty cap set over it ; much of the moisture arising 

 from the bees will pass up into the cap, and pre- 

 vent mouldy combs. Should the weather be 

 pleasant immediately after a new light snow has 

 fallen, the bees may generally be kept in the hive 

 by shading M'itli a board set before it. If the air 

 is sufficiently warm to melt snow that is old and 

 crusted, or even soften it, there is no risk in let- 

 ting them fly, they will rise as readily from the 

 snow as the ground. There will be some few that 

 are unable to fly, and will get down in either 

 case ; the difference is only in appearance ; when 

 on the snow, every one can be seen readily ; when 

 on the ground, it requires close observation. At 

 aaiy rate, it would be safer to lose half of them 

 on the snow or ground, than to close the hive 

 longer than a few hours at once during winter. 



WINTERING IN THE HOUSE. 



If a large number of stocks are to be wintered, 

 second and third rate ones can often be can-ied 

 safely through, that in the open air would be a 

 perfect failure. There can be fifty or more packed 

 m a room ten feet square, the combined warmth 

 probably keeping the temperature above the freez- 

 ing point at all times. The room should be per- 

 fectly dark, and if close, a passage for admitting 

 air at the bottom, and another at the top for 

 its exit, should be made, say two inches square, 

 and so constructed as to exclude the light. A 

 dark, warm, dry cellar, will answer equally well, 

 without the passage for air, unless the bottom is 

 clay or cement. 



To get rid of the moisture that is constantly 

 generated, the hives should be turned bottom up- 

 ward upon shelves with blocks vmder to raise 

 them an inch from the shelf, the holes in the top 

 being left open to allow free circulation of air. 

 By having several tiers of shelves one above 

 another, a great many may be packed in one 



room. I have frequently put in two hundred 

 stocks, on three tiers of shelves, in, a room twelve 

 by eighteen feet. A large number in a room is 

 much better than a small one, on account of tho 

 additional warmth generated ; and, if a room can- 

 not be kept uniformly warm by tho number of 

 stocks, or by other means, leaving them out doors 

 is preferable. To avoid keeping them in the 

 house longer than necessary, it is well to let them 

 have the advantage of all the pleasant weather 

 likely to occur before housing. Put them in on 

 the first really severe weather ; tho first snow 

 storm, or, when stire that winter Aas commenced. 

 Let them be disturbed as little as possible. Occa- 

 sionally looking to them, to see that all is right, 

 will not materially injure them. They may be 

 put out the last of March, or first of April ; 

 choose the middle of a fair day, ivhoi the air is 

 ivarm, no matter about the snow being gone, if 

 it has only lain long enough to have a crust. A 

 dozen or fifteen put out at a time, and in two 

 heurs as many more, is better than all at once. 



This method of wintering bees is not merely 

 theoretical, but the result of many year's experi- 

 ence. With the exception of tMo, over five hun- 

 dred stocks were carried safely through the past 

 winter, under this management. I find there is 

 generally much reluctance to turning the hive 

 over, and nothing to confine the bees. I hav© 

 had letters of inquiry for additional assurance 

 that I meant what I said. When this method is 

 fully tested, I am persuaded it will be preferred 

 to any other. ]M. Quinby, 



Author of Mysteries of Bee-keepin£ Explained. 



St. Johnsville, Montgomery Co., N. Y. 



SUB-SOIL MAPS. 



From the following, which we clip from th« 

 Country Oentleman, it will be seen that the French 

 Government has employed a Mr. Duman, of 

 Paris, to construct maps exhibiting the character 

 of the sub-soil of the whole of France, to be ac- 

 companied with others of the geographical and 

 geological features of the country. It is due to 

 a citizen of Maryland, who for many years, and 

 entirely at his own cost, has most industriously 

 pursued the investigation of the qualities of the 

 soil and sub-soil, to claim for him the credit of a 

 method to which the French government attach- 

 es so much importance. Professor Baer, of Car- 

 roll Co., some fifteen years ago lectured before the 

 Legislature of Maryland, with maps variously 

 colored, to show the variations in the sub-soil, 

 and has since been pursuing and perfecting his 

 plans, and has now on hand a considerable col- 

 lection of such maps, handsomely executed, and 

 showing to the eye at a glance the character and 

 variation of sub-soils, which have been the sub- 

 jects of his investigations, as well as the remark- 

 able eff'ect upon the growth of plants of a sub- 

 soil containing noxious elements underlying a ge- 

 nial surface soil. Professor Baer pursues the 

 same method in teaching Chemistry, having large 

 maps on which are displayed for instance the 

 whole number of bases and acids, and the pro- 

 portion in which they combine and their degrees 

 of aflfinity indicated in such a way that the learn- 

 er gets the lesson Avith remarkable facility. 



Sub-soil Maps. — We see it stated that Mr. 



