188(5 



GLEANINGS IN JUEE CULTURE. 



133 



don't understand mc to say that the whole secret of 

 wintering- lies in ventilation; I don't claim to know 

 much about wintering-, any way, and am far from 

 thinljing that perfect ventilation will secure perfect 

 wintering-. I merely think ventilation important, 

 practical observation showing it more important 

 than theory would lead us to believe. Nor is this 

 disproved by citing- occasional instances of success- 

 ful wintering with no apparent ventilation, any 

 more than occasional instances of wintering on five 

 pounds of stores would prove the general practice 

 of allowing only live pounds per colony any other 

 than hazardous. Certainly no harm can come from 

 having an abundance of good pure air in the cellar 

 at all times. 



Another consideration urgiug in the same direc- 

 tion is, that most bee-cellars are under dwelling- 

 houses, and medical authorities inform us that 

 grave consequences occur from impure air in cel- 

 lars. If oiil.v a few bees are kept in a cellar it may 

 not be necessar.v to make any special provision for 

 changing the air, as enough cracks usually exist to 

 allow a sulJiciently rapid renewal. In this ease, 

 however, especial pains should be taken, both for 

 the health of the family and of the bees, to see that 

 no decaying vegetables or other matter should be 

 left in the cellar, from which poisonous emanations 

 may be constantly taking place. It is frightful to 

 contemplate the amount of foul and decaying mat- 

 ter that is cleaned out of cellars every spring, if, 

 indeed, it is cleaned out at all. Many never lliink 

 of disturbing, until spring, the decaying mass, no 

 matter how much noxious vapor is constantly 

 steaming forth. The cellar should lie thoroughly 

 cleaned of every thing of the sort, and he})' clean- 

 fruit and vegetables of all sorts frequently picked 

 over, and all decaying specimens removed. The 

 cellar should at all times smell sweet and clean, and 

 a good coating of lime or whitewash once or twice a 

 year will help. 1 f twenty or more colonies are kept 

 in a cellar, sfjccial provision may lie needed for re- 

 newal of the air, and of this I may have a word to 

 say in a future number. 



Since wi-iting the abo\'e, 0[>iiANi.\os for Feb. 1 

 has come to hand, and your remarks about using 

 sub-ventilation for greenhouses dashes my hopes in 

 that direction, for I intended to make a great spread 

 in talking about using- it for greenhouses, hen- 

 houses, and perhaps even for dwellings; for if we 

 need to heat the air for anu purpose, it will certain- 

 ly cost less to heat it from 2'> or 1.")° than to take it 

 lower. 



J heartily congratulate Ernest's wife on getting a 

 good husband. 1 don't know enough abf)ut her to 

 congratulate him, but I suspect it is all right. 



C. C. MiM.EK,'17y— ^4J. 



Marengo, 111., Feb. :5, 1886. 



Friend Miller, witli the variable winters 

 we have liere in Ohio, I can not feel that 

 cellar wintering wonld be prolitable to ns, 

 although 1 may be mistaken. 1 have thought 

 several times I would winter part of them 

 indoors and test the matter carefully ; but 1 

 do so dread lugging hives out and in, and 

 liaving things torn up generally, as we usu- 

 ally have where we carry them into celhirs, 

 that, to confess the tiuth, I am very re- 

 luctant to undertake it, especially while we 

 have such excellent success wintering on 

 summer stands, and coming out with such 

 strong healthy colonies.— If we use no upper 



ventilation, it seems to me we must have 

 some sort of i)rotection to keep the frost 

 from striking the substance that envelopes 

 the brood-chamber. Jn old-fashioned box 

 hives, where no ujjward ventilation is given, 

 icicU^s sometimes form on the sides and toji 

 of the hives, as large as your arm. Now, an 

 outer covering would entirely prevent this 

 condensation of moisture, and freezing into 

 icicles. In regard to bees wintering in hives 

 hermetically sealed up. Prof. Cook did make 

 some such experiments, but I feel quite sure 

 there Avere some cracks and interstices in 

 the hives, eithei- througli the top. sides, or 

 bottom, that g;ive them plenty of air. It is 

 witli liives as you ai)tly mention with cel- 

 lars. Wiien we have weatlier below zero, the 

 air pours with gre;;t force through cracks 

 and crevices that at ordinary temperatures 

 would be called air-tight. 1 would have the 

 cellars ventilated, anyw.iy. whether the bees 

 wintei'f'd well Mithout ventilation or not. 

 It may be that some cellars, on account of 

 natural circumstances, are ah eady sufficient- 

 ly ventilated, without ventilators or sub- 

 earth pipes. This might be the case in 

 sandy soils; but in our water-soaked clay 

 soils, in the winter time, it seems to me 

 ami)le arrangements should always be made 

 for ventilation. The jioint you make in re- 

 gard to saving fuel and saviiig food by l)ring- 

 ing fresli air into our celbars, greenhouses, 

 and dvi'ellings, after it lias been warmed 

 many degrees by the earth, is certainly a 

 very imi)ortant item— yes. for the hen-hous- 

 es, horse and cattle stables, and evei-ywhere 

 where we keep domestic animals. Zero air 

 and ice-cold water is a great waste of animal 

 heat, and. as a necessiuy sequence, a waste 

 of grain and other food products. Friend 

 Terry, in his forlhciMiiing book in regard to 

 the care of domestic animals, will give us 

 some grand new Ihoughts on this sui)ject. — 

 Our discussions ill reference to ihe temper- 

 ature of Abitlier Earth, sub-earth ventilat- 

 ors, etc.. Iiave a- value that is going far 

 beyond the wintering of bees, alone. 



THE YAZOO VALLEY, OR DELTA. 



ITS FIONKV UESUUKCES. 



i?> NF, of the most intei-esting sections of Mississ- 

 '|tI 'i'l'' '^ ^'"^ Va/.oo I)(Mta, not only in respect to 

 1^1 its general agricultural capacity, but also to 

 ^^ the bee-keeper for its honey resources. 1 

 have been acquainted with this j)art of the 

 State from mj' youth u\), my father having moved, 

 when I was a small boy, from East Mississippi, with 

 his slaves, and oi)ened a plantation on the Tallahat- 

 chie ffivor, which ])lantation I still own, and rent in 

 part to the slaves, now freemen, who formerly culti- 

 vated it. 1, of course, never made observation in the 

 country with reference to its honey capacity until I 

 became acquainted with bee culture. Until 1876 I 

 know nothingof bees, only as insects placed at a re- 

 mote corner of the yard or garden, and to be se- 

 verely let alone except occasionally, when robbed to 

 obtain a dish of honey for the table. In that year I 

 casually obtained a volume of "Langstroth on the 

 Honey-Bee," and since have, when on my plantation, 

 been carefully noting the honey resources of 

 the " Swamp," as we commonly call it. I have 



