18i)l 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



953 



loss. The packing matei'ial would uover be- 

 come moist, neither would the cover-board in- 

 side of the hive preeipitate moisture, on account 

 of the thorough packing above and aiound it. 



THE PLAN NOT NEW. 



As already intimated, this plan of outdoor 

 wintering is not new. Several jn'ominent api- 

 arists have urged it. and at different times, 

 though perhaps not so clearly and forcibly, nor 

 so thoroughly substantiated it by a series of ex- 

 perim(>nts extending over so many years. We 

 believe it was J. A. Green (if it was not. it was 

 ■■ the other fellow ") who claimed that he could 

 winter bees in a large-mouthed bottle — the bot- 

 tle being, of course, thoroughly protected by 

 several inches of packing, and the mouth be- 

 ing wide open. 



SOME EXPERIMENTS ON WINTERING AT THE 

 HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES. 



Quite in line with Mr. Pierce's statements, 

 the absorbents in our winter cases have been 

 getting too moist to please us: and we have 

 therefore put over a number of our colonies 

 thin boards to tit tight on top of the hive. We 

 have even gonesofar as toimbed some of them in 

 white-lead paste, being so cold now the bees 

 would not seal them down with propolis. Over 

 these we have poured the packing material and 

 replaced the cover. Nay. we have gone fur- 

 ther. We have taken sheets of glass, just the 

 size of the top of the hive, and imbedded them 

 in white-lead paste. Under the three glass cov- 

 ers were previously put creamery thermome- 

 ters. Over one of these we poured chaff pack- 

 ing: over another, coarse planer-shavings: and 

 on the remaining we laid a chaff cushion. 

 When the thermometer was 10 degrees above 

 zero outdoors under the glass it registered from 

 4.T to .50 degrees. These glass sheets were put 

 on the hives about a month ago. We notice 

 anothei- thing— that their clustei-s of bees were 

 the last ones to contract up for winter, while 

 those under the (ibsorhent^ were balled up a 

 week or so before — the cushions being a little 

 moist. Now. the inside of this glass, even with 

 only a two-inch chaff packing, never precipi- 

 tates moisture: in fact, the glass feels warm to 

 the hand, and the hive is perfectly dry inside. 

 On the very coldest days the bees are clustered 

 pretty well down toward the entrance, showing 

 that they are not suffering from want of heat. 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY, ETC. 



Next summei', if we can procure a large glass 

 bottle we will put some bees into it. let them 

 build their natural combs, and then prepare 

 them ft hi Green. Winter? Of course they 

 will. But then it will be lots of fun to pull the 

 packing away from the sides, to witness how 

 the ball of bees is and where it migrates from 

 week to week. etc. By the way. if you wish to 

 have lots of fun. and wish to learn more about 

 wintering than you ever knew before, procure a 

 sheet of glass and imbed it in white-lead paste 

 over the top of one of your average colonies. Pro- 

 tect it thoroughly with packing, and then every 

 few days during winter ''paw" the packing 

 away, take a peep at the thermometer, and see 

 where the bees are. If you work quickly and 

 carefully enough, you need not disturb the bees 

 in the least. 



WHY WE HAVE HAD SUCH GOOD RESULTS WITH 

 ABSORBING CUSHIONS. 



Of course, before spring we may be very 

 much less enthusiastic over non-absorbents. 

 But we have this to say about absoibing cush- 

 ions: Very few bee-keepers — in fact, no one — 

 can show better results in winter for the last 

 ten years than we have had. During this time, 

 with absorbing cushions we have lost less than 



three per cent, and that with anywhere from 150 

 to 2{X) colonies. But as we look back now. the 

 three per cent died from some unknown cause: 

 and, as nearly as we can recollect, their cush- 

 ions were very wet. One colony in particular 

 last winter— the best one in the whole apiary — 

 " went up ■■ before March, and its cushion was 

 soaking wet. We were quite loath to believe at 

 the time that the wet cushion had any deleteri- 

 ous effect: but in the light of recent develop- 

 ments it is suggestive. Now. why is it that we 

 had such a low percentage of loss? Peihaps 

 this is the solution: Our cushions were about 

 eight inches deep: and, being packed solidly in 

 the upper story, it atnounted, almost, to mo up- 

 ward ventilation. In a sense, then, they ap- 

 proximated toward the condition of a sealed 

 cover. If we are correct in our own observa- 

 tions, two inches of packing and a sealed cover 

 is as good as eight or ten inches of packing next 

 to the bees. Where we have used absorbing 

 cushions over two inches thick next to the bees, 

 many of them have been soaked through, even 

 after being on the hives for only a month. Over 

 against this is the fact that packing material 

 of the same thickness, above the sealed cover, 

 was perfectly dry. .so also ti'a.5 the hive inside; 

 and the thermometer registered 45 to 50 when 

 the outside temperature under a high wind 

 was only 10 degrees above zero. This is a fruit- 

 ful and timely subject, and we should like to 

 have it thoroughly discussed. 



By the way. we should mention that the book, 

 ■■ Winter Problem." can.be obtained of the au- 

 thor. G. R. Pierce. Blairstown, Benton Co.. la. : 

 price .50 cents. It is not a very large book, 

 but it represents, evidently, a great amount of 

 study and experimentation: and although you 

 may not find any thing new in it. you will find 

 it beautifully written and interesting. 



JULIUS HOFFMAN. 



THE INVENTOR OF THE HOFFMAN FRAME. 



The subject of this sketch was born in the 

 town of Grottkan. province of Silesia. Prussia, 

 Germany, on the 25th of October. 1838. His 

 birthplace is but a few miles from where Rev. 

 Dr. DzierzoD spent most of his lifetime among 

 his bees, and from whence he spread his knowl- 

 edge and discoveries over Germany and the 

 world. When young Hoffman was a little over 

 13 years old he visited Dr. Dzierzon. and was 

 imbued with such enthusiasm for the bees that 

 he at once bought a colony of blacks into which 

 he introduced one of Dzierzon's best Italian 

 queens. With the exception of about three 

 years he has handled and kept bees ever since. 



In 1862 Mr. Hoffman left Germany and took 

 up his abode in London, England. He moved 

 with him a colony of Italian bees and kept 

 them on a shelf outside his bedroom window 

 for four years, during which time they never 

 tried to swarm. They gatherered considerable 

 honey from mignonette, which grew in the 

 small gardens of the city. 



In 18()(j Mr. Hoffman came to America. He 

 could not part with his pets, hence they crossed 

 the ocean with him. He settled in the city of 

 Brooklyn, and accepted employment in the or- 

 gan and piano business. During the next four 

 years he increased his bees to 3<5 colonies. But 

 he soon realized that so many bees in a crowded 

 city lead to trouble and become a nuisance. At 

 that time honey was bringing a good price: and 

 as he loved the bees he decided to move into 

 the country and engage in honey production as 

 a business. The next spring he moved to Rock- 

 land Co., N. Y., 35 miles from New York, and 



