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and while the extreme cold has not been 

 anj' greater than usual the warm or mild 

 sunny days have gone far below the aver- 

 age. The warming-up of thin frosty hives, 

 so frequently observed in the journals, has 

 been practically eliminated. 



Of course, it is too early to obtain any 

 definite data regarding the outcome. All 

 we can know at present is that it has been 

 a source of great satisfaction to feel that 

 bees were at least no worse situated in 

 a good or even poor depository than if out 

 in the snowdrifts for so long a period. It 

 is true we have not had to shovel out the 

 hives in order to allow the bees to have a 

 cleansing flight, as would have been a ne- 

 cessity had an occasional warm day occur- 

 red. Those further south than Michigan, 

 no doubt, have had sufficiently unsettled 

 weather to enable their bees to fly; but, so 

 far as I can learn, this State, while in lat- 

 itude differing- widely, has not materially 

 differed in cold. In fact, our extreme cold 

 here has been less than elsewhere in the 

 State. We have no signal office here, but 

 we have in man3' private yards thermome- 

 ters, none of which have registered more 

 than 20° below at any time, and only once 

 at that, which was in December; since that, 

 two or three mornings 15° to 17° below. 

 Now, in my yard where the bees usually 

 are in summer the snow is a smooth com- 



pact drift two feet deep (March 12); I need 

 not write how much trouble my air tight 

 multi- ventilated water-lime cellar has saved 

 me this winter; and now, while the March 

 winds are blowing-, the bees are as content- 

 ed as they were a month ago. They can be 

 kept another month with the facilities of 

 ventilation possessed with little inconven- 

 ience. Then comes the one thing not enjoy- 

 ed by bee-keepers; viz., getting them out on 

 their summer stands. It is not certain how 

 they will come up out of the cellar. Last 

 fall an elevator was provided to lower them 

 into the cellar, and the machine was a great 

 success; but the bees then were in no haste 

 to fly out. A month hence it will be dif- 

 ferent, and perhaps they will be carried up- 

 stairs with less trouble some other way. 

 Farwell, Mich. 



A FEW POINTS ON SHAKEN SWARMS. 



A Method of Management for Comb Honey whereby 

 one Can be Away from his Bees all Day with- 

 out Danger of Swarms Leaving. 



BY GEORGE SHIBER. 



One of your correspondents, p. 289, asks 

 for a plan of management of bees during 

 swarming, saying that he had tried shak- 

 ing them, but they all swarmed out, and 



THE INTERIOR OF KOEHLKR'S EXTRACTING ROOM. 



